Set up OVHcloud Connect Cross Cloud with GCP

Objective

OVHcloud Connect Cross Cloud with GCP establishes a private Layer 3 connection between your Google Cloud network and your OVHcloud vRack, over Google Cloud Partner Interconnect. Traffic flows across a dedicated link instead of the public Internet. Unlike connections with other providers, the service key (called a pairing key in Google Cloud) is generated in the Google Cloud console, then submitted to OVHcloud to provision the connection.

In this guide, you will learn how to:

• Create a Partner Interconnect VLAN attachment and generate a pairing key in Google Cloud.
• Order the OVHcloud Connect service for a Google connection.
• Attach your service to a vRack.
• Provide the pairing key to OVHcloud so the connection can be provisioned.
• Verify the resulting circuit, Point of Presence (PoP) configuration, and BGP session.

Requirements

• An OVHcloud vRack
• A Google Cloud project with an existing VPC network and a Cloud Router, in a region reachable from your target OVHcloud PoP
• Access to the OVHcloud Control Panel
• Access to the Google Cloud console
• If you submit the pairing key with the API: access to the OVHcloud API, with credentials created by following the First Steps with the OVHcloud APIs guide

Introduction

OVHcloud Connect Cross Cloud with GCP is a provider-type OVHcloud Connect connection built on Google Cloud Partner Interconnect. On the Google side, the connection is a VLAN attachment on a Cloud Interconnect; on the OVHcloud side, it is delivered as a circuit into your vRack.

Two characteristics set it apart from a standard OVHcloud Connect Provider connection:

• Its service key is a pairing key generated in Google Cloud. OVHcloud does not issue or email a service key for a Google connection.
• It is always a Layer 3 (BGP) service. Layer 2 is not supported, and the PoP configuration is created automatically when OVHcloud consumes the pairing key — you do not add or remove it manually.

Instructions

Contents:

• How it works
• Step 1 — Create the VLAN attachment and pairing key in Google Cloud
• Step 2 — Order OVHcloud Connect for a Google connection
• Step 3 — Attach a vRack to your service
• Step 4 — Provide the pairing key to OVHcloud
• Step 5 — OVHcloud provisions the connection
• Step 6 — Verify the BGP session and routing
• Limitations
• Troubleshooting

How it works

Your Google Cloud VPC reaches OVHcloud through a Cloud Router and a Partner Interconnect VLAN attachment. OVHcloud terminates that attachment on a PoP edge router, then delivers the traffic into your vRack and on to your OVHcloud services. BGP runs over the attachment: Google's Cloud Router manages the session on your behalf, and OVHcloud applies its side automatically.

flowchart LR
  subgraph GCP[Google Cloud]
    VPC[VPC network] --> CR[Cloud Router]
    CR --> VA[Partner Interconnect VLAN attachment]
  end
  VA -->|pairing key| POP[OVHcloud PoP edge router]
  subgraph OVH[OVHcloud]
    POP --> DCR[Datacenter router]
    DCR --> VR[vRack]
    VR --> SVC[OVHcloud region and services]
  end

The connection relies on the following fixed parameters:

Step 1 — Create the VLAN attachment and pairing key in Google Cloud

In the Google Cloud console, create a Partner Interconnect VLAN attachment on your Cloud Router, in the region reachable from your target OVHcloud PoP. Google then generates a pairing key for the attachment. Tick the automatic activation option so that you do not have to return to the Google Cloud console once OVHcloud has provisioned the connection.

The pairing key uses the following format:

{uuid}/{region}/{availabilityDomain}

For example:

00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/europe-west9/2

Step 2 — Order OVHcloud Connect for a Google connection

From the OVHcloud Connect product page, order an OVHcloud Connect Provider service and select Google as the provider. Only eligible PoPs appear for selection.

Step 3 — Attach a vRack to your service

When your service shows as active, attach it to a vRack. Do this before you provide the pairing key: a Google connection cannot be associated with a key until a vRack is attached.

Log in to the OVHcloud Control Panel. In the Bare Metal Cloud section, open OVHcloud Connect under Network and select your service.

Click the Attach a vRack button and select an existing vRack from the drop-down menu. A message confirms the association.

For more information, refer to the Installation of OVHcloud Connect Provider from the OVHcloud Control Panel guide.

Step 4 — Provide the pairing key to OVHcloud

Submit the pairing key so that the virtual circuit towards Google can be deployed. Copy the key exactly as Google issued it, keeping the full {uuid}/{region}/{availabilityDomain} string intact.

You can do this with the OVHcloud API or from the console >BETA_.

Step 5 — OVHcloud provisions the connection

Once OVHcloud receives your pairing key, it provisions the connection automatically:

1. The Google Cloud interconnect attachment is created and paired with your VLAN attachment.
2. The circuit is created on the OVHcloud side.
3. The Layer 3 PoP configuration is applied automatically, using ASN 16550 on the Google side and ASN 16276 on the OVHcloud side.

While provisioning is in progress, the service status is doing and the Circuit field of your service shows the pairing as in progress. When the circuit is provisioned, the status changes to active.

If your service reports that an action is required in the Google Cloud console, activate the VLAN attachment there. This is not needed if you ticked the automatic activation option in Step 1.

Review the PoP configuration

For a Google connection, the PoP configuration is Layer 3 and is created automatically when your pairing key is consumed. Review it, but do not add or delete it manually. Unlike a standard Provider connection, there is no service key to regenerate or resend.

Step 6 — Verify the BGP session and routing

Google's Cloud Router manages the BGP session (ASN 16550) with OVHcloud (ASN 16276). Verify that the session is established and that routes are exchanged on both sides.

For diagnostics from the OVHcloud Control Panel, see How to initiate a diagnostic for OVHcloud Connect from the OVHcloud Control Panel.

Limitations

For the full list of technical capabilities and limitations of OVHcloud Connect, see Technical capabilities and limitations.

Troubleshooting

Go further

• Installation of OVHcloud Connect Provider from the OVHcloud Control Panel
• Layer 3 mode
• Technical capabilities and limitations
• FAQ

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