Integration of HP Network Simulator with GNS3

Integrating the HP Network Simulator with GNS3

A guide for installation and operation of multivendor virtual labs with VirtualBox and GNS3

Prepared by: Nick Channing

Cain Rd, Amen Corner

Bracknell,

Berkshire,

RG12 1HN

Document Id: XXX

Document Version: v0.5

Date Prepared: 6th June 2014

Integration of HP Network Simulator with GNS3

Contents1 INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................

1.1 PURPOSE..............................................................................................................................1.2 HOW IT WORKS....................................................................................................................1.3 APLICABILITY........................................................................................................................

2 INSTALL VIRTUALBOX..........................................................................................................2.1 OBTAIN SOFTWARE..............................................................................................................2.2 INSTALLATION......................................................................................................................

3 INSTALL HP NETWORK SIMULATOR.......................................................................................3.1 OBTAIN SOFTWARE..............................................................................................................3.2 INSTALLATION......................................................................................................................

4 INSTALL GNS3...................................................................................................................4.1 OBTAIN SOFTWARE............................................................................................................4.2 INSTALLATION...................................................................................................................

5 INTEGRATION WITH HP NETWORK SIMULATOR.....................................................................5.1 GENERATE COMWARE SWITCH INSTANCES.......................................................................5.1.1 Launch HNS........................................................................................................................................5.1.2 Make the Comware simulator config file..........................................................................................5.1.3 Save the project.................................................................................................................................5.1.4 Create the Simware 7 switch instances............................................................................................

5.2 CONFIGURE GNS3...............................................................................................................5.2.1 Start GNS3.........................................................................................................................................5.2.2 Configure VirtualBox Integration......................................................................................................5.2.3 Configure new HP icons for GNS3.....................................................................................................

5.3 TESTING COMWARE SWITCH INTEGRATION WITH GNS3...................................................5.4 DEVICE CONTROL...............................................................................................................5.4.1 Starting / stopping device.................................................................................................................5.4.2 Displaying the device console...........................................................................................................5.4.3 Using Wireshark to capture network traffic......................................................................................

6 ADDING 3RD PARTY VENDOR DEVICES..................................................................................6.1 VIRTUALBOX LINKED CLONES............................................................................................6.1.1 Create a Linked Clone........................................................................................................................6.1.2 Add device to GNS3...........................................................................................................................

6.2 CISCO CSR1000V................................................................................................................6.2.1 Obtain Software................................................................................................................................6.2.2 Create the Cisco CSR1000v VM.........................................................................................................6.2.3 Add the CSR1000v instances to GNS3..............................................................................................

6.3 MICROSOFT WINDOWS 2008 R2 SERVER..........................................................................6.3.1 Obtain Software................................................................................................................................6.3.2 Create Virtual Machine......................................................................................................................6.3.3 Add Windows instance to GNS3........................................................................................................

7 APPENDIX.........................................................................................................................HP Network Simulator Instructions....................................................................................................................................37

8 DOCUMENT CONTROL INFORMATION...................................................................................8.1 DISTRIBUTION LIST............................................................................................................8.2 TERMS AND ACRONYMOUS................................................................................................8.3 RELATED DOCUMENTATION...............................................................................................

HP TS Consulting HP Confidential Page of

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All rights reserved.


1 INTRODUCTIONThe HP Network Simulator enables the generation and design of virtual Comware 7 based labs for

testing and training purposes. The latest iteration of the Simware 7 platform has now been modified

to operate on the VirtualBox hypervisor rather than QEMU which has brought substantial

improvements to the speed and operation on Windows based machines.

However a key feature lacking is visual representation and control of the topologies that the new

version of Simware can produce. GNS3 is a popular GUI and simulation package for Cisco based

topologies that can be extended to work with HP and other vendor simulation packages filling this

gap in functionality.

1.1 PURPOSE

The purpose of this document is to detail the installation steps to enable GNS3 integration with HP

Comware 7 simulation software and thus quickly produce your own network topologies using

multivendor virtual machines with the aid of the Oracle VirtualBox hypervisor.

In addition, this guide details the basic build and operation of a Windows based host that can be used

in the simulated environment.

As an example of use, figure 1 shows a topology using multiple network technologies from HP,

Microsoft and Checkpoint simulating a typical computer network system. The result permits testing

and analysis of potential network designs as well as a learning aid for many network based

technologies.

Figure1: Sample HP Lab Environment showing Simware 7 integration with Checkpoint Firewall and

multiple Windows 2008 servers





1.2 HOW IT WORKS

The simulation environment uses multiple applications to operate virtual network topologies. Figure

2 indicates how these applications interact to create multiple virtual devices on a single hardware

platform.

Figure2: An overview of system operation

To create and control simulated environments using HP Comware 7 based virtual devices, the

following components are needed;

Windows 8 Host Operating System

The Windows platform provided on HP COE computers. The operating system provides the

platform for the execution of the other components of the simulation.

Oracle VirtualBox Hypervisor

VirtualBox is installed on an existing host operating system as an application; this host

application allows additional guest operating systems, each known as a Guest OS, to be

loaded and run, each with its own virtual environment.

VirtualBox forms the basis of the virtual environment in which the simulated environment is

operated. The Guest OS can be any combination of HP Comware, Cisco IOS XE, Checkpoint

Firewalls, Windows or Linux OS, plus many others.

Communication between Virtual Devices uses host based UDP tunnels to transport traffic

between virtual network interface cards.





HP Network Simulator

The HP Network Simulator is a tool that creates HP Comware 7network topologies for both

switched and routed devices in VirtualBox through the use of configuration text file.

Included in this document is a typical configuration of a Comware 7 switch device that uses

1Gig ports, however there are many virtual Comware devices that can be configured. A full

list of configurable devices and instructions for use can be found in “HP Network Simulator

for Comware Devices” in Appendix A.

GNS3

GNS3 is open source software that simulates complex networks while being as close as

possible to the way real networks perform, all of this without having dedicated network

hardware such as routers and switches.

GNS3 provides an intuitive graphical user interface to design and configure virtual networks,

it runs on traditional PC hardware and may be used on multiple operating systems, including

Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.

While GNS3 has been used by network engineers in the past as a Dynamips emulator for

older Cisco platforms, in this environment the GUI will be used to control network

topologies based on the VirtualBox hypervisor.

Wireshark

Wireshark is a network packet analyser. A network packet analyser will try to capture

network packets and tries to display that packet data in as detailed a way as possible.

You could think of a network packet analyser as a measuring device used to examine what's

going on inside a network cable, just like a voltmeter is used by an electrician to examine

what's going on inside an electric cable (but at a higher level, of course).

The operation and configuration of Wireshark other than basic connectivity is outside the

scope of this guide.

1.3 APLICABILITY

The following instructions have been validated with the following software versions.

Microsoft Windows 8

Oracle VirtualBox version 4.3.10

HP Network Simulator version 7.1.50

GNS3 version 0.8.6

Other software versions may operate as described in this guide but this cannot be guaranteed by the

author.





2 INSTALL VIRTUALBOXThe following subsections detail the installation of the Oracle VirtualBox hypervisor on the Windows

8 platform.

2.1 OBTAIN SOFTWARE

For the HP Network Simulator to work correctly, use VirtualBox version 4.3.10-93012. Newer

versions of this software exist, but they do not integrate with the HP Network Simulator causing an

error message to be generated informing the user that VirtualBox is not installed.

VirtualBox software can be downloaded from the following location;

http://download.VirtualBox.org/VirtualBox/4.3.10/VirtualBox-4.3.10-93012-Win.exe

2.2 INSTALLATION

Once downloaded, install VirtualBox by double-clicking the application

Select the default installation settings as detailed below and then select the directory in

which to install VirtualBox;

Next, select the file associations and the launch icon locations;




http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/4.3.10/VirtualBox-4.3.10-93012-Win.exe


Proceed with the installation of the VirtualBox network adaptors, this will cause the host

machine network connection to drop out while the new adaptors are installed.

Click through a couple of Yes/ Next buttons to install the software. Once installed, the

following dialog box should appear;

Congratulations, VirtualBox is now installed and when launched the following GUI is

displayed; At this point reboot the Windows PC.





3 INSTALL HP NETWORK SIMULATORThis section details the installation of the HP Network Simulator version 7.1.50

3.1 OBTAIN SOFTWARE

Download the HP Network Simulator from the following URL;

http://h20565.www2.hp.com/portal/site/hpsc/template.PAGE/public/psi/swdDetails/?

swItem=nw_130365_1&ac.admitted=1402101741820.876444892.492883150

3.2 INSTALLATION

Launch the downloaded file from item 3.1

Accept the licence agreement and choose the install location




http://h20565.www2.hp.com/portal/site/hpsc/template.PAGE/public/psi/swdDetails/?swItem=nw_130365_1&ac.admitted=1402101741820.876444892.492883150

http://h20565.www2.hp.com/portal/site/hpsc/template.PAGE/public/psi/swdDetails/?swItem=nw_130365_1&ac.admitted=1402101741820.876444892.492883150


Click finish, the installation is complete.





4 INSTALL GNS3Install GNS3 to manage network topology creation.

4.1 OBTAIN SOFTWARE

Download GNS3 v0.8.6 all-in-one with VirtualBox support and wireshark integration from the

following location;

http://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/gns-3/GNS3/0.8.6/GNS3-0.8.6-all-in-one.exe?r=http%3A

%2F%2Fwww.gns3.net%2Fdownload%2F&ts=1402103599&use_mirror=optimate

4.2 INSTALLATION

Launch the downloaded file from step 4.1

Accept the licence agreement




http://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/gns-3/GNS3/0.8.6/GNS3-0.8.6-all-in-one.exe?r=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gns3.net%2Fdownload%2F&ts=1402103599&use_mirror=optimate

http://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/gns-3/GNS3/0.8.6/GNS3-0.8.6-all-in-one.exe?r=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gns3.net%2Fdownload%2F&ts=1402103599&use_mirror=optimate


Choose the start menu folder in which the GNS3 program shortcut should reside

Select the following software features that should be installed. Note that GNS3 will install

WinPCAP version 4.1.3 which could interfere with other programs that require this software.

Additionally Wireshark will be installed so that connected interfaces in your virtual

topologies can be monitored.

Choose the file path where the GNS3 software should be installed.





Install WinPCAP if not already installed on your PC. This library of functions is required

when using packet capture for Wireshark or bridging network interfaces within GNS3.

Accept the license agreement for WinPCAP

Choose where WinPCAP should be installed on your PC and then allow the WinPCAP driver to

start when the host machine boots





Press finish when the installation of WinPCAP has successfully completed.

Wireshark is a standard packet capture and analysis tool that has been integrated into GNS3

and is installed by default with GNS3.

Accept the license agreement





Select the components as shown below;

Select the start menu items and the file associations that Wireshark should be used with.

Choose the install location for Wireshark





The dialog below will be shown if WinPCAP is already installed the host machine. Wireshark

and GNS3 require version 4.1.2 or above for correct operation.

Press “next” and then “Finish” when the installation of Wireshark has completed.

Complete the installation of GNS3 and then press “next” and “finish”





5 INTEGRATION WITH HP NETWORK SIMULATORThis section details the configuration of the HP Network Simulator version 7.1.50

5.1 GENERATE COMWARE SWITCH INSTANCES

To successfully use simulated Comware 7 devices with VirtualBox and GNS3, it is necessary to have a

pool of virtual hardware that can be referenced by the GNS3 GUI. The subsections below detail the

steps required to create a series of 20x 64bit 8 port 1Gbit Comware 7 switches that can be used in

GNS3 topologies.

5.1.1 Launch HNS If the software has been successfully installed, the HP Network Simulator should launch as shown below;

Note:

A common error message occurs indicating that VirtualBox has not been installed if;

1. VirtualBox is not present on the system2. The latest version of VirtualBox has been installed.

To remedy this situation, please install VirtualBox version 4.3.10.





5.1.2 Make the Comware simulator config fileDuring testing it has been discovered that unless all of the interfaces are bound to a VirtualBox interface (either bridged or virtual), then GNS3 has problems referencing them, or there are issues with connectivity using the UDP tunnel general interfaces.

When creating many virtual Comware 7devices, using the “Clone” feature of VirtualBox either as a full or linked clone does not work correctly with Simware 7, as the resulting cloned machines do not have interfaces that are recognised by the Simware OS. Generating Simware devices using the config file ensures that the instances do not share identity information such as interface and base MAC addresses.

The following configuration embedded in the file below can be cut and pasted into the HNS window. It will create 20 x 8 Port switches using 64bit architecture with 512Mb of RAM. Please modify the file if more memory is required for feature such as MP BGP etc.

5.1.3 Save the project

Save the configuration as a Project using the “Save As” icon. This name is used in VirtualBox to create the name of the virtual machine group in which the Simware 7 instances will reside.





5.1.4 Create the Simware 7 switch instances

Click the icon to start the creation of the Comware 7 switch instances;

Once all of the switches have been created, the message shown below will appear indicating that running all 20 switches will consume 10 GB of RAM and substation CPU usage. Ensure that you have the PC specified with enough RAM if you plan to test large topologies.





Open VirtualBox and see that 20 Comware devices have been created and grouped using the following convention;

ProjectName-deviceX





5.2 CONFIGURE GNS3

The next step is to configure GNS3 to support VirtualBox hosts. This guide does not explain how Dynamips is configured as it is not directly relevant to this simulation environment and requires the use of software from Cisco that does not comply with the usage definition within the licencing agreement.

5.2.1 Start GNS3Start GNS 3 using the icon indicated below, do not follow the configuration steps listed in the start page a just press the “OK” button.

5.2.2 Configure VirtualBox IntegrationNavigate to the preferences section;

Edit > Preferences





Select “VirtualBox” and ensure that the General Settings match the values indicated below. Press the “Test Settings” button and ensure that VirtualBox API is started. If you have problems here, make sure that you have the correct path to “vboxwrapper.exe”





To ensure that the UDP tunnels created between Virtualbox machines do not conflict with installed programs such as Microsoft Lync, it is necessary to change the base UDP port from 20900 to 36000. If this setting has not been modified then connectivity problems will occur between virtual devices. These faults manifest as a unidirectional connection or problems with protocols such as LLDP, LACP and STP.

The next step is to add the Simware devices from VirtualBox to GNS3. Select the tab “VirtualBox Guest”;

o Select a Comware 7 device from the “VM List”, if this tab is empty, refresh the list.o Set the number of NICs to 8o Check the box “Show Advanced Options”o Select the NIC model to “e1000”o Check the box “Enable Console Support”. Without this, the Simware device will not

correctly boot.o Set an “Identifier name”, this is used to name the devices in your topologyo Press “Save”, the VirtualBox Virtual Machines list will now be updated

Repeat the above procedure to add more Simware devices to use in GNS3 projects, the results should look similar to this;





5.2.3 Configure new HP icons for GNS3

To make GNS topologies look more HP inspired, use the icon repository embedded below that matches the Visio icons devised by HPN. Extract the embedded file below into your GNS working directory.

Navigate to the “Symbol Manager” section;

Edit > Symbol Manager

Browse to and select the “hp.rcc” file that you have just placed in your CNG3 working directory and press the add button. At the bottom of the left hand pan, expand the hp.rcc icon to find the new icons available for use in GNS3.

NOTE: Creating new icons for GNS3 requires extra tooling and is outside the scope of this document.

To use the new device shapes, move the icons to the right pane using the arrow button in the centre of the menu.

While selecting the icon in the right pane, select the “Type” as VirtualBox Guest. The icon can be renamed at this point as well. Repeat the above process to add more icons for use in GNS3, the result should match the

example below;

Press “OK” when you have finished adding icons.





5.3 TESTING COMWARE SWITCH INTEGRATION WITH GNS3

Create a two switch topology to test the integration;

Open the “All Device” window by pressing the button >





Drag and drop a HP L3 switch onto the central working pane. As you release the icon, a dialog box opens asking you to detect which VirtualBox guest to open. Select SW1.

Repeat the process for SW2, the result should match the figure below

Select the connect button , right click on the devices, select the interfaces that you want to connect





Start the topology, by pressing the button. Both of the switch devices will now boot to the console and will be ready for configuration. The result should look like the figure below.

NOTE: By default, the first interface is assigned to management, this will always be connected to the VirtualBox host only adaptor and will not be configured by GNS3, handy if the interface is set up for remote management.

5.4 DEVICE CONTROL

5.4.1 Starting / stopping deviceRight click on a device to display in the device control menu. Device operation can be operated from the menu as displayed below;





5.4.2 Displaying the device consoleMost virtual hosts including Comware 7 devices display through the VirtualBox console which can be brought into focus by clicking;

Devices that redirect their display to the serial console, such as Cisco XRv, vNexus can be used with the console server built into GNS3. To display the serial console click;

5.4.3 Using Wireshark to capture network trafficWireshark can capture traffic from any port in the GNS3 topology by;

Right clicking a link to obtain the context menu and pressing capture

Select the interface on which to capture network traffic

Restarting the network node to which the packet capture applies

Starting wireshark on the link





6 ADDING 3RD PARTY VENDOR DEVICESOne of the advantages of using VirtualBox is that devices from many manufacturers can be configured together using GNS3 to build and control the network topology. The following subsections define the settings required to install 3rd party vendor equipment.

6.1 VIRTUALBOX LINKED CLONES

One of the useful features of VirtualBox is the ability to use “Linked Clones”, this allows for the install of a master machine image which can then spawn multiple child appliances using a common storage snapshot. This feature can create new devices very quickly while using a small amount of storage on the host PC.

6.1.1 Create a Linked Clone Open Oracle VM VirtualBox Select a VM that you wish to clone and click the “clone” button





Clone machine with a new name and reinitialise the MAC addresses of the NICs. Then Choose

“Linked Clone” and press the “Clone” button

The clone has been created and is ready to use





6.1.2 Add device to GNS3

A new clone is created that can be added in GNS3 in the same way that the Simware devices were added.

o Navigate to the VirtualBox Guest settingso Press “ Refresh VM List”o Select the cloned VM nameo Select the number of network cards attachedo Un check “Reserve first NIC for VirtualBox NAT to host OS”o Press save

’





6.2 CISCO CSR1000V

The Cisco CSR1000v can be used when testing integration with Cisco devices with newer IOS XE 12.5 S feature sets supported. By default, the image contains all software features under the “Premium” licence which can be enabled for trial purposes from the command line.

6.2.1 Obtain SoftwareExperimentation shows that the latest version that work correctly on VirtualBox is;

csr1000v-universalk9.03.11.01.S.154-1.S1-std.iso

Which can be downloaded from;

http://software.cisco.com/download/release.html?mdfid=284364978&softwareid=282046477&release=3.11.1S&flowid=39582

6.2.2 Create the Cisco CSR1000v VM

Create a new virtual machine from the VirtualBox Manager and ensure that the VM device type and memory (2560Mb) settings match the following;

Create a 8Gb thin provisioned storage device with the settings indicated below







Enable the serial port in the disconnected state

Configure 4 NICs, binding them to the Host Only adaptor. Ensure your network settings mirror those indicated below;

From the Storage tab, select the install disk .iso that was downloaded in step 6.1.1





The final settings for the VM should match those below.

The final step is to provision a “linked clone” of the machine using the instructions detailed in 6.1 of this guide.

6.2.3 Add the CSR1000v instances to GNS3Add the CSR1000v instances to GNS3 by navigating to the Preferences / VirtualBox / VirtualBox Guest section and;

Choose a name for the instance Select the CSR instance from the VM List Set the number of NICs to 4 Set the NIC model to e1000 Uncheck the “Reserve first NIC for VirtualBox NAT to host OS” Enable console support and server





Press “save”

The device can now be added to topologies using the VirtualBox icon and can also be customised in Symbol Manager in the same way as the HP Comware devices. When the device boots, the console will be display in the VirtualBox console window;

6.3 MICROSOFT WINDOWS 2008 R2 SERVER

A sample Windows2008 R2 deployment for simple network services

6.3.1 Obtain SoftwareThe Windows 2008R2 .iso can be downloaded directly from MSDN if you have an MSDN licence provided by HP. Alternatively, the following link can provide the .iso and licence key if required;

http://swmedia.cv.hp.com/Vendors/Microsoft/NowShowing.asp





6.3.2 Create Virtual MachineCreate a standard Windows 2008 virtual machine with the following settings;

1 Gb RAM 1 vCPU 80% execution cap 2 NICs 100Gb storage (thin provisioned) DVD with the downloaded Windows Server image.

Once the master device is created, run the “SYSPREP” utility to package the image and then use linked clones when deploying the multiple virtual machines.

6.3.3 Add Windows instance to GNS3

A new clone can be added in GNS3 in the same way that the Simware devices were added.

o Navigate to the VirtualBox Guest settingso Press “ Refresh VM List”o Select the cloned VM name




http://swmedia.cv.hp.com/Vendors/Microsoft/NowShowing.asp


o Select the number of network cards attachedo Un check “Reserve first NIC for VirtualBox NAT to host OS”o Press save

’





7 APPENDIX HP Network Simulator Instructions





8 DOCUMENT CONTROL INFORMATIONThe latest version of this document is stored electronically. Any printed copy has to be considered an uncontrolled copy. This document should be compliant with the document control process

Document Owner: Nick Channing Template Version No: 1.0

Template Version Date 07 Aug 2013

Document Version No: Ver 0.5

Document Sponsor: Peter Hockin Document Version Date 30/06/2014

Title: Integration of HP Network Simulator with GNS3

Document Acronym:

Document Revision History

Ver. No. Ver. Date Prepared By Approved By Affected Section & Summary of Change

0.1 08/06/14 Nick Channing Draft Release

0.4 21/0/614 Nick Channing Changes following review by John Adams

0.5 30/06/14 Nick Channing Changes following team review

8.1 DISTRIBUTION LIST

8.2 TERMS AND ACRONYMOUS

Term Definition

8.3 RELATED DOCUMENTATION

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Integration of HP Network Simulator with GNS3

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