With Cisco releasing the new version of its network sim baby, VIRL (0.10.14.20), a lot of questions are raised. Does it finally support layer 2? Better NX-OS support? Better GUI?? Well okay that last one is more of a problem I have with it - but we will get into that later. For the record, I'm taking about the personal edition of VIRL. Let's start with what Cisco has added to the new addition of VIRL:
New VIRL Features:
ASAv Support (Basic configuration – whatever that means)
Most L2 support (only on the IOSvL2 Images, doesn't work with NX-OS to my knowledge)
NXAPI & MPLS LDP
SVI routing over L3
Packet Capture Feature
OpenDaylight Support
IPv6 Autoconfig for Linux Servers
From the prospective of a Network Engineer, I think they are both functional. But GNS3 is the MOST functional. Here's why:
GNS3 has a better GUI and is easier to use:
GNS3 is remarkably programmed and designed with the user in mind. I can easily drag and drop icons, I can quickly start the simulation, adding IOS versions is a breeze with the new version, and I can have maximum control over the node ports I want to connect. With VIRL's Maestro, the GUI looks all too familiar if you're a programmer. Come on guys - you know it looks A LOT like and IDE. Can anyone say Eclipse? Didn't notice? Well I did. And it sucks. For starters the Design tab and the simulation tab are separate. WHY? This is annoying when switching back and forth. I can't seem to connect nodes when in 'Simulation' mode and I can't seem to console in when i'm not in 'Design' mode. Also, the graphics that represent the nodes remind me of a Windows 98 desktop icon. The quality is just. just disheartening. I think the AutoNetKit stuff is cool, what with you being able to enter in iBGP, MPLS information right into the properties and SDN dem nodes up.
VIRL'S NX-OS emulation sucks. It just does:
No vPC support. No LACP support. Most L2 features are a no go. Where da FEXs be at!?
VIRL is very limited:
First off - you get 15 nodes max in any one simulation. You heard me right folks. So don't plan on running any environments that are too complex. Unlike GNS3, VIRL isn't based on the number of resources you have on your PC running it. Licenses are the limit to your creativity. You know the saying - 'You can do anything you put your mind to. As long as you are within your licensing' ;)
Tally erp 9 (rel 6.2 crack. VIRL is hard to set up & upgrade:
VIRL is a program that requires many components. You need a server that you need to import from an ova file. You'll need a hypervisor. VMWare Workstation or ESXi with vSphere. So you need to be extremely comfortable with VMware. I wonder if you can use Virtual Box? You need TONS of computer resources. Also, You'll need to be comfortable with Linux. This isn't just because the VIRL server runs on Ubuntu. It's also because if you are running ESXi, you need to perform some Linux commands if you run into issues setting it up as I did. I should also mention you'll sometimes need to end sessions from the admin console on the server if you run into issues within VIRL. I find myself doing this a lot. And don't get me started on the upgrade process. I do give Cisco a tip of the hat for decent documentation though. During an upgrade, I often had to reboot more than once and start over. The process isn't streamlined and surprisingly, the script they provide for part of the upgrade process doesn't always work.
Conclusion:
I know VIRL is still a work in progress, but I feel as though it was thrown together. GNS3 has a strong community and has been out for years. I've been using it since before my CCNA days. So maybe I'm expecting too much from VIRL. But at the same time, I hold high expectations. Cisco should be able to emulate their own equipment. They shouldn't be missing major features, especially when they claim to support NX-OS. To be fair GNS3 cannot natively support complex L2 or NX-OS. However, you can bridge to your physical network or virtual external network (1000v, ASAv, etc.) in both GNS3 and VIRL. This is what makes their possibilities endless. My best advice is to save your $199 and wait months, possibly years from this date to purchase VIRL. GNS3 can do pretty much everything VIRL can do at the cost of free.
Thanks for reading! Drop me a line, give your opinion. If you think I'm wrong about anything, please let me know!
The tutorial discuss the use of GNS3 software to run Cisco Virtual IOS (vIOS). Cisco vIOS is shipped and supported as a part of the Cisco's One Platform Kit (onePK) that is distributed in form of virtual machine. It might be downloaded with Cisco.com account. Currently, it is not required to have Cisco account associated with service contracts, Bill-to IDs, or product serial numbers in order to download onePK.
Software Prerequisites
Minimum Hardware Requirements
Script for Extracting vIOS from All-In-One VM
Here is a Linux bash script that helps you to extract vIOS vios-adventerprisek9-m.vmdk from all-in-one VM file. Download all-in-one.ova file and assign executable privileges to the script.
$ chmod +x extract_vios.txt
Then you can run the script as it is shown below. The only user input is selecting path to all-in-one VM file and entering a root password needed for temporary mount of raw image.
$ ./extract_vios
Script Requirements
Configuration Steps for Extracting vIOS from All-In-One VM
1. Download the onePK All-In-One Virtual Machine
2. Extract Files from Virtual Machine
$ tar xvf all-in-one-VM-1.2.1-194.ova
Picture 1 - Content of OVA Tarball
The virtual disk all-in-one-VM-1.2.1-194-disk1.vmdk contains vIOS image that we are going to extract from the disk.
3. Extract vIOS from Virtual Disk
We can directly extract the vios image out of all-in-one-VM-1.2.1-194-disk1.img file.
a) Convert vmdk to raw disk
Use qemu-img utility to convert vmdk disk type to raw disk.
$ /usr/local/bin/qemu-img convert -O raw all-in-one-VM-1.2.1-194-disk1.vmdk all-in-one-VM-1.2.1-194-disk1.img
b) Check the available partitions inside the virtual disk
$ fdisk -l all-in-one-VM-1.2.1-194-disk1.img
Picture 2 - Available Partitions
c) Determine where the partition with vIOS image starts inside the virtual disk
The first partition flagged with boot option contains vIOS image. The partition starts at the sector 2048. The sector size is 512 bytes. When we multiple the starting sector number and the sector size we calculate the offset where the partition starts ( 512 x 2048 = 1048576 ).
$ echo '2048 * 512' | bc
1048576
d) Mount the partition and extract vIOS image from partition
Thanks the computed offset we can mount the partition and extract vIOS image from partition.
$ mkdir mount-point
$ sudo mount -o loop,ro,offset=1048576 all-in-one-VM-1.2.1-194-disk1.img mount-point/ $ tar xvf ./mount-point/usr/share/vmcloud/data/images/vios-adventerprisek9-m.ova -C /home/brezular/
The expected result is the file vios-adventerprisek9-m.vmdk located in a directory /home/brezular/.
4. Configure GNS3 to Run vIOS Disk
Start GNS3 and create a new project. Navigate to Edit -> Preferences -> Qemu -> GeneralSettings. Configure Qemu general parameters and click test button.
Picture 3 - Qemu General Settings
Go ahead and configure GNS3 Guest settings. Navigate to Edit -> Preferences -> Qemu -> QemuGuest. Configure vIOS parameters according to the picture below.
Picture 4 - Qemu vIOS Guest Settings
Picture 5 - Show Version Command
According to the show version command, vIOS distributed with onePK virtual machine is only demo version.
5. Testing Connectivity
The topology consists from the two routers running vIOS that are connected via GigabitEthernet0/0 interfaces.
Picture 6 - Testing Topology
Configure vIOS routers as following.
Router>en
Router#conf t Router(config)#hostname vOS-I vIOS-I(config)#interface GigabitEthernet 0/0 vIOS-I(config-if)#ip address 172.16.1.1 255.255.255.0 vIOS-I(config-if)#no shutdown vIOS-I(config-if)#do wr
Router>en
Router#conf t Router(config)#hostname vIOS-II vIOS-II(config)#interface GIgabitEthernet 0/0 vIOS-II(config-if)#ip address 172.16.1.2 255.255.255.0 vIOS-II(config-if)#no shutdown vIOS-I(config-if)#do wr
Successful ping issued on the vIOS-I router proves that connectivity is established between virtual IOS instances.
Picture 7 - Ping Between vIOS Instances
End.
Prepare for your next Cisco certification with our powerful network virtualization and orchestration platform, Virtual Internet Routing Lab Personal Edition (VIRL PE).
Whether you are studying for CCIE, CCNP or CCNA, VIRL PE enables you to practice by creating highly accurate models of existing or planned networks in a safe virtual environment.
The virtual images bundled within VIRL PE use the same Cisco IOS software code used in routers and switches compiled to run in the hypervisor. This provides students and IT professionals with a seamless experience and a tool with high fidelity models to learn about networking and better advance their career.
VIRL PE helps you study towards your Cisco certification by allowing you to:
VIRL PE supports the following Cisco virtual images:
Cisco Virl Iosvl2 Image
For more information on the virtual images and features supported, see the VIRL PE Features section.
VIRL PE supports the following containers:
VIRL PE is available as a PC OVA, ESXi OVA and ISO for bare metal install. For more information on packages, requirements and supported hypervisors, see the Hardware Requirements section.
VIRL PE is a community supported product supported by 5000+ community members, including Cisco community managers. The VIRL PE FAQ provides a wealth of valuable information on product features, requirements, and technical and ordering information. You can also subscribe to the Cisco VIRL YouTube channel for helpful 'how to' videos.
In the first post of the GNS3 VM series, we looked at how to setup GNS3 VM VMware ESXi. One of the awesome features of the new GNS3 VMs is that you can actually use your VIRL images in GNS3 as well! So if you hate the interface of VIRL, you can have the best of both worlds. In this post we will take a look at how to actually get GNS3 Windows application talking to your GNS3 VM and then how to use VIRL images in GNS3.
Use VIRL Images in GNS3
There has never been a better time for network learning and simulation as there are a lot of great products out there for the prospective network engineer, virtualization engineer, or server administrator to improve his or her skills in the networking arena. I have long been a fan of GNS3 and they have certainly made some tremendous strides in improving the application and extending its functionality. When VIRL came out, I jumped on the license to obtain a copy and while I think it holds a lot of promise, it is a pain to get setup and maintain and I am not a fan of the VM Maestro interface. Alas, we can though have the best of both worlds and use VIRL images in GNS3.
Lets first look at the process to get our GNS3 Windows application pointed correctly at the GNS3 VM.
Configuring the GNS3 Windows application
Download the Windows installation and run through the setup wizard. Below, we are just showing the first and last screens of the installs as the install is pretty mindless.
When you first launch GNS3, you will be prompted with a wizard of sorts here. One confusing thing I see with the behavior here is you have no option for remote serverwhich is what we want to configure. The Local GNS3 VM assumes we are wanting to point to a local VM such as found in VMware Workstation.
The next screen confirms our assumption here. As you can see, selecting the VMware radio button gives us an image of the VMware Workstation banner.
To point correctly to the remote VM, we need to go to Edit >> Preferences >> Server and click on the GNS3 VM server tab and then select the Remote radio button. Then, click the Add server button.
In the New server dialog. You will then fill in the IP address that was configured on your GNS3 VM. You can also enable authentication or not.
As you see below, the Remote GNS3 VM will become populated with the server information you entered above.
With the GNS3 interface, one action I have noticed to be crucial to saving your changes is hitting the Apply button and not just the OK button on these configuration dialogs. I have seen my changes wiped out otherwise.
Installing GNS3 Appliances
The easiest way to import your VIRL images into GNS3 is by means of the GNS3 Appliance. The appliances are basically templates that provide the framework of settings and such to GNS3 so it can correctly import various images and such.
The exciting thing about the appliances is there are tons of them. You can take a look at the appliances here. There are tons of options and a wide variety of vendors. GNS3 really shines with the vendor support and interoperability it provides here.
Appliances to import VIRL images
To import the IOSv and IOSv L2 images, simply download both of these appliances from the marketplace. These are listed as follows if I haven’t missed any:
Then simply select File >> Import Appliance in the GNS3 application. This starts the Add appliance wizard. Follow the prompts here.
We want to Run the appliance on a remote computer. We can select the Remote server if we have more than one.
Here the wizard tells you that you are missing images. Again, the appliance is not the files needed itself, simply a framework.
Login to your VIRL account and download the various images for L2 and L3 shown below.
I ran into an issue after logging into my VIRL account and looking for the files it required. I was not able to find the IOSv 15.6(1)T image in the available downloads. The problem is the wizard will not move forward with this error shown.
A workaround I found was that you can simply edit the .gns3a file that you download as the appliance. These are simply JSON files it looks like. What I did was simply take out the reference to the older image. The default file contained the following data.
I edited my gns3a file to look like this instead in the bottom section:
After the edit, I no longer saw the reference to the missing files and was able to move forward.
Below is the L2 wizard.
It confirms the install of the L2 image here.
Confirming the L3 image install.
When I first tried to power on the L2 image, I received the message below. I simply hit Yes and it uploaded. I didn’t receive this on the L3 image, so not sure if the wizard didn’t import the image correctly or not for L2.
Thoughts
Now you can have all the VIRL image goodness inside of GNS3 legitimately without any hacked IOU VMs, etc. GNS3 is a great product that is truly amazing when it comes to learning. The scale and simplicity you get with GNS3 to me surpasses anything else out there. Hopefully this post on how to use VIRL Images in GNS3 will help others who like me haven’t played around with GNS3 in a while and would like to use resources they have available to them with their VIRL subscription albeit in the GNS3 interface.
I know many have been [not so patiently] waiting for the arrival of a Cisco virtual lab. Although I haven’t heard any official release date for VIRL or CML, there is a small scale virtual router lab available today. This lab is the All-in-One Virtual Machine made available on the Cisco DevNet site.
While not a comprehensive lab, it is a quick and easy way to get some real command line experience or test smaller layer 3 challenges. This VM includes 3 routers with a total of 10 routed interfaces in use. There is no access to layer 2, so the topology can only be manipulated by shutting down interfaces on the routers.
Using the DevNet All-in-One Virtual Machine
This product downloads as an OVA file. The file is easily imported into VMWare. In my case, I used VMWare Fusion running on OSX. Once downloaded and imported, the VM is launched like any other virtual machine. As it boots, you will notice that this is running in Ubuntu. The initial credentials are cisco/cisco123 and the operating will prompt to change the password.
Once installed and logged in, you will be presented with an Ubuntu Desktop containing the necessary shortcuts. Clicking Start 3Node creates and launches the 3 Routers. During the first launch of the lab, you will be prompted to set up a username and password.
The terminal windows will almost immediately appear on the virtual machine. After two or three minutes, you will have access to the command line interfaces of the three routers. It is worth noting that there is an initial configuration. This configuration can be changed as necessary to achieve the desired results.
Conclusion
While the All-in-One Virtual Machine doesn’t offer a lot of flexibility, it is a good way to access a virtual version of IOS 15.4. This can be an opportunity for learners to gain familiarity with the command line interface and an opportunity to test scenarios in IOS. My hope is that Cisco makes a larger and flexible virtual lab available in the future. This could serve those working through the certification process and help engineers gain familiarity with key Cisco features.
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