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Creating Network Packet Broker Topologies

Netvisor ONE version 7.0.0 allows you to save specific Network Packet Broker configurations as topologies which can be reconfigured seamlessly without repeating all the configuration steps. An NPB topology can be removed and redeployed without restarting the switch. This feature provides a methodology to create and store configuration templates which makes the deployment easier. The stored information includes the vPG endpoints of an NPB vFlow.

Use the topology-create command to configure a redeployable topology:

CLI (network-admin@switch) > topology-create

topology-create	Create a topology that can be redeployed.
name	Specify the name of the topology.

For example, to create a topology named topo1, issue the command:

CLI (network-admin@switch) > topology-create name topo1

In a topology, you can store the endpoint information for an NPB vFlow in the form of a Virtual Link (vLink). The endpoints can be bidirectional vPGs with or without monitoring ports. A vLink stores both the bidirectional vPG endpoints of a vFlow, and when you enable the topology, Netvisor ONE automatically creates a vFlow between the two vPGs and enables protocol transparency.

Note: A vLink only stores bidirectional vPGs as endpoints of an NPB vFlow. You cannot specify source or destination vPGs as endpoints of a vLink. For more information on bidirectional vPGs, see Configuring Protocol Transparency and Bidirectional vPGs for NPB.

To add a vLink to a topology, use the command:

CLI (network-admin@switch) > topology-vlink-add

topology-vlink-add	Add a vLink to an NPB topology.
name	Specify the name of the topology.
vlink-name vlink-name-string	Specify a name for the vLink.
endpoint1 vpg-name	Specify a vPG endpoint for vFlow creation.
endpoint2 vpg-name	Specify a second vPG endpoint for vFlow creation.

For example:

CLI (network-admin@switch) > topology-vlink-add name topo1 vlink-name vlink1 endpoint1 vPG1 endpoint2 vPG2

To display the configuration, use the topology-vlink-show command:

CLI (network-admin@switch) > topology-vlink-show

name vlink-name endpoint1 endpoint2

----- ---------- --------- ---------

topo1 vlink1 vPG1 vPG2

You can use the topology-vlink-modify command to modify and topology-vlink-remove command to remove a vLink configuration.

To enable the toplogy named topo1, you must issue the command:

CLI (network-admin@switch) > topology-modify name topo1 enable

When you execute the above command, Netvisor ONE auto-configures a vFlow between the vPG endpoints of the vLink. Use the vflow-show command to view this configuration.

Case 1: If the bidirectional vPGs are on different switches:

CLI (network-admin@switch) > vflow-show format name,scope,bidir-vpg-1,bidir-vpg-2,transparency,enable,table-name,topology

name scope bidir-vpg-1 bidir-vpg-2 transparency enable table-name topology

----------------------------- ------ ----------- ----------- ------------ ------ --------------------- --------

topo-topo1-vlink-vlink1 fabric vPG1 vPG2 enable enable System-VCAP-table-1-0 topo1

npb-tunnel-decap-9000fea:50-2 fabric enable System-L1-L4-Tun-1-0

npb-tunnel-decap-9000fea:50-1 fabric vflow enable System-L1-L4-Tun-1-0

npb-system-bypass-proto fabric enable System-L1-L4-Tun-1-0

Case 2: If the bidirectional vPGs are on the same switch:

CLI (network-admin@switch) > vflow-show format name,scope,bidir-vpg-1,bidir-vpg-2,transparency,enable,table-name,topology

name scope bidir-vpg-1 bidir-vpg-2 transparency enable table-name topology

------------------------------- ------ ----------- ------------- ------------ ------ --------------------- --------

topo-topo1-vlink-vlink1 fabric vPG1 vPG2 enable enable System-VCAP-table-1-0 topo1

npb-tunnel-decap-9000fea:54-2 fabric enable System-L1-L4-Tun-1-0

npb-tunnel-decap-9000fea:54-1 fabric enable System-L1-L4-Tun-1-0

npb-system-bypass-proto fabric enable System-L1-L4-Tun-1-0

auto-bidir-vpg-vflow-900101e:76 local vPG2 vPG1 enable enable System-VCAP-table-1-0 topo1

As seen from outputs above, a vFlow named topo-topo1-vlink-vlink1 with the naming format of topo-<topology_name>-vlink-<vlink_name> is created between the vPGs vPG1 and vPG2 in both the cases with protocol transparency enabled.

In a similar manner, you can add vLEs to a topology using the topology-vle-add command. The information that is stored in a topology regarding a vLE includes the nodes, the ports, and the VLAN and VXLAN IDs. For more information on vLE topologies, see Saving Virtual Link Extension Topology Configurations section of the Configuring Advanced Layer 2 Transport Services chapter.

Netvisor ONE also allows you to import an existing vFlow configuration into a topology. In the case of a vFlow, the software stores the imported information as a vLink. When you enable the topology thereafter, the vFlow is configured on the switch automatically.

For example, consider the case where we have a pre-configured vFlow named flow1 represented by the following vflow-show command output.

CLI (network-admin@switch) > vflow-show

name scope type in-port burst-size precedence action-set-svp-value from-tunnel-decap bidir-vpg-1 bidir-vpg-2 transparency enable table-name

----- ------ ----- ------- ---------- ---------- -------------------- ----------------- ----------- ----------- ------------ ------ ---------------------

flow1 fabric vflow 14 auto default 0x80000002 none vpg1 vpg2 disable enable System-VCAP-table-1-0

You can import this vFlow configuration to a topology by using the topology-import command.

CLI (network-admin@switch) > topology-import

topology-import	Import an existing vLE or vFlow information to a topology.
name	Specify the name of the topology.
type vflow\|vle	Specify the type of connection as vFlow or vLE.
vflow_name vflow-name	Specify the vFlow name.
vle_name vle-name	Specify the vLE name.

For example:

CLI (network-admin@switch) > topology-import name topo1 type vflow vflow_name flow1

Once imported, the vFlow information is stored as a vLink. Use the topology-vlink-show command to display the configuration.

CLI (network-admin@switch) > topology-vlink-show

name vlink_name endpoint1 endpoint2

----- ---------- --------- ---------

topo1 flow1 vpg1 vpg2

You can now enable the topology to create the vFlow represented by the vLink by using the topology-modify name <topology-name> enable command. After issuing this command, use the vflow-show command to view the resultant configuration:

CLI (network-admin@switch) > vflow-show format name,scope,bidir-vpg-1,bidir-vpg-2,transparency,enable,table-name,topology

name scope bidir-vpg-1 bidir-vpg-2 transparency enable table-name topology

----------------------------------- ------ ----------- ----------- ------------ ------ --------------------- --------

npb-tunnel-decap-topo-9000fea:52-2 fabric enable System-L1-L4-Tun-1-0

npb-tunnel-decap-topo-9000fea:52-1 fabric vflow enable System-L1-L4-Tun-1-0

npb-system-bypass-proto fabric enable System-L1-L4-Tun-1-0

topo-topo1-vlink-900101e:76 fabric vpg1 vpg2 enable enable System-VCAP-table-1-0 topo1

Note:

The only parameters that are considered for the vFlow creation after you import a pre-existing vFlow are bidir-vpg-1 and bidir-vpg-2. The other parameters are not considered and therefore, the vFlow that is created when you enable the topology is not a replica of the original vFlow.
You can only import vFlows that are configured between bidirectional vPGs.

Guidelines and Limitations

The vPGs that are part of a topology must be present in the fabric before enabling the topology. Netvisor ONE raises an error if you try to enable a topology for vPGs that do not exist.
Netvisor ONE supports topologies with vFlows having fabric scope only.
Two or more vFlows with a common bidirectional vPG are not supported.
You can execute the topology-vlink-add, topology-vlink-modify, topology-vlink-remove, and topology-import commands only when the topology is disabled.