Glossary

Quick definitions of terms used throughout the Megaport CLI documentation.

Megaport Terms

Port A physical Ethernet connection from your data centre to the Megaport fabric. Ports are the foundation — all other services connect through them.

VXC (Virtual Cross Connect) A private Layer 2 connection between two endpoints on the Megaport fabric. VXCs connect your Ports to cloud providers, other Ports, or partner services.

MCR (Megaport Cloud Router) A virtual Layer 3 router hosted on the Megaport fabric. MCRs enable multi-cloud routing — connect AWS, Azure, and GCP through a single hub without physical hardware.

MVE (Megaport Virtual Edge) A virtual network appliance (e.g., Cisco, Fortinet, Palo Alto) hosted on the Megaport fabric. MVEs provide SD-WAN, firewall, or routing at the edge.

IX (Internet Exchange) / MegaIX A connection to a MegaIX Internet Exchange point, enabling direct peering with other networks. MegaIX is Megaport's branded Internet Exchange service.

Megaport Internet A direct internet transit service delivered via a VXC. Provides internet connectivity without needing a separate ISP — connect a VXC with connectType: "TRANSIT" to get routed internet access.

Service Key A pre-authorised token that allows a third party to provision a VXC to your Port without sharing credentials.

A-End / B-End The two endpoints of a VXC. A-End is the source (your Port or MCR), B-End is the destination (cloud provider, partner port, or another resource).

NAT Gateway A managed network address translation service hosted in the Megaport fabric. Maps private addresses to a shared public-facing pool when connecting branch sites or cloud workloads through Megaport.

LAG (Link Aggregation Group) Multiple physical ports bonded together to act as a single high-bandwidth connection. Provisioned with ports buy-lag. LAG terms are restricted to 1, 12, or 24 months.

Apply The CLI's declarative-IaC primitive. megaport-cli apply -f config.yaml provisions multiple resources (Ports, MCRs, MVEs, VXCs) in dependency order from a single YAML or JSON file, with template references like {{.port.MyPort}} to wire VXCs to other resources defined in the same file.

Networking Terms

BGP (Border Gateway Protocol) The routing protocol used to exchange routes between networks. MCRs use BGP to peer with cloud providers.

VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network) A logical network segment. Each VXC is assigned a VLAN ID to isolate traffic on a shared Port.

ASN (Autonomous System Number) A unique identifier for a network in BGP. Megaport assigns private ASNs to MCRs; cloud providers have their own ASNs.

Direct Connect AWS's dedicated network connection service. Megaport hosts Direct Connect partner ports for provisioning via VXC.

ExpressRoute Azure's dedicated network connection service. Megaport is an ExpressRoute partner — connect via VXC to an Azure peering location.

Cloud Interconnect Google Cloud's dedicated network connection service. Megaport is an Interconnect partner.

Cross Connect A physical cable between two racks in the same data centre. Megaport Ports require a cross connect from your equipment to the Megaport switch.

NNI (Network-to-Network Interface) A connection between two networks or carriers. Megaport uses NNIs to extend the fabric between data centres.

CLI Terms

Profile A named set of CLI configuration (credentials, environment, output format). Switch between profiles for different accounts or environments.

Interactive Mode A guided prompt flow where the CLI asks for each required field one at a time. Useful for learning and ad-hoc operations.

JSON Input Mode Provide all fields as a JSON file or stdin. Useful for automation and repeatable deployments.

Soft Delete (decommissioning window) Ports, MCRs, and MVEs are deleted immediately by delete (the previous --now / --later semantics have been removed for these resources). The resource enters a DECOMMISSIONING state where it can still be restored with restore for a short grace period before it reaches DECOMMISSIONED and is gone for good.

Deferred Cancellation (--later) For VXCs and IX services, delete --later cancels the service at the end of the current billing cycle instead of immediately. The default for these resources is also immediate deletion; pass --later only when you want to ride out the paid period. NAT Gateways do not have a restore window and do not support --later.