Tutorial: Switch only operation with Dell Enterprise SONiC in GNS3¶

This tutorial will walk you through the steps needed to build up a topology in GNS3 and use MetalSoft to control the fabric.

Prerequisites¶

For this tutorial you will need a working CLI setup.

The tutorial doesn’t use ZTP due to complications with L2 setups on laptops thus the switch needs to be already configured with:

Management interface

In addition, if EVPN is used the following must be configured:

A VTEP interface
A ASN
A Loopback interface

And provided below to the switch as configuration.

Download and install the agent OVA¶

agent: 1CPU 4GB RAM

click import in VMWare fusion
Click Finish

Wait until the VM booted up and login to the VM

Username: root
Password: MetalsoftR0cks@$@$

DHCP is enabled by default. If necessary edit the netplan /etc/netplan/00-installer-config.yaml file (OS is Ubuntu) to suit your needs.

Configure the agent¶

create a file such as local-dc.yaml. Most of the settings can be left as they are. Modify just the BSIMachinesSubnetIPv4CIDR, BSIVRRPListenIPv4 and BSIMachineListenIPv4List to match your agent’s IP.

BSIMachinesSubnetIPv4CIDR: 192.168.1.11/24
BSIVRRPListenIPv4: 192.168.1.11
BSIMachineListenIPv4List:
    - 192.168.1.11
BSIExternallyVisibleIPv4: 209.43.59.203
repoURLRoot: http://<repo>
repoURLRootQuarantineNetwork: http://<repo>
SANRoutedSubnet: 100.96.0.0/16
NTPServers:
    - 45.55.58.103
DNSServers:
    - 1.1.1.1
    - 8.8.8.8
KMS: 84.40.58.70:1688
TFTPServerWANVRRPListenIPv4: 10.73.252.10
dataLakeEnabled: false
latitude: 41.8426112
longitude: 87.6695329
serverRegisterUsingGeneratedIPMICredentialsEnabled: false
serverRegisterUsingProvidedIPMICredentialsEnabled: true
switchProvisioner:
    LAGRanges:
        - 5-25
    LANVLANRange: 400-450
    MLAGRanges:
        - 26-27
    SANVLANRange: 300-399
    WANVLANRange: 100-199
    allocateDefaultLANVLAN: true
    allocateDefaultSANVLAN: false
    allocateDefaultWANVLAN: true
    leafSwitchesHaveMLAGPairs: false
    preventCleanupForVLANs:
        - 301
        - 1602
    preventCleanupForVLANsFromExternalConnectionUplinks:
        - 301
        - 1602
    preventUsageOfVLANs:
        - 301
        - 1602
    quarantineVLANID: 5
    storageHasSeparateFabric: false
    type: EVPNVXLANL2Provisioner
    zeroTouchRegistrationEnabled: true
enableTenantAccessToIPMI: false
allowVLANOverrides: true
allowNetworkProfiles: true
enableServerRegistrationStartedByInBandDHCP: false
extraInternalIPsPerSubnet: 0
extraInternalIPsPerSANSubnet: 0
serverRAIDConfigurationEnabled: true
webProxy:
    ip: 10.73.252.10
    port: 3128
isKubernetesDeployment: false
allowInstanceArrayFirmwarePolicies: false
provisionUsingTheQuarantineNetwork: true
enableDHCPRelaySecurityForQuarantineNetwork: false
enableDHCPRelaySecurityForClientNetworks: false
enableDHCPBMCMACAddressWhitelist: true
dhcpBMCMACAddressWhitelist:
    - 6C:2B:59:7C:0F:D3
    - CC:48:3A:09:EB:97
defaultServerCleanupPolicyID: 0
defaultDeploymentMechanism: virtual_media
defaultCleanupAndRegistrationMechanism: bmc
NFSServer: 172.18.38.38
Option82ToIPMapping: {}
flags: "" 

Run datacenter create:

% metalcloud-cli datacenter create --config local-dc.yaml --format yaml --id local-dc-1 --title "Local DC 1"

Get the datacenter auth URL

metalcloud-cli datacenter get --id local-dc-1 --return-config-url
https://us05.metalsoft.io/api/url?rqi=br._mJHHCUMW7I1kwwNjYNh3HWcpwwvfwVo7RKlQVLGn9PbElV_hxvDq4CE79bFrw70MYmANJmtorHvwupXZG2OWTNm5Eszg84QVq5z8Cm19qU&v=YojW5IXpEARy6VA4_EUHNw&filename=datacenter.json&datacenter_name=local-dc-1

SSH into the agent using the following username and pass:
- Username: metalsoft
- Password: MetalsoftR0cks@$@$
```
TODO: add command
```
Check if the agents are now connected

TODO: Show how to create an “unmanaged server type”

Import metalsoft VM into GNS3¶

This example uses GNS3 version 2.2.33.1 but should apply to all GNS3 versions

Create a GNS3 project
Import agent appliance by:
1. Go to on File > New Template > Manually create a new template
2. VMWare Fusion > New Select the agent VM from the list:
3. Click finish

Build the topology in GNS3¶

Add the agent vm a switch and two hosts.

Note that connecting the agent to the “Cloud” is not strictly required if the virtual machine is connected to the host’s NAT the effect would be the same. However zero touch provisioning might not work.

Register the switch in MetalSoft using the CLI¶

Create a file called sw.yaml. Most of the settings can be left to the defaults, you can alter just the managementAddress field and the managementPassword field. Note also the VTEP, ASN and Loopback fields that need to be set if EVPN is used.

identifierString: sonic01
datacenterName: local-dc-1
provisionerType: evpnvxlanl2
provisionerPosition: leaf
driver: sonic_enterprise
managementUsername: admin
managementPassword: YourPaSsWoRd
managementAddress: 192.168.1.25
managementAddressMask: 255.255.255.248
managementAddressGateway: 192.168.255.1
managementMACAddress: 8c:04:ba:ea:60:c0
primaryWANIPv4SubnetPool: 10.0.0.1
primaryWANIPv4SubnetPrefixSize: 24
primarySANSubnetPrefixSize: 24
quarantineSubnetStart: 192.168.67.1
quarantineSubnetEnd: 192.168.67.254
quarantineSubnetPrefixSize: 24
quarantineSubnetGateway: 192.168.67.1
tags:
- tag
requiresOSInstall: false
isBorderDevice: false
isStorageSwitch: false
networkTypesAllowed:
- wan
- san
- lan
- quarantine
LoopbackAddress: 10.0.90.3
VTEPAddress: 10.0.91.2
ASN: 65102

Run switch create

./metalcloud-cli switch create --raw-config sw.yaml --format yaml

This command might take up to 30 seconds.

The switch should now be in active state:

Create a network profile¶

This is not strictly required but if you decided not to use EVPN this is how you would disable it:

If you are reusing an existing datacenter rather than create a new one using the configuration above, make sure to enable network profiles and automatic VLAN allocation by navigating to the Datacenters >