MULTICAST TRAFFIC ACROSS VIRTUAL NETWORKS (VNs)

A system comprising:

• a memory;
• at least one processor in communication with the memory;
• and
• program instructions executable by one or more processor via the memory to perform a method comprising:
• receiving, by a Network Virtualization Edge (NVE) of a first virtual network (VN), a multicast packet from a virtual machine (VM) of the first virtual network (VN);
• determining, by the NVE, whether the NVE currently supports forwarding the multicast packet to a second NVE of a second virtual network (VN), the second virtual network (VN) being logically separated from the first virtual network (VN);
• and
• responsively to determining that the NVE currently does not support forwarding the multicast packet to a second NVE of a second virtual network (VN) sending, by the NVE, a registration request to a network virtualization authority (NVA) for registering the NVE to support sending of multicast packets, wherein the registration request includes an identifier for the NVE and a multicast Group IP address of the multicast packet;
• and receiving, by the NVE, in response to the registration request a forwarding table supporting multicast packet communication between the first virtual network and the second virtual network.

A computer program product comprising:

• a computer readable storage medium readable by one or more processing circuit and storing instructions for execution by one or more processor for performing a method comprising:
• receiving, by a Network Virtualization Edge (NVE) of a first virtual network (VN), a multicast packet from a virtual machine (VM) of the first virtual network (VN);
• determining, by the NVE, whether the NVE currently supports forwarding the multicast packet to a second NVE of a second virtual network (VN), the second virtual network (VN) being logically separated from the first virtual network (VN);
• and
• responsively to determining that the NVE currently does not support forwarding the multicast packet to a second NVE of a second virtual network (VN) sending, by the NVE, a registration request to a network virtualization authority (NVA) for registering the NVE to support sending of multicast packets, wherein the registration request includes an identifier for the NVE and a multicast Group IP address of the multicast packet;
• and receiving, by the NVE, in response to the registration request a forwarding table supporting multicast packet communication between the first virtual network and the second virtual network.