Catalyst SD-WAN

Overview

You can use the Catalyst SD-WAN nodes to construct a software-defined WAN fabric within a CML lab.

Features

The supplemental ISO includes all of the images needed to satisfy each part of an SD-WAN architecture. These images include the Manager, Controller, Validator, and vEdge (Viptela Edge) and Cisco Edge (Catalyst 8000v for SD-WAN).

All of the capabilities listed in the Catalyst SD-WAN datasheet should be supported.

Limitations

While software feature parity exists with a production, virtual SD-WAN fabric, throughput is limited. You can increase the supported data rights by purchasing and applying additional HSEC (high security) licenses to the running nodes, which will allow them to supports encrypted traffic at rates of 250 Mbps or higher.

For vEdge support, you must also setup a Cisco.com account and a Smart Licensing account. The latter is used to generate license files to onboard vEdge nodes. Even though Smart Licensing is required to generate the license file, the fabric does not need to be connected to the Internet for operation.

Using Catalyst SD-WAN Nodes in CML

Unlike other nodes, such as IOSv or a standalone Cat8Kv, SD-WAN fabrics cannot include a full day-0 or initial configuration by default. Before edge nodes (those that form the dataplane of an SD-WAN fabric) can be bootstrapped, certificates must be generated and loaded into the SD-WAN Manager. Refer to the SD-WAN bring-up process to get a new fabric running.

It is also possible to automate the SD-WAN fabric bring-up. The SD-WAN DevOps GitHub repository provides an Ansible-based approach to automating the creation of a full SD-WAN fabric.

When this guide refers to the serialFile.Viptela file that you need to upload to the SD-WAN Manager in the WAN Edge List, you must first generate this file using the Cisco Smart License portal. Once you create a Smart License account, follow these steps to generate the .viptela file.

  1. Go to https://software.cisco.com and scroll down to the bottom to the Network Plug and Play section.
  2. Click Manage devices.
  3. Click Controller Profiles.
  4. Click the Add Profile... button.
  5. Choose VBOND as the controller type and click Next.
  6. Give your profile a name, enter the IP address or hostname that you configured on your vBond (Validator) node, and enter the organization name that you configured in your SD-WAN fabric.
  7. Copy-and-paste the CA root certificate you are using in your fabric and click Next.
  8. With the Controller Profile created, click Devices.
  9. Click the Add Software Devices... button.
  10. Click the Add Software Device... button.
  11. Enter VEDGE-CLOUD-DNA as the Base PID.
  12. Enter a quantity of vEdge devices. You can always come back and add more, but consider adding more instances than you initially want to deploy for your vEdges.
  13. Select the Controller Profile that you just created and click Save.
  14. Go back to Controller Profiles and download the Provisioning File. This file is the serialFile.viptela that you can upload into SD-WAN Manager. Be sure to select the version that matches the version of vManager (SD-WAN Manager) that you will be using.