Cisco Nexus 7000 Introduction To NX-OS 2014-05-20
Cisco Nexus 7000 Introduction To NX-OS 2014-05-20
Cisco Nexus 7000 Introduction To NX-OS 2014-05-20
The Cisco Nexus 7000 Series is a modular, data center class series of switching systems designed for highly scalable end-to-end
10 Gigabit Ethernet networks. The Cisco Nexus 7000 Series is purpose built for the data center and has many unique features and
capabilities designed specifically for the most mission critical place in the network, the data center.
Cisco NX-OS
Cisco NX-OS, a state-of-the-art operating system, powers the Cisco Nexus 7000 Platform. Cisco NX-OS is a data center-class
operating system built with modularity, resiliency, and serviceability at its foundation. Drawing on its Cisco IOS and Cisco SAN-OS
heritage, Cisco NX-OS helps ensure continuous availability and sets the standard for mission-critical data center environments.
Titanium
For this demo, we will be using Titanium instead of real Nexus 7000 hardware. The Titanium project allows NX-OS software to run
natively on Intel-based machines (using its Linux kernel). It is currently considered a best effort side-project with the DCBU
engineering team. Only control-plane features and functions are possible in a Titanium image, and obviously the hardware
forwarding functionality is not possible at all. The ability to run NX-OS in a Titanium-based computer allows Cisco employees to run
demos and to offer training on at least a portion of the NX-OS based products. Therefore, within the scope of this hands-on demo
the Titanium boxes will deliver an equal experience as using real Nexus 7000 hardware.
Demo Objectives
This self-paced hands-on demonstration will introduce the users to the new NX-OS, the operating system powering the Nexus
family switches. The participants will be exposed to the configuration of some of the new features present in NX-OS. The demo will
also focus on some of the aspects that differentiate NX-OS from the classical IOS. At the end of this demo session, the attendees
should have gained some degree of familiarity with NX-OS. They should also be able to describe some of the main differences
between NX-OS and the classical IOS.
Demonstration Requirements
The table below outlines the requirements for this preconfigured demo.
Required Optional
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Demonstration Configuration
This demonstration contains preconfigured users and components to illustrate the scripted scenarios and features of this Cisco
solution. All access information needed to complete the demonstration scenario, is located in the Topology and Servers menus of
your active demonstration, and throughout this script.
Topology Menu. Click on any server in the topology to display the available server options and credentials.
Servers Menu. Click on or next to any server name to display the available server options and credentials.
Demonstration Preparation
BEFORE DEMONSTRATING
We strongly recommend that you go through this process at least once, before presenting in front of a live audience. This will allow
you to become familiar with the structure of the document and the demonstration.
Follow the steps below to schedule and configure your demonstration environment.
1. Browse to dcloud.cisco.com, choose the location closest to you, and then login with your Cisco.com credentials.
3. Test your bandwidth from the demo location before performing any scenario. [Show Me How]
4. Verify your session has a status of Active under My Demonstrations on the My Dashboard page in the Cisco dCloud UI.
5. Access the demonstration workstation named wkst1 and log in using the following credentials: IP Address: 198.18.133.36,
Username: dcloud\demouser, Password: C1sco12345.
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o Recommended method: Use Cisco AnyConnect [Show Me How] and the local RDP client on your laptop.
[Show Me How]
o Alternate method: Use the Cisco dCloud Remote Desktop client with HTML5. [Show Me How]
Cisco dCloud
This demonstration is hosted in Cisco’s dCloud. Within this demo, you are provided with your personal dedicated virtual pod
(vPod). You connect via RDP to a so-called “Cisco dCloud workstation” within this host and walk through the demo steps below. All
necessary tools to complete this demo can be found in the “Cisco dCloud workstation”. Refer to the “Demonstration Preparation”
section for details on how to reach the “Cisco dCloud workstation” within your demo session.
The username and password to access the Cisco dCloud Workstation of this vPod are listed below:
Password: C1sco12345
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Demo Procedure
The demo represents a typical data center setup with a Core and Aggregation layer. The Core layer consist of one Titanium box
representing a Nexus 7000, while two Titanium boxes - thus representing two Nexus 7000 - compose the Aggregation layer. This
demo is designed for the configuration of the Aggregation layer devices. The Core layer device is already pre-configured.
During this demo, the participants will go through the following scenarios:
System Configuration
CLI Familiarization
Configuration Rollback
Configuration Session
OSPF Configuration
Process Restartability
Licensing
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Additional Information
For details of the loopback interfaces refer to the table below.
N7k-1 128.0.0.1/24
N7k-2 128.0.0.2/24
N7k-3 128.0.0.3/24
Access
The Titanium boxes are reachable via SSH. The PuTTY SSH client is available on the desktop and has been pre-configured for
each router. Refer to the table below for details.
Password: C1sco12345
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Scenario 1: System Configuration
During the entire duration of this demo, we will just use the management interface. However, it is good to keep in mind that the
Nexus 7000 requires console access to perform the initial configuration of the system. After performing the initial configuration, the
system can be completely managed from the management and/or the CMP interfaces.
Use PuTTY to SSH into the management interface of the Nexus 7000 Access.
Layer device “n7k-2.dcloud.cisco.com” with the username “admin” and the password “C1sco12345”.
show module
n7k-2(config)# sh mod
Mod Ports Module-Type Model Status
--- ----- ----------------------------------- ------------------ ----------
1 0 Unknown Module TITANIUM active *
2 9 Titanium Ethernet Module ok
show version
n7k-2(config)# sh ver
Cisco Nexus Operating System (NX-OS) Software
TAC support: http://www.cisco.com/tac
Documents: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps9372/tsd_products_support_series_home.html
Copyright (c) 2002-2012, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
The copyrights to certain works contained herein are owned by
other third parties and are used and distributed under license.
Some parts of this software are covered under the GNU Public
© 2014 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 6 of 39
License. A copy of the license is available at
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html.
Software
loader: version N/A
kickstart: version 6.1(2) [gdb]
system: version 6.1(2) [gdb]
kickstart image file is: bootflash:/titanium-d1-kickstart.6.1.2.gbin
kickstart compile time: 12/25/2020 12:00:00 [10/26/2012 04:25:57]
system image file is: bootflash:/titanium-d1.6.1.2.gbin
system compile time: 9/7/2012 13:00:00 [10/26/2012 05:25:42]
Hardware
cisco Nexus 7000 Unknown Chassis ("Unknown Module")
Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E7- 283 with 1548192 kB of memory.
Processor Board ID T5056BAE577
plugin
Core Plugin, Ethernet Plugin
NOTE: NX-OS is composed of two images: a kickstart image that contains the Linux Kernel and a system image that contains
most of the NX-OS software components. They both show up in the configuration.
Currently the modular NX-OS only includes the plug-ins Core and Ethernet. In future releases there will be additional plug-ins, like
the "Storage" plug-in for FCoE.
show running-config
n7k-2(config)# show running-config
version 6.1(2)
license grace-period
hostname n7k-2
vdc n7k-2 id 1
limit-resource module-type m1 f1 m1xl m2xl
allocate interface Ethernet2/1-9
limit-resource vlan minimum 16 maximum 4094
limit-resource vrf minimum 2 maximum 4096
limit-resource port-channel minimum 0 maximum 768
limit-resource u4route-mem minimum 96 maximum 96
limit-resource u6route-mem minimum 24 maximum 24
limit-resource m4route-mem minimum 58 maximum 58
limit-resource m6route-mem minimum 8 maximum 8
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feature telnet
interface Ethernet2/1
shutdown
no switchport
mac-address 0050.56ba.e522
interface Ethernet2/2
shutdown
no switchport
mac-address 0050.56ba.e523
interface Ethernet2/3
shutdown
no switchport
mac-address 0050.56ba.e525
interface Ethernet2/4
shutdown
no switchport
mac-address 0050.569f.0015
interface Ethernet2/5
shutdown
no switchport
mac-address 0050.569f.0015
interface Ethernet2/6
shutdown
no switchport
mac-address 0050.569f.0015
interface Ethernet2/7
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shutdown
no switchport
mac-address 0050.569f.0015
interface Ethernet2/8
shutdown
no switchport
mac-address 0050.569f.0015
interface Ethernet2/9
shutdown
no switchport
mac-address 0050.569f.0015
interface mgmt0
ip address 198.18.133.222/18
line console
line vty
boot kickstart bootflash:/titanium-d1-kickstart.6.1.2.gbin
boot system bootflash:/titanium-d1.6.1.2.gbin
no system default switchport shutdown
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Scenario 2: Management VRF Concept and Basic Connectivity
As specified earlier, the default gateway is connected through the management interface. The management interface is by default
part of the management VRF. This particular VRF is part of the default configuration and the management interface "mgmt0" is the
only interface allowed to be part of this VRF.
The philosophy behind Management VRF is to provide total isolation to the management traffic from the rest of the traffic flowing
through the box by confining the former to its own forwarding table.
Verify that only the mgmt0 interface is part of the management VRF
Verify that the default gateway is reachable only using the management VRF
Verify that only the mgmt0 Interface is part of the Management VRF
Display the current mapping of interfaces to VRFs as follows.
NOTE: The management VRF interface is part of the default configuration and the management interface "mgmt0" is the only
interface that can be made a member of this VRF.
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NOTE: As you may have noticed when entering in the interface configuration mode, we omitted the kind of the Ethernet interface
(meaning FastEthernet, GigabitEthernet, etc.). In fact in NX-OS there is just "Ethernet".
N7k-2(config-if)# vrf member ?
WORD VRF name (Max Size 32)
management (no abbrev) Configurable VRF name
N7k-2(config-if)# vrf member management
% VRF management is reserved only for mgmt0
N7k-2(config-if)# end
Very good! As expected that did not work. Now we will take a look at the mgmt0 interface before we move on.
N7k-2# conf t
IP directed-broadcast: disabled
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Labeled bytes : 0/0/0/0/0
end
Verify that the Default Gateway is Reachable only Using the Management VRF
First, we will try to reach the default gateway with a ping by using the default VRF, which is not the management VRF as we have
seen before. Try to reach the default gateway with a ping.
ping 198.18.128.1
N7k-2# ping 198.18.128.1
PING 198.18.128.1 (198.18.128.1): 56 data bytes
ping: sendto 198.18.128.1 64 chars, No route to host
Request 0 timed out
ping: sendto 198.18.128.1 64 chars, No route to host
Request 1 timed out
ping: sendto 198.18.128.1 64 chars, No route to host
Request 2 timed out
ping: sendto 198.18.128.1 64 chars, No route to host
Request 3 timed out
ping: sendto 198.18.128.1 64 chars, No route to host
Request 4 timed out
NOTE: The ping fails because the default gateway is reachable only from the management interface, while we just used the default
VRF.
We will now try again with the correct VRF. Try to reach the default gateway with a ping, specifying the VRF management.
end
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Scenario 3: CLI Familiarization
NX-OS CLI is very IOS-like. As you may have already noticed NX-OS gives the user a very IOS look and feel sensation when
configuring the system. However, there are differences, which should be considered improvements. One of the main differences
consists in NX-OS implementing a hierarchy independent CLI. Every command can in fact be issued from anywhere in the
configuration. This short scenario will show you this.
That worked just fine. Now we will try the same from within the interface mode.
N7k-2(config)# int eth2/1
N7k-2(config-if)# ping ?
*** No matching command found in current mode, matching in (exec) mode ***
<CR> A.B.C.D or Hostname IP address of remote system
WORD Enter Hostname
multicast Multicast ping
N7k-2(config-if)# ping 198.18.128.1 vrf management
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5 packets transmitted, 5 packets received, 0.00% packet loss round-trip min/avg/max = 0.282/0.512/0.838 ms
NOTE: You can use the up-arrow and get the command history from the exec mode.
This short demonstration just showed you, that you can ping from everywhere.
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next Print <num> lines of context after every matching line
prev Print <num> lines of context before every matching line
word-exp Print only lines where the match is a complete word
The following command will grab all instances of lines matching "mgmt0" and print it along with the next three subsequent lines
and the line number.
[TAB]
bandwidth end lacp medium snmp
beacon errdisable link mtu speed
cdp exit load-interval no storm-control
channel-group flowcontrol logging pop switchport
delay inherit mac push this
description ip mac-address rate-mode vrf
duplex ipv6 mdix shutdown where
end
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Scenario 4: RBAC
RBAC stands for Role Based Access Control. Every account is assigned to a role which defines the privileges of the user who will
access the system with the corresponding account. NX-OS, through the RBAC feature, provides a very flexible and powerful
framework to create roles for any type of user. In this context, a role can be seen as a group of rules that permit or deny a set of
operations on NX-OS components. These are the steps for this scenario:
Create a new role and apply the role to a newly created user
show role
N7k-2# show role
Role: network-admin
Description: Predefined network admin role has access to all commands on the switch
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule Perm Type Scope Entity
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1 permit read-write
Role: network-operator
Description: Predefined network operator role has access to all read commands on the switch
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule Perm Type Scope Entity
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1 permit read
Role: vdc-admin
Description: Predefined vdc admin role has access to all commands within a VDC instance
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule Perm Type Scope Entity
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1 permit read
Role: vdc-operator
Description: Predefined vdc operator role has access to all read commands within a VDC instance
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule Perm Type Scope Entity
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1 permit read
Role: priv-15
Description: This is a system defined privilege role.
Vlan policy: permit (default)
Interface policy: permit (default)
Vrf policy: permit (default)
Role: priv-14
Description: This is a system defined privilege role.
Vlan policy: permit (default)
Interface policy: permit (default)
Vrf policy: permit (default)
© 2014 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 16 of 39
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule Perm Type Scope Entity
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1 permit read-write
Role: priv-13
Description: This is a system defined privilege role.
Vlan policy: permit (default)
Interface policy: permit (default)
Vrf policy: permit (default)
Role: priv-12
Description: This is a system defined privilege role.
Vlan policy: permit (default)
Interface policy: permit (default)
Vrf policy: permit (default)
Role: priv-11
Description: This is a system defined privilege role.
Vlan policy: permit (default)
Interface policy: permit (default)
Vrf policy: permit (default)
Role: priv-10
Description: This is a system defined privilege role.
Vlan policy: permit (default)
Interface policy: permit (default)
Vrf policy: permit (default)
Role: priv-9
Description: This is a system defined privilege role.
Vlan policy: permit (default)
Interface policy: permit (default)
Vrf policy: permit (default)
Role: priv-8
Description: This is a system defined privilege role.
Vlan policy: permit (default)
Interface policy: permit (default)
Vrf policy: permit (default)
Role: priv-7
Description: This is a system defined privilege role.
Vlan policy: permit (default)
Interface policy: permit (default)
Vrf policy: permit (default)
Role: priv-6
Description: This is a system defined privilege role.
Vlan policy: permit (default)
Interface policy: permit (default)
Vrf policy: permit (default)
Role: priv-5
Description: This is a system defined privilege role.
Vlan policy: permit (default)
Interface policy: permit (default)
Vrf policy: permit (default)
Role: priv-4
Description: This is a system defined privilege role.
© 2014 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 17 of 39
Vlan policy: permit (default)
Interface policy: permit (default)
Vrf policy: permit (default)
Role: priv-3
Description: This is a system defined privilege role.
Vlan policy: permit (default)
Interface policy: permit (default)
Vrf policy: permit (default)
Role: priv-2
Description: This is a system defined privilege role.
Vlan policy: permit (default)
Interface policy: permit (default)
Vrf policy: permit (default)
Role: priv-1
Description: This is a system defined privilege role.
Vlan policy: permit (default)
Interface policy: permit (default)
Vrf policy: permit (default)
Role: priv-0
Description: This is a system defined privilege role.
Vlan policy: permit (default)
Interface policy: permit (default)
Vrf policy: permit (default)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule Perm Type Scope Entity
-------------------------------------------------------------------
10 permit command traceroute6 *
9 permit command traceroute *
8 permit command telnet6 *
7 permit command telnet *
6 permit command ping6 *
5 permit command ping *
4 permit command ssh6 *
3 permit command ssh *
2 permit command enable *
1 permit read
To see the set of features and the feature groups available to be defined as part of a role, issue the following commands.
© 2014 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 18 of 39
install (Software install related commands)
l3vm (Layer 3 virtualization related commands)
license (License related commands)
ping (Network reachability test commands)
platform (Platform configuration and show commands)
radius (Radius configuration and show commands)
scheduler (Scheduler configuration and show commands)
snmp (SNMP related commands)
syslog (Syslog related commands)
tacacs (TACACS configuration and show commands)
tcap (Terminal settings related commands)
tcpudp (TCP/UDP related commands)
dot1x (DOT1X related commands)
eou (EAP over UDP related commands)
eth-port-sec (Ethernet port security related commands)
glbp (Gateway Load Balancing Protocol related commands)
hsrp (Hot Standby Router Protocol related commands)
igmp (Internet Group Management Protocol related commands)
Interface (Interface configuration commands)
ipfib (IP Forwarding Information Base related commands)
msdp (Multicast Source Discovery Protocol related commands)
pong (Pong related commands)
ptp (PTP (IEEE 1588) related commands
qbridge (Q-Bridge-MIB access control)
qosmgr (Quality of Service related commands)
router-bgp (Border Gateway Protocol related commands)
router-eigrp (Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol related commands)
router-isis (ISIS protocol related commands)
router-ospf (Open Shortest Path First protocol related commands)
router-rip (Routing Information Protocol related commands)
spanning-tree (Spanning Tree protocol related commands)
svi (Interface VLAN related commands)
vlan (Virtual LAN related commands)
vtp (Cisco-VTP-MIB access control)
vtpmib-auth (Cisco-VTP-MIB vtpAuthenticationTable access control)
wccp (Web Cache Communication Protocol related commands)
acl (FC ACL related commands)
cloud (Cloud discovery related commands)
fc-qos (FC Quality of Service related commands)
fcanalyzer (FC analyzer related commands)
fcns (Fibre Channel Name Server related commands)
fcsp (Fibre Channel Security Protocol related commands)
ficon (Ficon related commands)
fspf (Fabric Shortest Path First protocol related commands)
iscsi (ISCSI related commands)
isns (Internet Storage Name Service related commands)
ivr (InterVsan Routing protocol related commands)
mpls-tunnel (FC tunnel related commands)
rlir (Registered Link Incident Report related commands)
rscn (Registered State Change Notification related commands)
san-ext-tuner (IP Network Simulator related commands)
sme (Storage Media Encryption feature related commands)
sme-kmc-admin (SME Commands authorized to kmc admin)
sme-recovery-officer(SME commands authorize to recovery officer)
sme-stg-admin (SME commands authorize to storage admin)
span (SPAN session related commands)
vsan (VSAN configuration and show commands)
vsan-assign-intf(Assign interfaces to vsan)
wwnm (World Wide Name related commands)
© 2014 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 19 of 39
zone (Zone related commands)
NOTE: You can use the “up” arrow and get the command history from the exec mode.
end
A role can also specify what resources in terms of Interfaces, VLANs and VRFs the user is entitled to access. For now we are not
going to configure any restriction on these resources. We will verify the role and create a user to attach the role to.
Role: nx-os-lab-role
Description: new role
Vlan policy: permit (default) Interface policy: permit (default) Vrf policy: permit (default)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule Perm Type Scope Entity
-------------------------------------------------------------------
3 permit command ping *
2 permit read-write feature cdp
1 permit read
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Create a new user and attach the role. After that, please log out and login as the nx-os-lab-user user and test the RBAC
configuration.
exit
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html and
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl.html
n7k-2#
NOTE: Most of the commands are missing; however, the ping functionality is available to this user as previously specified.
We will now test if the ping is really working as specified in the role.
N7k-2# ping 198.18.128.1 vrf management
PING 198.18.128.1 (198.18.128.1): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 198.18.128.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=127 time=0.689 ms
64 bytes from 198.18.128.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=127 time=0.354 ms
64 bytes from 198.18.128.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=127 time=0.348 ms
64 bytes from 198.18.128.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=127 time=0.378 ms
64 bytes from 198.18.128.1: icmp_seq=4 ttl=127 time=0.329 ms
What about the debug mode? Only the CDP debug is actually available.
N7k-2# debug ?
cdp Configure CDP debugging
N7k-2# debug
What about the conf mode? Only the cdp, conf commands are actually available.
N7k-2# conf t
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
N7k-2(config)# ?
cdp Configure CDP parameters
end Go to exec mode
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exit Exit from command interpreter
N7k-2(config)# cdp ?
advertise Highest CDP version supported on the switch
enable Enable/disable CDP on all interfaces
format Device ID format for CDP
holdtime CDP hold time advertised (in seconds)
timer CDP refresh time interval (in seconds)
Log off from the current session. Use PuTTY to SSH into the management interface of the Nexus7000 Aggregation layer device
n7k-2.dcloud.cisco.com with the username admin and the password C1sco12345.
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Scenario 5: Configuration Rollback
NX-OS fully supports Configuration Rollback. This functionality allows you to revert to a previous configuration state, effectively
rolling back configuration changes. We will verify its functionality within NX-OS.
version 6.1(2)
interface Ethernet2/1
no switchport
mac-address 0050.56ba.e522
ip address 1.2.3.4/24
no shutdown
NOTE: With NX-OS finally the slash notation is available for the IP address configuration.
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Rollback the Configuration and Verify the Interface Configuration
We will now rollback the configuration.
NX-OS will generate and apply a rollback patch, which reverts to the previously issued commands.
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Scenario 6: Configuration Session
NX-OS offers a new way of configuring ACLs and QoS: the Configuration Session mode. This new mode allows to "dry-run" the
configuration against the system resources availability. For "dry-run" we mean a process that allows the user to check whether the
hardware resources are available without actually performing any modification on them.
In this scenario, you will get familiar with the new configuration session process by configuring an ACL for a particular interface.
NOTE: The "s" in the prompt indicates that the user is in configuration session.
Create a Simple Access List and Apply the Access List to an Interface
From within the session mode we will now configure a simple access list and apply it to an interface.
N7k-2(config-s)# ?
abort Abort the current configuration session
access-list Configure access control list parameters
arp ARP access-list configuration commands
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this Shows info about current object (mode's instance)
time-range Define time range entries
verify Verify the current configuration session
vlan Vlan commands
end Go to exec mode
exit Exit from command interpreter
pop Pop mode from stack or restore from name
push Push current mode to stack or save it under name
where Shows the cli context you are in
N7k-2(config-s)# ip access-list 1 ?
<CR>
N7k-2(config-s)# ip access-list 1
N7k-2(config-s-acl)# permit tcp 1.1.1.1/24 any
N7k-2(config-s-acl)# permit tcp 2.2.2.2/24 any
N7k-2(config-s-acl)# permit tcp 3.3.3.3/24 any
N7k-2(config-s-acl)# exit
NOTE: NX-OS introduces some ACL syntax improvements for better usability and manageability: The slash notation for IP
addresses; there are not ACL types anymore. No standard/extended and named/numbered ACLs... just ACLs. You can use either
a number or string of characters or a mix of them, NX-OS will treat them seamlessly just as a name.
Let us now verify our configuration. During the verification process, the system checks the configuration against the hardware and
software resources for their availability.
verify
N7k-2(config-s-if)# verify
Verification Successful
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Version 6.1(20)
interface Ethernet2/1
shutdown
no switchport
mac-address 0050.56ba.e522
The configuration can fit in the hardware table. Again, until this point the ACL TCAM has not been touched yet.
commit
N7k-2(config-s)# commit
Commit Successful
Version 6.1(2)
interface Ethernet2/1
shutdown
no switchport
ip access-group 1 in
mac-address 0050.56ba.e522
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Scenario 7: OSPF Configuration
OSPF is fully implemented in NX-OS as part of the "Enterprise License" (which we will see in the next step). In this step, we will
configure OSPFv2 and we will see how the configuration is interface centric versus the network centric IOS based OSPF
configuration.
The CLI to configure OSPF seems not to be there. NX-OS is a fully modular operating system; most software modules do not run
unless the correspondent service is enabled. We have not enabled the OSPF service so its code is not running and its CLI is not
linked into the system. Now we will enable the OSPF service so that we can proceed with its configuration. We like to refer to these
features that need to be specifically enabled as "conditional services".
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private-vlan Enable/Disable private-vlan
privilege Enable/Disable IOS type privilege level support
ptp Enable/Disable PTP
rip Enable/Disable Routing Information Protocol (RIP)
scheduler Enable/Disable scheduler
scp-server Enable/Disable SCP server
sftp-server Enable/Disable SFTP server
sla Enable/Disable SLA
ssh Enable/Disable ssh
tacacs+ Enable/Disable tacacs+ telnet Enable/Disable telnet
tunnel Enable/Disable Tunnel Manager
udld Enable/Disable UDLD
vpc Enable/Disable VPC (Virtual Port Channel)
vrrp Enable/Disable Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP)
vtp Enable/Disable VTP
wccp Enable/Disable Web Cache Communication Protocol (WCCP)
NOTE: As you may have noticed, you are now running OSPF in "grace period". We will talk about that later in another step.
NOTE: As you may have noticed the "network x.x.x.x area y" configuration lines are not present. This is a major difference from
IOS. OSPF, as well as other IGP protocols, are interface centric, as we will see with the next few commands.
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NOTE: In the NX-OS the OSPF configuration is interface centric. The membership to an OSPF area is specified at the interface
configuration level. This approach is more intuitive and manageable.
feature ospf
router ospf 1
area 0.0.0.0 authentication message-digest
log-adjacency-changes
auto-cost reference-bandwidth 1000000
interface Ethernet2/1
ip ospf message-digest-key 1 md5 3 ef6a8875f8447eac
ip ospf dead-interval 6
ip ospf hello-interval 2
ip router ospf 1 area 0.0.0.0
NOTE: NX-OS is able to show the running config related to a particular feature without the need to show the complete
configuration.
Now we will check if the system was able to establish the adjacency and to exchange routes.
n7k-2(config)# sh ip ospf neighbors
OSPF Process ID 1 VRF default
Total number of neighbors: 1
Neighbor ID Pri State Up Time Address Interface
128.0.0.1 1 FULL/DR 00:05:57 198.18.5.2 Eth2/1
N7k-2(config-if)# show ip route ?
*** No matching command found in current mode, matching in (exec) mode ***
<CR>
> Redirect it to a file
>> Redirect it to a file in append mode
A.B.C.D Display single route longest match lookup
A.B.C.D/LEN Display single exact match route
WORD Display single route longest match lookup
am Display routes owned by adjacency manager
broadcast Display connected routes owned by broadcast
detail Display routes in full detail
direct Display connected routes owned by direct
interface Display routes with this output interface only
ip Display information
ipv4 Display information
l3vm-info Display corresponding L3VM information
local Display connected routes owned by local
mstatic Display routes owned by mstatic
next-hop Display routes with this next-hop only
ospf-1 Display routes owned by ospf-1
rpf Display RPF information for multicast source
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sal Display connected routes owned by sal
static Display routes owned by static
summary Display route counts
updated Display routes filtered by last updated time
vrf Display per-VRF information
| Pipe command output to filter
NOTE: The same output can be displayed issuing the command: "show routing ospf-1".
n7k-2(config-if)# sh ip ospf database
OSPF Router with ID (128.0.0.2) (Process ID 1 VRF default)
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Scenario 8: Process Restartability
NX-OS is a modern operating system. NX-OS continuously checks the health of each software module making sure that if a
process crashes or hangs the right action is taken to allow service continuity and availability. NX-OS has been designed around
the concept of zero service destruction.
In a first step, a crash of the OSPF process will be simulated. This will cause a stateful restart, which uses our PSS
(Persistent Storage Service) architecture, so that the system recovers in a seamless way. You will see how the connected
Core Layer router will not notice that the process has crashed and been restarted.
In a second step, we will perform a graceful restart of OSPF. This will utilize the Non-Stop Forwarding (NSF) feature of
OSPF, as defined in RFC 3623, to recover the routing table on the local node by resynchronizing it with the neighbor.
NOTE: The process monitoring feature of NX-OS will also constantly monitor the number and frequency of process restarts and
will escalate the situation accordingly:
Should the OSPF process crash a second time within four minutes a graceful restart will be performed instead of a stateful
restart.
Should you trigger a second graceful restart within four minutes a supervisor switchover will be triggered. As our Titanium boxes
only have one simulated Supervisor, this will render the machine that you are using unusable. So please do not do that.
Please perform the steps as stated below and do not repeat them as the results may be different from what you expect or it might
render the boxes unusable for subsequent use.
Observe NSF updates from the peer for the graceful restart
Use PuTTY to open a SSH session to the Core Layer switch N7k-1. Use the username admin and the password C1sco12345 to
login.
NOTE: In order to observe the debug output from SSH console, execute the following command on both, N7k-1 and N7k-2:
Leave the SSH session open to observe OSPF adjacency debug messages.
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Use PuTTY to open a SSH session to the Aggregation layer switch N7k-2. Use the username admin and the password
C1sco12345 to login.
Start a ping to the interface of the Aggregation layer switch N7K-3 with an infinite number of packages and a very short repeat
time.
N7k-2# ping
Vrf context to use [default] :
No user input: using default context
Target IP address or Hostname: 198.18.6.2
Repeat count [5] : unlimited
Datagram size [56] :
Timeout in seconds [2] :
Sending interval in seconds [0] :
Extended commands [no] :
Sweep range of sizes [no] :
Sending 0, 56-bytes ICMP Echos to 198.18.6.2
Timeout is 2 seconds, data pattern is 0xABCD
This way you will be able to observe the behavior of the setup during the following steps. The debug on N7k-1 will show you the
presence or absence of OSPF adjacency updates while the ping shows you the continuous forwarding capabilities.
Now continue working on your Aggregation Layer switch N7k-2 while monitoring the two other SSH sessions in the background.
Open another PuTTY session, to N7K-2.
NOTE: Take note of the OSPF process ID in your switch as you will need it in a subsequent step.
We will invoke a script on your access layer switch that enables us to enter a debug mode in which we can issue a kill command to
stop the OSPF process.
First, we need to create a copy of this special debug script, as it will self-destruct.
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While issuing the kill command, observe the SSH window of the Core Layer switch, N7K-1, for the absence of OSPF adjacency
updates and the SSH window of the Aggregation layer switch for no disruption in the ping sequence.
N7k-2# load bootflash:kill.gbin
Loading plugin version 6.1(2)
###############################################################
Warning: debug-plugin is for engineering internal use only!
For security reason, plugin image has been deleted.
###############################################################
Successfully loaded debug-plugin!!!
Enter Commands:
IMPORTANT: The number in the “kill” command should be OSPF process ID in your switch
Notice how the OSPF process has now a new process ID and how, looking at the N7K-1 terminal, the neighbor did not even
realized that our OSPF process was killed and restarted. So there should be no debug message on N7k-1.
N7k-1#
The ping sequence between N7k-2 and N7k-3 should not be affected.
...
64 bytes from 198.18.6.2: icmp_seq=320 ttl=254 time=0.794 ms
64 bytes from 198.18.6.2: icmp_seq=321 ttl=254 time=0.606 ms
64 bytes from 198.18.6.2: icmp_seq=322 ttl=254 time=0.47 ms
64 bytes from 198.18.6.2: icmp_seq=323 ttl=254 time=0.662 ms
64 bytes from 198.18.6.2: icmp_seq=324 ttl=254 time=0.6 ms
...
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Perform a Graceful Restart
Now we will perform a graceful restart of OSPF. NX-OS will use Non-Stop Forwarding (NFS), which is enabled by default along
with OSPF, to acquire the OSPF routing table from the neighbor. This graceful restart will also be non-disruptive to the forwarding
plane.
While performing the graceful restart on your Aggregation layer switch N7k-2, observe the second terminal window of the Core
layer switch for the OSPF adjacency debug messages.
N7k-2# restart ospf 1
Observe NSF Updates from the Peer for the Graceful Restart
On the N7K-1 Core layer switch, you can see the OSPF adjacency debug output.
At the same time, the ping sequence between N7k-2 and N7k-3 is still not affected.
...
64 bytes from 198.18.6.2: icmp_seq=320 ttl=254 time=0.794 ms
64 bytes from 198.18.6.2: icmp_seq=321 ttl=254 time=0.606 ms
64 bytes from 198.18.6.2: icmp_seq=322 ttl=254 time=0.47 ms
64 bytes from 198.18.6.2: icmp_seq=323 ttl=254 time=0.662 ms
64 bytes from 198.18.6.2: icmp_seq=324 ttl=254 time=0.6 ms
...
NOTE: The state changes from FULL to EXSTART and not to DOWN as NFS is used to acquire the OSPF routing table.
Before moving on, please interrupt the ping sequence by pressing [Ctrl] + C and close this SSH session. Also close the SSH
session to the Core layer switch N7k-1.
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Scenario 9: Licensing
NX-OS enforces licensing for some of its features. However, the licensing scheme has been made very easy to understand and
simple to use. There are three levels of enforced software licensing:
The Base license which contains a complete set of Layer2 and management features
The Enterprise Services license which contains the Layer3 routing protocols
The Advanced Services license for Virtual Device Context (VDC) and Cisco Trusted Security (CTS)
The Base license is free and comes with the Nexus hardware. The Enterprise Services and Advance Services licenses can be
purchased and used independently.
There is a grace period of 120 days, so the users can test out the features before buying. The grace period is calculated on active
features instead of absolute time. So, if a user tries out a licensed feature for a few days and then disabled it, the countdown of the
grace period will stop until a licensed feature within the same license gets turned on again.
You can still verify the steps for enabling the grace period.
N7k-2# conf t
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
N7k-2(config)# license grace-period
To install a license the customer will use the install license bootflash:<file.lic> CLI command. The licenses can be downloadable
from CCO.
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Scenario 10: Hot Standby Router Protocol
In this scenario we will configure Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP) between N7k-2 on Eth2/2 and N7k-3 on Eth2/1.
NOTE: In order to observe the debug output from SSH console, execute the following command on both, N7k-2 and N7k-3
© 2014 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 37 of 39
State Active pri 110 ip 198.18.7.254
2010 Sep 25 19:29:34.619058 hsrp: Eth2/1[1/V4] : hel 1 hol 3 auth cisco undebug all
N7k-3(config-if)#
NOTE: When disabling the debug (by issuing for example “undebug all”) the debug messages will stop instantaneously. NX-OS
uses a preemptive scheduler and even simple proof like this underlines the robustness of our control plane.
As a last step, we will verify that for 198.18.7.254 the device N7k-2 is the active router on 198.18.7.2 while N7k-3 is the standby
router on 198.18.7.1. In your SSH session with N7K-2, execute the following command:
Results
Once you have gone successfully through the above steps you have concluded the demonstration.
Summary
In this demonstration you:
Have got familiar with the NX-OS Operating System which will power the Nexus7000 switch.
Learned some of the aspects of NX-OS and some of its difference from classical IOS.
o General
Management VRF: Separate Management VRF for total isolation of management traffic
Process Restart ability: Monitoring of system service health and stateful/graceful restarts
o CLI
© 2014 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 38 of 39
Hierarchy Independence: Non-config commands can be issued from everywhere. E.g. ping, show
running-config
Interface Types: Only one interface type Ethernet. No distinction between 10MB, 100MB, 1GB, 10GB
interface type
Slash Notation: For the IP address configuration the slash notation (e.g. x.x.x.x/24) can be used
Configuration Sessions: "Dry-run" mode for checking hard- and software capabilities
o Access-Control
RBAC: Role-based-access-control
o L3 Forwarding/Protocols
o Interface
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