Method and system for virtual machine aware policy management

A method for maintaining a persistent network policy for a virtual machine (VM), the method comprising:

• receiving, by a first network device, a universally unique identifier (UUID) of a first VM executing on a first host connected to the first network device;
• associating, by the first network device, the UUID of the first VM with a network policy for the first VM,
• applying, by the first network device, the network policy for the first VM;
• subscribing, by the first network device, to receive, directly from VM management software, notifications of changes to a configuration of the first VM corresponding to the UUID, wherein:
• the VM management software manages one or more VMs executing on each of a plurality of hosts, including the first VM executing on the first host, and
• the VM management software communicates directly with a plurality of network devices including the first network device regarding configurations of the one or more VMs executing on each of the plurality of hosts;
• receiving, by the first network device, directly from the VM management software, a configuration change associated with the first VM corresponding to the UUID, wherein the configuration change comprises an indication that the first VM is migrated to a different host;
• and
• removing, by the first network device, the network policy of the first VM based on the configuration change of the first VM.

A method for maintaining a persistent network policy for a virtual machine (VM), the method comprising:

• receiving, by VM management software and from a first network device, a request for a universally unique identifier (UUID) of a first VM executing on a first host connected to the first network device;
• transmitting, by the VM management software, the UUID directly to the first network device in response to the request;
• receiving, by the VM management software and directly from the first network device, a first subscription request to receive configuration change notifications associated with the first VM associated with the UUID;
• receiving, by the VM management software and directly from a second network device, a second subscription request to receive the configuration change notifications associated with the first VM associated with the UUID;
• receiving, by the VM management software, a migration request to migrate the first VM;
• transmitting to the first network device, by the VM management software and based on the migration request, a configuration change notification comprising an indication that the first VM is being migrated;
• and
• initiating, by the VM management software and based on the migration request, a migration of the first VM from the first host to a second host operatively connected to the second network device.