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Guide: Create an Allow Address Pair

Prerequisites​

  • The VPC you are working in must be a General VPC. This feature is not available on Specific VPC.
  • At least one Instance must be running in the VPC with a NIC already assigned.
  • You must have network management permissions within the VPC.

Steps​

Step 1 — Navigate to Allow Address Pairs​

  1. In the left navigation bar, select the relevant VPC (General type).
  2. In the VPC context menu, select Network.
  3. Select Allow Address Pairs.

The list of existing address pairs will appear.

Allow Address Pairs list

Step 2 — Open the creation form​

Click the "Create allow address pair" button in the upper-right corner of the screen.

Create Allow Address Pair form

The input form will appear with the following fields: Instance (required), Network interface card/NIC (required), IP or CIDR (required), and MAC address (optional).

Step 3 — Select an Instance​

In the Instance field, select the Instance to which you want to add the address pair.

The list only shows Instances that belong to the current VPC.

Step 4 — Select a Network Interface Card​

In the Network interface card field, select the NIC of the Instance chosen in the previous step.

An Instance can have multiple NICs. Select the correct NIC that will handle traffic for the additional IP/CIDR address.

Step 5 — Enter an IP address or CIDR range​

In the IP or CIDR address field, enter one of the following formats:

  • Single IP address, for example: 10.0.1.100
  • CIDR network range, for example: 10.0.1.0/24

Use CIDR format when the NIC needs to handle traffic for an entire address range (for example, when the Instance acts as a router).

Step 6 — Enter a MAC address (optional)​

The MAC address field is optional.

  • If left blank, the system will allow traffic from the entered IP/CIDR address with any MAC address.
  • If you enter a MAC address, the system will only allow traffic when both the IP/CIDR and the MAC match — providing an additional layer of security control.

Valid MAC address format: fa:16:3e:xx:xx:xx

Step 7 — Confirm​

Click the confirmation button (typically "Create" or "Save") to save the address pair.

The new record will appear in the Allow Address Pairs list for the VPC.

Result​

After successful creation:

  • The selected NIC can send and receive traffic using the IP/CIDR address just declared.
  • If the Instance is running HA or VIP, failover traffic will be accepted by the virtual networking layer immediately without restarting the Instance.

Notes​

  • A single NIC can have multiple Allow Address Pair records.
  • Records cannot be edited after creation — if a change is needed, delete the existing record and create a new one.
  • This feature does not replace Security Group configuration. If a Security Group is blocking traffic to or from the additional IP address, you must add the corresponding rule in the Security Group.

See also​