Hello,

I am attempting to configure the external interface on a SRE-V module and it doesn't appear to be working.

The SM is a 700 series and it is in a Cisco 3945 router using the 15.2(2)T IOS.

In the SRE-V Installation and Configuration Guide v.2.0, the instructions for External Interface Configuration are as follows:


"The Cisco IOS commands for this configuration are the same as the commands for the “MGF Layer 2 Switched Configuration—Recommended” section on page 3-4 or the “Cisco IOS Layer 3 Routed Configuration Options” section on page 3-10, except for the following:
•The IP address of the virtual machine is on a network that is connected to the external interface.
•The virtual machine default gateway points to the external interface.
•The static route entry for the virtual machine, which is configured in the Cisco IOS Layer 3 Routed Configuration, is not required."

I connected the external interface to a switch in our lab on the 10.1.101.0 network and ensure the cable is working.

I have followed the instructions on page 3-10 following these steps:

From the Host-Router CLI, enter:
1.enable
2.configure terminal

Configure slot/0 of the VMware vSphere Hypervisor
1.interface sm slot/0
2.ip address router-to-hypervisor-interface-IP-address subnet-mask
3.service-module ip address hypervisor-ip-address subnet-mask
4.service-module ip default-gateway hypervisor-gateway-ip-address
5.no shut
6.exit

Configure slot/1 of the VMware vSphere Hypervisor
1.interface sm slot/1

2.switchport mode trunk
3.[switchport trunk allowed vlan vlan_numbers]
4.exit

I did not configure VLAN's as they are not used on this test network, nor did I configure a static route as per the noted exceptions.

The SM is configured with the following:

interface SM1/0
 ip address 10.1.101.150 255.255.255.0
 service-module ip address 10.1.101.160 255.255.255.0
 !Application: VMware ESXi 5.0.0 build-474610 running on SRE
 service-module ip default-gateway 10.1.101.150

interface SM1/1
 description Internal switch interface connected to Service Module
 switchport mode trunk
 no ip address

I also configured the other interfaces on the module by sessioning to it as seen below:

││  IP Address                                         [ 10.1.101.160     ]    ││
││  Subnet Mask                                        [ 255.255.255.0    ]    ││
││  Default Gateway                                    [ 10.1.101.150     ]    ││

While I can ping other hosts on the 10.1.101.0 network, I cannot ping either the 10.1.101.160 or the 10.1.101.150 ip addresses.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can access the SM, or perhaps some more specific instructions on how to configure the external interface?

Please let me know.

Thank you for your time.

Brian

Hi Brett!

So based on your answer, the only way to configure the external interface on a service module running SRE-V is by using vClient and creating a vSwitch that is connected to vmnic0.

I was a bit confused by the "SRE-V 2.0.1 Installation and Configuration Guide" as it seemed to indicate to me that you can provision the external interface from the Cisco IOS CLI , but evidently that is not the case.

I suppose the the reason why the commands for configuring the external interface are the same as the commands for configuration is that regardless of whether you are using the router's backplane or the external interface for communication, you still have to configure the management interface on the SRE before you can connect to it with vClient and then create the vSwitch on vmnic0.

Thank you so much for your reply.

Brian