diff --git a/nova_dpm/tests/unit/virt/dpm/test_vm.py b/nova_dpm/tests/unit/virt/dpm/test_vm.py
index 5c8db07..7a2a1c3 100755
--- a/nova_dpm/tests/unit/virt/dpm/test_vm.py
+++ b/nova_dpm/tests/unit/virt/dpm/test_vm.py
@@ -267,7 +267,7 @@ class VmPartitionInstanceTestCase(TestCase):
         vif.type = "non_dpm_vswitch"
 
         self.assertRaises(
-            Exception,
+            exceptions.InvalidVIFTypeError,
             self.partition_inst.attach_nic, vif)
 
     @mock.patch.object(vm.PartitionInstance, 'attach_nic')
diff --git a/nova_dpm/virt/dpm/exceptions.py b/nova_dpm/virt/dpm/exceptions.py
index 7376828..98c7453 100644
--- a/nova_dpm/virt/dpm/exceptions.py
+++ b/nova_dpm/virt/dpm/exceptions.py
@@ -26,6 +26,13 @@ class MaxAmountOfInstancePortsExceededError(NovaException):
         .format(max_ports=MAX_NICS_PER_PARTITION)
 
 
+class InvalidVIFTypeError(NovaException):
+    msg_fmt = _("The vif type %(type)s is not supported by nova-dpm. The "
+                "only supported type is 'dpm_vswitch'. Please "
+                "configure the networking-dpm agent to only use OSA or "
+                "hipersockets adapters.")
+
+
 class BootOsSpecificParametersPropertyExceededError(NovaException):
     """The boot-os-specific-parameters property would exceed the allowed max"""
     msg_fmt = _("Exceeded the maximum len for the partitions "
diff --git a/nova_dpm/virt/dpm/vm.py b/nova_dpm/virt/dpm/vm.py
index b052383..34d5e99 100644
--- a/nova_dpm/virt/dpm/vm.py
+++ b/nova_dpm/virt/dpm/vm.py
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ class PartitionInstance(object):
 
         # Only dpm_vswitch attachments are supported for now
         if vif_obj.type != "dpm_vswitch":
-            raise Exception
+            raise exceptions.InvalidVIFTypeError(type=vif_obj.type)
 
         dpm_nic_dict = self._get_nic_properties_dict(vif_obj)
         LOG.debug("Creating NIC with properties: %s", dpm_nic_dict)