Cool Technology - Category - Fryguy's Blog

Meet the new ISR Series – ISR 4000 running IOS-XE

Fryguy — Thu, 02 Oct 2014 17:31:04 +0000

In June of 2013 Cisco released the newest member of the ISR family, the ISR4451-X router (Cisco – blog post). At that time it was the only model in the ISR44xx line, but today it now has some new siblings. Today, October 2, 2014, Cisco has introduced some companious, namely the ISR 4321, 4331, 4351, and 4431. The below graphic from Cisco that shows the new line and the performance characteristcs of each. You will note, for example, that the ISR4321 says 50–100 Mbps. The base version of the device will support 50 Mbps, but to move to 100 Mbps on that box you just need a software license. This will allow a network to grow with it needs without having to replace hardware, you will just have to add a license file. Back in the ISR G1/G2 days we need to sometime replace hardwre in order to gain additional performance, but that is not the case with the ISR 4000 series. Much of that comes thanks to Cisco using IOS-XE on these devices. A quick blurb IOS-XE from the previous link is :

Cisco IOS-XRv (V as in Virtual!)

Fryguy — Sun, 09 Feb 2014 02:50:25 +0000

There was a tweet on Friday that some may have missed, but it is one that you do not want to miss. It was a subtle little announcement from @CiscoIOSXR about IOS XRv!

Your wait for IOS XR is over! Download IOS XRv here! 🙂 http://t.co/0WVMAuHqU1 #IWantIOSXR #IOSXR
— IOS XR (@CiscoIOSXR) February 7, 2014

Note: On Tuesday, February 11th there was an update that they are still working on the entitlement issue. Tweet is included below as well.

@fryguy_pa @steve We have a plan to resolve the entitlement checking issue, but this means images will be pulled off CCO for 3 days 🙁
— IOS XR (@CiscoIOSXR) February 11, 2014

So yes, that is a V as in Virtual! Finally, IOS XRv has been released – and on the latest IOS-XR code, 5.1.1!

So a few things about IOS XRv – first of all, it is a 32–bit softwrae version running on the QNX microkernel. The VM contains a single RP and a some LC Interfaces.
The demo version of the software is FREE for users, has AAA hard-coded users in it, and is rate-limited to 2 Mbps. There is also a Simulation Image available and has no hard-coded users and is rate-limited to 50 Mbps. Finally there is a Production Image that has no hard-coded users and no rate-limit.
To run the IOX XRv Router you will need:

OpenFlow and SDN from the Symposiom

Fryguy — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 16:02:43 +0000

On October 26th I attended the OpenFlow Symposium in San Jose, CA hosted by Packet Pushers and TechFieldDay at the DoubleTree San Jose. The purpose of this symposium was to help gain more exposure to OpenFlow as well as discuss what some of the major players see and feel about the technology. In attendance was representatives from Big Switch Networks, Brocade, Cisco, Google, Juniper, NEC, and Yahoo!. They each were allowed to present their views and feelings and then the panel was opened up for discussion and questions.
My take was that Google and Yahoo! are big into this technology as they have the most to gain from it. They run warehouse size data centers all over the world, and this type of technology has a huge benefit to them as it means they can develop their own controllers and control merchant silicon, thus releasing them from relying on other vendors network hardware to support their data center. Not only that, but they can help prioritize and track individual flows based on what the user is doing. For example – a person who is placing items in their carts and heading to checkout can have a higher priority flow over someone just looking around. The speed to finish the transaction is important to them, not to mention they can also secure that traffic in the network differently then a person who is just looking.

Home Virtualization and Learning

Fryguy — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 12:05:09 +0000

As some of you have seen on my Twitter feed, I am playing with some home virtualization ideas. By Home Virtualization I am referring to running ESXi Hyper-visor at home for my “servers” as well as trying to see if I can virtualize the families computers. This is an interesting concept that comes with some unique challenges, and a few of them I am still trying to figure out!
The server part has been the easy one, just did a Physical to Virtual (P2V) conversion via the free tool VMware vCenter Converter at VMWare – link. The tool will allow you to take a currently running server and convert it to a Virtual machine on your ESXi server. I moved my families Domain Controller / DNS server over, powered it on in the VMware console application, then powered off the physical box. Once the IP address was moved to the new server, everything just worked.

Curious note on the P2V tool. I have also used this when I purchased a new computer or fix a friends computer. I will P2V the computer first, this way no matter what happens I can still spin up the old computer under VMPlayer – link. When I get a new computer I just copy the Virtual Machine to my new computer so that I can access all the old software and such whenever I need to. If I need to see how something was configured, just launch the VM and take a look. It is an snapshot in time of the old computer.

FastMAC U-Socket Power Outlet (U=USB)

Fryguy — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 02:13:28 +0000

Well this week I FINALLY got my FastMAC U-Socket power outlet – keep in mind I ordered it back in March of 2011 – only took about 3 months to get it. I knew it was back ordered when I ordered it, but I honestly never expected it to take 3 months. The company did nothing to my awareness to notify me of the status during those three months. I finally had to call and ask for a status when I noticed the website was showing in-stock – but when I did call they did move me ahead in the queue for shipment and I got them about a week later. Now that they are in-stock there, that fiasco should not happen to anyone else (chalk it up to wanting to be one of the first). The only thing I am a little sore on is the shipping – even after all that time I was still had to pay to have them shipped. I would have been happy with a coupon equal to the shipping charge, oh-well – no big deal to be honest – the wait was worth it!
_**

What's in my toolbag

Fryguy — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 17:56:32 +0000

This post is more of an informative post with regards to what tools I tend to use on a regular basis in my job. Recently, Stretch wrote about what was in his tool bag over on PacketLife.Net . He has some GREAT information over there beside just that post, so if you have never visited you should wander over there when you have time.

For the most part I tend to use the many of the same tools he discussed, but figured it would be nice to share what I have in my bag. So, without further typing, here we go!
Note: If you click on the pictures it will take you to a link to where you can either get the tool or a similar tool if the one I had is no longer availablee

This is probably my most used tool when I do not have to make cables. It contains just about every nut, bolt, and screw that you will find in a data center. It is easy to use, quick to find, and very versatile. No need to separate screw drivers or pliers, just grab this and you are good to go!

Cisco Archive and Configure

Fryguy — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 08:15:36 +0000

There has been some interesting discussions on configuration differences with IOS and JUNOS on Twitter the past few days. One of the biggest things has been the inclusion of a Rollback command in JUNOS; and to be perfectly honest, that has to be one of the best commands that JUNOS has!
In case you are not familiar with it, in JUNOS if you submit a change and then enter commit confirm (default 10 minutes), the router will not “save” the configuration change until you commit the change again. This way if you make a change, lock yourself out of the device, it will revert to the previous configuration and you should have your access back.
(some housekeeping)
Router/Switch Output
Commands
Notes

[edit]
user@host# commit confirmed
commit confirmed will be automatically rolled back in 10 minutes unless confirmed
commit complete
#commit confirmed will be rolled back in 10 minutes
By entering commit again, the change will become permenant
[edit]
user@host# commit

Now, what about IOS? Well, typically we do the reload in x command before we make a change, but is there another way? Well, yes there is! We have the archive command and the config replace command string that will perform a similar function to to the JUNOS command and less drastic then the reload in command.
So, lets first cover the archive command.
The archive command allows you to make an archive of the config either over a time-period (say 1440 minutes) or when the write-memory command is initiated. The archive can be stored in flash, tftp, ftp, or a few other places. To setup archiving:
Rack1R2#conf t
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
To enter the archive config, enter the archive command
Rack1R2(config)#archive
From there, you need to tell it 1) where to store the file and 2) what to call it.
Here it will be flash:/archive with a name of Rollback
Rack1R2(config-archive)#path flash:/archive/Rollback
Here I tell it to archive the previous config whenever the write-memory command is executed
Rack1R2(config-archive)#write-memory
Also, I might as well make sure that we back it up once a day at a minimum. Range is from 1 minute to 525600 minutes (1 year)
Rack1R2(config-archive)#time-period ?
<1-525600> Number of minutes to wait between archive creation
Rack1R2(config-archive)#time-period 1440
Rack1R2(config-archive)#
Now, if we look at the flash:/archive/ folder, what will we see? Lets look (I already have some saved in memory)
Rack1R2#dir flash:archive
Directory of flash:/archive/
17 -rw-        1806   Jun 3 2011 19:34:16 +00:00 Rollback-2
18 -rw-        1806   Jun 3 2011 19:35:02 +00:00 Rollback-3
16 -rw-        1744   Jun 3 2011 19:31:54 +00:00 Rollback-1
512057344 bytes total (328622080 bytes free)
Rack1R2#
As you can see, we have a few files there, each appended with a number (call it revision with highest being most recent). To check, use the show archive command
Rack1R2#show archive
There are currently 4 archive configurations saved.
The next archive file will be named flash:/archive/Rollback-4
Archive # Name

1       flash:/archive/Rollback-1
2       flash:/archive/Rollback-2
3       flash:/archive/Rollback-3 <- Most Recent
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
Rack1R2#
So, what does all this mean and how does this relate to the commit confirm command in Junos? Good question! Here we go!
So, when you need to do a change, just execute the archive config command prior to the change. That will create a snapshot of the existing config in the archive directory.
Rack1R2#archive config

Lets take a look and see what revision we have saved:
Rack1R2#show archive
There are currently 5 archive configurations saved.
The next archive file will be named flash:/archive/Rollback-5
Archive # Name

1       flash:/archive/Rollback-1
2       flash:/archive/Rollback-2
3       flash:/archive/Rollback-3
4       flash:/archive/Rollback-4 <- Most Recent
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
Rack1R2#
Now, there is another command that we need to know about – its the configure replace command! We can use that similar to the commit confirm command because of the archive command.
Rack1R2#configure replace flash:archive/Rollback-4 time 60
That is all good – lets test the command!

I have R1 and R2 configured like the diagram below, connected via Frame-Relay and all interfaces are in RIPv2

Here is the routing table and interface status on R2:
Rack1R2#sh ip route
Codes: C – connected, S – static, R – RIP, M – mobile, B – BGP
D – EIGRP, EX – EIGRP external, O – OSPF, IA – OSPF inter area
N1 – OSPF NSSA external type 1, N2 – OSPF NSSA external type 2
E1 – OSPF external type 1, E2 – OSPF external type 2
i – IS-IS, su – IS-IS summary, L1 – IS-IS level-1, L2 – IS-IS level-2
ia – IS-IS inter area, * – candidate default, U – per-user static route
o – ODR, P – periodic downloaded static route
Gateway of last resort is not set
150.1.0.0/16 is variably subnetted, 4 subnets, 2 masks
R       150.1.1.1/32 [120/1] via 150.1.12.1, 00:00:23, Serial4/0.1
C       150.1.12.0/24 is directly connected, Serial4/0.1
R       150.1.11.0/24 [120/1] via 150.1.12.1, 00:00:23, Serial4/0.1
R       150.1.111.1/32 [120/1] via 150.1.12.1, 00:00:23, Serial4/0.1
150.2.0.0/32 is subnetted, 3 subnets
C       150.2.222.2 is directly connected, Loopback2
C       150.2.22.2 is directly connected, Loopback1
C       150.2.2.2 is directly connected, Loopback0
Rack1R2#sh ip int br | ex un
Interface                  IP-Address      OK? Method Status                Protocol
Serial4/0.1                150.1.12.2      YES manual up                    up
Loopback0                  150.2.2.2       YES manual up                    up
Loopback1                  150.2.22.2      YES manual up                    up
Loopback2                  150.2.222.2     YES manual up                    up
Rack1R2#
Here is the same information for R1
Rack1R1#sh ip route
Codes: C – connected, S – static, R – RIP, M – mobile, B – BGP
D – EIGRP, EX – EIGRP external, O – OSPF, IA – OSPF inter area
N1 – OSPF NSSA external type 1, N2 – OSPF NSSA external type 2
E1 – OSPF external type 1, E2 – OSPF external type 2
i – IS-IS, su – IS-IS summary, L1 – IS-IS level-1, L2 – IS-IS level-2
ia – IS-IS inter area, * – candidate default, U – per-user static route
o – ODR, P – periodic downloaded static route
Gateway of last resort is not set
150.1.0.0/16 is variably subnetted, 4 subnets, 2 masks
C       150.1.1.1/32 is directly connected, Loopback0
C       150.1.12.0/24 is directly connected, Serial4/0.1
C       150.1.11.0/24 is directly connected, Loopback1
C       150.1.111.1/32 is directly connected, Loopback2
150.2.0.0/32 is subnetted, 3 subnets
R       150.2.222.2 [120/1] via 150.1.12.2, 00:00:12, Serial4/0.1
R       150.2.22.2 [120/1] via 150.1.12.2, 00:00:12, Serial4/0.1
R       150.2.2.2 [120/1] via 150.1.12.2, 00:00:13, Serial4/0.1
Rack1R1#sh ip int br | ex un
Interface                  IP-Address      OK? Method Status                Protocol
Serial4/0.1                150.1.12.1      YES manual up                    up
Loopback0                  150.1.1.1       YES manual up                    up
Loopback1                  150.1.11.1      YES manual up                    up
Loopback2                  150.1.111.1     YES manual up                    up
Rack1R1#
Lets test the connectivity by PINGing R2 Loopback 2 from R1 Loopback2
Rack1R1#ping 150.2.222.2 so lo2
Type escape sequence to abort.
Sending 5, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 150.2.222.2, timeout is 2 seconds:
Packet sent with a source address of 150.1.111.1
!!!!!
Success rate is 100 percent (5/5), round-trip min/avg/max = 56/57/60 ms
Rack1R1#
Good, now lets test the config replace command (IOS Rollback)
First, we will archive the config
Rack1R2#archive config
Now lets see what archives we have:
Rack1R2#sh archive
There are currently 6 archive configurations saved.
The next archive file will be named flash:/archive/Rollback-6
Archive # Name

1       flash:/archive/Rollback-1
2       flash:/archive/Rollback-2
3       flash:/archive/Rollback-3
4       flash:/archive/Rollback-4
5       flash:/archive/Rollback-5 <- Most Recent
[– SNIP –]

Ok, Rollback-5 is the most recent.
Now on R1 we will start a 1000 packet ping
Rack1R1#ping 150.2.222.2 so lo2 repeat 100
Type escape sequence to abort.
Sending 1000, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 150.2.222.2, timeout is 2 seconds:
Packet sent with a source address of 150.1.111.1
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now that we have that started, lets move on
Now, on R2 we will execute the configure replace command, set the timer to 60 seconds, then shut down the Serial 4/0 (frame-relay) interface
Rack1R2#configure replace flash:/archive/Rollback-5 time 60
Timed Rollback: Backing up to flash:/archive/Rollback-7
It will now ask you to make sure you want to do this – checks and balances
This will apply all necessary additions and deletions
to replace the current running configuration with the
contents of the specified configuration file, which is
assumed to be a complete configuration, not a partial
configuration. Enter Y if you are sure you want to proceed. ? [no]: Y
Total number of passes: 0
Rollback Done
*Jun 3 21:43:22.026: Rollback:Acquired Configuration lock.
Rack1R2#conf t
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
Rack1R2(config)#int ser 4/0
Rack1R2(config-if)#shut
Rack1R2(config-if)#
*Jun 3 21:43:28.274: %LINK-5-CHANGED: Interface Serial4/0, changed state to administratively down
*Jun 3 21:43:29.274: %LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface Serial4/0, changed state to down
Rack1R2(config-if)
Hmm, if we look at the ping that we have going on R1 we see that it can no longer PING R2
Rack1R1#ping 150.2.222.2 so lo2 repeat 1000
Type escape sequence to abort.
Sending 1000, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 150.2.222.2, timeout is 2 seconds:
Packet sent with a source address of 150.1.111.1
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!………………………….
……..
Lets wait…. there, the config just rolled back on R2 and R1 can PING again!
Rack1R1#ping 150.2.222.2 so lo2 repeat 1000
Type escape sequence to abort.
Sending 1000, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 150.2.222.2, timeout is 2 seconds:
Packet sent with a source address of 150.1.111.1
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!………………………….
…………………!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Success rate is 94 percent (948/1000), round-trip min/avg/max = 56/57/240 ms
Rack1R1#
So what happened on R2? Here is the output on the console:
Rack1R2(config-if)#Timed Rollback: rolling to:flash:/archive/Rollback-7
!Pass 1
Neat, it will show you the commands it is about to enter!

!List of Commands:
interface Serial4/0
no shutdown
end
Total number of passes: 1
Rollback Done
*Jun 3 21:44:22.218: Rollback:Acquired Configuration lock.
Rack1R2(config-if)#
*Jun 3 21:44:22.778: %PARSER-3-CONFIGNOTLOCKED: Unlock requested by process ’21’. Configuration not locked.
Rack1R2(config-if)#
*Jun 3 21:44:24.586: %LINK-3-UPDOWN: Interface Serial4/0, changed state to up
*Jun 3 21:44:25.586: %LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface Serial4/0, changed state to up
Rack1R2(config-if)#
If all is good after your change and you need to not roll-back, just issue the command configure confirm and it will cancel the rollback._
_
Rack1R2#configure confirm

If you already issued that command, you will get the following output:
Rack1R2#configure confirm
%No timed rollback pending
Rack1R2#
Not as simple as the JUNOS commands, but is still valuable in the IOS world!

R1 Config Here
R2 Config Here