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1

VIRL 1264 (July 2016 Release)

bull IMPORTANT - Start Here on page 1bull New Features on page 2

bull Docker Support on page 2bull CoreOS Virtual Machine on page 2bull System Configuration Workflow on page 3bull Remote Server Panel on page 3bull Adding Graphics To Your Diagrams on page 6bull VM Maestro Unified Editor on page 9bull VM Maestro node Menu Options on page 10bull VM Maestro and Web Editor Icon Set on page 11bull Liveness Detection on page 12bull Coordinated Packet Capture on page 13bull Topology Capacity Requirements Check on page 14bull Topology Node Count Changes on page 14bull UWM System Console on page 15

bull Enhancements on page 16bull Virtual Machine and Container Images on page 16bull System Upgrade Workflow on page 17bull Other Updates on page 17

bull How to Upgrade on page 18bull Self-Service Download on page 18bull In-Place Upgrade Instructions on page 18

bull Known Issues on page 18bull Existing VIRL 1026 Users on page 19bull Existing VIRL 11x Users on page 19bull Existing VIRL 11x Cluster Users on page 19

bull Performing a New Installation on page 20bull Upgrade VIRL Client (VM Maestro) required on page 20

bull VIRL Server Component Versions on page 21bull Cisco Platform VMs on page 21bull Linux Container Images on page 21

bull Important Notes on page 21bull Bare-Metal Installation Image (ISO) on page 21bull Salt Master Settings on page 22

bull Caveats on page 22bull Community Found Defects Resolved on page 24

IMPORTANT - Start HereVIRL July (1264) release is an upgrade building on the VIRL 10x and 11x releases

NOTE - If you have VIRL 111 or 1026 installed today you can perform an in-place upgrade now

In-place upgrade from VIRL versions below 1026 is NOT supported If you are running an earlier release

a new installation image MUST be downloaded and installed Please refer to httpcommunityvirlinfot

virl-1-0-26-february-16-release-now-available-for-download7126 for more information

Availability

VIRL 1264 (July 2016 Release)

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2

Installation images for VMware Workstation Workstation Player Fusion Pro ESXi and Bare-metal systems

(ISO) are available now Cluster compute nodes will continue to use the 111 images

Please see the section below on Self-Service Download for instructions on how to obtain the appropriate

installation image

NOTE - SUPPORT FOR VIRL v111 and v1026 WILL END ON 6th Aug PLEASE UPGRADE AS SOON

AS POSSIBLE

Online training material is available - this is designed to help get you started and productive quickly - http

virl-dev-innovateciscocomtutorialphp - NOTE this includes video walkthroughs - ensure that your browser

supports H264 video and any plugins are enabled

New Features

Docker SupportThis release of VIRL introduces the ability to integrate Docker nodes into VIRL topologies For more

information on Docker containers and their operation please see httpsblogdockercom201503docker-

tutorial-1-installing-docker

Users are able to select Docker images from public repositories (such as hubdockercom) or private

repositories Once downloaded to your VIRL server you are able to design a network topology that will include

your Docker node Basic configuration information (interface and routing details) are provided by AutoNetkit

using the build initial configurations function The simulation can then be started As part of the simulation

launch the Coreos virtual machine will be spun up and the Docker node started within it The Docker node will

appear as if it were directly connected to the other nodes within your simulation The neighboring devices are

unaware of the presence of the Coreos VM that is hosting the Docker nodes The Coreos VM is configured

to run with 2Gb RAM and 2vCPUs If the amount of memory is insufficient it can be adjusted using the Node

ResourcesFlavors function in UWM

There are thousands of Docker images available on public repositories Not all images will run on VIRL (or any

other Docker deployment) so care must be taken when selecting the image A video Docker on VIRL has

been produced (CLICK HERE) which will help you run Docker images

NOTE

In order to use the Docker functionality you MUST install the Coreos virtual machine image This is available

for installation from the VIRL Server VIRL Software page in UWM

CoreOS Virtual MachineThe implementation in VIRL makes use of the Coreos virtual machine as a launch platform hosting your

Docker instances A thorough tutorial on Coreos and Docker is available from httpscoreoscomosdocs

latestgetting-started-with-dockerhtml

VIRL 1264 (July 2016 Release)

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3

System Configuration WorkflowThe System Configuration panel under the VIRL Server menu in UWM has been revised The new progress

line helps guide you through the various steps while keeping you informed of the current stage in the system

configuration process As part of this feature system messages like maintenance mode and required reboots

are now clearly alerted to the user even when navigating away from the page When a reboot is required a

reboot button will now appear on the page You no longer need to interact with your VIRL server directly when

a reboot is required after making system changes

Remote Server PanelVIRL currently supports cloud deployments to Packetnet only For more information about VIRL on the cloud

please visit our web page httpvirlciscocomcloud

The Remote Server panel under the VIRL Server menu in UWM provides a simple and convenient method

for launching a VIRL server instance to a cloud provider

Packet Deployment

Once youve registered with Packetnet and obtained an API Key you are now ready to prepare your remote

server Select your target location (San Jose New York or Amsterdam) your server type and the time for

which you want your server to be operational Then press Generate Passwords or create your own for the

services listed Pressing the Launch button then controls the process of starting up your remote VIRL server

and provide you with the connection information once your remote VIRL server is ready The Terminate

VIRL 1264 (July 2016 Release)

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button can be used to shut down the remote VIRL server instance and remove the server (Project) from your

Packetnet account

A full walk-through tutorial is available from VIRL on Packet - Web launcher interface from your local VIRL

server - YouTube

The Baremetal_2 (currently in Beta) server type is NOT available from packet at this time

VIRL 1264 (July 2016 Release)

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VIRL 1264 (July 2016 Release)

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Adding Graphics To Your DiagramsUsing either VM Maestro or the Web Editor in UWM you are now able to augment your topology diagrams by

adding graphic elements

VIRL 1264 (July 2016 Release)

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Youre able to use a set of drawing tools to add rectangles ellipses line and text elements to your diagram

Controls enable to you to change fonts text size borders fills etc

The annotations that you create when youre designing the topology are then visible when your simulation is

up and running They can also be hidden to leave just your nodes and links visible

VIRL 1264 (July 2016 Release)

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Generated on 2017-02-24-0800

8

CLICK ON THE PICTURE ABOVE TO WATCH VIDEO CLIP

VIRL 1264 (July 2016 Release)

copy 2017 Cisco andor its affiliates All Rights ReservedThis document is Cisco Public Information

Generated on 2017-02-24-0800

9

CLICK ON THE PICTURE ABOVE TO WATCH VIDEO CLIP

VM Maestro Unified EditorVM Maestro now provides the ability to see the interfaces associated with a node directly in the design or

simulation canvas without needing to open up another panel Double-click on a node to expand in order to see

the interfaces and connection mappings Double-click once more to collapse the node The ViewExpand All

Collapse All menu option can be used to expand and collapse all nodes in your diagram

VIRL 1264 (July 2016 Release)

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10

CLICK ON THE PICTURE ABOVE TO WATCH VIDEO CLIP

VM Maestro node Menu OptionsVIRL has previously provided users with a series of extensions that could be applied to VIRL topologies in

order to control aspects such as the Mgmt-IP address assigned to a node or the static_ip address to be applied

to a data-interface For an expanded list of the various extensions take a look at VIRL Topology Extensions

Reference

VM Maestro now provides node-type appropriate menu options enabling users to set these values more

easily without the need to the use the extensions function

VIRL 1264 (July 2016 Release)

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Adding Graphics To Your DiagramsUsing either VM Maestro or the Web Editor in UWM you are now able to augment your topology diagrams by

adding graphic elements

VIRL 1264 (July 2016 Release)

copy 2017 Cisco andor its affiliates All Rights ReservedThis document is Cisco Public Information

Generated on 2017-02-24-0800

7

Youre able to use a set of drawing tools to add rectangles ellipses line and text elements to your diagram

Controls enable to you to change fonts text size borders fills etc

The annotations that you create when youre designing the topology are then visible when your simulation is

up and running They can also be hidden to leave just your nodes and links visible

VIRL 1264 (July 2016 Release)

copy 2017 Cisco andor its affiliates All Rights ReservedThis document is Cisco Public Information

Generated on 2017-02-24-0800

8

CLICK ON THE PICTURE ABOVE TO WATCH VIDEO CLIP

VIRL 1264 (July 2016 Release)

copy 2017 Cisco andor its affiliates All Rights ReservedThis document is Cisco Public Information

Generated on 2017-02-24-0800

9

CLICK ON THE PICTURE ABOVE TO WATCH VIDEO CLIP

VM Maestro Unified EditorVM Maestro now provides the ability to see the interfaces associated with a node directly in the design or

simulation canvas without needing to open up another panel Double-click on a node to expand in order to see

the interfaces and connection mappings Double-click once more to collapse the node The ViewExpand All

Collapse All menu option can be used to expand and collapse all nodes in your diagram

VIRL 1264 (July 2016 Release)

copy 2017 Cisco andor its affiliates All Rights ReservedThis document is Cisco Public Information

Generated on 2017-02-24-0800

10

CLICK ON THE PICTURE ABOVE TO WATCH VIDEO CLIP

VM Maestro node Menu OptionsVIRL has previously provided users with a series of extensions that could be applied to VIRL topologies in

order to control aspects such as the Mgmt-IP address assigned to a node or the static_ip address to be applied

to a data-interface For an expanded list of the various extensions take a look at VIRL Topology Extensions

Reference

VM Maestro now provides node-type appropriate menu options enabling users to set these values more

easily without the need to the use the extensions function

VIRL 1264 (July 2016 Release)

copy 2017 Cisco andor its affiliates All Rights ReservedThis document is Cisco Public Information

Generated on 2017-02-24-0800

7

Youre able to use a set of drawing tools to add rectangles ellipses line and text elements to your diagram

Controls enable to you to change fonts text size borders fills etc

The annotations that you create when youre designing the topology are then visible when your simulation is

up and running They can also be hidden to leave just your nodes and links visible

VIRL 1264 (July 2016 Release)

copy 2017 Cisco andor its affiliates All Rights ReservedThis document is Cisco Public Information

Generated on 2017-02-24-0800

8

CLICK ON THE PICTURE ABOVE TO WATCH VIDEO CLIP

VIRL 1264 (July 2016 Release)

copy 2017 Cisco andor its affiliates All Rights ReservedThis document is Cisco Public Information

Generated on 2017-02-24-0800

9

CLICK ON THE PICTURE ABOVE TO WATCH VIDEO CLIP

VM Maestro Unified EditorVM Maestro now provides the ability to see the interfaces associated with a node directly in the design or

simulation canvas without needing to open up another panel Double-click on a node to expand in order to see

the interfaces and connection mappings Double-click once more to collapse the node The ViewExpand All

Collapse All menu option can be used to expand and collapse all nodes in your diagram

VIRL 1264 (July 2016 Release)

copy 2017 Cisco andor its affiliates All Rights ReservedThis document is Cisco Public Information

Generated on 2017-02-24-0800

10

CLICK ON THE PICTURE ABOVE TO WATCH VIDEO CLIP

VM Maestro node Menu OptionsVIRL has previously provided users with a series of extensions that could be applied to VIRL topologies in

order to control aspects such as the Mgmt-IP address assigned to a node or the static_ip address to be applied

to a data-interface For an expanded list of the various extensions take a look at VIRL Topology Extensions

Reference

VM Maestro now provides node-type appropriate menu options enabling users to set these values more

easily without the need to the use the extensions function

VIRL 1264 (July 2016 Release)

copy 2017 Cisco andor its affiliates All Rights ReservedThis document is Cisco Public Information

Generated on 2017-02-24-0800

8

CLICK ON THE PICTURE ABOVE TO WATCH VIDEO CLIP

VIRL 1264 (July 2016 Release)

copy 2017 Cisco andor its affiliates All Rights ReservedThis document is Cisco Public Information

Generated on 2017-02-24-0800

9

CLICK ON THE PICTURE ABOVE TO WATCH VIDEO CLIP

VM Maestro Unified EditorVM Maestro now provides the ability to see the interfaces associated with a node directly in the design or

simulation canvas without needing to open up another panel Double-click on a node to expand in order to see

the interfaces and connection mappings Double-click once more to collapse the node The ViewExpand All

Collapse All menu option can be used to expand and collapse all nodes in your diagram

VIRL 1264 (July 2016 Release)

copy 2017 Cisco andor its affiliates All Rights ReservedThis document is Cisco Public Information

Generated on 2017-02-24-0800

10

CLICK ON THE PICTURE ABOVE TO WATCH VIDEO CLIP

VM Maestro node Menu OptionsVIRL has previously provided users with a series of extensions that could be applied to VIRL topologies in

order to control aspects such as the Mgmt-IP address assigned to a node or the static_ip address to be applied

to a data-interface For an expanded list of the various extensions take a look at VIRL Topology Extensions

Reference

VM Maestro now provides node-type appropriate menu options enabling users to set these values more

easily without the need to the use the extensions function

VIRL 1264 (July 2016 Release)

copy 2017 Cisco andor its affiliates All Rights ReservedThis document is Cisco Public Information

Generated on 2017-02-24-0800

9

CLICK ON THE PICTURE ABOVE TO WATCH VIDEO CLIP

VM Maestro Unified EditorVM Maestro now provides the ability to see the interfaces associated with a node directly in the design or

simulation canvas without needing to open up another panel Double-click on a node to expand in order to see

the interfaces and connection mappings Double-click once more to collapse the node The ViewExpand All

Collapse All menu option can be used to expand and collapse all nodes in your diagram

VIRL 1264 (July 2016 Release)

copy 2017 Cisco andor its affiliates All Rights ReservedThis document is Cisco Public Information

Generated on 2017-02-24-0800

10

CLICK ON THE PICTURE ABOVE TO WATCH VIDEO CLIP

VM Maestro node Menu OptionsVIRL has previously provided users with a series of extensions that could be applied to VIRL topologies in

order to control aspects such as the Mgmt-IP address assigned to a node or the static_ip address to be applied

to a data-interface For an expanded list of the various extensions take a look at VIRL Topology Extensions

Reference

VM Maestro now provides node-type appropriate menu options enabling users to set these values more

easily without the need to the use the extensions function

VIRL 1264 (July 2016 Release)

copy 2017 Cisco andor its affiliates All Rights ReservedThis document is Cisco Public Information

Generated on 2017-02-24-0800

10

CLICK ON THE PICTURE ABOVE TO WATCH VIDEO CLIP

VM Maestro node Menu OptionsVIRL has previously provided users with a series of extensions that could be applied to VIRL topologies in

order to control aspects such as the Mgmt-IP address assigned to a node or the static_ip address to be applied

to a data-interface For an expanded list of the various extensions take a look at VIRL Topology Extensions

Reference

VM Maestro now provides node-type appropriate menu options enabling users to set these values more

easily without the need to the use the extensions function

VIRL 1264 (July 2016 Release)

copy 2017 Cisco andor its affiliates All Rights ReservedThis document is Cisco Public Information

Generated on 2017-02-24-0800

11

CLICK ON THE PICTURE ABOVE TO WATCH VIDEO CLIP

VM Maestro and Web Editor Icon SetThe icons used in both VM Maestro and UWM Web Editor have been updated No user actions are required to

use the new icons for new or existing topologies

NOTE

The cloud icons previously used for FLAT and SNAT network objects have been replaced with a Hub icon

and a Gateway icon respectively

VIRL 1264 (July 2016 Release)

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12

No functionality has changed as a result of this update

Liveness DetectionWhen a simulation is started the nodes will go through a number of states before their configuration has been

applied and are deemed fully operational In previous releases a node would be marked as ACTIVE as soon

as the virtual machine has started its boot-up cycle in some cases it can take many minutes before the node

is truly operational Users who have used the Live Visualisation functionality will have seen its ability to detect

when a node is responsive to commands This functionality has now been adapted and expanded such that a

new state is now reported in VM Maestro and in UWM reporting when a node has reached the point where

its configuration has been applied and the node is now pingable on its management interface

VIRL 1264 (July 2016 Release)

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Generated on 2017-02-24-0800

13

In the example above the log messages indicate when the nodes have transitioned from booting to the point

where configuration has been applied and the node is now reachable The state is also reflected in the state

marker shown in the simulations panel

If the management interface is not configured or is placed into shutdown state the node will be shown as

ACTIVE - UNREACHABLE

Coordinated Packet CaptureWhen inspecting traffic passing across the network it can be valuable to be monitoring more than one interface

at a time and also to start the packet-capture at the same time The coordinated packet capture capabilities

is provided in the UWM interface When a simulation is up and running youre able to select one or more

interfaces and mark them for traffic capture Youre then able to specify the traffic capture parameters

including the packets to match (using PCAP filter syntax) the time to run the capture or number of packets to

capture You can either start the capture on the marked interfaces immediately or do so at a later point in time

VIRL 1264 (July 2016 Release)

copy 2017 Cisco andor its affiliates All Rights ReservedThis document is Cisco Public Information

Generated on 2017-02-24-0800

14

Once complete you can either download the per-interface PCAP files or get a ZIP file containing the PCAP

files for each interface

A demo of this function is posted at VIRL Personal Edition June 2016 Webinar Recording - YouTube

Topology Capacity Requirements CheckUsers are able to take an existing VIRL file and get a report of the resource requirements that the topology

will need versus the resources available on the VIRL server Log in to UWM as a user (not as uwmadmin)

and select My Simulations Select Launch new simulation Now select the VIRL file that youd like to check

using one of the available options (local file remote file file from GIT repository) Now press the Calculate

requirements button A table will be generated showing the CPU and memory requirements for the topology

CLICK ON THE PICTURE ABOVE TO WATCH VIDEO CLIP

Topology Node Count ChangesIn previous releases of VIRL the capacity calculation rules were applied on a per-simulation basis This meant

that if you have a 20-node license the largest topology that you could theoretically launch would be one with

up to 20 Cisco virtual-machines (not including 3rd party VMs or containers A topology with more than 20

nodes would be rejected

VIRL 1264 (July 2016 Release)

copy 2017 Cisco andor its affiliates All Rights ReservedThis document is Cisco Public Information

Generated on 2017-02-24-0800

12

No functionality has changed as a result of this update

Liveness DetectionWhen a simulation is started the nodes will go through a number of states before their configuration has been

applied and are deemed fully operational In previous releases a node would be marked as ACTIVE as soon

as the virtual machine has started its boot-up cycle in some cases it can take many minutes before the node

is truly operational Users who have used the Live Visualisation functionality will have seen its ability to detect

when a node is responsive to commands This functionality has now been adapted and expanded such that a

new state is now reported in VM Maestro and in UWM reporting when a node has reached the point where

its configuration has been applied and the node is now pingable on its management interface

VIRL 1264 (July 2016 Release)

copy 2017 Cisco andor its affiliates All Rights ReservedThis document is Cisco Public Information

Generated on 2017-02-24-0800

13

In the example above the log messages indicate when the nodes have transitioned from booting to the point

where configuration has been applied and the node is now reachable The state is also reflected in the state

marker shown in the simulations panel

If the management interface is not configured or is placed into shutdown state the node will be shown as

ACTIVE - UNREACHABLE

Coordinated Packet CaptureWhen inspecting traffic passing across the network it can be valuable to be monitoring more than one interface

at a time and also to start the packet-capture at the same time The coordinated packet capture capabilities

is provided in the UWM interface When a simulation is up and running youre able to select one or more

interfaces and mark them for traffic capture Youre then able to specify the traffic capture parameters

including the packets to match (using PCAP filter syntax) the time to run the capture or number of packets to

capture You can either start the capture on the marked interfaces immediately or do so at a later point in time

VIRL 1264 (July 2016 Release)

copy 2017 Cisco andor its affiliates All Rights ReservedThis document is Cisco Public Information

Generated on 2017-02-24-0800

14

Once complete you can either download the per-interface PCAP files or get a ZIP file containing the PCAP

files for each interface

A demo of this function is posted at VIRL Personal Edition June 2016 Webinar Recording - YouTube

Topology Capacity Requirements CheckUsers are able to take an existing VIRL file and get a report of the resource requirements that the topology

will need versus the resources available on the VIRL server Log in to UWM as a user (not as uwmadmin)

and select My Simulations Select Launch new simulation Now select the VIRL file that youd like to check

using one of the available options (local file remote file file from GIT repository) Now press the Calculate

requirements button A table will be generated showing the CPU and memory requirements for the topology

CLICK ON THE PICTURE ABOVE TO WATCH VIDEO CLIP

Topology Node Count ChangesIn previous releases of VIRL the capacity calculation rules were applied on a per-simulation basis This meant

that if you have a 20-node license the largest topology that you could theoretically launch would be one with

up to 20 Cisco virtual-machines (not including 3rd party VMs or containers A topology with more than 20

nodes would be rejected

VIRL 1264 (July 2016 Release)

copy 2017 Cisco andor its affiliates All Rights ReservedThis document is Cisco Public Information

Generated on 2017-02-24-0800

13

In the example above the log messages indicate when the nodes have transitioned from booting to the point

where configuration has been applied and the node is now reachable The state is also reflected in the state

marker shown in the simulations panel

If the management interface is not configured or is placed into shutdown state the node will be shown as

ACTIVE - UNREACHABLE

Coordinated Packet CaptureWhen inspecting traffic passing across the network it can be valuable to be monitoring more than one interface

at a time and also to start the packet-capture at the same time The coordinated packet capture capabilities

is provided in the UWM interface When a simulation is up and running youre able to select one or more

interfaces and mark them for traffic capture Youre then able to specify the traffic capture parameters

including the packets to match (using PCAP filter syntax) the time to run the capture or number of packets to

capture You can either start the capture on the marked interfaces immediately or do so at a later point in time

VIRL 1264 (July 2016 Release)

copy 2017 Cisco andor its affiliates All Rights ReservedThis document is Cisco Public Information

Generated on 2017-02-24-0800

14

Once complete you can either download the per-interface PCAP files or get a ZIP file containing the PCAP

files for each interface

A demo of this function is posted at VIRL Personal Edition June 2016 Webinar Recording - YouTube

Topology Capacity Requirements CheckUsers are able to take an existing VIRL file and get a report of the resource requirements that the topology

will need versus the resources available on the VIRL server Log in to UWM as a user (not as uwmadmin)

and select My Simulations Select Launch new simulation Now select the VIRL file that youd like to check

using one of the available options (local file remote file file from GIT repository) Now press the Calculate

requirements button A table will be generated showing the CPU and memory requirements for the topology

CLICK ON THE PICTURE ABOVE TO WATCH VIDEO CLIP

Topology Node Count ChangesIn previous releases of VIRL the capacity calculation rules were applied on a per-simulation basis This meant

that if you have a 20-node license the largest topology that you could theoretically launch would be one with

up to 20 Cisco virtual-machines (not including 3rd party VMs or containers A topology with more than 20

nodes would be rejected

VIRL 1264 (July 2016 Release)

copy 2017 Cisco andor its affiliates All Rights ReservedThis document is Cisco Public Information

Generated on 2017-02-24-0800

14

Once complete you can either download the per-interface PCAP files or get a ZIP file containing the PCAP

files for each interface

A demo of this function is posted at VIRL Personal Edition June 2016 Webinar Recording - YouTube

Topology Capacity Requirements CheckUsers are able to take an existing VIRL file and get a report of the resource requirements that the topology

will need versus the resources available on the VIRL server Log in to UWM as a user (not as uwmadmin)

and select My Simulations Select Launch new simulation Now select the VIRL file that youd like to check

using one of the available options (local file remote file file from GIT repository) Now press the Calculate

requirements button A table will be generated showing the CPU and memory requirements for the topology

CLICK ON THE PICTURE ABOVE TO WATCH VIDEO CLIP

Topology Node Count ChangesIn previous releases of VIRL the capacity calculation rules were applied on a per-simulation basis This meant

that if you have a 20-node license the largest topology that you could theoretically launch would be one with

up to 20 Cisco virtual-machines (not including 3rd party VMs or containers A topology with more than 20

nodes would be rejected

VIRL 1264 (July 2016 Release)

copy 2017 Cisco andor its affiliates All Rights ReservedThis document is Cisco Public Information

Generated on 2017-02-24-0800

15

Changes introduced in this release mean that the capacity calculation is now performed on a per-node basis

This means that you are now able to launch up to 20-nodes (assuming a 20-node license) of a much larger

topology For example if you have a 40 node topology you are able to mark 20 out of the 40 as excluded

from launch Where as with previous releases this would still be rejected on the basis of the size of the overall

topology the simulation start will now take place since you have chosen to start up to your license node-count

capacity

Once started you are able to stop nodes and start other nodes in the topology as long as you remain within

the total node-count capacity of your license

UWM System ConsoleSystem administrator occasionally need access to the command-line of the VIRL server Using the UWM

interface System Console provides users with administrative privilege the ability to access the command

line shell through a web-page SSH clients such as Secure-CRT PuTTY etc are no longer needed for simple

tasks

IMPORTANT The communication channel used for the CLI session is NOT secure The username and

password is sent in clear-text If you have security concerns about this connection method do NOT use this

feature

VIRL 1264 (July 2016 Release)

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Generated on 2017-02-24-0800

16

CLICK ON THE PICTURE ABOVE TO WATCH VIDEO CLIP

Enhancements

Virtual Machine and Container Images

bull IOS XRv 601 - An updated IOS XRv virtual machine is now available and becomes the default IOSXRv instance

bull IOS XRv 9000 601 - An updated IOS XRv 9000 virtual machine is now available and becomes thedefault IOS XRv 9000 instance

bull CSR1000v 1622 - An updated CSR1000v virtual machine is now available and becomes the defaultCSR1000v instance

bull Coreos - The Coreos virtual machine provides a launch platform for Docker images The VM shouldbe considered as a VIRL infrastructure virtual machine and is not a virtual machine that can bedesigned into a simulation Please see the section on Docker support for more details

Noticebull Cisco IOL LXC - Inclusion of the IOL LXC image has been postponed This image is

NOT included at this point in time All questions are to be directed to Nour Abueshsheikh(mailtonoabusheciscocom) and Scott Anderson (mailtoscander2ciscocom) This releaseintroduces support for the IOL router image in LinuX Containter format IOL is a light-weightimplementation of the Cisco IOS operating system requiring ~100Mb RAM to run An additionalicon will be provided from the node palette in the VM Maestro and Web-based Editor tools Thenode can be placed into your topology in exactly the same manner as other network elementsThe AutoNetkit configuration engine is able to configure the IOL instance creating an appropriatebootstrap configuration in order the device to boot and then participate in your network simulationIt must be noted that there is no serial console present on the IOL instance A maximum of 16Ethernet interfaces are provided

bull Cisco IOL-L2 LXC - Inclusion of the IOL LXC image has been postponed This image isNOT included at this point in time All questions are to be directed to Nour Abueshsheikh(mailtonoabusheciscocom) and Scott Anderson (mailtoscander2ciscocom) This releaseintroduces support for the IOL-L2 switch image in LinuX Containter format IOL-L2 is a light-weightimplementation of the Cisco IOS operating system requiring ~100Mb RAM to run An additional iconwill be provided from the node palette in the VM Maestro and Web-based Editor tools The node canbe placed into your topology in exactly the same manner as other network elements The AutoNetkitconfiguration engine is able to configure the IOL-L2 instance creating an appropriate bootstrapconfiguration in order the device to boot and then participate in your network simulation It must benoted that there is no serial console present on the IOL-L2 instance A maximum of 16 Ethernetinterfaces are provided

VIRL 1264 (July 2016 Release)

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Generated on 2017-02-24-0800

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CLICK ON THE PICTURE ABOVE TO WATCH VIDEO CLIP

Enhancements

Virtual Machine and Container Images

bull IOS XRv 601 - An updated IOS XRv virtual machine is now available and becomes the default IOSXRv instance

bull IOS XRv 9000 601 - An updated IOS XRv 9000 virtual machine is now available and becomes thedefault IOS XRv 9000 instance

bull CSR1000v 1622 - An updated CSR1000v virtual machine is now available and becomes the defaultCSR1000v instance

bull Coreos - The Coreos virtual machine provides a launch platform for Docker images The VM shouldbe considered as a VIRL infrastructure virtual machine and is not a virtual machine that can bedesigned into a simulation Please see the section on Docker support for more details

Noticebull Cisco IOL LXC - Inclusion of the IOL LXC image has been postponed This image is

NOT included at this point in time All questions are to be directed to Nour Abueshsheikh(mailtonoabusheciscocom) and Scott Anderson (mailtoscander2ciscocom) This releaseintroduces support for the IOL router image in LinuX Containter format IOL is a light-weightimplementation of the Cisco IOS operating system requiring ~100Mb RAM to run An additionalicon will be provided from the node palette in the VM Maestro and Web-based Editor tools Thenode can be placed into your topology in exactly the same manner as other network elementsThe AutoNetkit configuration engine is able to configure the IOL instance creating an appropriatebootstrap configuration in order the device to boot and then participate in your network simulationIt must be noted that there is no serial console present on the IOL instance A maximum of 16Ethernet interfaces are provided

bull Cisco IOL-L2 LXC - Inclusion of the IOL LXC image has been postponed This image isNOT included at this point in time All questions are to be directed to Nour Abueshsheikh(mailtonoabusheciscocom) and Scott Anderson (mailtoscander2ciscocom) This releaseintroduces support for the IOL-L2 switch image in LinuX Containter format IOL-L2 is a light-weightimplementation of the Cisco IOS operating system requiring ~100Mb RAM to run An additional iconwill be provided from the node palette in the VM Maestro and Web-based Editor tools The node canbe placed into your topology in exactly the same manner as other network elements The AutoNetkitconfiguration engine is able to configure the IOL-L2 instance creating an appropriate bootstrapconfiguration in order the device to boot and then participate in your network simulation It must benoted that there is no serial console present on the IOL-L2 instance A maximum of 16 Ethernetinterfaces are provided

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System Upgrade WorkflowThe System Upgrade panel under the VIRL Server menu in UWM has been revised The new progress line

helps guide you through the various steps while keeping you informed of the current stage in the upgrade

process

NOTE - The progress line will become available as you upgrade your VIRL server to version 125 It is normal

to see a disconnection error from UWM during the upgrade as some services will restart

Other Updatesbull VM Maestro Geo-map - The Geographic Map function that was present in previous version of VM

Maestro has been deprecated The function is no longer availablebull VM Maestro validation change - VM Maestro will now permit topologies with an IOSvL2 node linked

to a FLAT or SNAT connector to launch A warning marker will be shown on the link instead of anerror marker You will also receive a warning dialog when you click Launch Simulation

bull VIRL XSD Schema Change - the Schema version for VIRL XML documents has changed fromVersion 09 to Version 095 The full XSD is available from httpsrawgithubusercontentcomCiscoVIRLschemav095virlxsd

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How to Upgrade

Self-Service DownloadEvery registered VIRL user is now able to download the OVA and ISO images from httpsvirlmediuscorpcom

my-account The new Download VIRL link on this page will take you through to a self-service selection page

where you are able to select the image you would like

Please note that the downloads are large The use of download manager application is strongly recommended

In-Place Upgrade InstructionsNOTE - you must have communication to a Cisco salt-master and have a valid license key in order to perform

the upgrade

Known Issuesbull Upgrade fails due to unknown version - From UWM overview reports Release as NA If this

happens you need to run the commands from your VIRL server console as outlined in the answer

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of this post VIRL Upgrade Problem once you have verified that UWM is reporting the appropriateversion you may continue with the in-place upgrade

Existing VIRL 1026 UsersREAD THIS - You are able to upgrade to the latest release by logging into the User Workspace Managment

(UWM) interface as uwmadmin

From the menu on the left-hand side of the page select VIRL ServerVIRL Software After a ~60 seconds a

list of available images will be presented New packages will be shown as available for installation with a tick-

box present in the Install YN column Select the package and press the Start installation button The system

will now perform the first stage of the upgrade

Once completed from the menu on the left-hand side of the page select VIRL ServerSystem Upgrade A

list of available upgrade options (Core Full or Advanced) will be presented At a minimum select the Core

upgrade enable maintenance mode and press the Start installation button

Updated Virtual machine images are available for installation either by using the Full or Advanced upgrade

options or by selecting from the Cisco VM image upgrades section of the VIRL Software package

The upgrade will not only install the latest VIRL software set but will also update critical components of the

Ubuntu operating system The time taken will depend on your network connectivity

Progress can be monitored by expanding the vinstall upgrade panel on the System Upgrade page

Watch the video VIRL 10 to 12 Upgrade - YouTube

Existing VIRL 11x UsersREAD THIS - You are able to upgrade to the latest release by logging into the User Workspace Managment

(UWM) interface as uwmadmin From the menu on the left-hand side of the page select VIRL ServerSystem

Upgrade A list of available upgrade options (Core Full or Advanced) will be presented At a minimum select

the Core upgrade enable maintenance mode and press the Start installation button

Updated Virtual machine images are available for installation either by using the Full or Advanced upgrade

options or by selecting from the Cisco VM image upgrades section of the VIRL Software package

The upgrade will not only install the latest VIRL software set but will also update critical components of the

Ubuntu operating system The time taken will depend on your network connectivity

Progress can be monitored by expanding the vinstall upgrade panel on the System Upgrade page

Watch the video VIRL 10 to 12 Upgrade - YouTube

Existing VIRL 11x Cluster UsersREAD THIS - You are able to upgrade to the latest release by logging into the User Workspace Managment

(UWM) interface as uwmadmin on the Cluster CONTROLLER node From the menu on the left-hand side of

the page select VIRL ServerSystem Upgrade A list of available upgrade options (Core Full or Advanced)

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will be presented At a minimum select the Core upgrade enable maintenance mode and press the Start

installation button

Updated Virtual machine images are available for installation either by using the Full or Advanced upgrade

options or by selecting from the Cisco VM image upgrades section of the VIRL Software package

The upgrade will not only install the latest VIRL software set but will also update critical components of the

Ubuntu operating system The time taken will depend on your network connectivity

Progress can be monitored by expanding the vinstall upgrade panel on the System Upgrade page

At the end of the upgrade process the cluster controller will be rebooted Once it has rebooted you need to

reboot each one of the compute nodes within your cluster To do this1 1 Log in to UWM on the Cluster Controller node as uwmadmin

2 Navigate to the VIRL Server System Tools panel and select System console3 For each one of the compute servers in your cluster issue the following command sequence

1 ssh virlcompute[1-4]2 sudo reboot

4 Once all compute nodes have rebooted issue the following command in the System consolewindow1 nova service-list | grep compute2 The following output should be reported

Performing a New InstallationPlease use the installation guides posted at httpvirl-dev-innovateciscocom and select the instructions

appropriate for your platform

Upgrade VIRL Client (VM Maestro) requiredYou must update VM Maestro to version 127 Dev-423 or later Older releases are not supported with VIRL

125 Download the new VM Maestro client from httpyourVIRLserverIPdownload Once installed update

the available node types as follows1 Launch VM Maestro2 Select File Preferences Node Subtypes3 Press Fetch From Server4 Press Apply

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VIRL Server Component VersionsThis release contains the following component versions

bull Openstack Kilobull VM Maestro 127 Build Dev-423 (NEW)bull AutoNetkit 02320237 (NEW)bull Live Network Collection Engine 0116 (NEW)bull VIRL_CORE 010278 (NEW)

Cisco Platform VMsbull IOSv - 156(2)T imagebull IOSvL2 - 1524055 DSGS imagebull IOSXRv - 601 image (NEW)bull IOS XRv 9000 - 601 image (NEW) (NOT BUNDLED - click httpcommunityvirlcomtios-xrv-9000-

more-info-updated-1-12-166789 for details)bull CSR1000v - 1622 XE-based imagebull NX-OSv 7301bull ASAv 952bull Ubuntu 1442 Cloud-init

Linux Container Imagesbull Ubuntu 1442 LXCbull iPerf LXCbull Routem LXCbull Ostinato-drone LXC

Important Notes

Bare-Metal Installation Image (ISO)The ISO installer image will install the Ubuntu 1443 operating system as well as all of the software stack for

VIRL Due to space issues the CSR1000v image is not included in the ISO installation image Once VIRL

has been installed your salt-key has been applied and communication established to the Cisco salt-masters

you will be able to install the CSR1000v 317 image from the VIRL Software panel in the User Workspace

Management interface Use a Web-browser to log into the User Workspace Management interface and select

the VIRL Software tab from the panel on the left Select the CSR1000v and then press Start Installation

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Salt Master SettingsOnce you have installed VIRL apply for VIRL license key as per the installation instructions You should enter

at least two hosts picking a number between 1 and 4 Do not enter the same number twice You can list up

to four salt-masters When specifying multiple salt masters separate each one with a comma followed by a

space as shown below Update you salt-master list if needed

USus-1virlinfo us-2virlinfo us-3virlinfo us-4virlinfo

EUeu-1virlinfo eu-2virlinfo eu-3virlinfo eu-4virlinfo

Caveatsbull VM Maestro build dev-423 fails to run on OS X

The initial VM Maestro 127 build included with this release (build dev-423) failed to run on OS Xunless the machine already had a Java 8 JDK installed

Solution Upgrade to the latest VM Maestro 127 build dev-434 or higherbull CSR1000v 1621 - this image CANNOT be used with VIRL due to a defect CSCuz09110

Workaround nonebull VIRLDEV-2299 - Connection creation in VM Maestro does not work on some Windows 10 machines

if the Topology Editor preference is set for selecting interfaces manually

For a summary of this problem see Windows 10 - Cannot select interfaces while creating aconnection

Workaround Disable touchscreen and pen HID devicesdetailed instructions for workaroundbull VIRLDEV-3525 - Scroll bar on Preferences gt Node Subtypes dialog doesnt work on OS X 1011

When using VM Maestro on Mac OS X 1011x the scroll-bar that should be displayed inside theNode Subtype list panel may be missing

Workround Open the Mac System Preferences pane Under General select Show scroll bars andset to Always

bull VIRLDEV-3998 - UWM Preview is not working after AutoNetkit webserver port change

In the VIRL servers System Configuration panel if the AutoNetkit webserver port is changed fromits default value (19401) when you subsequently use the UWM interface and select My simulationsto start a simulation the preview function will not work and will instead report cant establish aconnection to the server at xxxx19401

Workaround Use the AutoNetkit protocol visualisation function in VM Maestro to view your topologybull VIRLDEV-4006 - Link parameters on compute nodes not operating correctly

When using VIRL in cluster mode if link-parameters (latency jitter packet-loss) are applied to a linkwhere the VM is operating on a Compute node (vs the Controller node) the link parameters are notapplied

Workaround none

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bull Bare-metal installation (ISO) - when following the installation instructions and selecting LVM forpartition management the system will report that there is insufficient disk space and that you shouldincrease the size of the boot partition THIS MESSAGE CAN BE IGNORED Press the continuebutton The installation will proceed without issue

bull Following an upgrade from 1011 to 1026 the following message may be observed when trying tostart up a simulation

(ERROR) [Feb042016 211451] Failed to start simulation LXC_demo-clsv9_ local variablemessage referenced before assignment

Workaround Reboot your VIRL server and please try to start your simulation once morebull IOSv 156(2)T - On boot-up the following message may be observedSYS-3-CPUHOG Task is

running for (1997)msecs more than (2000)msecs (00)process = TTY Background-Traceback=114ECF8z 130425z 15E20Ez 15DF30z 15DD3Dz 157D75z 158A2Bz 1589BFz 159B67z 153672z3C9740Az 3C868CEz 3C89BEFz 5125F91z 491D86Cz 492E540z - Process Crypto CA CPU hogPC 0x00157D2C

Workaround This is cosmetic and can be ignoredbull IOSv 156(1)T IOSvL2 152(4055) DSGS - CSCuv77089 - CVAC day0 configuration only partially

saved

When booting an IOSv or IOSvL2 instance within VIRL it will insert the bootstrap configuration intorunning-config and report the following message

Aug 10 150608555 CVAC-4-CONFIG_DONE Configuration generated from file flash3

ios_configtxt was applied and saved to NVRAM See show running-config or show startup-

config for more details

The running-config is fully applied However the startup configuration only contains partial content

Workaround issuing the command copy run start after the device has fully booted will copy the running-

configuration content to the startup-configuration as expectedNote VIRLs configuration extraction function

performs a copy run start operation as part of its executionbull VIRLDEV-3140 - Live Visualization - ping with 50 packet loss - timeout reported

Configured a link with 50 packet loss and use the ping from ping to function The ping failedreporting the following

ping 19216806 source 19216805 Timeout exceeded

This issue impacts the ping function within the Live Visualisation system but does not impact the regular

operation of pings from the VMs themselves

Workaround reduce the packet loss on the selected linkbull VIRLDEV-3119 - Rehost operation - changing the internalnetport IP address from 1721610250

results in broken system_

Changing the internalnet_port IP address from the default (1721610250) value and then performingthe vinstall rehost operation results in an VIRL system which is not operational

Workaround None Changing the internalnet_port IP address is NOT supportedbull VM Maestro - terminal preference for detached internal terminals - this function has been deprecated

in VM Maestro 124 onwardsWorkaround you can manual tear the terminal pane from the main VM Maestro window Use this inconjunction with the VM Maestro preference (Cisco terminal) - multiple tabs for one simulation

bull VIRLDEV-4517 No VM Maestro splash screen on WindowsOn Windows when VM Maestro starts the splash screen is not being shown

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Workaround none Wait approximately 10 minutes after starting VM Maestro and then the mainVM Maestro window should appear

Community Found Defects ResolvedVIRL is a community supported and community shaped application As VIRL grows and evolves the feedback

received from the community shapes and enhances the user experience The following resolved defects were

reported by our community and usersbull VIRLDEV-4138 STD - data-interface range correction for IOS XRv 9000 -bull VIRLDEV-4173 UWM - specialize subtype - rejects names with spaces with invalid inputbull VIRLDEV-4293 STD - TypeError argument must be an int or have a fileno() method

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Workaround none Wait approximately 10 minutes after starting VM Maestro and then the mainVM Maestro window should appear

Community Found Defects ResolvedVIRL is a community supported and community shaped application As VIRL grows and evolves the feedback

received from the community shapes and enhances the user experience The following resolved defects were

reported by our community and usersbull VIRLDEV-4138 STD - data-interface range correction for IOS XRv 9000 -bull VIRLDEV-4173 UWM - specialize subtype - rejects names with spaces with invalid inputbull VIRLDEV-4293 STD - TypeError argument must be an int or have a fileno() method