Patent attributes
A method to provide network connectivity to a virtual machine hosted on a server computer system includes detecting a change in a configuration of a software-defined network to which the server computer system provides access; issuing a network configuration update (NCU) for consumption by the virtual machine, the NCU including a data structure reflecting the change in the configuration; and providing a link-state notification (LSN) to a virtual network interface card of the virtual machine pursuant to the change in the configuration, the LSN including data indicating a state of network connectivity of the virtual machine. Receipt of the LSN triggers a dynamic host-configuration protocol (DHCP) handshake by the virtual machine; the NCU is received by the virtual machine pursuant to the DHCP handshake.