public com.google.protobuf.ByteString getIpProtocolBytes() {
      java.lang.Object ref = ipProtocol_;
      if (ref instanceof String) {
        com.google.protobuf.ByteString b =
            com.google.protobuf.ByteString.copyFromUtf8((java.lang.String) ref);
        ipProtocol_ = b;
        return b;
      } else {
        return (com.google.protobuf.ByteString) ref;
      }
    }
<pre>
The IP protocol to which the external access rule applies. This value can
be one of the following three protocol strings (not case-sensitive):
`tcp`, `udp`, or `icmp`.
</pre>

<code>string ip_protocol = 8;</code>

@return The bytes for ipProtocol.
java-vmwareengine/proto-google-cloud-vmwareengine-v1/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/vmwareengine/v1/ExternalAccessRule.java