From 4093cde5420942778d500d44b118fa3ce21477f1 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: fabriziopandini <fpandini@vmware.com>
Date: Mon, 8 Apr 2024 23:17:02 +0200
Subject: [PATCH 1/6]  Use vm-operator v1.8.6 for supervisor mode testing

---
 Makefile                                      |  18 +--
 test/framework/vmoperator/vmoperator.go       | 110 +++++++++++++++++-
 .../vcsim/config/rbac/role.yaml               |   8 ++
 .../vcsim/controllers/vcsim_controller.go     |   1 +
 .../Fix_defaulting_for_Named_networks.patch   |  22 ++++
 5 files changed, 146 insertions(+), 13 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 test/infrastructure/vm-operator/Fix_defaulting_for_Named_networks.patch

diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 6f9185175a..f5e182414a 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -223,7 +223,8 @@ VM_OPERATOR_IMAGE_NAME ?= extra/vm-operator
 VM_OPERATOR_CONTROLLER_IMG ?= $(STAGING_REGISTRY)/$(VM_OPERATOR_IMAGE_NAME)
 VM_OPERATOR_DIR := test/infrastructure/vm-operator
 VM_OPERATOR_TMP_DIR ?= vm-operator.tmp
-VM_OPERATOR_VERSION ?= v1.8.1
+VM_OPERATOR_COMMIT ?= de75746a9505ef3161172d99b735d6593c54f0c5
+VM_OPERATOR_VERSION ?= v1.8.6-0-gde75746a-dirty
 VM_OPERATOR_ALL_ARCH = amd64 arm64
 
 # It is set by Prow GIT_TAG, a git-based tag of the form vYYYYMMDD-hash, e.g., v20210120-v0.3.10-308-gc61521971
@@ -783,14 +784,17 @@ vm-operator-checkout:
 	@if [ -z "${VM_OPERATOR_VERSION}" ]; then echo "VM_OPERATOR_VERSION is not set"; exit 1; fi
 	@if [ -d "$(VM_OPERATOR_TMP_DIR)" ]; then \
 		echo "$(VM_OPERATOR_TMP_DIR) exists, skipping clone"; \
-		cd "$(VM_OPERATOR_TMP_DIR)"; \
-		if [ "$$(git describe --match "v[0-9]*")" != "$(VM_OPERATOR_VERSION)" ]; then \
-			echo "ERROR: checked out version $$(git describe --match "v[0-9]*") does not match expected version $(VM_OPERATOR_VERSION)"; \
-			exit 1; \
-		fi \
 	else \
-		git clone --depth 1 --branch "$(VM_OPERATOR_VERSION)" "https://github.com/vmware-tanzu/vm-operator.git" "$(VM_OPERATOR_TMP_DIR)"; \
+		git clone "https://github.com/vmware-tanzu/vm-operator.git" "$(VM_OPERATOR_TMP_DIR)"; \
+		cd "$(VM_OPERATOR_TMP_DIR)"; \
+        git checkout "$(VM_OPERATOR_COMMIT)"; \
+        git apply "../test/infrastructure/vm-operator/Fix_defaulting_for_Named_networks.patch"; \
 	fi
+	@cd "$(ROOT_DIR)/$(VM_OPERATOR_TMP_DIR)"; \
+	if [ "$$(git describe --dirty 2> /dev/null)" != "$(VM_OPERATOR_VERSION)" ]; then \
+    	echo "ERROR: checked out version $$(git describe --dirty 2> /dev/null) does not match expected version $(VM_OPERATOR_VERSION)"; \
+    	exit 1; \
+    fi
 
 .PHONY: vm-operator-manifest-build
 vm-operator-manifest-build: $(RELEASE_DIR) $(KUSTOMIZE) vm-operator-checkout ## Build the vm-operator manifest yaml file
diff --git a/test/framework/vmoperator/vmoperator.go b/test/framework/vmoperator/vmoperator.go
index adb16dd865..090973c032 100644
--- a/test/framework/vmoperator/vmoperator.go
+++ b/test/framework/vmoperator/vmoperator.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"net"
 	"net/url"
+	"sort"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
@@ -343,10 +344,10 @@ func ReconcileDependencies(ctx context.Context, c client.Client, dependenciesCon
 	for _, vmc := range config.Spec.VirtualMachineClasses {
 		vmClass := &vmoprv1.VirtualMachineClass{
 			ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
-				Name: vmc.Name,
+				Name:      vmc.Name,
+				Namespace: config.Namespace,
 			},
 			Spec: vmoprv1.VirtualMachineClassSpec{
-				// TODO: figure out if to make vm class configurable via API
 				Hardware: vmoprv1.VirtualMachineClassHardware{
 					Cpus:   vmc.Cpus,
 					Memory: vmc.Memory,
@@ -571,7 +572,8 @@ func ReconcileDependencies(ctx context.Context, c client.Client, dependenciesCon
 
 		virtualMachineImage := &vmoprv1.VirtualMachineImage{
 			ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
-				Name: libraryItem.Name,
+				Name:      libraryItem.Name,
+				Namespace: config.Namespace,
 			},
 			Spec: vmoprv1.VirtualMachineImageSpec{
 				ImageID:         libraryItemID,
@@ -579,9 +581,10 @@ func ReconcileDependencies(ctx context.Context, c client.Client, dependenciesCon
 				Type:            "ovf",
 				ProviderRef: vmoprv1.ContentProviderReference{
 					APIVersion: vmoprv1.SchemeGroupVersion.String(),
-					Kind:       "ContentLibraryProvider",
-					Name:       contentLibraryProvider.Name,
-					Namespace:  contentLibraryProvider.Namespace,
+					Kind:       "ContentLibraryItem",
+					// Not 100% sure about following values now that Kind is required to be ContentLibraryItem, but this doesn't seem to be an issue
+					Name:      contentLibraryProvider.Name,
+					Namespace: contentLibraryProvider.Namespace,
 				},
 				ProductInfo: vmoprv1.VirtualMachineImageProductInfo{
 					FullVersion: item.ProductInfo,
@@ -614,6 +617,22 @@ func ReconcileDependencies(ctx context.Context, c client.Client, dependenciesCon
 			return retryError
 		}
 
+		// Fakes reconciliation of virtualMachineImage by setting required status field for the image to be considered ready.
+		virtualMachineImageReconciled := virtualMachineImage.DeepCopy()
+		virtualMachineImageReconciled.Status.ImageName = virtualMachineImage.Name
+		Set(virtualMachineImageReconciled, TrueCondition(ReadyConditionType))
+		_ = wait.PollUntilContextTimeout(ctx, 250*time.Millisecond, 5*time.Second, true, func(ctx context.Context) (bool, error) {
+			retryError = nil
+			if err := c.Status().Patch(ctx, virtualMachineImageReconciled, client.MergeFrom(virtualMachineImage)); err != nil {
+				retryError = errors.Wrapf(err, "failed to patch vm-operator VirtualMachineImage %s", virtualMachineImage.Name)
+			}
+			log.Info("Patched vm-operator VirtualMachineImage", "ContentSource", klog.KObj(contentSource), "ContentLibraryProvider", klog.KObj(contentLibraryProvider), "VirtualMachineImage", klog.KObj(virtualMachineImage))
+			return true, nil
+		})
+		if retryError != nil {
+			return retryError
+		}
+
 		existingFiles, err := libMgr.ListLibraryItemFiles(ctx, libraryItemID)
 		if err != nil {
 			return errors.Wrapf(err, "failed to list files for vm-operator libraryItem %s", libraryItem.Name)
@@ -669,3 +688,82 @@ func ReconcileDependencies(ctx context.Context, c client.Client, dependenciesCon
 
 	return nil
 }
+
+// NOTE: code below is a fork of vm-operator's pkg/conditions (so we can avoid to import the entire project)
+
+const (
+	ReadyConditionType = "Ready"
+)
+
+type Getter interface {
+	client.Object
+
+	// GetConditions returns the list of conditions for a cluster API object.
+	GetConditions() vmoprv1.Conditions
+}
+
+type Setter interface {
+	Getter
+	SetConditions(vmoprv1.Conditions)
+}
+
+func Set(to Setter, condition *vmoprv1.Condition) {
+	if to == nil || condition == nil {
+		return
+	}
+
+	// Check if the new conditions already exists, and change it only if there is a status
+	// transition (otherwise we should preserve the current last transition time)-
+	conditions := to.GetConditions()
+	exists := false
+	for i := range conditions {
+		existingCondition := conditions[i]
+		if existingCondition.Type == condition.Type {
+			exists = true
+			if !hasSameState(&existingCondition, condition) {
+				condition.LastTransitionTime = metav1.NewTime(time.Now().UTC().Truncate(time.Second))
+				conditions[i] = *condition
+				break
+			}
+			condition.LastTransitionTime = existingCondition.LastTransitionTime
+			break
+		}
+	}
+
+	// If the condition does not exist, add it, setting the transition time only if not already set
+	if !exists {
+		if condition.LastTransitionTime.IsZero() {
+			condition.LastTransitionTime = metav1.NewTime(time.Now().UTC().Truncate(time.Second))
+		}
+		conditions = append(conditions, *condition)
+	}
+
+	// Sorts conditions for convenience of the consumer, i.e. kubectl.
+	sort.Slice(conditions, func(i, j int) bool {
+		return lexicographicLess(&conditions[i], &conditions[j])
+	})
+
+	to.SetConditions(conditions)
+}
+
+func lexicographicLess(i, j *vmoprv1.Condition) bool {
+	return (i.Type == ReadyConditionType || i.Type < j.Type) && j.Type != ReadyConditionType
+}
+
+func hasSameState(i, j *vmoprv1.Condition) bool {
+	return i.Type == j.Type &&
+		i.Status == j.Status &&
+		i.Reason == j.Reason &&
+		i.Message == j.Message
+}
+
+func TrueCondition(t vmoprv1.ConditionType) *vmoprv1.Condition {
+	return &vmoprv1.Condition{
+		Type:   t,
+		Status: corev1.ConditionTrue,
+		// This is a non-empty field in metav1.Conditions, when it was not in our v1a1 Conditions. This
+		// really doesn't work with how we've defined our conditions so do something to make things
+		// work for now.
+		Reason: string(corev1.ConditionTrue),
+	}
+}
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/vcsim/config/rbac/role.yaml b/test/infrastructure/vcsim/config/rbac/role.yaml
index 0cc43e16a7..2dd13d4428 100644
--- a/test/infrastructure/vcsim/config/rbac/role.yaml
+++ b/test/infrastructure/vcsim/config/rbac/role.yaml
@@ -235,6 +235,14 @@ rules:
   - get
   - list
   - watch
+- apiGroups:
+  - vmoperator.vmware.com
+  resources:
+  - virtualmachineimages/status
+  verbs:
+  - get
+  - patch
+  - update
 - apiGroups:
   - vmoperator.vmware.com
   resources:
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/vcsim/controllers/vcsim_controller.go b/test/infrastructure/vcsim/controllers/vcsim_controller.go
index 5f5e3b0209..51263c1326 100644
--- a/test/infrastructure/vcsim/controllers/vcsim_controller.go
+++ b/test/infrastructure/vcsim/controllers/vcsim_controller.go
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ type VCenterSimulatorReconciler struct {
 // +kubebuilder:rbac:groups=vmoperator.vmware.com,resources=contentsources,verbs=get;list;watch;create
 // +kubebuilder:rbac:groups=vmoperator.vmware.com,resources=contentsourcebindings,verbs=get;list;watch;create
 // +kubebuilder:rbac:groups=vmoperator.vmware.com,resources=virtualmachineimages,verbs=get;list;watch;create
+// +kubebuilder:rbac:groups=vmoperator.vmware.com,resources=virtualmachineimages/status,verbs=get;update;patch
 // +kubebuilder:rbac:groups=storage.k8s.io,resources=storageclasses,verbs=get;list;watch;create
 // +kubebuilder:rbac:groups="",resources=configmaps,verbs=get;list;watch;create
 // +kubebuilder:rbac:groups="",resources=secrets,verbs=get;list;watch;create
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/Fix_defaulting_for_Named_networks.patch b/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/Fix_defaulting_for_Named_networks.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4ce9961d12
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/Fix_defaulting_for_Named_networks.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+Subject: [PATCH] Fix defaulting for Named networks
+---
+Index: webhooks/virtualmachine/v1alpha2/validation/virtualmachine_validator.go
+IDEA additional info:
+Subsystem: com.intellij.openapi.diff.impl.patch.CharsetEP
+<+>UTF-8
+===================================================================
+diff --git a/webhooks/virtualmachine/v1alpha2/validation/virtualmachine_validator.go b/webhooks/virtualmachine/v1alpha2/validation/virtualmachine_validator.go
+--- a/webhooks/virtualmachine/v1alpha2/validation/virtualmachine_validator.go	(revision de75746a9505ef3161172d99b735d6593c54f0c5)
++++ b/webhooks/virtualmachine/v1alpha2/validation/virtualmachine_validator.go	(date 1712596700934)
+@@ -443,9 +443,9 @@
+ 
+ 	// The networkInterface CR name ("vmName-networkName-interfaceName" or "vmName-interfaceName") needs to be a DNS1123 Label
+ 	if networkName != "" {
+-		networkIfCRName = fmt.Sprintf("%s-%s-%s", vmName, networkName, interfaceSpec.Name)
++		networkIfCRName = strings.ToLower(strings.ReplaceAll(fmt.Sprintf("%s-%s-%s", vmName, networkName, interfaceSpec.Name), " ", "-"))
+ 	} else {
+-		networkIfCRName = fmt.Sprintf("%s-%s", vmName, interfaceSpec.Name)
++		networkIfCRName = strings.ToLower(strings.ReplaceAll(fmt.Sprintf("%s-%s", vmName, interfaceSpec.Name), " ", "-"))
+ 	}
+ 
+ 	for _, msg := range validation.NameIsDNSSubdomain(networkIfCRName, false) {

From 410d95c245a923d663b90e16eda3e0b1a3b43ca5 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: fabriziopandini <fpandini@vmware.com>
Date: Tue, 16 Apr 2024 16:23:35 +0200
Subject: [PATCH 2/6] Use VSPHERE_NETWORK instead of NAMED_NETWORK

---
 .golangci.yml                                 |   2 +
 Makefile                                      |  37 ++-
 hack/e2e.sh                                   |   2 +-
 internal/test/helpers/vcsim/model.go          |   5 +
 internal/test/helpers/vcsim/model_test.go     |   2 +
 test/e2e/config/vsphere.yaml                  |  22 +-
 test/e2e/e2e_setup_test.go                    |   2 +-
 test/framework/framework.go                   |  15 +
 test/framework/vmoperator/vmoperator.go       | 166 ++++++++--
 test/infrastructure/net-operator/Dockerfile   |  83 +++++
 test/infrastructure/net-operator/README.md    |   3 +
 .../config/certmanager/certificate.yaml       |  24 ++
 .../config/certmanager/kustomization.yaml     |   5 +
 .../config/certmanager/kustomizeconfig.yaml   |  19 ++
 .../config/default/kustomization.yaml         |  54 ++++
 .../config/default/kustomizeconfig.yaml       |   4 +
 .../config/default/manager_image_patch.yaml   |  11 +
 .../config/default/manager_pull_policy.yaml   |  11 +
 .../config/default/manager_webhook_patch.yaml |  23 ++
 .../config/default/namespace.yaml             |   6 +
 .../config/manager/kustomization.yaml         |   2 +
 .../net-operator/config/manager/manager.yaml  |  60 ++++
 .../config/rbac/kustomization.yaml            |   8 +
 .../config/rbac/leader_election_role.yaml     |  24 ++
 .../rbac/leader_election_role_binding.yaml    |  12 +
 .../net-operator/config/rbac/role.yaml        |  41 +++
 .../config/rbac/role_binding.yaml             |  12 +
 .../config/rbac/service_account.yaml          |   5 +
 .../config/webhook/kustomization.yaml         |   5 +
 .../config/webhook/kustomizeconfig.yaml       |  25 ++
 .../net-operator/config/webhook/service.yaml  |   9 +
 .../net-operator/controllers/doc.go           |  18 ++
 .../networkinterface_controller.go            | 123 ++++++++
 .../external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/doc.go |  20 ++
 .../api/v1alpha1/groupversion_info.go         |  51 +++
 .../api/v1alpha1/networkinterface_types.go    | 160 ++++++++++
 .../v1alpha1/vmxnet3networkinterface_types.go |  61 ++++
 .../api/v1alpha1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go     | 269 ++++++++++++++++
 test/infrastructure/net-operator/main.go      | 296 ++++++++++++++++++
 .../net-operator/tilt-provider.yaml           |   9 +
 test/infrastructure/vcsim/Dockerfile          |   7 +-
 test/infrastructure/vcsim/README.md           |   1 +
 .../v1alpha1/vmoperatordependencies_types.go  |  30 +-
 ...uster.x-k8s.io_vmoperatordependencies.yaml |   4 +-
 .../vcsim/controllers/vcsim_controller.go     |  54 ----
 .../controllers/virtualmachine_controller.go  |  44 +--
 .../Fix_defaulting_for_Named_networks.patch   |  22 --
 test/infrastructure/vm-operator/README.md     |   9 +-
 .../vm-operator/kustomization.yaml            |   2 +
 .../net-operator-networkinterface-status.yaml | 138 ++++++++
 .../vm-operator-env-var-patch.yaml            |  45 +++
 tilt-provider.yaml                            |   2 +-
 52 files changed, 1878 insertions(+), 186 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 test/infrastructure/net-operator/Dockerfile
 create mode 100644 test/infrastructure/net-operator/README.md
 create mode 100644 test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/certmanager/certificate.yaml
 create mode 100644 test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/certmanager/kustomization.yaml
 create mode 100644 test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/certmanager/kustomizeconfig.yaml
 create mode 100644 test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/default/kustomization.yaml
 create mode 100644 test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/default/kustomizeconfig.yaml
 create mode 100644 test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/default/manager_image_patch.yaml
 create mode 100644 test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/default/manager_pull_policy.yaml
 create mode 100644 test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/default/manager_webhook_patch.yaml
 create mode 100644 test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/default/namespace.yaml
 create mode 100644 test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/manager/kustomization.yaml
 create mode 100644 test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/manager/manager.yaml
 create mode 100644 test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/rbac/kustomization.yaml
 create mode 100644 test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/rbac/leader_election_role.yaml
 create mode 100644 test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/rbac/leader_election_role_binding.yaml
 create mode 100644 test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/rbac/role.yaml
 create mode 100644 test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/rbac/role_binding.yaml
 create mode 100644 test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/rbac/service_account.yaml
 create mode 100644 test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/webhook/kustomization.yaml
 create mode 100644 test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/webhook/kustomizeconfig.yaml
 create mode 100644 test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/webhook/service.yaml
 create mode 100644 test/infrastructure/net-operator/controllers/doc.go
 create mode 100644 test/infrastructure/net-operator/controllers/networkinterface_controller.go
 create mode 100644 test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/doc.go
 create mode 100644 test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/groupversion_info.go
 create mode 100644 test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/networkinterface_types.go
 create mode 100644 test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/vmxnet3networkinterface_types.go
 create mode 100644 test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
 create mode 100644 test/infrastructure/net-operator/main.go
 create mode 100644 test/infrastructure/net-operator/tilt-provider.yaml
 delete mode 100644 test/infrastructure/vm-operator/Fix_defaulting_for_Named_networks.patch
 create mode 100644 test/infrastructure/vm-operator/net-operator-networkinterface-status.yaml
 create mode 100644 test/infrastructure/vm-operator/vm-operator-env-var-patch.yaml

diff --git a/.golangci.yml b/.golangci.yml
index c518256d4b..3ed6554104 100644
--- a/.golangci.yml
+++ b/.golangci.yml
@@ -188,6 +188,8 @@ issues:
   # We are disabling default golangci exclusions because we want to help reviewers to focus on reviewing the most relevant
   # changes in PRs and avoid nitpicking.
   exclude-use-default: false
+  exclude-dirs:
+    - "test/infrastructure/net-operator/external"
   exclude-rules:
   # Specific exclude rules for deprecated items that are still part of the codebase. These
   # should be removed as the referenced deprecated item is removed from the project.
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index f5e182414a..540ada6f83 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ BIN_DIR := bin
 BUILD_DIR := .build
 TEST_DIR := test
 VCSIM_DIR := test/infrastructure/vcsim
+NETOP_DIR := test/infrastructure/net-operator
 TOOLS_DIR := hack/tools
 TOOLS_BIN_DIR := $(abspath $(TOOLS_DIR)/$(BIN_DIR))
 FLAVOR_DIR := $(ROOT_DIR)/templates
@@ -224,9 +225,13 @@ VM_OPERATOR_CONTROLLER_IMG ?= $(STAGING_REGISTRY)/$(VM_OPERATOR_IMAGE_NAME)
 VM_OPERATOR_DIR := test/infrastructure/vm-operator
 VM_OPERATOR_TMP_DIR ?= vm-operator.tmp
 VM_OPERATOR_COMMIT ?= de75746a9505ef3161172d99b735d6593c54f0c5
-VM_OPERATOR_VERSION ?= v1.8.6-0-gde75746a-dirty
+VM_OPERATOR_VERSION ?= v1.8.6-0-gde75746a
 VM_OPERATOR_ALL_ARCH = amd64 arm64
 
+# net operator
+NET_OPERATOR_IMAGE_NAME ?= cluster-api-net-operator
+NET_OPERATOR_IMG ?= $(STAGING_REGISTRY)/$(NET_OPERATOR_IMAGE_NAME)
+
 # It is set by Prow GIT_TAG, a git-based tag of the form vYYYYMMDD-hash, e.g., v20210120-v0.3.10-308-gc61521971
 
 TAG ?= dev
@@ -256,6 +261,7 @@ VCSIM_CRD_ROOT ?= $(VCSIM_DIR)/config/crd/bases
 WEBHOOK_ROOT ?= $(MANIFEST_ROOT)/webhook
 RBAC_ROOT ?= $(MANIFEST_ROOT)/rbac
 VCSIM_RBAC_ROOT ?= $(VCSIM_DIR)/config/rbac
+NETOP_RBAC_ROOT ?= $(NETOP_DIR)/config/rbac
 VERSION ?= $(shell cat clusterctl-settings.json | jq .config.nextVersion -r)
 OVERRIDES_DIR := $(HOME)/.cluster-api/overrides/infrastructure-vsphere/$(VERSION)
 
@@ -295,16 +301,21 @@ generate-manifests: $(CONTROLLER_GEN) ## Generate manifests e.g. CRD, RBAC etc.
 		paths=./apis/vmware/v1beta1 \
 		crd:crdVersions=v1 \
 		output:crd:dir=$(SUPERVISOR_CRD_ROOT)
-	# vm-operator crds are loaded to be used for integration tests.
+	# vm-operator crds are used for test.
 	$(CONTROLLER_GEN) \
 		paths=github.com/vmware-tanzu/vm-operator/api/v1alpha1/... \
 		crd:crdVersions=v1 \
 		output:crd:dir=$(VMOP_CRD_ROOT)
+	# net-operator crds are used for tests
+	$(CONTROLLER_GEN) \
+		paths=./$(NETOP_DIR)/controllers/... \
+        output:rbac:dir=$(NETOP_RBAC_ROOT) \
+        rbac:roleName=manager-role
 	# vcsim crds are used for tests.
 	$(CONTROLLER_GEN) \
-    		paths=./$(VCSIM_DIR)/api/v1alpha1 \
-    		crd:crdVersions=v1 \
-    		output:crd:dir=$(VCSIM_CRD_ROOT)
+		paths=./$(VCSIM_DIR)/api/v1alpha1 \
+		crd:crdVersions=v1 \
+		output:crd:dir=$(VCSIM_CRD_ROOT)
 	$(CONTROLLER_GEN) \
 		paths=./$(VCSIM_DIR)/ \
 		paths=./$(VCSIM_DIR)/controllers/... \
@@ -318,8 +329,9 @@ generate-go-deepcopy: $(CONTROLLER_GEN) ## Generate deepcopy go code for core
 		object:headerFile=./hack/boilerplate/boilerplate.generatego.txt \
 		paths=./apis/...
 	$(CONTROLLER_GEN) \
-    		object:headerFile=./hack/boilerplate/boilerplate.generatego.txt \
-    		paths=./$(VCSIM_DIR)/api/...
+    	object:headerFile=./hack/boilerplate/boilerplate.generatego.txt \
+    	paths=./$(VCSIM_DIR)/api/... \
+    	paths=./$(NETOP_DIR)/external/net-operator/api/...
 
 .PHONY: generate-go-conversions
 generate-go-conversions: $(CONTROLLER_GEN) $(CONVERSION_GEN) ## Runs Go related generate targets
@@ -538,6 +550,15 @@ docker-build-vcsim: docker-pull-prerequisites ## Build the docker image for vcsi
 		$(MAKE) set-manifest-pull-policy TARGET_RESOURCE="./$(VCSIM_DIR)/config/default/manager_pull_policy.yaml"; \
     fi
 
+.PHONY: docker-build-net-operator
+docker-build-net-operator: docker-pull-prerequisites ## Build the docker image for net-operator controller manager
+## reads Dockerfile from stdin to avoid an incorrectly cached Dockerfile (https://github.com/moby/buildkit/issues/1368)
+	cat $(NETOP_DIR)/Dockerfile | DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build --build-arg builder_image=$(GO_CONTAINER_IMAGE) --build-arg goproxy=$(GOPROXY) --build-arg ARCH=$(ARCH) --build-arg ldflags="$(LDFLAGS)" . -t $(NET_OPERATOR_IMG)-$(ARCH):$(TAG) --file -
+	@if [ "${DOCKER_BUILD_MODIFY_MANIFESTS}" = "true" ]; then \
+  		$(MAKE) set-manifest-image MANIFEST_IMG=$(NET_OPERATOR_IMG)-$(ARCH) MANIFEST_TAG=$(TAG) TARGET_RESOURCE="./$(NETOP_DIR)/config/default/manager_image_patch.yaml"; \
+		$(MAKE) set-manifest-pull-policy TARGET_RESOURCE="./$(NETOP_DIR)/config/default/manager_pull_policy.yaml"; \
+    fi
+
 ## --------------------------------------
 ## Testing
 ## --------------------------------------
@@ -585,6 +606,7 @@ e2e-images: ## Build the e2e manager image
     # also the same settings must exist in e2e.sh
 	$(MAKE) REGISTRY=gcr.io/k8s-staging-capi-vsphere PULL_POLICY=IfNotPresent TAG=dev docker-build
 	$(MAKE) REGISTRY=gcr.io/k8s-staging-capi-vsphere PULL_POLICY=IfNotPresent TAG=dev docker-build-vcsim
+	$(MAKE) REGISTRY=gcr.io/k8s-staging-capi-vsphere PULL_POLICY=IfNotPresent TAG=dev docker-build-net-operator
 
 .PHONY: e2e
 e2e: e2e-images generate-e2e-templates
@@ -788,7 +810,6 @@ vm-operator-checkout:
 		git clone "https://github.com/vmware-tanzu/vm-operator.git" "$(VM_OPERATOR_TMP_DIR)"; \
 		cd "$(VM_OPERATOR_TMP_DIR)"; \
         git checkout "$(VM_OPERATOR_COMMIT)"; \
-        git apply "../test/infrastructure/vm-operator/Fix_defaulting_for_Named_networks.patch"; \
 	fi
 	@cd "$(ROOT_DIR)/$(VM_OPERATOR_TMP_DIR)"; \
 	if [ "$$(git describe --dirty 2> /dev/null)" != "$(VM_OPERATOR_VERSION)" ]; then \
diff --git a/hack/e2e.sh b/hack/e2e.sh
index 20c3a5ab7d..a9c18bbf24 100755
--- a/hack/e2e.sh
+++ b/hack/e2e.sh
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ export VSPHERE_SSH_AUTHORIZED_KEY="${VM_SSH_PUB_KEY:-}"
 export VSPHERE_SSH_PRIVATE_KEY="/root/ssh/.private-key/private-key"
 export E2E_CONF_FILE="${REPO_ROOT}/test/e2e/config/vsphere.yaml"
 export E2E_CONF_OVERRIDE_FILE=""
-export E2E_VM_OPERATOR_VERSION="${VM_OPERATOR_VERSION:-v1.8.1}"
+export E2E_VM_OPERATOR_VERSION="${VM_OPERATOR_VERSION:-v1.8.6-0-gde75746a}"
 export ARTIFACTS="${ARTIFACTS:-${REPO_ROOT}/_artifacts}"
 export DOCKER_IMAGE_TAR="/tmp/images/image.tar"
 export GC_KIND="false"
diff --git a/internal/test/helpers/vcsim/model.go b/internal/test/helpers/vcsim/model.go
index eadc865f0a..4e0ab41484 100644
--- a/internal/test/helpers/vcsim/model.go
+++ b/internal/test/helpers/vcsim/model.go
@@ -89,3 +89,8 @@ func NetworkFolderName(datacenter int) string {
 func NetworkPath(datacenter int, network string) string {
 	return fmt.Sprintf("/%s/%s", NetworkFolderName(datacenter), network)
 }
+
+// DistributedPortGroupName provide a function to compute vcsim distribute port group names in a datacenter.
+func DistributedPortGroupName(datacenter int, distributedPortGroup int) string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%s_DVPG%d", DatacenterName(datacenter), distributedPortGroup)
+}
diff --git a/internal/test/helpers/vcsim/model_test.go b/internal/test/helpers/vcsim/model_test.go
index 53131fc72a..bf27658f52 100644
--- a/internal/test/helpers/vcsim/model_test.go
+++ b/internal/test/helpers/vcsim/model_test.go
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ func Test_vcsim_NamesAndPath(t *testing.T) {
 	datacenter := 5
 	cluster := 3
 	datastore := 7
+	distributedPortGroup := 4
 
 	g.Expect(DatacenterName(datacenter)).To(Equal("DC5"))
 	g.Expect(ClusterName(datacenter, cluster)).To(Equal("DC5_C3"))
@@ -39,4 +40,5 @@ func Test_vcsim_NamesAndPath(t *testing.T) {
 	g.Expect(VMPath(datacenter, "my-mv")).To(Equal("/DC5/vm/my-mv"))
 	g.Expect(NetworkFolderName(datacenter)).To(Equal("DC5/network"))
 	g.Expect(NetworkPath(datacenter, "my-network")).To(Equal("/DC5/network/my-network"))
+	g.Expect(DistributedPortGroupName(datacenter, distributedPortGroup)).To(Equal("DC5_DVPG4"))
 }
diff --git a/test/e2e/config/vsphere.yaml b/test/e2e/config/vsphere.yaml
index 23ce28a712..ab88bad6d1 100644
--- a/test/e2e/config/vsphere.yaml
+++ b/test/e2e/config/vsphere.yaml
@@ -20,7 +20,9 @@ images:
     loadBehavior: mustLoad
   - name: gcr.io/k8s-staging-capi-vsphere/cluster-api-vcsim-controller-{ARCH}:dev
     loadBehavior: mustLoad
-  - name: gcr.io/k8s-staging-capi-vsphere/extra/vm-operator:v1.8.1
+  - name: gcr.io/k8s-staging-capi-vsphere/cluster-api-net-operator-{ARCH}:dev
+    loadBehavior: mustLoad
+  - name: gcr.io/k8s-staging-capi-vsphere/extra/vm-operator:v1.8.6-0-gde75746a
     loadBehavior: tryLoad
   - name: quay.io/jetstack/cert-manager-cainjector:v1.12.2
     loadBehavior: tryLoad
@@ -211,9 +213,9 @@ providers:
   - name: vm-operator
     type: RuntimeExtensionProvider # vm-operator isn't a provider, but we fake it is so it can be handled by the clusterctl machinery.
     versions:
-      - name: v1.8.1
+      - name: v1.8.6-0-gde75746a
         # Use manifest from source files
-        value: "https://storage.googleapis.com/artifacts.k8s-staging-capi-vsphere.appspot.com/vm-operator/v1.8.1.yaml"
+        value: "https://storage.googleapis.com/artifacts.k8s-staging-capi-vsphere.appspot.com/vm-operator/v1.8.6-0-gde75746a.yaml"
         type: "url"
         contract: v1beta1
         files:
@@ -222,6 +224,19 @@ providers:
           - old: "imagePullPolicy: Always"
             new: "imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent"
 
+  - name: net-operator
+    type: RuntimeExtensionProvider # net-operator isn't a provider, but we fake it is so it can be handled by the clusterctl machinery.
+    versions:
+      - name: v1.10.99
+        # Use manifest from source files
+        value: ../../../../cluster-api-provider-vsphere/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/default
+        contract: v1beta1
+        files:
+          - sourcePath: "../data/shared/capv/main/metadata.yaml"
+        replacements:
+          - old: "imagePullPolicy: Always"
+            new: "imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent"
+
 variables:
   # Ensure all Kubernetes versions used here are covered in patch-vsphere-template.yaml
   KUBERNETES_VERSION: "v1.29.0"
@@ -249,6 +264,7 @@ variables:
   VSPHERE_CONTENT_LIBRARY: "capv"
   VSPHERE_IMAGE_NAME: "ubuntu-2204-kube-v1.29.0"
   VSPHERE_NETWORK: "sddc-cgw-network-6"
+  VSPHERE_DISTRIBUTED_PORT_GROUP: "/SDDC-Datacenter/network/sddc-cgw-network-6"
   VSPHERE_TEMPLATE: "ubuntu-2204-kube-v1.29.0"
   FLATCAR_VSPHERE_TEMPLATE: "flatcar-stable-3602.2.3-kube-v1.29.0"
   VSPHERE_INSECURE_CSI: "true"
diff --git a/test/e2e/e2e_setup_test.go b/test/e2e/e2e_setup_test.go
index 26792e6390..873e7908ca 100644
--- a/test/e2e/e2e_setup_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/e2e_setup_test.go
@@ -273,7 +273,7 @@ func setupNamespaceWithVMOperatorDependenciesVCenter(managementClusterProxy fram
 					// NOTE: when running on vCenter the vm-operator automatically creates VirtualMachine objects for the content library.
 					Items: []vcsimv1.ContentLibraryItemConfig{},
 				},
-				NetworkName: e2eConfig.GetVariable("VSPHERE_NETWORK"),
+				DistributedPortGreoupName: e2eConfig.GetVariable("VSPHERE_DISTRIBUTED_PORT_GROUP"),
 			},
 			StorageClasses: []vcsimv1.StorageClass{
 				{
diff --git a/test/framework/framework.go b/test/framework/framework.go
index 2f20ca26f7..5eb482e708 100644
--- a/test/framework/framework.go
+++ b/test/framework/framework.go
@@ -122,6 +122,21 @@ func LoadE2EConfig(ctx context.Context, configPath string, configOverridesPath,
 				break
 			}
 		}
+
+		Byf("Dropping net-operator from the e2e config")
+		for i := range config.Providers {
+			if config.Providers[i].Name == "net-operator" {
+				config.Providers = append(config.Providers[:i], config.Providers[i+1:]...)
+				break
+			}
+		}
+
+		for i := range config.Images {
+			if strings.Contains(config.Images[i].Name, "net-operator") {
+				config.Images = append(config.Images[:i], config.Images[i+1:]...)
+				break
+			}
+		}
 	} else {
 		// In case we are testing supervisor, change the folder we build manifest from
 		Byf("Overriding source folder for vsphere provider to /config/supervisor in the e2e config")
diff --git a/test/framework/vmoperator/vmoperator.go b/test/framework/vmoperator/vmoperator.go
index 090973c032..d39d58da7c 100644
--- a/test/framework/vmoperator/vmoperator.go
+++ b/test/framework/vmoperator/vmoperator.go
@@ -51,22 +51,34 @@ import (
 const DefaultNamespace = "vmware-system-vmop"
 
 const (
-	// NOTE: const below are copied from pkg/vmprovider/providers/vsphere/config/config.go.
-	// int the vm-operator project.
-
-	providerConfigMapName    = "vsphere.provider.config.vmoperator.vmware.com"
-	vcPNIDKey                = "VcPNID"
-	vcPortKey                = "VcPort"
-	vcCredsSecretNameKey     = "VcCredsSecretName" //nolint:gosec
-	datacenterKey            = "Datacenter"
-	resourcePoolKey          = "ResourcePool"
-	folderKey                = "Folder"
-	datastoreKey             = "Datastore"
-	networkNameKey           = "Network"
-	scRequiredKey            = "StorageClassRequired"
-	useInventoryKey          = "UseInventoryAsContentSource"
-	insecureSkipTLSVerifyKey = "InsecureSkipTLSVerify"
-	caFilePathKey            = "CAFilePath"
+	// NOTE: ConfigMapName/ConfigMapKey values below must match what defined in pkg/vmprovider/providers/vsphere/config/config.go.
+
+	configMapName                     = "vsphere.provider.config.vmoperator.vmware.com"
+	hostConfigMapKey                  = "VcPNID" // vcenter host
+	portConfigMapKey                  = "VcPort"
+	credentialSecretNameConfigMapKey  = "VcCredsSecretName" //nolint:gosec
+	datacenterConfigMapKey            = "Datacenter"
+	resourcePoolConfigMapKey          = "ResourcePool"
+	folderConfigMapKey                = "Folder"
+	storageClassRequiredConfigMapKey  = "StorageClassRequired"
+	useInventoryConfigMapKey          = "UseInventoryAsContentSource"
+	insecureSkipTLSVerifyConfigMapKey = "InsecureSkipTLSVerify"
+
+	// Additional ConfigMapKey we are adding to the vm-operator config map for sake of convenience (not supported in vm-operator).
+
+	serverURLConfigMapKey            = "CAPV-TEST-Server"
+	datacenterNameConfigMapKey       = "CAPV-TEST-DatacenterName"
+	distributedPortGroupConfigMapKey = "CAPV-TEST-PortGroup"
+
+	// Const for the VcCredsSecret (hard-coded in vm-operator).
+	vmOperatorSecretName = "vsphere.provider.credentials.vmoperator.vmware.com"
+
+	usernameSecretKey = "username"
+	passwordSecretKey = "password"
+
+	// Additional key we are adding to the VcCredsSecret for sake of convenience (not supported in vm-operator).
+
+	thumbprintSecretKey = "CAPV-TEST-Thumbprint" //nolint:gosec
 )
 
 // ReconcileDependencies reconciles dependencies for the vm-operator.
@@ -265,12 +277,15 @@ func ReconcileDependencies(ctx context.Context, c client.Client, dependenciesCon
 	// This secret contains credentials to access vCenter the vm-operator acts on.
 	secret := &corev1.Secret{
 		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
-			Name:      providerConfigMapName, // using the same name of the config map for consistency.
+			Name:      vmOperatorSecretName,
 			Namespace: config.Spec.OperatorRef.Namespace,
 		},
 		Data: map[string][]byte{
-			"username": []byte(config.Spec.VCenter.Username),
-			"password": []byte(config.Spec.VCenter.Password),
+			usernameSecretKey: []byte(config.Spec.VCenter.Username),
+			passwordSecretKey: []byte(config.Spec.VCenter.Password),
+
+			// Additional key we are adding to the VcCredsSecret for sake of convenience (not supported in vm-operator)
+			thumbprintSecretKey: []byte(config.Spec.VCenter.Thumbprint),
 		},
 		Type: corev1.SecretTypeOpaque,
 	}
@@ -303,22 +318,27 @@ func ReconcileDependencies(ctx context.Context, c client.Client, dependenciesCon
 
 	providerConfigMap := &corev1.ConfigMap{
 		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
-			Name:      providerConfigMapName,
+			Name:      configMapName,
 			Namespace: config.Spec.OperatorRef.Namespace,
 		},
 		Data: map[string]string{
-			caFilePathKey:            "", // Leaving this empty because we don't have (yet) a solution to inject a CA file into the vm-operator pod.
-			datastoreKey:             "", // It seems it is ok to leave it empty.
-			datacenterKey:            datacenter.Reference().Value,
-			folderKey:                folder.Reference().Value,
-			insecureSkipTLSVerifyKey: "true",                          // Using this given that we don't have (yet) a solution to inject a CA file into the vm-operator pod.
-			networkNameKey:           config.Spec.VCenter.NetworkName, // It seems it is ok to leave it empty.
-			resourcePoolKey:          resourcePool.Reference().Value,
-			scRequiredKey:            "true",
-			useInventoryKey:          "false",
-			vcCredsSecretNameKey:     secret.Name,
-			vcPNIDKey:                host,
-			vcPortKey:                port,
+			// caFilePathConfigMapKey:            "", // Leaving this empty because we don't have (yet) a solution to inject a CA file into the vm-operator pod.
+			// datastoreConfigMapKey:             "", // It seems it is ok to leave it empty.
+			datacenterConfigMapKey:            datacenter.Reference().Value,
+			folderConfigMapKey:                folder.Reference().Value,
+			insecureSkipTLSVerifyConfigMapKey: "true", // Using this given that we don't have (yet) a solution to inject a CA file into the vm-operator pod.
+			// NetworkNameConfigMapKey:           config.Spec.VCenter.NetworkName, // It seems it is ok to leave it empty.
+			resourcePoolConfigMapKey:         resourcePool.Reference().Value,
+			storageClassRequiredConfigMapKey: "true",
+			useInventoryConfigMapKey:         "false",
+			credentialSecretNameConfigMapKey: secret.Name,
+			hostConfigMapKey:                 host,
+			portConfigMapKey:                 port,
+
+			// Additional key we are adding to the vm-operator config map for sake of convenience (not supported in vm-operator)
+			serverURLConfigMapKey:            config.Spec.VCenter.ServerURL,
+			datacenterNameConfigMapKey:       config.Spec.VCenter.Datacenter,
+			distributedPortGroupConfigMapKey: config.Spec.VCenter.DistributedPortGreoupName,
 		},
 	}
 	_ = wait.PollUntilContextTimeout(ctx, 250*time.Millisecond, 5*time.Second, true, func(ctx context.Context) (bool, error) {
@@ -689,7 +709,87 @@ func ReconcileDependencies(ctx context.Context, c client.Client, dependenciesCon
 	return nil
 }
 
-// NOTE: code below is a fork of vm-operator's pkg/conditions (so we can avoid to import the entire project)
+// GetVCenterSession returns a VCenter session from vm-operator config.
+func GetVCenterSession(ctx context.Context, c client.Client, enableKeepAlive bool, keepAliveDuration time.Duration) (*session.Session, error) {
+	configMap := &corev1.ConfigMap{
+		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+			Name:      configMapName,
+			Namespace: DefaultNamespace, // This is where tilt deploys the vm-operator
+		},
+	}
+	if err := c.Get(ctx, client.ObjectKeyFromObject(configMap), configMap); err != nil {
+		return nil, errors.Wrapf(err, "failed to get vm-operator ConfigMap %s", configMap.Name)
+	}
+
+	serverURL := configMap.Data[serverURLConfigMapKey]
+	if serverURL == "" {
+		return nil, errors.Errorf("%s value is missing from the vm-operator ConfigMap %s", serverURLConfigMapKey, configMap.Name)
+	}
+	datacenter := configMap.Data[datacenterNameConfigMapKey]
+	if datacenter == "" {
+		return nil, errors.Errorf("%s value is missing from the vm-operator ConfigMap %s", datacenterNameConfigMapKey, configMap.Name)
+	}
+	secretName := configMap.Data[credentialSecretNameConfigMapKey]
+	if secretName == "" {
+		return nil, errors.Errorf("%s value is missing from the vm-operator ConfigMap %s", credentialSecretNameConfigMapKey, configMap.Name)
+	}
+
+	secret := &corev1.Secret{
+		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+			Name:      secretName,
+			Namespace: configMap.Namespace, // This is where tilt deploys the vm-operator
+		},
+	}
+	if err := c.Get(ctx, client.ObjectKeyFromObject(secret), secret); err != nil {
+		return nil, errors.Wrapf(err, "failed to get vm-operator Credential Secret %s", secret.Name)
+	}
+	username := string(secret.Data[usernameSecretKey])
+	if username == "" {
+		return nil, errors.Errorf("%s value is missing from the vm-operator Secret %s", usernameSecretKey, secret.Name)
+	}
+	password := string(secret.Data[passwordSecretKey])
+	if password == "" {
+		return nil, errors.Errorf("%s value is missing from the vm-operator Secret %s", passwordSecretKey, secret.Name)
+	}
+	thumbprint := string(secret.Data[thumbprintSecretKey])
+	if thumbprint == "" {
+		return nil, errors.Errorf("%s value is missing from the vm-operator Secret %s", thumbprintSecretKey, secret.Name)
+	}
+
+	params := session.NewParams().
+		WithServer(serverURL).
+		WithDatacenter(datacenter).
+		WithUserInfo(username, password).
+		WithThumbprint(thumbprint).
+		WithFeatures(session.Feature{
+			EnableKeepAlive:   enableKeepAlive,
+			KeepAliveDuration: keepAliveDuration,
+		})
+
+	return session.GetOrCreate(ctx, params)
+}
+
+// GetDistributedPortGroup returns a the DistributedPortGroup from vm-operator config.
+func GetDistributedPortGroup(ctx context.Context, c client.Client) (string, error) {
+	configMap := &corev1.ConfigMap{
+		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+			Name:      configMapName,
+			Namespace: DefaultNamespace, // This is where tilt deploys the vm-operator
+		},
+	}
+	if err := c.Get(ctx, client.ObjectKeyFromObject(configMap), configMap); err != nil {
+		return "", errors.Wrapf(err, "failed to get vm-operator ConfigMap %s", configMap.Name)
+	}
+
+	distributedPortGroup := configMap.Data[distributedPortGroupConfigMapKey]
+	if distributedPortGroup == "" {
+		return "", errors.Errorf("%s value is missing from the vm-operator ConfigMap %s", distributedPortGroupConfigMapKey, configMap.Name)
+	}
+
+	return distributedPortGroup, nil
+}
+
+// NOTE: code below is a fork of vm-operator's pkg/conditions (so we can avoid to import the entire project).
 
 const (
 	ReadyConditionType = "Ready"
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/Dockerfile b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9cf947fdc5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+# syntax=docker/dockerfile:1.4
+
+# Copyright 2024 The Kubernetes Authors.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+# Build the manager binary
+# Run this with docker build --build-arg builder_image=<golang:x.y.z>
+ARG builder_image
+
+# Build architecture
+ARG ARCH
+
+# Ignore Hadolint rule "Always tag the version of an image explicitly."
+# It's an invalid finding since the image is explicitly set in the Makefile.
+# https://github.com/hadolint/hadolint/wiki/DL3006
+# hadolint ignore=DL3006
+FROM ${builder_image} as builder
+WORKDIR /workspace
+
+# Run this with docker build --build-arg goproxy=$(go env GOPROXY) to override the goproxy
+ARG goproxy=https://proxy.golang.org
+ENV GOPROXY=$goproxy
+
+# Copy the Go Modules manifests
+COPY go.mod go.mod
+COPY go.sum go.sum
+
+# Change directories into the test go module
+WORKDIR /workspace/test
+
+# Copy the Go Modules manifests
+COPY test/go.mod go.mod
+COPY test/go.sum go.sum
+
+# Cache deps before building and copying source so that we don't need to re-download as much
+# and so that source changes don't invalidate our downloaded layer
+RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/go/pkg/mod \
+    go mod download
+
+# This needs to build with the entire CAPV context
+WORKDIR /workspace
+
+# Copy the sources (which includes the test/infrastructure/vcsim subdirectory)
+COPY ./ ./
+
+# Change directories into net-operator
+WORKDIR /workspace/test/infrastructure/net-operator
+
+# Cache the go build into the Go’s compiler cache folder so we take benefits of compiler caching across docker build calls
+RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.cache/go-build \
+    --mount=type=cache,target=/go/pkg/mod \
+    go build .
+
+# Build
+ARG package=.
+ARG ARCH
+ARG ldflags
+
+# Do not force rebuild of up-to-date packages (do not use -a) and use the compiler cache folder
+RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.cache/go-build \
+    --mount=type=cache,target=/go/pkg/mod \
+    CGO_ENABLED=0 GOOS=linux GOARCH=${ARCH} \
+    go build -trimpath -ldflags "${ldflags} -extldflags '-static'" \
+    -o manager ${package}
+
+
+FROM gcr.io/distroless/static:nonroot-${ARCH}
+WORKDIR /
+COPY --from=builder /workspace/test/infrastructure/net-operator/manager .
+# Use uid of nonroot user (65532) because kubernetes expects numeric user when applying pod security policies
+USER 65532
+ENTRYPOINT ["/manager"]
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/README.md b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..88664a6ec9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# net-operator
+
+Provide a minimal implementation of the net-operator. see [vm-operator](../vm-operator/README.md) for more details.
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/certmanager/certificate.yaml b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/certmanager/certificate.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4079986e89
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/certmanager/certificate.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+# The following manifests contain a self-signed issuer CR and a certificate CR.
+# More document can be found at https://docs.cert-manager.io
+apiVersion: cert-manager.io/v1
+kind: Issuer
+metadata:
+  name: selfsigned-issuer
+  namespace: system
+spec:
+  selfSigned: {}
+---
+apiVersion: cert-manager.io/v1
+kind: Certificate
+metadata:
+  name: serving-cert  # this name should match the one appeared in kustomizeconfig.yaml
+  namespace: system
+spec:
+  # $(SERVICE_NAME) and $(SERVICE_NAMESPACE) will be substituted by kustomize
+  dnsNames:
+    - $(SERVICE_NAME).$(SERVICE_NAMESPACE).svc
+    - $(SERVICE_NAME).$(SERVICE_NAMESPACE).svc.cluster.local
+  issuerRef:
+    kind: Issuer
+    name: selfsigned-issuer
+  secretName: $(SERVICE_NAME)-cert # this secret will not be prefixed, since it's not managed by kustomize
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/certmanager/kustomization.yaml b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/certmanager/kustomization.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..95f333f3f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/certmanager/kustomization.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+resources:
+  - certificate.yaml
+
+configurations:
+  - kustomizeconfig.yaml
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/certmanager/kustomizeconfig.yaml b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/certmanager/kustomizeconfig.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c6a6c0f1e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/certmanager/kustomizeconfig.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+# This configuration is for teaching kustomize how to update name ref and var substitution
+nameReference:
+  - kind: Issuer
+    group: cert-manager.io
+    fieldSpecs:
+      - kind: Certificate
+        group: cert-manager.io
+        path: spec/issuerRef/name
+
+varReference:
+  - kind: Certificate
+    group: cert-manager.io
+    path: spec/commonName
+  - kind: Certificate
+    group: cert-manager.io
+    path: spec/dnsNames
+  - kind: Certificate
+    group: cert-manager.io
+    path: spec/secretName
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/default/kustomization.yaml b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/default/kustomization.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..22e2d4470e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/default/kustomization.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+namespace: vmware-system-netop
+
+namePrefix: vmware-system-netop-
+
+commonLabels:
+  # capvsim is not a provider, but by adding this label
+  # we can get this installed by Cluster APIs Tiltfile and by the clusterctl machinery we use in E2E tests.
+  cluster.x-k8s.io/provider: "runtime-extension-net-operator"
+
+resources:
+  - namespace.yaml
+
+bases:
+  - ../rbac
+  - ../manager
+  - ../webhook
+  - ../certmanager
+
+patchesStrategicMerge:
+  # Provide customizable hook for make targets.
+  - manager_image_patch.yaml
+  - manager_pull_policy.yaml
+  - manager_webhook_patch.yaml
+
+vars:
+  - name: CERTIFICATE_NAMESPACE # namespace of the certificate CR
+    objref:
+      kind: Certificate
+      group: cert-manager.io
+      version: v1
+      name: serving-cert # this name should match the one in certificate.yaml
+    fieldref:
+      fieldpath: metadata.namespace
+  - name: CERTIFICATE_NAME
+    objref:
+      kind: Certificate
+      group: cert-manager.io
+      version: v1
+      name: serving-cert # this name should match the one in certificate.yaml
+  - name: SERVICE_NAMESPACE # namespace of the service
+    objref:
+      kind: Service
+      version: v1
+      name: webhook-service
+    fieldref:
+      fieldpath: metadata.namespace
+  - name: SERVICE_NAME
+    objref:
+      kind: Service
+      version: v1
+      name: webhook-service
+
+configurations:
+  - kustomizeconfig.yaml
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/default/kustomizeconfig.yaml b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/default/kustomizeconfig.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..eb191e64d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/default/kustomizeconfig.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# This configuration is for teaching kustomize how to update name ref and var substitution
+varReference:
+- kind: Deployment
+  path: spec/template/spec/volumes/secret/secretName
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/default/manager_image_patch.yaml b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/default/manager_image_patch.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4c98b6de01
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/default/manager_image_patch.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+apiVersion: apps/v1
+kind: Deployment
+metadata:
+  name: controller-manager
+  namespace: system
+spec:
+  template:
+    spec:
+      containers:
+      - image: gcr.io/k8s-staging-capi-vsphere/extra/net-operator:dev
+        name: manager
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/default/manager_pull_policy.yaml b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/default/manager_pull_policy.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..74a0879c60
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/default/manager_pull_policy.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+apiVersion: apps/v1
+kind: Deployment
+metadata:
+  name: controller-manager
+  namespace: system
+spec:
+  template:
+    spec:
+      containers:
+      - name: manager
+        imagePullPolicy: Always
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/default/manager_webhook_patch.yaml b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/default/manager_webhook_patch.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f18fd10f99
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/default/manager_webhook_patch.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+apiVersion: apps/v1
+kind: Deployment
+metadata:
+  name: controller-manager
+  namespace: system
+spec:
+  template:
+    spec:
+      containers:
+      - name: manager
+        ports:
+        - containerPort: 9443
+          name: webhook-server
+          protocol: TCP
+        volumeMounts:
+        - mountPath: /tmp/k8s-webhook-server/serving-certs
+          name: cert
+          readOnly: true
+      volumes:
+      - name: cert
+        secret:
+          secretName: $(SERVICE_NAME)-cert # this secret will not be prefixed, since it's not managed by kustomize
+
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/default/namespace.yaml b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/default/namespace.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8b55c3cd89
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/default/namespace.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Namespace
+metadata:
+  labels:
+    control-plane: controller-manager
+  name: system
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/manager/kustomization.yaml b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/manager/kustomization.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5c5f0b84cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/manager/kustomization.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+resources:
+- manager.yaml
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/manager/manager.yaml b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/manager/manager.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..62dadf6a05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/manager/manager.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+apiVersion: apps/v1
+kind: Deployment
+metadata:
+  name: controller-manager
+  namespace: system
+  labels:
+    control-plane: controller-manager
+spec:
+  selector:
+    matchLabels:
+      control-plane: controller-manager
+  replicas: 1
+  template:
+    metadata:
+      labels:
+        control-plane: controller-manager
+    spec:
+      containers:
+      - command:
+        - /manager
+        args:
+        - "--leader-elect"
+        - "--diagnostics-address=${CAPI_DIAGNOSTICS_ADDRESS:=:8443}"
+        - "--insecure-diagnostics=${CAPI_INSECURE_DIAGNOSTICS:=false}"
+        image: controller:latest
+        name: manager
+        ports:
+        - containerPort: 9440
+          name: healthz
+          protocol: TCP
+        - containerPort: 8443
+          name: metrics
+          protocol: TCP
+        readinessProbe:
+          httpGet:
+            path: /readyz
+            port: healthz
+        livenessProbe:
+          httpGet:
+            path: /healthz
+            port: healthz
+        securityContext:
+          allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
+          capabilities:
+            drop:
+              - ALL
+          privileged: false
+          runAsUser: 65532
+          runAsGroup: 65532
+      terminationGracePeriodSeconds: 10
+      serviceAccountName: manager
+      tolerations:
+      - effect: NoSchedule
+        key: node-role.kubernetes.io/master
+      - effect: NoSchedule
+        key: node-role.kubernetes.io/control-plane
+      securityContext:
+        runAsNonRoot: true
+        seccompProfile:
+          type: RuntimeDefault
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/rbac/kustomization.yaml b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/rbac/kustomization.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e82521ffdc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/rbac/kustomization.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
+kind: Kustomization
+resources:
+- role.yaml
+- role_binding.yaml
+- service_account.yaml
+- leader_election_role.yaml
+- leader_election_role_binding.yaml
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/rbac/leader_election_role.yaml b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/rbac/leader_election_role.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..23055e187d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/rbac/leader_election_role.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+# permissions to do leader election.
+apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
+kind: Role
+metadata:
+  name: leader-election-role
+rules:
+- apiGroups:
+  - ""
+  resources:
+  - events
+  verbs:
+  - create
+- apiGroups:
+  - "coordination.k8s.io"
+  resources:
+  - leases
+  verbs:
+  - get
+  - list
+  - watch
+  - create
+  - update
+  - patch
+  - delete
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/rbac/leader_election_role_binding.yaml b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/rbac/leader_election_role_binding.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d5e0044679
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/rbac/leader_election_role_binding.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
+kind: RoleBinding
+metadata:
+  name: leader-election-rolebinding
+roleRef:
+  apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
+  kind: Role
+  name: leader-election-role
+subjects:
+- kind: ServiceAccount
+  name: manager
+  namespace: system
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/rbac/role.yaml b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/rbac/role.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..881758e75d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/rbac/role.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+---
+apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
+kind: ClusterRole
+metadata:
+  name: manager-role
+rules:
+- apiGroups:
+  - ""
+  resources:
+  - configmaps
+  verbs:
+  - create
+  - get
+  - list
+  - watch
+- apiGroups:
+  - ""
+  resources:
+  - secrets
+  verbs:
+  - create
+  - get
+  - list
+  - watch
+- apiGroups:
+  - netoperator.vmware.com
+  resources:
+  - networkinterfaces
+  verbs:
+  - get
+  - list
+  - patch
+  - watch
+- apiGroups:
+  - netoperator.vmware.com
+  resources:
+  - networkinterfaces/status
+  verbs:
+  - get
+  - patch
+  - update
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/rbac/role_binding.yaml b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/rbac/role_binding.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5a95f66d6f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/rbac/role_binding.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
+kind: ClusterRoleBinding
+metadata:
+  name: manager-rolebinding
+roleRef:
+  apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
+  kind: ClusterRole
+  name: manager-role
+subjects:
+- kind: ServiceAccount
+  name: manager
+  namespace: system
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/rbac/service_account.yaml b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/rbac/service_account.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..77f747b53c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/rbac/service_account.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: ServiceAccount
+metadata:
+  name: manager
+  namespace: system
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/webhook/kustomization.yaml b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/webhook/kustomization.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..66157d5d5f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/webhook/kustomization.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+resources:
+- service.yaml
+
+configurations:
+- kustomizeconfig.yaml
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/webhook/kustomizeconfig.yaml b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/webhook/kustomizeconfig.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..25e21e3c96
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/webhook/kustomizeconfig.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+# the following config is for teaching kustomize where to look at when substituting vars.
+# It requires kustomize v2.1.0 or newer to work properly.
+nameReference:
+- kind: Service
+  version: v1
+  fieldSpecs:
+  - kind: MutatingWebhookConfiguration
+    group: admissionregistration.k8s.io
+    path: webhooks/clientConfig/service/name
+  - kind: ValidatingWebhookConfiguration
+    group: admissionregistration.k8s.io
+    path: webhooks/clientConfig/service/name
+
+namespace:
+- kind: MutatingWebhookConfiguration
+  group: admissionregistration.k8s.io
+  path: webhooks/clientConfig/service/namespace
+  create: true
+- kind: ValidatingWebhookConfiguration
+  group: admissionregistration.k8s.io
+  path: webhooks/clientConfig/service/namespace
+  create: true
+
+varReference:
+- path: metadata/annotations
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/webhook/service.yaml b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/webhook/service.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..711977f54f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/webhook/service.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Service
+metadata:
+  name: webhook-service
+  namespace: system
+spec:
+  ports:
+    - port: 443
+      targetPort: webhook-server
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/controllers/doc.go b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/controllers/doc.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7c2c9f65bb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/controllers/doc.go
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2024 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+// Package controllers implements reconcilers for the vcsim controller.
+package controllers
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/controllers/networkinterface_controller.go b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/controllers/networkinterface_controller.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..fc7692f22f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/controllers/networkinterface_controller.go
@@ -0,0 +1,123 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2024 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package controllers
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/pkg/errors"
+	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
+	apierrors "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/errors"
+	kerrors "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/errors"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api/util/patch"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api/util/predicates"
+	ctrl "sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/client"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/controller"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/reconcile"
+
+	"sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api-provider-vsphere/test/framework/vmoperator"
+	netopv1alpha1 "sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api-provider-vsphere/test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1"
+)
+
+type NetworkInterfaceReconciler struct {
+	Client            client.Client
+	EnableKeepAlive   bool
+	KeepAliveDuration time.Duration
+
+	// WatchFilterValue is the label value used to filter events prior to reconciliation.
+	WatchFilterValue string
+}
+
+// +kubebuilder:rbac:groups=netoperator.vmware.com,resources=networkinterfaces,verbs=get;list;watch;patch
+// +kubebuilder:rbac:groups=netoperator.vmware.com,resources=networkinterfaces/status,verbs=get;update;patch
+// +kubebuilder:rbac:groups="",resources=secrets,verbs=get;list;watch;create
+// +kubebuilder:rbac:groups="",resources=configmaps,verbs=get;list;watch;create
+
+func (r *NetworkInterfaceReconciler) Reconcile(ctx context.Context, req ctrl.Request) (_ ctrl.Result, reterr error) {
+	log := ctrl.LoggerFrom(ctx)
+	log.Info("Reconciling NetworkInterface")
+
+	// Fetch the NetworkInterface instance
+	networkInterface := &netopv1alpha1.NetworkInterface{}
+	if err := r.Client.Get(ctx, req.NamespacedName, networkInterface); err != nil {
+		if apierrors.IsNotFound(err) {
+			return ctrl.Result{}, nil
+		}
+		return ctrl.Result{}, err
+	}
+
+	// Initialize the patch helper
+	patchHelper, err := patch.NewHelper(networkInterface, r.Client)
+	if err != nil {
+		return ctrl.Result{}, err
+	}
+
+	// Always attempt to Patch the NetworkInterface object and status after each reconciliation.
+	defer func() {
+		if err := patchHelper.Patch(ctx, networkInterface); err != nil {
+			reterr = kerrors.NewAggregate([]error{reterr, err})
+		}
+	}()
+
+	if networkInterface.Status.NetworkID == "" {
+		s, err := vmoperator.GetVCenterSession(ctx, r.Client, r.EnableKeepAlive, r.KeepAliveDuration)
+		if err != nil {
+			return reconcile.Result{}, errors.Wrapf(err, "failed to get vcenter session")
+		}
+
+		distributedPortGroupName, err := vmoperator.GetDistributedPortGroup(ctx, r.Client)
+		if err != nil {
+			return reconcile.Result{}, err
+		}
+
+		distributedPortGroup, err := s.Finder.Network(ctx, distributedPortGroupName)
+		if err != nil {
+			return ctrl.Result{}, errors.Wrapf(err, "failed to get DistributedPortGroup %s", distributedPortGroupName)
+		}
+
+		networkInterface.Status.NetworkID = distributedPortGroup.Reference().Value
+		networkInterface.Status.Conditions = []netopv1alpha1.NetworkInterfaceCondition{
+			{
+				Type:   netopv1alpha1.NetworkInterfaceReady,
+				Status: corev1.ConditionTrue,
+			},
+		}
+
+		// NOTE: we are not setting networkInterface.Status.IPConfigs because we are using dhcp to assign ip in supervisor tests (or the vmIP reconciler with vcsim).
+
+		log.Info("Reconciling NetworkInterface status simulating successful net-operator reconcile")
+	}
+
+	return ctrl.Result{}, nil
+}
+
+// SetupWithManager will add watches for this controller.
+func (r *NetworkInterfaceReconciler) SetupWithManager(ctx context.Context, mgr ctrl.Manager, options controller.Options) error {
+	err := ctrl.NewControllerManagedBy(mgr).
+		For(&netopv1alpha1.NetworkInterface{}).
+		WithOptions(options).
+		WithEventFilter(predicates.ResourceNotPausedAndHasFilterLabel(ctrl.LoggerFrom(ctx), r.WatchFilterValue)).
+		Complete(r)
+
+	if err != nil {
+		return errors.Wrap(err, "failed setting up with a controller manager")
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/doc.go b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/doc.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b367b8fad2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/doc.go
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2024 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+// Package v1alpha1 contains API Schema definitions for the net operator API group
+// +kubebuilder:object:generate=true
+// +groupName=netoperator.vmware.com
+package v1alpha1
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/groupversion_info.go b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/groupversion_info.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6c44013a0d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/groupversion_info.go
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2024 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package v1alpha1
+
+import (
+	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime/schema"
+)
+
+// GroupName specifies the group name used to register the objects.
+const GroupName = "netoperator.vmware.com"
+
+var (
+	// SchemeGroupVersion is group version used to register these objects.
+	SchemeGroupVersion = schema.GroupVersion{Group: GroupName, Version: "v1alpha1"}
+
+	// SchemeBuilder is used to add go types to the GroupVersionKind scheme.
+	SchemeBuilder = &runtime.SchemeBuilder{}
+
+	// AddToScheme adds the types in this group-version to the given scheme.
+	AddToScheme = SchemeBuilder.AddToScheme
+)
+
+// Resource takes an unqualified resource and returns a Group qualified GroupResource.
+func Resource(resource string) schema.GroupResource {
+	return SchemeGroupVersion.WithResource(resource).GroupResource()
+}
+
+// RegisterTypeWithScheme adds objects to the SchemeBuilder.
+func RegisterTypeWithScheme(object ...runtime.Object) {
+	SchemeBuilder.Register(func(scheme *runtime.Scheme) error {
+		scheme.AddKnownTypes(SchemeGroupVersion, object...)
+		metav1.AddToGroupVersion(scheme, SchemeGroupVersion)
+		return nil
+	})
+}
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/networkinterface_types.go b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/networkinterface_types.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b7f033cfbf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/networkinterface_types.go
@@ -0,0 +1,160 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2024 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package v1alpha1
+
+import (
+	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
+	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
+)
+
+const (
+	// NetworkInterfaceFinalizer allows the Controller to clean up resources associated
+	// with a NetworkInterface before removing it from the API Server.
+	NetworkInterfaceFinalizer = "networkinterface.netoperator.vmware.com"
+)
+
+// IPFamily represents the IP Family (IPv4 or IPv6). This type is used
+// to express the family of an IP expressed by a type (i.e. service.Spec.IPFamily).
+// NOTE: Copied from k8s.io/api/core/v1" because VM Operator is using old version.
+type IPFamily string
+
+const (
+	// IPv4Protocol indicates that this IP is IPv4 protocol.
+	IPv4Protocol IPFamily = "IPv4"
+	// IPv6Protocol indicates that this IP is IPv6 protocol.
+	IPv6Protocol IPFamily = "IPv6"
+)
+
+// IPConfig represents an IP configuration.
+type IPConfig struct {
+	// IP setting.
+	IP string `json:"ip"`
+	// IPFamily specifies the IP family (IPv4 vs IPv6) the IP belongs to.
+	IPFamily IPFamily `json:"ipFamily"`
+	// Gateway setting.
+	Gateway string `json:"gateway"`
+	// SubnetMask setting.
+	SubnetMask string `json:"subnetMask"`
+}
+
+// NetworkInterfaceProviderReference contains info to locate a network interface provider object.
+type NetworkInterfaceProviderReference struct {
+	// APIGroup is the group for the resource being referenced.
+	APIGroup string `json:"apiGroup"`
+	// Kind is the type of resource being referenced.
+	Kind string `json:"kind"`
+	// Name is the name of resource being referenced.
+	Name string `json:"name"`
+	// API version of the referent.
+	APIVersion string `json:"apiVersion,omitempty"`
+}
+
+type NetworkInterfaceConditionType string
+
+const (
+	// NetworkInterfaceReady is added when all network settings have been updated and the network
+	// interface is ready to be used.
+	NetworkInterfaceReady NetworkInterfaceConditionType = "Ready"
+	// NetworkInterfaceFailure is added when network provider plugin returns an error.
+	NetworkInterfaceFailure NetworkInterfaceConditionType = "Failure"
+)
+
+type NetworkInterfaceConditionReason string
+
+const (
+	// NetworkInterfaceFailureReasonCannotAllocIP is in failed state because an IPConfig cannot be allocated.
+	NetworkInterfaceFailureReasonCannotAllocIP NetworkInterfaceConditionReason = "CannotAllocIP"
+)
+
+// NetworkInterfaceCondition describes the state of a NetworkInterface at a certain point.
+type NetworkInterfaceCondition struct {
+	// Type is the type of network interface condition.
+	Type NetworkInterfaceConditionType `json:"type"`
+	// Status is the status of the condition.
+	// Can be True, False, Unknown.
+	Status corev1.ConditionStatus `json:"status"`
+	// LastTransitionTime is the timestamp corresponding to the last status
+	// change of this condition.
+	LastTransitionTime *metav1.Time `json:"lastTransitionTime,omitempty"`
+	// Machine understandable string that gives the reason for condition's last transition.
+	Reason NetworkInterfaceConditionReason `json:"reason,omitempty"`
+	// Human-readable message indicating details about last transition.
+	Message string `json:"message,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// NetworkInterfaceStatus defines the observed state of NetworkInterface.
+// Once NetworkInterfaceReady condition is True, it should contain configuration to use to place
+// a VM/Pod/Container's nic on the specified network.
+type NetworkInterfaceStatus struct {
+	// Conditions is an array of current observed network interface conditions.
+	Conditions []NetworkInterfaceCondition `json:"conditions,omitempty"`
+	// IPConfigs is an array of IP configurations for the network interface.
+	IPConfigs []IPConfig `json:"ipConfigs,omitempty"`
+	// MacAddress setting for the network interface.
+	MacAddress string `json:"macAddress,omitempty"`
+	// ExternalID is a network provider specific identifier assigned to the network interface.
+	ExternalID string `json:"externalID,omitempty"`
+	// NetworkID is an network provider specific identifier for the network backing the network
+	// interface.
+	NetworkID string `json:"networkID,omitempty"`
+}
+
+type NetworkInterfaceType string
+
+const (
+	// NetworkInterfaceTypeVMXNet3 is for a VMXNET3 device.
+	NetworkInterfaceTypeVMXNet3 = NetworkInterfaceType("vmxnet3")
+)
+
+// NetworkInterfaceSpec defines the desired state of NetworkInterface.
+type NetworkInterfaceSpec struct {
+	// NetworkName refers to a NetworkObject in the same namespace.
+	NetworkName string `json:"networkName,omitempty"`
+	// Type is the type of NetworkInterface. Supported values are vmxnet3.
+	Type NetworkInterfaceType `json:"type,omitempty"`
+	// ProviderRef is a reference to a provider specific network interface object
+	// that specifies the network interface configuration.
+	// If unset, default configuration is assumed.
+	ProviderRef *NetworkInterfaceProviderReference `json:"providerRef,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// +kubebuilder:object:root=true
+// +kubebuilder:subresource:status
+
+// NetworkInterface is the Schema for the networkinterfaces API.
+// A NetworkInterface represents a user's request for network configuration to use to place a
+// VM/Pod/Container's nic on a specified network.
+type NetworkInterface struct {
+	metav1.TypeMeta   `json:",inline"`
+	metav1.ObjectMeta `json:"metadata,omitempty"`
+
+	Spec   NetworkInterfaceSpec   `json:"spec,omitempty"`
+	Status NetworkInterfaceStatus `json:"status,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// +kubebuilder:object:root=true
+
+// NetworkInterfaceList contains a list of NetworkInterface.
+type NetworkInterfaceList struct {
+	metav1.TypeMeta `json:",inline"`
+	metav1.ListMeta `json:"metadata,omitempty"`
+	Items           []NetworkInterface `json:"items"`
+}
+
+func init() {
+	RegisterTypeWithScheme(&NetworkInterface{}, &NetworkInterfaceList{})
+}
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/vmxnet3networkinterface_types.go b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/vmxnet3networkinterface_types.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d7a096ad89
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/vmxnet3networkinterface_types.go
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2024 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package v1alpha1
+
+import (
+	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
+)
+
+// VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceSpec defines the desired state of VMXNET3NetworkInterface.
+type VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceSpec struct {
+	// UPTCompatibilityEnabled indicates whether UPT(Universal Pass-through) compatibility is enabled
+	// on this network interface.
+	UPTCompatibilityEnabled bool `json:"uptCompatibilityEnabled,omitempty"`
+	// WakeOnLanEnabled indicates whether wake-on-LAN is enabled on this network interface. Clients
+	// can set this property to selectively enable or disable wake-on-LAN.
+	WakeOnLanEnabled bool `json:"wakeOnLanEnabled,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceStatus is unused. VMXNET3NetworkInterface is a configuration only resource.
+type VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceStatus struct {
+}
+
+// +genclient
+// +kubebuilder:object:root=true
+
+// VMXNET3NetworkInterface is the Schema for the vmxnet3networkinterfaces API.
+// It represents configuration of a vSphere VMXNET3 type  network interface card.
+type VMXNET3NetworkInterface struct {
+	metav1.TypeMeta   `json:",inline"`
+	metav1.ObjectMeta `json:"metadata,omitempty"`
+
+	Spec   VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceSpec   `json:"spec,omitempty"`
+	Status VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceStatus `json:"status,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// +kubebuilder:object:root=true
+
+// VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceList contains a list of VMXNET3NetworkInterface.
+type VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceList struct {
+	metav1.TypeMeta `json:",inline"`
+	metav1.ListMeta `json:"metadata,omitempty"`
+	Items           []VMXNET3NetworkInterface `json:"items"`
+}
+
+func init() {
+	RegisterTypeWithScheme(&VMXNET3NetworkInterface{}, &VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceList{})
+}
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..962456bf03
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
@@ -0,0 +1,269 @@
+//go:build !ignore_autogenerated
+
+/*
+Copyright The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+// Code generated by controller-gen. DO NOT EDIT.
+
+package v1alpha1
+
+import (
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
+)
+
+// DeepCopyInto is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, writing into out. in must be non-nil.
+func (in *IPConfig) DeepCopyInto(out *IPConfig) {
+	*out = *in
+}
+
+// DeepCopy is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, creating a new IPConfig.
+func (in *IPConfig) DeepCopy() *IPConfig {
+	if in == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	out := new(IPConfig)
+	in.DeepCopyInto(out)
+	return out
+}
+
+// DeepCopyInto is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, writing into out. in must be non-nil.
+func (in *NetworkInterface) DeepCopyInto(out *NetworkInterface) {
+	*out = *in
+	out.TypeMeta = in.TypeMeta
+	in.ObjectMeta.DeepCopyInto(&out.ObjectMeta)
+	in.Spec.DeepCopyInto(&out.Spec)
+	in.Status.DeepCopyInto(&out.Status)
+}
+
+// DeepCopy is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, creating a new NetworkInterface.
+func (in *NetworkInterface) DeepCopy() *NetworkInterface {
+	if in == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	out := new(NetworkInterface)
+	in.DeepCopyInto(out)
+	return out
+}
+
+// DeepCopyObject is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, creating a new runtime.Object.
+func (in *NetworkInterface) DeepCopyObject() runtime.Object {
+	if c := in.DeepCopy(); c != nil {
+		return c
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// DeepCopyInto is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, writing into out. in must be non-nil.
+func (in *NetworkInterfaceCondition) DeepCopyInto(out *NetworkInterfaceCondition) {
+	*out = *in
+	if in.LastTransitionTime != nil {
+		in, out := &in.LastTransitionTime, &out.LastTransitionTime
+		*out = (*in).DeepCopy()
+	}
+}
+
+// DeepCopy is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, creating a new NetworkInterfaceCondition.
+func (in *NetworkInterfaceCondition) DeepCopy() *NetworkInterfaceCondition {
+	if in == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	out := new(NetworkInterfaceCondition)
+	in.DeepCopyInto(out)
+	return out
+}
+
+// DeepCopyInto is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, writing into out. in must be non-nil.
+func (in *NetworkInterfaceList) DeepCopyInto(out *NetworkInterfaceList) {
+	*out = *in
+	out.TypeMeta = in.TypeMeta
+	in.ListMeta.DeepCopyInto(&out.ListMeta)
+	if in.Items != nil {
+		in, out := &in.Items, &out.Items
+		*out = make([]NetworkInterface, len(*in))
+		for i := range *in {
+			(*in)[i].DeepCopyInto(&(*out)[i])
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// DeepCopy is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, creating a new NetworkInterfaceList.
+func (in *NetworkInterfaceList) DeepCopy() *NetworkInterfaceList {
+	if in == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	out := new(NetworkInterfaceList)
+	in.DeepCopyInto(out)
+	return out
+}
+
+// DeepCopyObject is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, creating a new runtime.Object.
+func (in *NetworkInterfaceList) DeepCopyObject() runtime.Object {
+	if c := in.DeepCopy(); c != nil {
+		return c
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// DeepCopyInto is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, writing into out. in must be non-nil.
+func (in *NetworkInterfaceProviderReference) DeepCopyInto(out *NetworkInterfaceProviderReference) {
+	*out = *in
+}
+
+// DeepCopy is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, creating a new NetworkInterfaceProviderReference.
+func (in *NetworkInterfaceProviderReference) DeepCopy() *NetworkInterfaceProviderReference {
+	if in == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	out := new(NetworkInterfaceProviderReference)
+	in.DeepCopyInto(out)
+	return out
+}
+
+// DeepCopyInto is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, writing into out. in must be non-nil.
+func (in *NetworkInterfaceSpec) DeepCopyInto(out *NetworkInterfaceSpec) {
+	*out = *in
+	if in.ProviderRef != nil {
+		in, out := &in.ProviderRef, &out.ProviderRef
+		*out = new(NetworkInterfaceProviderReference)
+		**out = **in
+	}
+}
+
+// DeepCopy is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, creating a new NetworkInterfaceSpec.
+func (in *NetworkInterfaceSpec) DeepCopy() *NetworkInterfaceSpec {
+	if in == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	out := new(NetworkInterfaceSpec)
+	in.DeepCopyInto(out)
+	return out
+}
+
+// DeepCopyInto is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, writing into out. in must be non-nil.
+func (in *NetworkInterfaceStatus) DeepCopyInto(out *NetworkInterfaceStatus) {
+	*out = *in
+	if in.Conditions != nil {
+		in, out := &in.Conditions, &out.Conditions
+		*out = make([]NetworkInterfaceCondition, len(*in))
+		for i := range *in {
+			(*in)[i].DeepCopyInto(&(*out)[i])
+		}
+	}
+	if in.IPConfigs != nil {
+		in, out := &in.IPConfigs, &out.IPConfigs
+		*out = make([]IPConfig, len(*in))
+		copy(*out, *in)
+	}
+}
+
+// DeepCopy is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, creating a new NetworkInterfaceStatus.
+func (in *NetworkInterfaceStatus) DeepCopy() *NetworkInterfaceStatus {
+	if in == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	out := new(NetworkInterfaceStatus)
+	in.DeepCopyInto(out)
+	return out
+}
+
+// DeepCopyInto is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, writing into out. in must be non-nil.
+func (in *VMXNET3NetworkInterface) DeepCopyInto(out *VMXNET3NetworkInterface) {
+	*out = *in
+	out.TypeMeta = in.TypeMeta
+	in.ObjectMeta.DeepCopyInto(&out.ObjectMeta)
+	out.Spec = in.Spec
+	out.Status = in.Status
+}
+
+// DeepCopy is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, creating a new VMXNET3NetworkInterface.
+func (in *VMXNET3NetworkInterface) DeepCopy() *VMXNET3NetworkInterface {
+	if in == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	out := new(VMXNET3NetworkInterface)
+	in.DeepCopyInto(out)
+	return out
+}
+
+// DeepCopyObject is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, creating a new runtime.Object.
+func (in *VMXNET3NetworkInterface) DeepCopyObject() runtime.Object {
+	if c := in.DeepCopy(); c != nil {
+		return c
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// DeepCopyInto is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, writing into out. in must be non-nil.
+func (in *VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceList) DeepCopyInto(out *VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceList) {
+	*out = *in
+	out.TypeMeta = in.TypeMeta
+	in.ListMeta.DeepCopyInto(&out.ListMeta)
+	if in.Items != nil {
+		in, out := &in.Items, &out.Items
+		*out = make([]VMXNET3NetworkInterface, len(*in))
+		for i := range *in {
+			(*in)[i].DeepCopyInto(&(*out)[i])
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// DeepCopy is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, creating a new VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceList.
+func (in *VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceList) DeepCopy() *VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceList {
+	if in == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	out := new(VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceList)
+	in.DeepCopyInto(out)
+	return out
+}
+
+// DeepCopyObject is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, creating a new runtime.Object.
+func (in *VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceList) DeepCopyObject() runtime.Object {
+	if c := in.DeepCopy(); c != nil {
+		return c
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// DeepCopyInto is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, writing into out. in must be non-nil.
+func (in *VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceSpec) DeepCopyInto(out *VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceSpec) {
+	*out = *in
+}
+
+// DeepCopy is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, creating a new VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceSpec.
+func (in *VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceSpec) DeepCopy() *VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceSpec {
+	if in == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	out := new(VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceSpec)
+	in.DeepCopyInto(out)
+	return out
+}
+
+// DeepCopyInto is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, writing into out. in must be non-nil.
+func (in *VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceStatus) DeepCopyInto(out *VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceStatus) {
+	*out = *in
+}
+
+// DeepCopy is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, creating a new VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceStatus.
+func (in *VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceStatus) DeepCopy() *VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceStatus {
+	if in == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	out := new(VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceStatus)
+	in.DeepCopyInto(out)
+	return out
+}
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/main.go b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/main.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..348d3991ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/main.go
@@ -0,0 +1,296 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2024 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+// Package main define main for the vcsim controller.
+package main
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"flag"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"reflect"
+	goruntime "runtime"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/pkg/errors"
+	"github.com/spf13/pflag"
+	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime/schema"
+	"k8s.io/client-go/tools/leaderelection/resourcelock"
+	cliflag "k8s.io/component-base/cli/flag"
+	"k8s.io/component-base/logs"
+	logsv1 "k8s.io/component-base/logs/api/v1"
+	"k8s.io/klog/v2"
+	clusterv1 "sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api/api/v1beta1"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api/controllers/remote"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api/feature"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api/util/flags"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api/version"
+	ctrl "sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/cache"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/client"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/controller"
+	ctrlmgr "sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/manager"
+
+	vmwarev1 "sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api-provider-vsphere/apis/vmware/v1beta1"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api-provider-vsphere/pkg/constants"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api-provider-vsphere/test/infrastructure/net-operator/controllers"
+	netopv1alpha1 "sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api-provider-vsphere/test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1"
+)
+
+var (
+	scheme         = runtime.NewScheme()
+	setupLog       = ctrl.Log.WithName("setup")
+	controllerName = "net-operator-controller-manager"
+
+	// common flags flags.
+	enableLeaderElection        bool
+	leaderElectionLeaseDuration time.Duration
+	leaderElectionRenewDeadline time.Duration
+	leaderElectionRetryPeriod   time.Duration
+	watchFilterValue            string
+	watchNamespace              string
+	profilerAddress             string
+	enableContentionProfiling   bool
+	syncPeriod                  time.Duration
+	restConfigQPS               float32
+	restConfigBurst             int
+	healthAddr                  string
+	diagnosticsOptions          = flags.DiagnosticsOptions{}
+	logOptions                  = logs.NewOptions()
+	// net operator specific flags.
+	networkInterfaceConcurrency int
+	// vsphere session specific flags.
+	enableKeepAlive   bool
+	keepAliveDuration time.Duration
+)
+
+func init() {
+	// scheme used for operating on the management cluster.
+	_ = corev1.AddToScheme(scheme)
+	_ = netopv1alpha1.AddToScheme(scheme)
+}
+
+// InitFlags initializes the flags.
+func InitFlags(fs *pflag.FlagSet) {
+	logsv1.AddFlags(logOptions, fs)
+
+	fs.BoolVar(&enableLeaderElection, "leader-elect", false,
+		"Enable leader election for controller manager. Enabling this will ensure there is only one active controller manager.")
+
+	fs.DurationVar(&leaderElectionLeaseDuration, "leader-elect-lease-duration", 15*time.Second,
+		"Interval at which non-leader candidates will wait to force acquire leadership (duration string)")
+
+	fs.DurationVar(&leaderElectionRenewDeadline, "leader-elect-renew-deadline", 10*time.Second,
+		"Duration that the leading controller manager will retry refreshing leadership before giving up (duration string)")
+
+	fs.DurationVar(&leaderElectionRetryPeriod, "leader-elect-retry-period", 2*time.Second,
+		"Duration the LeaderElector clients should wait between tries of actions (duration string)")
+
+	fs.StringVar(&watchNamespace, "namespace", "",
+		"Namespace that the controller watches to reconcile cluster-api objects. If unspecified, the controller watches for cluster-api objects across all namespaces.")
+
+	fs.StringVar(&watchFilterValue, "watch-filter", "",
+		fmt.Sprintf("Label value that the controller watches to reconcile cluster-api objects. Label key is always %s. If unspecified, the controller watches for all cluster-api objects.", clusterv1.WatchLabel))
+
+	fs.StringVar(&profilerAddress, "profiler-address", "",
+		"Bind address to expose the pprof profiler (e.g. localhost:6060)")
+
+	fs.BoolVar(&enableContentionProfiling, "contention-profiling", false,
+		"Enable block profiling")
+
+	fs.IntVar(&networkInterfaceConcurrency, "network-interface-concurrency", 10,
+		"Number of NetworkInterface to process simultaneously")
+
+	fs.DurationVar(&syncPeriod, "sync-period", 10*time.Minute,
+		"The minimum interval at which watched resources are reconciled (e.g. 15m)")
+
+	fs.Float32Var(&restConfigQPS, "kube-api-qps", 20,
+		"Maximum queries per second from the controller client to the Kubernetes API server. Defaults to 20")
+
+	fs.IntVar(&restConfigBurst, "kube-api-burst", 30,
+		"Maximum number of queries that should be allowed in one burst from the controller client to the Kubernetes API server. Default 30")
+
+	fs.StringVar(&healthAddr, "health-addr", ":9440",
+		"The address the health endpoint binds to.")
+
+	fs.BoolVar(&enableKeepAlive, "enable-keep-alive", constants.DefaultEnableKeepAlive,
+		"feature to enable keep alive handler in vsphere sessions. This functionality is enabled by default.")
+
+	fs.DurationVar(&keepAliveDuration, "keep-alive-duration", constants.DefaultKeepAliveDuration,
+		"idle time interval(minutes) in between send() requests in keepalive handler")
+
+	flags.AddDiagnosticsOptions(fs, &diagnosticsOptions)
+
+	feature.MutableGates.AddFlag(fs)
+}
+
+// Add RBAC for the authorized diagnostics endpoint.
+// +kubebuilder:rbac:groups=authentication.k8s.io,resources=tokenreviews,verbs=create
+// +kubebuilder:rbac:groups=authorization.k8s.io,resources=subjectaccessreviews,verbs=create
+
+func main() {
+	InitFlags(pflag.CommandLine)
+	pflag.CommandLine.SetNormalizeFunc(cliflag.WordSepNormalizeFunc)
+	pflag.CommandLine.AddGoFlagSet(flag.CommandLine)
+	// Set log level 2 as default.
+	if err := pflag.CommandLine.Set("v", "2"); err != nil {
+		setupLog.Error(err, "failed to set default log level")
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+	pflag.Parse()
+
+	if err := logsv1.ValidateAndApply(logOptions, nil); err != nil {
+		setupLog.Error(err, "unable to start manager")
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+
+	// klog.Background will automatically use the right logger.
+	ctrl.SetLogger(klog.Background())
+
+	restConfig := ctrl.GetConfigOrDie()
+	restConfig.QPS = restConfigQPS
+	restConfig.Burst = restConfigBurst
+	restConfig.UserAgent = remote.DefaultClusterAPIUserAgent(controllerName)
+
+	diagnosticsOpts := flags.GetDiagnosticsOptions(diagnosticsOptions)
+
+	var watchNamespaces map[string]cache.Config
+	if watchNamespace != "" {
+		watchNamespaces = map[string]cache.Config{
+			watchNamespace: {},
+		}
+	}
+
+	if enableContentionProfiling {
+		goruntime.SetBlockProfileRate(1)
+	}
+
+	ctrlOptions := ctrl.Options{
+		Scheme:                     scheme,
+		LeaderElection:             enableLeaderElection,
+		LeaderElectionID:           "vcsim-controller-leader-election-capi",
+		LeaseDuration:              &leaderElectionLeaseDuration,
+		RenewDeadline:              &leaderElectionRenewDeadline,
+		RetryPeriod:                &leaderElectionRetryPeriod,
+		LeaderElectionResourceLock: resourcelock.LeasesResourceLock,
+		HealthProbeBindAddress:     healthAddr,
+		PprofBindAddress:           profilerAddress,
+		Metrics:                    diagnosticsOpts,
+		Cache: cache.Options{
+			DefaultNamespaces: watchNamespaces,
+			SyncPeriod:        &syncPeriod,
+		},
+		Client: client.Options{
+			Cache: &client.CacheOptions{
+				DisableFor: []client.Object{
+					&corev1.ConfigMap{},
+					&corev1.Secret{},
+				},
+			},
+		},
+		// WebhookServer: webhook.NewServer(
+		//	webhook.Options{
+		//		Port:    webhookPort,
+		//		CertDir: webhookCertDir,
+		//		TLSOpts: tlsOptionOverrides,
+		//	},
+		// ),
+	}
+
+	mgr, err := ctrl.NewManager(restConfig, ctrlOptions)
+	if err != nil {
+		setupLog.Error(err, "unable to start manager")
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+
+	// Setup the context that's going to be used in controllers and for the manager.
+	ctx := ctrl.SetupSignalHandler()
+
+	// Check for supervisor VSphereCluster and start controller if found
+	gvr := vmwarev1.GroupVersion.WithResource(reflect.TypeOf(&vmwarev1.VSphereCluster{}).Elem().Name())
+	supervisorMode, err := isCRDDeployed(mgr, gvr)
+	if err != nil {
+		setupLog.Error(err, "unable to detect supervisor mode")
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+
+	// Continuing startup does not make sense without having managers added.
+	if !supervisorMode {
+		err := errors.New("supervisor CRDs not detected")
+		setupLog.Error(err, "CAPV CRDs are not deployed yet, restarting")
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+
+	setupChecks(mgr, supervisorMode)
+	setupIndexes(ctx, mgr, supervisorMode)
+	setupReconcilers(ctx, mgr, supervisorMode)
+	setupWebhooks(mgr, supervisorMode)
+
+	setupLog.Info("starting manager", "version", version.Get().String())
+	if err := mgr.Start(ctx); err != nil {
+		setupLog.Error(err, "problem running manager")
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+}
+
+func setupChecks(mgr ctrl.Manager, _ bool) {
+	if err := mgr.AddReadyzCheck("webhook", mgr.GetWebhookServer().StartedChecker()); err != nil {
+		setupLog.Error(err, "unable to create ready check")
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+
+	if err := mgr.AddHealthzCheck("webhook", mgr.GetWebhookServer().StartedChecker()); err != nil {
+		setupLog.Error(err, "unable to create health check")
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+}
+
+func setupIndexes(_ context.Context, _ ctrl.Manager, _ bool) {
+}
+
+func setupReconcilers(ctx context.Context, mgr ctrl.Manager, _ bool) {
+	if err := (&controllers.NetworkInterfaceReconciler{
+		Client:            mgr.GetClient(),
+		EnableKeepAlive:   enableKeepAlive,
+		KeepAliveDuration: keepAliveDuration,
+		WatchFilterValue:  watchFilterValue,
+	}).SetupWithManager(ctx, mgr, concurrency(networkInterfaceConcurrency)); err != nil { // TODO: change
+		setupLog.Error(err, "unable to create controller", "controller", "NetworkInterfaceReconciler")
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+}
+
+func setupWebhooks(_ ctrl.Manager, _ bool) {
+}
+
+func concurrency(c int) controller.Options {
+	return controller.Options{MaxConcurrentReconciles: c}
+}
+
+func isCRDDeployed(mgr ctrlmgr.Manager, gvr schema.GroupVersionResource) (bool, error) {
+	_, err := mgr.GetRESTMapper().KindFor(gvr)
+	if err != nil {
+		if meta.IsNoMatchError(err) {
+			return false, nil
+		}
+		return false, err
+	}
+	return true, nil
+}
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/tilt-provider.yaml b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/tilt-provider.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4a502759ec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/tilt-provider.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+---
+- name: net-operator
+  config:
+    version: v1.10.99
+    image: gcr.io/k8s-staging-capi-vsphere/extra/net-operator
+    live_reload_deps:
+      - main.go
+      - controllers
+    label: NETOP
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/vcsim/Dockerfile b/test/infrastructure/vcsim/Dockerfile
index c4cd873767..e425bce913 100644
--- a/test/infrastructure/vcsim/Dockerfile
+++ b/test/infrastructure/vcsim/Dockerfile
@@ -36,8 +36,9 @@ ENV GOPROXY=$goproxy
 COPY go.mod go.mod
 COPY go.sum go.sum
 
-# Essentially, change directories into the test go module
+# Change directories into the test go module
 WORKDIR /workspace/test
+
 # Copy the Go Modules manifests
 COPY test/go.mod go.mod
 COPY test/go.sum go.sum
@@ -47,12 +48,12 @@ COPY test/go.sum go.sum
 RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/go/pkg/mod \
     go mod download
 
-# This needs to build with the entire Cluster API context
+# This needs to build with the entire CAPV context
 WORKDIR /workspace
 # Copy the sources (which includes the test/infrastructure/vcsim subdirectory)
 COPY ./ ./
 
-# Essentially, change directories into vcsim
+# Change directories into vcsim
 WORKDIR /workspace/test/infrastructure/vcsim
 
 # Cache the go build into the Go’s compiler cache folder so we take benefits of compiler caching across docker build calls
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/vcsim/README.md b/test/infrastructure/vcsim/README.md
index 072aa629db..f49ac67395 100644
--- a/test/infrastructure/vcsim/README.md
+++ b/test/infrastructure/vcsim/README.md
@@ -168,6 +168,7 @@ provide extra args or enable debugging for this provider e.g.
 ...
 provider_repos:
   - ../cluster-api-provider-vsphere
+  - ../cluster-api-provider-vsphere/test/infrastructure/vcsim
 enable_providers:
   - kubeadm-bootstrap
   - kubeadm-control-plane
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/vcsim/api/v1alpha1/vmoperatordependencies_types.go b/test/infrastructure/vcsim/api/v1alpha1/vmoperatordependencies_types.go
index 7cd337e424..6928c2536a 100644
--- a/test/infrastructure/vcsim/api/v1alpha1/vmoperatordependencies_types.go
+++ b/test/infrastructure/vcsim/api/v1alpha1/vmoperatordependencies_types.go
@@ -61,12 +61,12 @@ type VCenterSpec struct {
 	Thumbprint string `json:"thumbprint,omitempty"`
 
 	// supervisor is based on a single vCenter cluster
-	Datacenter     string               `json:"datacenter,omitempty"`
-	Cluster        string               `json:"cluster,omitempty"`
-	Folder         string               `json:"folder,omitempty"`
-	ResourcePool   string               `json:"resourcePool,omitempty"`
-	ContentLibrary ContentLibraryConfig `json:"contentLibrary,omitempty"`
-	NetworkName    string               `json:"networkName,omitempty"`
+	Datacenter                string               `json:"datacenter,omitempty"`
+	Cluster                   string               `json:"cluster,omitempty"`
+	Folder                    string               `json:"folder,omitempty"`
+	ResourcePool              string               `json:"resourcePool,omitempty"`
+	ContentLibrary            ContentLibraryConfig `json:"contentLibrary,omitempty"`
+	DistributedPortGreoupName string               `json:"distributedPortGreoupName,omitempty"`
 }
 
 type StorageClass struct {
@@ -139,16 +139,18 @@ func (d *VMOperatorDependencies) SetVCenterFromVCenterSimulator(vCenterSimulator
 	datacenter := 0
 	cluster := 0
 	datastore := 0
+	distributedPortGroup := 0
 
 	d.Spec.VCenter = &VCenterSpec{
-		ServerURL:    vCenterSimulator.Status.Host,
-		Username:     vCenterSimulator.Status.Username,
-		Password:     vCenterSimulator.Status.Password,
-		Thumbprint:   vCenterSimulator.Status.Thumbprint,
-		Datacenter:   vcsimhelpers.DatacenterName(datacenter),
-		Cluster:      vcsimhelpers.ClusterPath(datacenter, cluster),
-		Folder:       vcsimhelpers.VMFolderName(datacenter),
-		ResourcePool: vcsimhelpers.ResourcePoolPath(datacenter, cluster),
+		ServerURL:                 vCenterSimulator.Status.Host,
+		Username:                  vCenterSimulator.Status.Username,
+		Password:                  vCenterSimulator.Status.Password,
+		Thumbprint:                vCenterSimulator.Status.Thumbprint,
+		Datacenter:                vcsimhelpers.DatacenterName(datacenter),
+		Cluster:                   vcsimhelpers.ClusterPath(datacenter, cluster),
+		Folder:                    vcsimhelpers.VMFolderName(datacenter),
+		DistributedPortGreoupName: vcsimhelpers.DistributedPortGroupName(datacenter, distributedPortGroup),
+		ResourcePool:              vcsimhelpers.ResourcePoolPath(datacenter, cluster),
 		ContentLibrary: ContentLibraryConfig{
 			Name:      "vcsim",
 			Datastore: vcsimhelpers.DatastorePath(datacenter, datastore),
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/vcsim/config/crd/bases/vcsim.infrastructure.cluster.x-k8s.io_vmoperatordependencies.yaml b/test/infrastructure/vcsim/config/crd/bases/vcsim.infrastructure.cluster.x-k8s.io_vmoperatordependencies.yaml
index 7a4b3b736c..9d256cb7b1 100644
--- a/test/infrastructure/vcsim/config/crd/bases/vcsim.infrastructure.cluster.x-k8s.io_vmoperatordependencies.yaml
+++ b/test/infrastructure/vcsim/config/crd/bases/vcsim.infrastructure.cluster.x-k8s.io_vmoperatordependencies.yaml
@@ -96,9 +96,9 @@ spec:
                   datacenter:
                     description: supervisor is based on a single vCenter cluster
                     type: string
-                  folder:
+                  distributedPortGreoupName:
                     type: string
-                  networkName:
+                  folder:
                     type: string
                   password:
                     type: string
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/vcsim/controllers/vcsim_controller.go b/test/infrastructure/vcsim/controllers/vcsim_controller.go
index 51263c1326..5632267c7a 100644
--- a/test/infrastructure/vcsim/controllers/vcsim_controller.go
+++ b/test/infrastructure/vcsim/controllers/vcsim_controller.go
@@ -54,15 +54,6 @@ import (
 
 const (
 	vcsimMinVersionForCAPV = "7.0.0"
-
-	// vmIP reconciler secret.
-
-	netConfigMapName       = "vsphere.provider.config.netoperator.vmware.com"
-	netConfigServerURLKey  = "server"
-	netConfigDatacenterKey = "datacenter"
-	netConfigUsernameKey   = "username"
-	netConfigPasswordKey   = "password"
-	netConfigThumbprintKey = "thumbprint"
 )
 
 type VCenterSimulatorReconciler struct {
@@ -232,15 +223,6 @@ func (r *VCenterSimulatorReconciler) reconcileNormal(ctx context.Context, vCente
 		if err := vmoperator.ReconcileDependencies(ctx, r.Client, dependenciesConfig); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
-
-		// The vm-operator doesn't take care of the networking part of the VM, which is usually
-		// managed by other components in the supervisor cluster.
-		// In order to make things to work in vcsim, there is the vmIP reconciler, which requires
-		// some info about the vcsim instance; in order to do so, we are creating a Secret.
-
-		if err := addPreRequisitesForVMIPReconciler(ctx, r.Client, dependenciesConfig); err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
 	}
 
 	return nil
@@ -277,42 +259,6 @@ func createVMTemplates(ctx context.Context, vCenterSimulator *vcsimv1.VCenterSim
 	return nil
 }
 
-func addPreRequisitesForVMIPReconciler(ctx context.Context, c client.Client, config *vcsimv1.VMOperatorDependencies) error {
-	log := ctrl.LoggerFrom(ctx)
-	log.Info("Reconciling requirements for the Fake net-operator Deployment")
-
-	// default the OperatorRef if not specified.
-	if config.Spec.OperatorRef == nil {
-		config.Spec.OperatorRef = &vcsimv1.VMOperatorRef{Namespace: vmoperator.DefaultNamespace}
-	}
-
-	netOperatorSecret := &corev1.Secret{
-		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
-			Name:      netConfigMapName,
-			Namespace: config.Spec.OperatorRef.Namespace,
-		},
-		StringData: map[string]string{
-			netConfigServerURLKey:  config.Spec.VCenter.ServerURL,
-			netConfigDatacenterKey: config.Spec.VCenter.Datacenter,
-			netConfigUsernameKey:   config.Spec.VCenter.Username,
-			netConfigPasswordKey:   config.Spec.VCenter.Password,
-			netConfigThumbprintKey: config.Spec.VCenter.Thumbprint,
-		},
-		Type: corev1.SecretTypeOpaque,
-	}
-	if err := c.Get(ctx, client.ObjectKeyFromObject(netOperatorSecret), netOperatorSecret); err != nil {
-		if !apierrors.IsNotFound(err) {
-			return errors.Wrapf(err, "failed to get net-operator Secret %s", netOperatorSecret.Name)
-		}
-		if err := c.Create(ctx, netOperatorSecret); err != nil {
-			return errors.Wrapf(err, "failed to create net-operator Secret %s", netOperatorSecret.Name)
-		}
-		log.Info("Created net-operator Secret", "Secret", klog.KObj(netOperatorSecret))
-	}
-
-	return nil
-}
-
 func (r *VCenterSimulatorReconciler) reconcileDelete(ctx context.Context, vCenterSimulator *vcsimv1.VCenterSimulator) {
 	log := ctrl.LoggerFrom(ctx)
 	log.Info("Reconciling delete VCenter server")
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/vcsim/controllers/virtualmachine_controller.go b/test/infrastructure/vcsim/controllers/virtualmachine_controller.go
index a1e703b597..c799d8bd25 100644
--- a/test/infrastructure/vcsim/controllers/virtualmachine_controller.go
+++ b/test/infrastructure/vcsim/controllers/virtualmachine_controller.go
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	vmoprv1 "github.com/vmware-tanzu/vm-operator/api/v1alpha1"
-	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	apierrors "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/errors"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	kerrors "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/errors"
@@ -295,48 +294,7 @@ func (r *VirtualMachineReconciler) getVMBootstrapReconciler(virtualMachine *vmop
 }
 
 func (r *VirtualMachineReconciler) getVCenterSession(ctx context.Context) (*session.Session, error) {
-	secret := &corev1.Secret{
-		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
-			Name:      netConfigMapName,
-			Namespace: vmoperator.DefaultNamespace, // This is where tilt deploys the vm-operator
-		},
-	}
-	if err := r.Client.Get(ctx, client.ObjectKeyFromObject(secret), secret); err != nil {
-		return nil, errors.Wrapf(err, "failed to get vm-operator Secret %s", secret.Name)
-	}
-
-	serverURL := string(secret.Data[netConfigServerURLKey])
-	if serverURL == "" {
-		return nil, errors.Errorf("%s value is missing from the vm-operator Secret %s", netConfigServerURLKey, secret.Name)
-	}
-	datacenter := string(secret.Data[netConfigDatacenterKey])
-	if datacenter == "" {
-		return nil, errors.Errorf("%s value is missing from the vm-operator Secret %s", netConfigDatacenterKey, secret.Name)
-	}
-	username := string(secret.Data[netConfigUsernameKey])
-	if username == "" {
-		return nil, errors.Errorf("%s value is missing from the vm-operator Secret %s", netConfigUsernameKey, secret.Name)
-	}
-	password := string(secret.Data[netConfigPasswordKey])
-	if password == "" {
-		return nil, errors.Errorf("%s value is missing from the vm-operator Secret %s", netConfigPasswordKey, secret.Name)
-	}
-	thumbprint := string(secret.Data[netConfigThumbprintKey])
-	if thumbprint == "" {
-		return nil, errors.Errorf("%s value is missing from the vm-operator Secret %s", netConfigThumbprintKey, secret.Name)
-	}
-
-	params := session.NewParams().
-		WithServer(serverURL).
-		WithDatacenter(datacenter).
-		WithUserInfo(username, password).
-		WithThumbprint(thumbprint).
-		WithFeatures(session.Feature{
-			EnableKeepAlive:   r.EnableKeepAlive,
-			KeepAliveDuration: r.KeepAliveDuration,
-		})
-
-	return session.GetOrCreate(ctx, params)
+	return vmoperator.GetVCenterSession(ctx, r.Client, r.EnableKeepAlive, r.KeepAliveDuration)
 }
 
 // SetupWithManager will add watches for this controller.
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/Fix_defaulting_for_Named_networks.patch b/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/Fix_defaulting_for_Named_networks.patch
deleted file mode 100644
index 4ce9961d12..0000000000
--- a/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/Fix_defaulting_for_Named_networks.patch
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,22 +0,0 @@
-Subject: [PATCH] Fix defaulting for Named networks
----
-Index: webhooks/virtualmachine/v1alpha2/validation/virtualmachine_validator.go
-IDEA additional info:
-Subsystem: com.intellij.openapi.diff.impl.patch.CharsetEP
-<+>UTF-8
-===================================================================
-diff --git a/webhooks/virtualmachine/v1alpha2/validation/virtualmachine_validator.go b/webhooks/virtualmachine/v1alpha2/validation/virtualmachine_validator.go
---- a/webhooks/virtualmachine/v1alpha2/validation/virtualmachine_validator.go	(revision de75746a9505ef3161172d99b735d6593c54f0c5)
-+++ b/webhooks/virtualmachine/v1alpha2/validation/virtualmachine_validator.go	(date 1712596700934)
-@@ -443,9 +443,9 @@
- 
- 	// The networkInterface CR name ("vmName-networkName-interfaceName" or "vmName-interfaceName") needs to be a DNS1123 Label
- 	if networkName != "" {
--		networkIfCRName = fmt.Sprintf("%s-%s-%s", vmName, networkName, interfaceSpec.Name)
-+		networkIfCRName = strings.ToLower(strings.ReplaceAll(fmt.Sprintf("%s-%s-%s", vmName, networkName, interfaceSpec.Name), " ", "-"))
- 	} else {
--		networkIfCRName = fmt.Sprintf("%s-%s", vmName, interfaceSpec.Name)
-+		networkIfCRName = strings.ToLower(strings.ReplaceAll(fmt.Sprintf("%s-%s", vmName, interfaceSpec.Name), " ", "-"))
- 	}
- 
- 	for _, msg := range validation.NameIsDNSSubdomain(networkIfCRName, false) {
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/README.md b/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/README.md
index f483895200..fe38bed81c 100644
--- a/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/README.md
+++ b/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/README.md
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ This project has the requirement to test CAPV in supervisor mode using  all the
 CAPI, CAPV and vCenter supervisor, and also for all the version built from open PRs.
 
 In order to achieve this without incurring the cost/complexity of creating multiple, ad-hoc vCenter distributions, 
-we are using a "limited version of the supervisor", composed by the vm-operator only.
+we are using a "limited version of the supervisor", composed by the vm-operator and by a minimal version of the net-operator.
 
 This "limited version of the supervisor" is considered enough to provide a signal for CAPV development and test; 
 however, due to the necessary trade-offs required to get a simple and cheap test environment, the solution described below
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ The picture explains how this works in detail:
 
 ![Architecture](architecture-part1.drawio.svg)
 
+NOTE: net-operator is not represented for sake of simplicity, it is complementary to the vm-operator.
+
 As you might notice, it is required to have an additional component taking care of setting up the management cluster
 and vCenter as required by the vm-operator. This component exist in different variants according to the use cases
 described in following paragraphs.
@@ -44,11 +46,14 @@ NOTE: before using `vm-operator` for the first time, you have to run `make vm-op
 ...
 provider_repos:
   - ../cluster-api-provider-vsphere
+  - ../cluster-api-provider-vsphere/test/infrastructure/net-operator
+  - ../cluster-api-provider-vsphere/test/infrastructure/vcsim
 enable_providers:
   - kubeadm-bootstrap
   - kubeadm-control-plane
   - vsphere-supervisor
   - vm-operator
+  - net-operator
   - vcsim
 extra_args:
   vcsim:
@@ -73,6 +78,8 @@ The following image summarizes all the moving parts involved in this scenario.
 
 ![Architecture](architecture-part2.drawio.svg)
 
+NOTE: net-operator is not represented for sake of simplicity, it is complementary to the vm-operator.
+
 ## E2E tests for CAPV in supervisor mode
 
 A subset of CAPV E2E tests can be executed using the supervisor mode by setting `GINKGO_FOCUS="\[supervisor\]"`.
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/kustomization.yaml b/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/kustomization.yaml
index 5aed49c1e7..177f367450 100644
--- a/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/kustomization.yaml
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ resources:
 patchesStrategicMerge:
 - vm-operator-replicas.yaml
 - vm-operator-pull-policy.yaml
+- vm-operator-env-var-patch.yaml
+- net-operator-networkinterface-status.yaml
 
 patches:
 - target:
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/net-operator-networkinterface-status.yaml b/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/net-operator-networkinterface-status.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..399c36e3c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/net-operator-networkinterface-status.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,138 @@
+apiVersion: apiextensions.k8s.io/v1
+kind: CustomResourceDefinition
+metadata:
+  name: networkinterfaces.netoperator.vmware.com
+spec:
+  versions:
+    - name: v1alpha1
+      schema:
+        openAPIV3Schema:
+          description: NetworkInterface is the Schema for the networkinterfaces API.
+            A NetworkInterface represents a user's request for network configuration
+            to use to place a VM/Pod/Container's nic on a specified network.
+          properties:
+            apiVersion:
+              description: 'APIVersion defines the versioned schema of this representation
+              of an object. Servers should convert recognized schemas to the latest
+              internal value, and may reject unrecognized values. More info: https://git.k8s.io/community/contributors/devel/sig-architecture/api-conventions.md#resources'
+              type: string
+            kind:
+              description: 'Kind is a string value representing the REST resource this
+              object represents. Servers may infer this from the endpoint the client
+              submits requests to. Cannot be updated. In CamelCase. More info: https://git.k8s.io/community/contributors/devel/sig-architecture/api-conventions.md#types-kinds'
+              type: string
+            metadata:
+              type: object
+            spec:
+              description: NetworkInterfaceSpec defines the desired state of NetworkInterface.
+              properties:
+                networkName:
+                  description: NetworkName refers to a NetworkObject in the same namespace.
+                  type: string
+                providerRef:
+                  description: ProviderRef is a reference to a provider specific network
+                    interface object that specifies the network interface configuration.
+                    If unset, default configuration is assumed.
+                  properties:
+                    apiGroup:
+                      description: APIGroup is the group for the resource being referenced.
+                      type: string
+                    apiVersion:
+                      description: API version of the referent.
+                      type: string
+                    kind:
+                      description: Kind is the type of resource being referenced
+                      type: string
+                    name:
+                      description: Name is the name of resource being referenced
+                      type: string
+                  required:
+                    - apiGroup
+                    - kind
+                    - name
+                  type: object
+                type:
+                  description: Type is the type of NetworkInterface. Supported values
+                    are vmxnet3.
+                  type: string
+              type: object
+            status:
+              description: NetworkInterfaceStatus defines the observed state of NetworkInterface.
+                Once NetworkInterfaceReady condition is True, it should contain configuration
+                to use to place a VM/Pod/Container's nic on the specified network.
+              properties:
+                conditions:
+                  description: Conditions is an array of current observed network interface
+                    conditions.
+                  items:
+                    description: NetworkInterfaceCondition describes the state of a
+                      NetworkInterface at a certain point.
+                    properties:
+                      lastTransitionTime:
+                        description: LastTransitionTime is the timestamp corresponding
+                          to the last status change of this condition.
+                        format: date-time
+                        type: string
+                      message:
+                        description: Human-readable message indicating details about
+                          last transition.
+                        type: string
+                      reason:
+                        description: Machine understandable string that gives the reason
+                          for condition's last transition.
+                        type: string
+                      status:
+                        description: Status is the status of the condition. Can be True,
+                          False, Unknown.
+                        type: string
+                      type:
+                        description: Type is the type of network interface condition.
+                        type: string
+                    required:
+                      - status
+                      - type
+                    type: object
+                  type: array
+                externalID:
+                  description: ExternalID is a network provider specific identifier
+                    assigned to the network interface.
+                  type: string
+                ipConfigs:
+                  description: IPConfigs is an array of IP configurations for the network
+                    interface.
+                  items:
+                    description: IPConfig represents an IP configuration.
+                    properties:
+                      gateway:
+                        description: Gateway setting.
+                        type: string
+                      ip:
+                        description: IP setting.
+                        type: string
+                      ipFamily:
+                        description: IPFamily specifies the IP family (IPv4 vs IPv6)
+                          the IP belongs to.
+                        type: string
+                      subnetMask:
+                        description: SubnetMask setting.
+                        type: string
+                    required:
+                      - gateway
+                      - ip
+                      - ipFamily
+                      - subnetMask
+                    type: object
+                  type: array
+                macAddress:
+                  description: MacAddress setting for the network interface.
+                  type: string
+                networkID:
+                  description: NetworkID is an network provider specific identifier
+                    for the network backing the network interface.
+                  type: string
+              type: object
+          type: object
+      served: true
+      storage: true
+      subresources:
+        status: { }
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/vm-operator-env-var-patch.yaml b/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/vm-operator-env-var-patch.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1f5165fcc8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/vm-operator-env-var-patch.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+apiVersion: apps/v1
+kind: Deployment
+metadata:
+  name: vmware-system-vmop-controller-manager
+  namespace: vmware-system-vmop
+spec:
+  template:
+    spec:
+      containers:
+        - name: manager
+          env:
+            - name: VSPHERE_NETWORKING
+              value: "true"
+            - name: NETWORK_PROVIDER
+              value: "VSPHERE_NETWORK"
+
+            - name: FSS_WCP_INSTANCE_STORAGE
+              value: "true"
+            - name: FSS_WCP_VMSERVICE_BACKUPRESTORE
+              value: "false"
+            - name: FSS_PODVMONSTRETCHEDSUPERVISOR
+              value: "false"
+            - name: FSS_WCP_TKG_Multiple_CL
+              value: "false"
+            #
+            # Feature state switch flags beneath this line are enabled on main and
+            # only retained in this file because it is used by internal testing to
+            # determine the state of the feature. Since this is used by older
+            # branches as well, the flags must remain, otherwise the absence of the
+            # flag indicates a feature is not present or disabled.
+            #
+            - name: FSS_WCP_Unified_TKG
+              value: "true"
+            - name: FSS_WCP_VMSERVICE_V1ALPHA2
+              value: "true"
+            - name: FSS_WCP_VM_CLASS_AS_CONFIG
+              value: "true"
+            - name: FSS_WCP_VM_CLASS_AS_CONFIG_DAYNDATE
+              value: "true"
+            - name: FSS_WCP_VM_IMAGE_REGISTRY
+              value: "true"
+            - name: FSS_WCP_NAMESPACED_VM_CLASS
+              value: "true"
+            - name: FSS_WCP_WINDOWS_SYSPREP
+              value: "true"
diff --git a/tilt-provider.yaml b/tilt-provider.yaml
index 50718cc6b1..751c9517af 100644
--- a/tilt-provider.yaml
+++ b/tilt-provider.yaml
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@
 # IMPORTANT: run "make vm-operator-manifest-build" before using this "provider" with tilt
 - name: vm-operator
   config:
-    version: v1.8.1
+    version: v1.8.6
     label: VMOP
     kustomize_folder: "/test/infrastructure/vm-operator"
     kustomize_options:

From b5af39f1b25991880cfc6d283c7d8c6c0dae7e9b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: fabriziopandini <fpandini@vmware.com>
Date: Tue, 16 Apr 2024 18:40:22 +0200
Subject: [PATCH 3/6] Add content library items

---
 test/e2e/config/vsphere.yaml |  1 +
 test/e2e/e2e_setup_test.go   | 10 ++++++++++
 2 files changed, 11 insertions(+)

diff --git a/test/e2e/config/vsphere.yaml b/test/e2e/config/vsphere.yaml
index ab88bad6d1..a40e9cc900 100644
--- a/test/e2e/config/vsphere.yaml
+++ b/test/e2e/config/vsphere.yaml
@@ -262,6 +262,7 @@ variables:
   VSPHERE_MACHINE_CLASS_CPU: "4"
   VSPHERE_MACHINE_CLASS_MEMORY: "8Gi"
   VSPHERE_CONTENT_LIBRARY: "capv"
+  VSPHERE_CONTENT_LIBRARY_ITEMS: "ubuntu-2204-kube-v1.28.0,ubuntu-2204-kube-v1.29.0"
   VSPHERE_IMAGE_NAME: "ubuntu-2204-kube-v1.29.0"
   VSPHERE_NETWORK: "sddc-cgw-network-6"
   VSPHERE_DISTRIBUTED_PORT_GROUP: "/SDDC-Datacenter/network/sddc-cgw-network-6"
diff --git a/test/e2e/e2e_setup_test.go b/test/e2e/e2e_setup_test.go
index 873e7908ca..88413642b4 100644
--- a/test/e2e/e2e_setup_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/e2e_setup_test.go
@@ -291,6 +291,16 @@ func setupNamespaceWithVMOperatorDependenciesVCenter(managementClusterProxy fram
 		},
 	}
 
+	items := e2eConfig.GetVariable("VSPHERE_CONTENT_LIBRARY_ITEMS")
+	if items != "" {
+		for _, i := range strings.Split(e2eConfig.GetVariable("VSPHERE_CONTENT_LIBRARY_ITEMS"), ",") {
+			dependenciesConfig.Spec.VCenter.ContentLibrary.Items = append(dependenciesConfig.Spec.VCenter.ContentLibrary.Items, vcsimv1.ContentLibraryItemConfig{
+				Name:     i,
+				ItemType: "ovf",
+			})
+		}
+	}
+
 	err := vmoperator.ReconcileDependencies(ctx, c, dependenciesConfig)
 	Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred(), "Failed to reconcile VMOperatorDependencies")
 }

From 25e2ab8ef8fc0827c43a8e5f86aa6ce4fc157838 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: fabriziopandini <fpandini@vmware.com>
Date: Wed, 17 Apr 2024 13:36:45 +0200
Subject: [PATCH 4/6] Address comments

---
 .golangci.yml                                 |   2 -
 Makefile                                      |  18 +-
 test/e2e/e2e_setup_test.go                    |   2 +-
 test/framework/vmoperator/vmoperator.go       |   6 +-
 test/infrastructure/net-operator/README.md    |   2 +-
 .../config/default/manager_image_patch.yaml   |   2 +-
 .../net-operator/controllers/doc.go           |   2 +-
 .../networkinterface_controller.go            |   3 +-
 .../external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/doc.go |  20 --
 .../api/v1alpha1/groupversion_info.go         |  51 ----
 .../api/v1alpha1/networkinterface_types.go    | 160 -----------
 .../v1alpha1/vmxnet3networkinterface_types.go |  61 ----
 .../api/v1alpha1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go     | 269 ------------------
 test/infrastructure/net-operator/main.go      |   9 +-
 .../net-operator/tilt-provider.yaml           |   2 +-
 .../v1alpha1/vmoperatordependencies_types.go  |  30 +-
 ...uster.x-k8s.io_vmoperatordependencies.yaml |   2 +-
 test/infrastructure/vm-operator/README.md     |   2 +-
 .../net-operator-networkinterface-status.yaml |   2 +
 .../vm-operator-env-var-patch.yaml            |   2 +
 20 files changed, 45 insertions(+), 602 deletions(-)
 delete mode 100644 test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/doc.go
 delete mode 100644 test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/groupversion_info.go
 delete mode 100644 test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/networkinterface_types.go
 delete mode 100644 test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/vmxnet3networkinterface_types.go
 delete mode 100644 test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go

diff --git a/.golangci.yml b/.golangci.yml
index 3ed6554104..c518256d4b 100644
--- a/.golangci.yml
+++ b/.golangci.yml
@@ -188,8 +188,6 @@ issues:
   # We are disabling default golangci exclusions because we want to help reviewers to focus on reviewing the most relevant
   # changes in PRs and avoid nitpicking.
   exclude-use-default: false
-  exclude-dirs:
-    - "test/infrastructure/net-operator/external"
   exclude-rules:
   # Specific exclude rules for deprecated items that are still part of the codebase. These
   # should be removed as the referenced deprecated item is removed from the project.
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 540ada6f83..dac0529e39 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -224,6 +224,7 @@ VM_OPERATOR_IMAGE_NAME ?= extra/vm-operator
 VM_OPERATOR_CONTROLLER_IMG ?= $(STAGING_REGISTRY)/$(VM_OPERATOR_IMAGE_NAME)
 VM_OPERATOR_DIR := test/infrastructure/vm-operator
 VM_OPERATOR_TMP_DIR ?= vm-operator.tmp
+# note: this is the commit from 1.8.6 tag
 VM_OPERATOR_COMMIT ?= de75746a9505ef3161172d99b735d6593c54f0c5
 VM_OPERATOR_VERSION ?= v1.8.6-0-gde75746a
 VM_OPERATOR_ALL_ARCH = amd64 arm64
@@ -306,7 +307,7 @@ generate-manifests: $(CONTROLLER_GEN) ## Generate manifests e.g. CRD, RBAC etc.
 		paths=github.com/vmware-tanzu/vm-operator/api/v1alpha1/... \
 		crd:crdVersions=v1 \
 		output:crd:dir=$(VMOP_CRD_ROOT)
-	# net-operator crds are used for tests
+	# net-operator is used for tests
 	$(CONTROLLER_GEN) \
 		paths=./$(NETOP_DIR)/controllers/... \
         output:rbac:dir=$(NETOP_RBAC_ROOT) \
@@ -330,8 +331,7 @@ generate-go-deepcopy: $(CONTROLLER_GEN) ## Generate deepcopy go code for core
 		paths=./apis/...
 	$(CONTROLLER_GEN) \
     	object:headerFile=./hack/boilerplate/boilerplate.generatego.txt \
-    	paths=./$(VCSIM_DIR)/api/... \
-    	paths=./$(NETOP_DIR)/external/net-operator/api/...
+    	paths=./$(VCSIM_DIR)/api/...
 
 .PHONY: generate-go-conversions
 generate-go-conversions: $(CONTROLLER_GEN) $(CONVERSION_GEN) ## Runs Go related generate targets
@@ -555,9 +555,9 @@ docker-build-net-operator: docker-pull-prerequisites ## Build the docker image f
 ## reads Dockerfile from stdin to avoid an incorrectly cached Dockerfile (https://github.com/moby/buildkit/issues/1368)
 	cat $(NETOP_DIR)/Dockerfile | DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build --build-arg builder_image=$(GO_CONTAINER_IMAGE) --build-arg goproxy=$(GOPROXY) --build-arg ARCH=$(ARCH) --build-arg ldflags="$(LDFLAGS)" . -t $(NET_OPERATOR_IMG)-$(ARCH):$(TAG) --file -
 	@if [ "${DOCKER_BUILD_MODIFY_MANIFESTS}" = "true" ]; then \
-  		$(MAKE) set-manifest-image MANIFEST_IMG=$(NET_OPERATOR_IMG)-$(ARCH) MANIFEST_TAG=$(TAG) TARGET_RESOURCE="./$(NETOP_DIR)/config/default/manager_image_patch.yaml"; \
+		$(MAKE) set-manifest-image MANIFEST_IMG=$(NET_OPERATOR_IMG)-$(ARCH) MANIFEST_TAG=$(TAG) TARGET_RESOURCE="./$(NETOP_DIR)/config/default/manager_image_patch.yaml"; \
 		$(MAKE) set-manifest-pull-policy TARGET_RESOURCE="./$(NETOP_DIR)/config/default/manager_pull_policy.yaml"; \
-    fi
+	fi
 
 ## --------------------------------------
 ## Testing
@@ -809,13 +809,13 @@ vm-operator-checkout:
 	else \
 		git clone "https://github.com/vmware-tanzu/vm-operator.git" "$(VM_OPERATOR_TMP_DIR)"; \
 		cd "$(VM_OPERATOR_TMP_DIR)"; \
-        git checkout "$(VM_OPERATOR_COMMIT)"; \
+		git checkout "$(VM_OPERATOR_COMMIT)"; \
 	fi
 	@cd "$(ROOT_DIR)/$(VM_OPERATOR_TMP_DIR)"; \
 	if [ "$$(git describe --dirty 2> /dev/null)" != "$(VM_OPERATOR_VERSION)" ]; then \
-    	echo "ERROR: checked out version $$(git describe --dirty 2> /dev/null) does not match expected version $(VM_OPERATOR_VERSION)"; \
-    	exit 1; \
-    fi
+		echo "ERROR: checked out version $$(git describe --dirty 2> /dev/null) does not match expected version $(VM_OPERATOR_VERSION)"; \
+		exit 1; \
+	fi
 
 .PHONY: vm-operator-manifest-build
 vm-operator-manifest-build: $(RELEASE_DIR) $(KUSTOMIZE) vm-operator-checkout ## Build the vm-operator manifest yaml file
diff --git a/test/e2e/e2e_setup_test.go b/test/e2e/e2e_setup_test.go
index 88413642b4..2c18bef7d1 100644
--- a/test/e2e/e2e_setup_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/e2e_setup_test.go
@@ -273,7 +273,7 @@ func setupNamespaceWithVMOperatorDependenciesVCenter(managementClusterProxy fram
 					// NOTE: when running on vCenter the vm-operator automatically creates VirtualMachine objects for the content library.
 					Items: []vcsimv1.ContentLibraryItemConfig{},
 				},
-				DistributedPortGreoupName: e2eConfig.GetVariable("VSPHERE_DISTRIBUTED_PORT_GROUP"),
+				DistributedPortGroupName: e2eConfig.GetVariable("VSPHERE_DISTRIBUTED_PORT_GROUP"),
 			},
 			StorageClasses: []vcsimv1.StorageClass{
 				{
diff --git a/test/framework/vmoperator/vmoperator.go b/test/framework/vmoperator/vmoperator.go
index d39d58da7c..7a7c3e8a40 100644
--- a/test/framework/vmoperator/vmoperator.go
+++ b/test/framework/vmoperator/vmoperator.go
@@ -338,7 +338,7 @@ func ReconcileDependencies(ctx context.Context, c client.Client, dependenciesCon
 			// Additional key we are adding to the vm-operator config map for sake of convenience (not supported in vm-operator)
 			serverURLConfigMapKey:            config.Spec.VCenter.ServerURL,
 			datacenterNameConfigMapKey:       config.Spec.VCenter.Datacenter,
-			distributedPortGroupConfigMapKey: config.Spec.VCenter.DistributedPortGreoupName,
+			distributedPortGroupConfigMapKey: config.Spec.VCenter.DistributedPortGroupName,
 		},
 	}
 	_ = wait.PollUntilContextTimeout(ctx, 250*time.Millisecond, 5*time.Second, true, func(ctx context.Context) (bool, error) {
@@ -714,7 +714,7 @@ func GetVCenterSession(ctx context.Context, c client.Client, enableKeepAlive boo
 	configMap := &corev1.ConfigMap{
 		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
 			Name:      configMapName,
-			Namespace: DefaultNamespace, // This is where tilt deploys the vm-operator
+			Namespace: DefaultNamespace, // This is where tilt/E2E deploy the vm-operator
 		},
 	}
 	if err := c.Get(ctx, client.ObjectKeyFromObject(configMap), configMap); err != nil {
@@ -774,7 +774,7 @@ func GetDistributedPortGroup(ctx context.Context, c client.Client) (string, erro
 	configMap := &corev1.ConfigMap{
 		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
 			Name:      configMapName,
-			Namespace: DefaultNamespace, // This is where tilt deploys the vm-operator
+			Namespace: DefaultNamespace, // This is where tilt/E2E deploy the vm-operator
 		},
 	}
 	if err := c.Get(ctx, client.ObjectKeyFromObject(configMap), configMap); err != nil {
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/README.md b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/README.md
index 88664a6ec9..156eb08599 100644
--- a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/README.md
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/README.md
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 # net-operator
 
-Provide a minimal implementation of the net-operator. see [vm-operator](../vm-operator/README.md) for more details.
+Provide a minimal implementation of the net-operator. See [vm-operator](../vm-operator/README.md) for more details.
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/default/manager_image_patch.yaml b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/default/manager_image_patch.yaml
index 4c98b6de01..5468918c69 100644
--- a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/default/manager_image_patch.yaml
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/config/default/manager_image_patch.yaml
@@ -7,5 +7,5 @@ spec:
   template:
     spec:
       containers:
-      - image: gcr.io/k8s-staging-capi-vsphere/extra/net-operator:dev
+      - image: gcr.io/k8s-staging-capi-vsphere/cluster-api-net-operator:main
         name: manager
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/controllers/doc.go b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/controllers/doc.go
index 7c2c9f65bb..ab6f42354b 100644
--- a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/controllers/doc.go
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/controllers/doc.go
@@ -14,5 +14,5 @@ See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 limitations under the License.
 */
 
-// Package controllers implements reconcilers for the vcsim controller.
+// Package controllers implements reconcilers for the net-operator controller.
 package controllers
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/controllers/networkinterface_controller.go b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/controllers/networkinterface_controller.go
index fc7692f22f..0ecd138c1f 100644
--- a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/controllers/networkinterface_controller.go
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/controllers/networkinterface_controller.go
@@ -31,8 +31,9 @@ import (
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/controller"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/reconcile"
 
+	netopv1alpha1 "github.com/vmware-tanzu/net-operator-api/api/v1alpha1"
+
 	"sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api-provider-vsphere/test/framework/vmoperator"
-	netopv1alpha1 "sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api-provider-vsphere/test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1"
 )
 
 type NetworkInterfaceReconciler struct {
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/doc.go b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/doc.go
deleted file mode 100644
index b367b8fad2..0000000000
--- a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/doc.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,20 +0,0 @@
-/*
-Copyright 2024 The Kubernetes Authors.
-
-Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-You may obtain a copy of the License at
-
-    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-
-Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-limitations under the License.
-*/
-
-// Package v1alpha1 contains API Schema definitions for the net operator API group
-// +kubebuilder:object:generate=true
-// +groupName=netoperator.vmware.com
-package v1alpha1
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/groupversion_info.go b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/groupversion_info.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 6c44013a0d..0000000000
--- a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/groupversion_info.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,51 +0,0 @@
-/*
-Copyright 2024 The Kubernetes Authors.
-
-Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-You may obtain a copy of the License at
-
-    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-
-Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-limitations under the License.
-*/
-
-package v1alpha1
-
-import (
-	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
-	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
-	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime/schema"
-)
-
-// GroupName specifies the group name used to register the objects.
-const GroupName = "netoperator.vmware.com"
-
-var (
-	// SchemeGroupVersion is group version used to register these objects.
-	SchemeGroupVersion = schema.GroupVersion{Group: GroupName, Version: "v1alpha1"}
-
-	// SchemeBuilder is used to add go types to the GroupVersionKind scheme.
-	SchemeBuilder = &runtime.SchemeBuilder{}
-
-	// AddToScheme adds the types in this group-version to the given scheme.
-	AddToScheme = SchemeBuilder.AddToScheme
-)
-
-// Resource takes an unqualified resource and returns a Group qualified GroupResource.
-func Resource(resource string) schema.GroupResource {
-	return SchemeGroupVersion.WithResource(resource).GroupResource()
-}
-
-// RegisterTypeWithScheme adds objects to the SchemeBuilder.
-func RegisterTypeWithScheme(object ...runtime.Object) {
-	SchemeBuilder.Register(func(scheme *runtime.Scheme) error {
-		scheme.AddKnownTypes(SchemeGroupVersion, object...)
-		metav1.AddToGroupVersion(scheme, SchemeGroupVersion)
-		return nil
-	})
-}
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/networkinterface_types.go b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/networkinterface_types.go
deleted file mode 100644
index b7f033cfbf..0000000000
--- a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/networkinterface_types.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,160 +0,0 @@
-/*
-Copyright 2024 The Kubernetes Authors.
-
-Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-You may obtain a copy of the License at
-
-    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-
-Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-limitations under the License.
-*/
-
-package v1alpha1
-
-import (
-	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
-	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
-)
-
-const (
-	// NetworkInterfaceFinalizer allows the Controller to clean up resources associated
-	// with a NetworkInterface before removing it from the API Server.
-	NetworkInterfaceFinalizer = "networkinterface.netoperator.vmware.com"
-)
-
-// IPFamily represents the IP Family (IPv4 or IPv6). This type is used
-// to express the family of an IP expressed by a type (i.e. service.Spec.IPFamily).
-// NOTE: Copied from k8s.io/api/core/v1" because VM Operator is using old version.
-type IPFamily string
-
-const (
-	// IPv4Protocol indicates that this IP is IPv4 protocol.
-	IPv4Protocol IPFamily = "IPv4"
-	// IPv6Protocol indicates that this IP is IPv6 protocol.
-	IPv6Protocol IPFamily = "IPv6"
-)
-
-// IPConfig represents an IP configuration.
-type IPConfig struct {
-	// IP setting.
-	IP string `json:"ip"`
-	// IPFamily specifies the IP family (IPv4 vs IPv6) the IP belongs to.
-	IPFamily IPFamily `json:"ipFamily"`
-	// Gateway setting.
-	Gateway string `json:"gateway"`
-	// SubnetMask setting.
-	SubnetMask string `json:"subnetMask"`
-}
-
-// NetworkInterfaceProviderReference contains info to locate a network interface provider object.
-type NetworkInterfaceProviderReference struct {
-	// APIGroup is the group for the resource being referenced.
-	APIGroup string `json:"apiGroup"`
-	// Kind is the type of resource being referenced.
-	Kind string `json:"kind"`
-	// Name is the name of resource being referenced.
-	Name string `json:"name"`
-	// API version of the referent.
-	APIVersion string `json:"apiVersion,omitempty"`
-}
-
-type NetworkInterfaceConditionType string
-
-const (
-	// NetworkInterfaceReady is added when all network settings have been updated and the network
-	// interface is ready to be used.
-	NetworkInterfaceReady NetworkInterfaceConditionType = "Ready"
-	// NetworkInterfaceFailure is added when network provider plugin returns an error.
-	NetworkInterfaceFailure NetworkInterfaceConditionType = "Failure"
-)
-
-type NetworkInterfaceConditionReason string
-
-const (
-	// NetworkInterfaceFailureReasonCannotAllocIP is in failed state because an IPConfig cannot be allocated.
-	NetworkInterfaceFailureReasonCannotAllocIP NetworkInterfaceConditionReason = "CannotAllocIP"
-)
-
-// NetworkInterfaceCondition describes the state of a NetworkInterface at a certain point.
-type NetworkInterfaceCondition struct {
-	// Type is the type of network interface condition.
-	Type NetworkInterfaceConditionType `json:"type"`
-	// Status is the status of the condition.
-	// Can be True, False, Unknown.
-	Status corev1.ConditionStatus `json:"status"`
-	// LastTransitionTime is the timestamp corresponding to the last status
-	// change of this condition.
-	LastTransitionTime *metav1.Time `json:"lastTransitionTime,omitempty"`
-	// Machine understandable string that gives the reason for condition's last transition.
-	Reason NetworkInterfaceConditionReason `json:"reason,omitempty"`
-	// Human-readable message indicating details about last transition.
-	Message string `json:"message,omitempty"`
-}
-
-// NetworkInterfaceStatus defines the observed state of NetworkInterface.
-// Once NetworkInterfaceReady condition is True, it should contain configuration to use to place
-// a VM/Pod/Container's nic on the specified network.
-type NetworkInterfaceStatus struct {
-	// Conditions is an array of current observed network interface conditions.
-	Conditions []NetworkInterfaceCondition `json:"conditions,omitempty"`
-	// IPConfigs is an array of IP configurations for the network interface.
-	IPConfigs []IPConfig `json:"ipConfigs,omitempty"`
-	// MacAddress setting for the network interface.
-	MacAddress string `json:"macAddress,omitempty"`
-	// ExternalID is a network provider specific identifier assigned to the network interface.
-	ExternalID string `json:"externalID,omitempty"`
-	// NetworkID is an network provider specific identifier for the network backing the network
-	// interface.
-	NetworkID string `json:"networkID,omitempty"`
-}
-
-type NetworkInterfaceType string
-
-const (
-	// NetworkInterfaceTypeVMXNet3 is for a VMXNET3 device.
-	NetworkInterfaceTypeVMXNet3 = NetworkInterfaceType("vmxnet3")
-)
-
-// NetworkInterfaceSpec defines the desired state of NetworkInterface.
-type NetworkInterfaceSpec struct {
-	// NetworkName refers to a NetworkObject in the same namespace.
-	NetworkName string `json:"networkName,omitempty"`
-	// Type is the type of NetworkInterface. Supported values are vmxnet3.
-	Type NetworkInterfaceType `json:"type,omitempty"`
-	// ProviderRef is a reference to a provider specific network interface object
-	// that specifies the network interface configuration.
-	// If unset, default configuration is assumed.
-	ProviderRef *NetworkInterfaceProviderReference `json:"providerRef,omitempty"`
-}
-
-// +kubebuilder:object:root=true
-// +kubebuilder:subresource:status
-
-// NetworkInterface is the Schema for the networkinterfaces API.
-// A NetworkInterface represents a user's request for network configuration to use to place a
-// VM/Pod/Container's nic on a specified network.
-type NetworkInterface struct {
-	metav1.TypeMeta   `json:",inline"`
-	metav1.ObjectMeta `json:"metadata,omitempty"`
-
-	Spec   NetworkInterfaceSpec   `json:"spec,omitempty"`
-	Status NetworkInterfaceStatus `json:"status,omitempty"`
-}
-
-// +kubebuilder:object:root=true
-
-// NetworkInterfaceList contains a list of NetworkInterface.
-type NetworkInterfaceList struct {
-	metav1.TypeMeta `json:",inline"`
-	metav1.ListMeta `json:"metadata,omitempty"`
-	Items           []NetworkInterface `json:"items"`
-}
-
-func init() {
-	RegisterTypeWithScheme(&NetworkInterface{}, &NetworkInterfaceList{})
-}
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/vmxnet3networkinterface_types.go b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/vmxnet3networkinterface_types.go
deleted file mode 100644
index d7a096ad89..0000000000
--- a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/vmxnet3networkinterface_types.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,61 +0,0 @@
-/*
-Copyright 2024 The Kubernetes Authors.
-
-Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-You may obtain a copy of the License at
-
-    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-
-Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-limitations under the License.
-*/
-
-package v1alpha1
-
-import (
-	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
-)
-
-// VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceSpec defines the desired state of VMXNET3NetworkInterface.
-type VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceSpec struct {
-	// UPTCompatibilityEnabled indicates whether UPT(Universal Pass-through) compatibility is enabled
-	// on this network interface.
-	UPTCompatibilityEnabled bool `json:"uptCompatibilityEnabled,omitempty"`
-	// WakeOnLanEnabled indicates whether wake-on-LAN is enabled on this network interface. Clients
-	// can set this property to selectively enable or disable wake-on-LAN.
-	WakeOnLanEnabled bool `json:"wakeOnLanEnabled,omitempty"`
-}
-
-// VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceStatus is unused. VMXNET3NetworkInterface is a configuration only resource.
-type VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceStatus struct {
-}
-
-// +genclient
-// +kubebuilder:object:root=true
-
-// VMXNET3NetworkInterface is the Schema for the vmxnet3networkinterfaces API.
-// It represents configuration of a vSphere VMXNET3 type  network interface card.
-type VMXNET3NetworkInterface struct {
-	metav1.TypeMeta   `json:",inline"`
-	metav1.ObjectMeta `json:"metadata,omitempty"`
-
-	Spec   VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceSpec   `json:"spec,omitempty"`
-	Status VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceStatus `json:"status,omitempty"`
-}
-
-// +kubebuilder:object:root=true
-
-// VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceList contains a list of VMXNET3NetworkInterface.
-type VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceList struct {
-	metav1.TypeMeta `json:",inline"`
-	metav1.ListMeta `json:"metadata,omitempty"`
-	Items           []VMXNET3NetworkInterface `json:"items"`
-}
-
-func init() {
-	RegisterTypeWithScheme(&VMXNET3NetworkInterface{}, &VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceList{})
-}
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 962456bf03..0000000000
--- a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,269 +0,0 @@
-//go:build !ignore_autogenerated
-
-/*
-Copyright The Kubernetes Authors.
-
-Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-You may obtain a copy of the License at
-
-    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-
-Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-limitations under the License.
-*/
-
-// Code generated by controller-gen. DO NOT EDIT.
-
-package v1alpha1
-
-import (
-	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
-)
-
-// DeepCopyInto is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, writing into out. in must be non-nil.
-func (in *IPConfig) DeepCopyInto(out *IPConfig) {
-	*out = *in
-}
-
-// DeepCopy is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, creating a new IPConfig.
-func (in *IPConfig) DeepCopy() *IPConfig {
-	if in == nil {
-		return nil
-	}
-	out := new(IPConfig)
-	in.DeepCopyInto(out)
-	return out
-}
-
-// DeepCopyInto is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, writing into out. in must be non-nil.
-func (in *NetworkInterface) DeepCopyInto(out *NetworkInterface) {
-	*out = *in
-	out.TypeMeta = in.TypeMeta
-	in.ObjectMeta.DeepCopyInto(&out.ObjectMeta)
-	in.Spec.DeepCopyInto(&out.Spec)
-	in.Status.DeepCopyInto(&out.Status)
-}
-
-// DeepCopy is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, creating a new NetworkInterface.
-func (in *NetworkInterface) DeepCopy() *NetworkInterface {
-	if in == nil {
-		return nil
-	}
-	out := new(NetworkInterface)
-	in.DeepCopyInto(out)
-	return out
-}
-
-// DeepCopyObject is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, creating a new runtime.Object.
-func (in *NetworkInterface) DeepCopyObject() runtime.Object {
-	if c := in.DeepCopy(); c != nil {
-		return c
-	}
-	return nil
-}
-
-// DeepCopyInto is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, writing into out. in must be non-nil.
-func (in *NetworkInterfaceCondition) DeepCopyInto(out *NetworkInterfaceCondition) {
-	*out = *in
-	if in.LastTransitionTime != nil {
-		in, out := &in.LastTransitionTime, &out.LastTransitionTime
-		*out = (*in).DeepCopy()
-	}
-}
-
-// DeepCopy is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, creating a new NetworkInterfaceCondition.
-func (in *NetworkInterfaceCondition) DeepCopy() *NetworkInterfaceCondition {
-	if in == nil {
-		return nil
-	}
-	out := new(NetworkInterfaceCondition)
-	in.DeepCopyInto(out)
-	return out
-}
-
-// DeepCopyInto is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, writing into out. in must be non-nil.
-func (in *NetworkInterfaceList) DeepCopyInto(out *NetworkInterfaceList) {
-	*out = *in
-	out.TypeMeta = in.TypeMeta
-	in.ListMeta.DeepCopyInto(&out.ListMeta)
-	if in.Items != nil {
-		in, out := &in.Items, &out.Items
-		*out = make([]NetworkInterface, len(*in))
-		for i := range *in {
-			(*in)[i].DeepCopyInto(&(*out)[i])
-		}
-	}
-}
-
-// DeepCopy is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, creating a new NetworkInterfaceList.
-func (in *NetworkInterfaceList) DeepCopy() *NetworkInterfaceList {
-	if in == nil {
-		return nil
-	}
-	out := new(NetworkInterfaceList)
-	in.DeepCopyInto(out)
-	return out
-}
-
-// DeepCopyObject is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, creating a new runtime.Object.
-func (in *NetworkInterfaceList) DeepCopyObject() runtime.Object {
-	if c := in.DeepCopy(); c != nil {
-		return c
-	}
-	return nil
-}
-
-// DeepCopyInto is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, writing into out. in must be non-nil.
-func (in *NetworkInterfaceProviderReference) DeepCopyInto(out *NetworkInterfaceProviderReference) {
-	*out = *in
-}
-
-// DeepCopy is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, creating a new NetworkInterfaceProviderReference.
-func (in *NetworkInterfaceProviderReference) DeepCopy() *NetworkInterfaceProviderReference {
-	if in == nil {
-		return nil
-	}
-	out := new(NetworkInterfaceProviderReference)
-	in.DeepCopyInto(out)
-	return out
-}
-
-// DeepCopyInto is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, writing into out. in must be non-nil.
-func (in *NetworkInterfaceSpec) DeepCopyInto(out *NetworkInterfaceSpec) {
-	*out = *in
-	if in.ProviderRef != nil {
-		in, out := &in.ProviderRef, &out.ProviderRef
-		*out = new(NetworkInterfaceProviderReference)
-		**out = **in
-	}
-}
-
-// DeepCopy is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, creating a new NetworkInterfaceSpec.
-func (in *NetworkInterfaceSpec) DeepCopy() *NetworkInterfaceSpec {
-	if in == nil {
-		return nil
-	}
-	out := new(NetworkInterfaceSpec)
-	in.DeepCopyInto(out)
-	return out
-}
-
-// DeepCopyInto is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, writing into out. in must be non-nil.
-func (in *NetworkInterfaceStatus) DeepCopyInto(out *NetworkInterfaceStatus) {
-	*out = *in
-	if in.Conditions != nil {
-		in, out := &in.Conditions, &out.Conditions
-		*out = make([]NetworkInterfaceCondition, len(*in))
-		for i := range *in {
-			(*in)[i].DeepCopyInto(&(*out)[i])
-		}
-	}
-	if in.IPConfigs != nil {
-		in, out := &in.IPConfigs, &out.IPConfigs
-		*out = make([]IPConfig, len(*in))
-		copy(*out, *in)
-	}
-}
-
-// DeepCopy is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, creating a new NetworkInterfaceStatus.
-func (in *NetworkInterfaceStatus) DeepCopy() *NetworkInterfaceStatus {
-	if in == nil {
-		return nil
-	}
-	out := new(NetworkInterfaceStatus)
-	in.DeepCopyInto(out)
-	return out
-}
-
-// DeepCopyInto is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, writing into out. in must be non-nil.
-func (in *VMXNET3NetworkInterface) DeepCopyInto(out *VMXNET3NetworkInterface) {
-	*out = *in
-	out.TypeMeta = in.TypeMeta
-	in.ObjectMeta.DeepCopyInto(&out.ObjectMeta)
-	out.Spec = in.Spec
-	out.Status = in.Status
-}
-
-// DeepCopy is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, creating a new VMXNET3NetworkInterface.
-func (in *VMXNET3NetworkInterface) DeepCopy() *VMXNET3NetworkInterface {
-	if in == nil {
-		return nil
-	}
-	out := new(VMXNET3NetworkInterface)
-	in.DeepCopyInto(out)
-	return out
-}
-
-// DeepCopyObject is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, creating a new runtime.Object.
-func (in *VMXNET3NetworkInterface) DeepCopyObject() runtime.Object {
-	if c := in.DeepCopy(); c != nil {
-		return c
-	}
-	return nil
-}
-
-// DeepCopyInto is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, writing into out. in must be non-nil.
-func (in *VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceList) DeepCopyInto(out *VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceList) {
-	*out = *in
-	out.TypeMeta = in.TypeMeta
-	in.ListMeta.DeepCopyInto(&out.ListMeta)
-	if in.Items != nil {
-		in, out := &in.Items, &out.Items
-		*out = make([]VMXNET3NetworkInterface, len(*in))
-		for i := range *in {
-			(*in)[i].DeepCopyInto(&(*out)[i])
-		}
-	}
-}
-
-// DeepCopy is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, creating a new VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceList.
-func (in *VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceList) DeepCopy() *VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceList {
-	if in == nil {
-		return nil
-	}
-	out := new(VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceList)
-	in.DeepCopyInto(out)
-	return out
-}
-
-// DeepCopyObject is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, creating a new runtime.Object.
-func (in *VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceList) DeepCopyObject() runtime.Object {
-	if c := in.DeepCopy(); c != nil {
-		return c
-	}
-	return nil
-}
-
-// DeepCopyInto is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, writing into out. in must be non-nil.
-func (in *VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceSpec) DeepCopyInto(out *VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceSpec) {
-	*out = *in
-}
-
-// DeepCopy is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, creating a new VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceSpec.
-func (in *VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceSpec) DeepCopy() *VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceSpec {
-	if in == nil {
-		return nil
-	}
-	out := new(VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceSpec)
-	in.DeepCopyInto(out)
-	return out
-}
-
-// DeepCopyInto is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, writing into out. in must be non-nil.
-func (in *VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceStatus) DeepCopyInto(out *VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceStatus) {
-	*out = *in
-}
-
-// DeepCopy is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, creating a new VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceStatus.
-func (in *VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceStatus) DeepCopy() *VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceStatus {
-	if in == nil {
-		return nil
-	}
-	out := new(VMXNET3NetworkInterfaceStatus)
-	in.DeepCopyInto(out)
-	return out
-}
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/main.go b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/main.go
index 348d3991ab..60e88e8ca8 100644
--- a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/main.go
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/main.go
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 limitations under the License.
 */
 
-// Package main define main for the vcsim controller.
+// Package main define main for the net-operator controller.
 package main
 
 import (
@@ -48,10 +48,11 @@ import (
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/controller"
 	ctrlmgr "sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/manager"
 
+	netopv1alpha1 "github.com/vmware-tanzu/net-operator-api/api/v1alpha1"
+
 	vmwarev1 "sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api-provider-vsphere/apis/vmware/v1beta1"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api-provider-vsphere/pkg/constants"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api-provider-vsphere/test/infrastructure/net-operator/controllers"
-	netopv1alpha1 "sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api-provider-vsphere/test/infrastructure/net-operator/external/net-operator/api/v1alpha1"
 )
 
 var (
@@ -185,7 +186,7 @@ func main() {
 	ctrlOptions := ctrl.Options{
 		Scheme:                     scheme,
 		LeaderElection:             enableLeaderElection,
-		LeaderElectionID:           "vcsim-controller-leader-election-capi",
+		LeaderElectionID:           "net-operator-leader-election-capi",
 		LeaseDuration:              &leaderElectionLeaseDuration,
 		RenewDeadline:              &leaderElectionRenewDeadline,
 		RetryPeriod:                &leaderElectionRetryPeriod,
@@ -271,7 +272,7 @@ func setupReconcilers(ctx context.Context, mgr ctrl.Manager, _ bool) {
 		EnableKeepAlive:   enableKeepAlive,
 		KeepAliveDuration: keepAliveDuration,
 		WatchFilterValue:  watchFilterValue,
-	}).SetupWithManager(ctx, mgr, concurrency(networkInterfaceConcurrency)); err != nil { // TODO: change
+	}).SetupWithManager(ctx, mgr, concurrency(networkInterfaceConcurrency)); err != nil {
 		setupLog.Error(err, "unable to create controller", "controller", "NetworkInterfaceReconciler")
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/tilt-provider.yaml b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/tilt-provider.yaml
index 4a502759ec..5a72dea94c 100644
--- a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/tilt-provider.yaml
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/tilt-provider.yaml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 - name: net-operator
   config:
     version: v1.10.99
-    image: gcr.io/k8s-staging-capi-vsphere/extra/net-operator
+    image: gcr.io/k8s-staging-capi-vsphere/cluster-api-net-operator
     live_reload_deps:
       - main.go
       - controllers
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/vcsim/api/v1alpha1/vmoperatordependencies_types.go b/test/infrastructure/vcsim/api/v1alpha1/vmoperatordependencies_types.go
index 6928c2536a..87bbf929db 100644
--- a/test/infrastructure/vcsim/api/v1alpha1/vmoperatordependencies_types.go
+++ b/test/infrastructure/vcsim/api/v1alpha1/vmoperatordependencies_types.go
@@ -61,12 +61,12 @@ type VCenterSpec struct {
 	Thumbprint string `json:"thumbprint,omitempty"`
 
 	// supervisor is based on a single vCenter cluster
-	Datacenter                string               `json:"datacenter,omitempty"`
-	Cluster                   string               `json:"cluster,omitempty"`
-	Folder                    string               `json:"folder,omitempty"`
-	ResourcePool              string               `json:"resourcePool,omitempty"`
-	ContentLibrary            ContentLibraryConfig `json:"contentLibrary,omitempty"`
-	DistributedPortGreoupName string               `json:"distributedPortGreoupName,omitempty"`
+	Datacenter               string               `json:"datacenter,omitempty"`
+	Cluster                  string               `json:"cluster,omitempty"`
+	Folder                   string               `json:"folder,omitempty"`
+	ResourcePool             string               `json:"resourcePool,omitempty"`
+	ContentLibrary           ContentLibraryConfig `json:"contentLibrary,omitempty"`
+	DistributedPortGroupName string               `json:"distributedPortGroupName,omitempty"`
 }
 
 type StorageClass struct {
@@ -142,15 +142,15 @@ func (d *VMOperatorDependencies) SetVCenterFromVCenterSimulator(vCenterSimulator
 	distributedPortGroup := 0
 
 	d.Spec.VCenter = &VCenterSpec{
-		ServerURL:                 vCenterSimulator.Status.Host,
-		Username:                  vCenterSimulator.Status.Username,
-		Password:                  vCenterSimulator.Status.Password,
-		Thumbprint:                vCenterSimulator.Status.Thumbprint,
-		Datacenter:                vcsimhelpers.DatacenterName(datacenter),
-		Cluster:                   vcsimhelpers.ClusterPath(datacenter, cluster),
-		Folder:                    vcsimhelpers.VMFolderName(datacenter),
-		DistributedPortGreoupName: vcsimhelpers.DistributedPortGroupName(datacenter, distributedPortGroup),
-		ResourcePool:              vcsimhelpers.ResourcePoolPath(datacenter, cluster),
+		ServerURL:                vCenterSimulator.Status.Host,
+		Username:                 vCenterSimulator.Status.Username,
+		Password:                 vCenterSimulator.Status.Password,
+		Thumbprint:               vCenterSimulator.Status.Thumbprint,
+		Datacenter:               vcsimhelpers.DatacenterName(datacenter),
+		Cluster:                  vcsimhelpers.ClusterPath(datacenter, cluster),
+		Folder:                   vcsimhelpers.VMFolderName(datacenter),
+		DistributedPortGroupName: vcsimhelpers.DistributedPortGroupName(datacenter, distributedPortGroup),
+		ResourcePool:             vcsimhelpers.ResourcePoolPath(datacenter, cluster),
 		ContentLibrary: ContentLibraryConfig{
 			Name:      "vcsim",
 			Datastore: vcsimhelpers.DatastorePath(datacenter, datastore),
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/vcsim/config/crd/bases/vcsim.infrastructure.cluster.x-k8s.io_vmoperatordependencies.yaml b/test/infrastructure/vcsim/config/crd/bases/vcsim.infrastructure.cluster.x-k8s.io_vmoperatordependencies.yaml
index 9d256cb7b1..5ac81b092c 100644
--- a/test/infrastructure/vcsim/config/crd/bases/vcsim.infrastructure.cluster.x-k8s.io_vmoperatordependencies.yaml
+++ b/test/infrastructure/vcsim/config/crd/bases/vcsim.infrastructure.cluster.x-k8s.io_vmoperatordependencies.yaml
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ spec:
                   datacenter:
                     description: supervisor is based on a single vCenter cluster
                     type: string
-                  distributedPortGreoupName:
+                  distributedPortGroupName:
                     type: string
                   folder:
                     type: string
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/README.md b/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/README.md
index fe38bed81c..a3f50b36a3 100644
--- a/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/README.md
+++ b/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/README.md
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ This project has the requirement to test CAPV in supervisor mode using  all the
 CAPI, CAPV and vCenter supervisor, and also for all the version built from open PRs.
 
 In order to achieve this without incurring the cost/complexity of creating multiple, ad-hoc vCenter distributions, 
-we are using a "limited version of the supervisor", composed by the vm-operator and by a minimal version of the net-operator.
+we are using a "limited version of the supervisor", composed by the vm-operator and a minimal version of the net-operator.
 
 This "limited version of the supervisor" is considered enough to provide a signal for CAPV development and test; 
 however, due to the necessary trade-offs required to get a simple and cheap test environment, the solution described below
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/net-operator-networkinterface-status.yaml b/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/net-operator-networkinterface-status.yaml
index 399c36e3c0..1d9fe13caf 100644
--- a/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/net-operator-networkinterface-status.yaml
+++ b/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/net-operator-networkinterface-status.yaml
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+# This is a copy of the CRD in vm-operator with the only addition of the status subresource. As soon as this is fixed in the
+# vm-operator code base, we can get rid of this patch
 apiVersion: apiextensions.k8s.io/v1
 kind: CustomResourceDefinition
 metadata:
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/vm-operator-env-var-patch.yaml b/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/vm-operator-env-var-patch.yaml
index 1f5165fcc8..b0131d9f3f 100644
--- a/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/vm-operator-env-var-patch.yaml
+++ b/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/vm-operator-env-var-patch.yaml
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+# This patch derives from vm-operator config/local, but it is now using NETWORK_PROVIDER = VSPHERE_NETWORK
+# as suggested by the vm-operator maintainers.
 apiVersion: apps/v1
 kind: Deployment
 metadata:

From fb4792ef25db5868883b8ade21a9ee331b5e24bf Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Stefan Bueringer <buringerst@vmware.com>
Date: Wed, 17 Apr 2024 14:35:22 +0200
Subject: [PATCH 5/6] make generate-modules

---
 test/go.mod | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/test/go.mod b/test/go.mod
index 479e57e17d..2c3127f475 100644
--- a/test/go.mod
+++ b/test/go.mod
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/onsi/gomega v1.32.0
 	github.com/pkg/errors v0.9.1
 	github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.5
+	github.com/vmware-tanzu/net-operator-api v0.0.0-20231019160108-42131d6e8360
 	github.com/vmware-tanzu/vm-operator/api v1.8.5
 	github.com/vmware-tanzu/vm-operator/external/tanzu-topology v0.0.0-20231214185006-5477585eebfd
 	github.com/vmware/govmomi v0.36.3
@@ -124,7 +125,6 @@ require (
 	github.com/stoewer/go-strcase v1.2.0 // indirect
 	github.com/subosito/gotenv v1.6.0 // indirect
 	github.com/valyala/fastjson v1.6.4 // indirect
-	github.com/vmware-tanzu/net-operator-api v0.0.0-20231019160108-42131d6e8360 // indirect
 	github.com/vmware-tanzu/vm-operator/external/ncp v0.0.0-20231214185006-5477585eebfd // indirect
 	go.etcd.io/etcd/api/v3 v3.5.13 // indirect
 	go.etcd.io/etcd/client/pkg/v3 v3.5.13 // indirect

From 43f62594180a4c5345ff28169174c8de61b4d375 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Stefan Bueringer <buringerst@vmware.com>
Date: Wed, 17 Apr 2024 14:42:06 +0200
Subject: [PATCH 6/6] make lint-fix

---
 .../net-operator/controllers/networkinterface_controller.go    | 3 +--
 test/infrastructure/net-operator/main.go                       | 3 +--
 2 files changed, 2 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/controllers/networkinterface_controller.go b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/controllers/networkinterface_controller.go
index 0ecd138c1f..d1b5556765 100644
--- a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/controllers/networkinterface_controller.go
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/controllers/networkinterface_controller.go
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
+	netopv1alpha1 "github.com/vmware-tanzu/net-operator-api/api/v1alpha1"
 	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	apierrors "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/errors"
 	kerrors "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/errors"
@@ -31,8 +32,6 @@ import (
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/controller"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/reconcile"
 
-	netopv1alpha1 "github.com/vmware-tanzu/net-operator-api/api/v1alpha1"
-
 	"sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api-provider-vsphere/test/framework/vmoperator"
 )
 
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/main.go b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/main.go
index 60e88e8ca8..66c0da82f2 100644
--- a/test/infrastructure/net-operator/main.go
+++ b/test/infrastructure/net-operator/main.go
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"github.com/spf13/pflag"
+	netopv1alpha1 "github.com/vmware-tanzu/net-operator-api/api/v1alpha1"
 	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
@@ -48,8 +49,6 @@ import (
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/controller"
 	ctrlmgr "sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/manager"
 
-	netopv1alpha1 "github.com/vmware-tanzu/net-operator-api/api/v1alpha1"
-
 	vmwarev1 "sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api-provider-vsphere/apis/vmware/v1beta1"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api-provider-vsphere/pkg/constants"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api-provider-vsphere/test/infrastructure/net-operator/controllers"