Context aware middlebox services at datacenter edge

Abstract

Some embodiments of the invention provide a novel architecture for capturing contextual attributes on host computers that execute one or more machines and providing the captured contextual attributes to middlebox service engines executing at the edge of a physical datacenter. In some embodiments, the middlebox service engines run in an edge host (e.g., an NSX Edge) that provides routing services and connectivity to external networks (e.g., networks external to an NSX-T deployment). Some embodiments execute a context header insertion processor that receives contextual attributes relating to network events and/or process events on the machines collected using a guest-introspection (GI) agent on each machine. In some embodiments, the context header insertion processor uses these contextual attributes to generate a header including data regarding the contextual attributes (a 'context header') that is used to encapsulate a data message that is processed by the SFE.