A method of configuring a forwarding policy, characterized in that it comprises: obtaining, by a cloud management platform, a first mapping between a virtual machine (371, 372, 373; 381, 382, 383; 391, 392, 393) and a network device (340; 350; 360) and transmitting, by the cloud management platform, a first notification message to an intelligent network management center associated with the network device (340; 350; 360) in a way that the intelligent network management center configures a forwarding policy associated with the virtual machine (371, 372, 373; 381, 382, 383; 391, 392, 393) for the network device (340; 350; 360) according to the first notification message, wherein the first notification message carries virtual machine information of the virtual machine (371, 372, 373; 381, 382, 383; 391, 392, 393) and network device information of the network device (340; 350; 360), and the virtual machine information comprises packet characteristic information of the virtual machine (371, 372, 373; 381, 382, 383; 391, 392, 393), and the network device information comprises a device identifier of the network device (340; 350; 360) and a port identifier of a port (341; 342; 343) on the network device (340; 350; 360) connected with a physical server (370; 380; 390) in which the virtual machine (371, 372, 373; 381, 382, 383; 391, 392, 393) is located; the forwarding policy is to instruct the network device (340; 350; 360) to trust a policy in a packet which is received via the port (341; 342; 343) corresponding to the port identifier and carries the packet characteristic information, and to perform processing for the packet associated with the virtual machine (371, 372, 373; 381, 382, 383; 391, 392, 393) based on the policy. obtaining, by a cloud management platform, a first mapping between a virtual machine (371, 372, 373; 381, 382, 383; 391, 392, 393) and a network device (340; 350; 360) and transmitting, by the cloud management platform, a first notification message to an intelligent network management center associated with the network device (340; 350; 360) in a way that the intelligent network management center configures a forwarding policy associated with the virtual machine (371, 372, 373; 381, 382, 383; 391, 392, 393) for the network device (340; 350; 360) according to the first notification message, wherein the first notification message carries virtual machine information of the virtual machine (371, 372, 373; 381, 382, 383; 391, 392, 393) and network device information of the network device (340; 350; 360), and the virtual machine information comprises packet characteristic information of the virtual machine (371, 372, 373; 381, 382, 383; 391, 392, 393), and the network device information comprises a device identifier of the network device (340; 350; 360) and a port identifier of a port (341; 342; 343) on the network device (340; 350; 360) connected with a physical server (370; 380; 390) in which the virtual machine (371, 372, 373; 381, 382, 383; 391, 392, 393) is located; the forwarding policy is to instruct the network device (340; 350; 360) to trust a policy in a packet which is received via the port (341; 342; 343) corresponding to the port identifier and carries the packet characteristic information, and to perform processing for the packet associated with the virtual machine (371, 372, 373; 381, 382, 383; 391, 392, 393) based on the policy.