NX-OS 9000
Overview
The NX-OS 9000 node type is used for running Cisco Nexus 9000v, 9300v, and 9500v images. The NX-OS 9000 reference platform is a virtual platform that is designed to simulate a data center switch running Cisco Nexus 9000 software. The VM shares the same software image that runs on Cisco Nexus 9000 hardware platforms, but it does not implement any specific hardware emulation. When the software runs as a virtual machine, line card (LC) ASIC provisioning or any interaction from the control plane to hardware ASIC is handled by a software data plane.
Note: There is limited support for this image from Cisco's Technical Advisory Center. The Cisco Nexus 9000v, 9300v, and 9500v VM images are not intended for use in a production network. They are intended for use with NetDevOps workflows and to enable rapid testing of changes to the network infrastructure or to infrastructure automation tools.
For more details about the VM images associated with the NX-OS 9000 node type, refer to the following resources:
- NX-OS 9000 - Nexus 9000v 9.x Feature Support
- NX-OS 9000 - Nexus 9000v 9.3 Feature Support
- NX-OS 9000 - Nexus 9300v/9500v 9.3 Feature Support
Using N9Kv Nodes in CML
VM Images and Resource Settings
Use the NX-OS 9000 node definition for Nexus 9000v VM images, including the Nexus 9300v and 9500v.
Note that different N9Kv images may require different default settings for the VM's CPU and memory. If you are adding VM images for alternate versions of NX-OS 9000, you can override the NX-OS 9000 node definition's default settings for that specific VM image. For example, the Nexus 95000v 9.3(x) image requires a minimum of 4 vCPUs. When adding a Nexus 9500v image, you can set the image definition's Linux Native > CPUs to 4.
Known Issues
Jumbo frames work by default in the NX-OS 9000 nodes in CML, but configuring MTU on an interface is not supported by NX-OS 9000 until version 9.3(3). To use jumbo frames, change your lab to use a NX-OS 9000 VM image version of 9.3(3) or higher.
Limitations
NX-OS 9000v is performance limited when forwarding traffic. Achieved throughputs are ~2.3 Mb/s when passing traffic through one NX-OS 9000v device, and ~2.19 Mb/s when chained over two NX-OS 9000v devices. Baseline throughput was 307 Mbits/sec.
Features Tested with CML
Each CML release is tested with the bundled version of NX-OS 9000. The tests validate the following features:
| Test Name | Result |
|---|---|
| CDP | PASS |
| SVI | PASS |
| Port-security | PASS |
| Port-channel | PASS |
| vPC | PASS |
| DHCP | Not supported |
| Spanning-tree | PASS |
| HSRP | PASS |
| Loopback | PASS |
| Routed port | PASS |
The lab used for the tests is NX-OS 9500v Feature Tests, which is one of the sample labs included with CML on the Tools > Sample Labs page.
CDP
- peer device is detected on the interface and listed in the CDP table
- Neighbor type: IOSvL2
N9K-A(config-if-hsrp)# show cdp neighbors
Capability Codes: R - Router, T - Trans-Bridge, B - Source-Route-Bridge
S - Switch, H - Host, I - IGMP, r - Repeater,
V - VoIP-Phone, D - Remotely-Managed-Device,
s - Supports-STP-Dispute
Device-ID Local Intrfce Hldtme Capability Platform Port ID
C9K-2 mgmt0 127 R S I Gig3/0
N9K-B(9H2UNNA5TKE)
Eth1/1 156 R S I s N9K-C9500v Eth1/1
N9K-B(9H2UNNA5TKE)
Eth1/2 156 R S I s N9K-C9500v Eth1/2
N9K-1(92JUXDT7O5E)
Eth1/3 137 R S I s N9K-C9500v Eth1/1
C9K-2 Eth1/4 148 R S I Gig0/1
Total entries displayed: 5
SVI
- Interface VLAN 100 configured with IP address 192.168.253.2
- Alpine Linux VM in VLAN 100 can successfully ping the interface vlan 100
alpine-0:~$ ping 192.168.253.2
PING 192.168.253.2 (192.168.253.2): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 192.168.253.2: seq=1 ttl=42 time=4.259 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.253.2: seq=2 ttl=42 time=3.570 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.253.2: seq=3 ttl=42 time=4.395 ms
Port-security
- Port goes to err-disabled state if there is violation
- Autorecovery also works, port goes back up if there is no violation
Port-channel
- Links successfully grouped into etherchannel using LACP
N9K-A# show port-channel summary
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Group Port- Type Protocol Member Ports
Channel
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Po1(SU) Eth LACP Eth1/1(P) Eth1/2(P)
11 Po11(SU) Eth LACP Eth1/3(P)
12 Po12(SU) Eth LACP Eth1/4(P)
vPC
- successful vPC configuration
N9K-A# show vpc
vPC Peer-link status
---------------------------------------------------------------------
id Port Status Active vlans
-- ---- ------ -------------------------------------------------
1 Po1 up 1,100
vPC status
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Id Port Status Consistency Reason Active vlans
-- ------------ ------ ----------- ------ ---------------
11 Po11 up success success 1,100
12 Po12 up success success 1,100
DHCP
Not supported on NX-OS 9000v
SPANNING-TREE
- Spanning-tree successfully calculates a loop-free topology for every VLAN
N9K-A# show spanning-tree vlan 100
VLAN0100
Spanning tree enabled protocol rstp
Root ID Priority 24676
Address 5214.55bb.1b08
This bridge is the root
Hello Time 2 sec Max Age 20 sec Forward Delay 15 sec
Bridge ID Priority 24676 (priority 24576 sys-id-ext 100)
Address 5214.55bb.1b08
Hello Time 2 sec Max Age 20 sec Forward Delay 15 sec
Interface Role Sts Cost Prio.Nbr Type
---------------- ---- --- --------- -------- --------------------------------
Po1 Desg FWD 3 128.4096 (vPC peer-link) Network P2p
Po11 Desg FWD 1 128.4106 (vPC) P2p
Po12 Desg FWD 1 128.4107 (vPC) P2p
HSRP
- HSRP configured on two N9K devices
- VM can successfully ping HSRP IP address
- Verification: failover test
Loopback
- Loopback address configured on N9K
Lo0 172.31.255.1 protocol-up/link-up/admin-up
Routed Port
- Interface eth1/4 configured as routed port
- VM can successfully ping the IP address set on eth1/4
Interface IP Address Interface Status
Eth1/4 10.10.10.1 protocol-up/link-up/admin-up
Interface counters
- Interface counters work in image version 3.2.6
- In previous versions they were always 0
N9K-1# show interface ethernet 1/3
<--- output omitted --->
RX
844 unicast packets 0 multicast packets 1641 broadcast packets
2485 input packets 641546 bytes
0 jumbo packets 0 storm suppression packets
0 runts 0 giants 0 CRC 0 no buffer
TX
839 unicast packets 13845 multicast packets 1 broadcast packets
14685 output packets 959012 bytes
0 jumbo packets
0 output error 0 collision 0 deferred 0 late collision