Copy Refplat ISO to Disk

CML now requires all of the reference platforms that your labs will use to be present on the local disk. CML will no longer use these VM images from the mounted refplat ISO file. If you did not copy the contents of the refplat ISO to your local disk during the Initial Set-up, you may use the Copy Refplat ISO to Disk button in the System Administration Cockpit to perform the copy after the installation is complete.

Ensure that no one is trying to use the CML server while the Copy Refplat ISO to Disk is running.

Caution

Refplat ISO files are large, and you may end up with an incomplete or corrupted download. You should verify the checksum of the refplat ISO file before use and re-download it if necessary. For information on how to verify checksums of downloaded files, see Verifying Signatures of Downloaded Files. If the copy process fails, you do not have to interrupt the Initial Set-up process to download a new refplat ISO file. You can download a new refplat ISO file and copy it to the CML server at any time. To perform the copy after the installation is complete, use the Copy Refplat ISO to Disk button in the System Administration Cockpit.

Tip

It is generally safe to copy multiple refplat ISO files sequentially. However, please be aware that a file that already exists on your CML server may be modified or overwritten if a file with the same name exists on the refplat ISO that you are copying. The copy process transfers new images and potentially replaces corrupted images. Multiple refplat ISO images have been released, and if there is sufficient disk capacity, all of them can be copied to the same CML instance.

Warning

Images from an older REFPLAT ISO should work in newer CML versions but not vice-versa. Reference platforms included on a REFPLAT ISO released with CML 2.5 should work if copied into a CML 2.7 instance. While reference platforms included on a REFPLAT ISO released with CML 2.7 may not be available if copied into a CML 2.5 instance. If you need to use reference platforms included on the REFPLAT ISO released with CML 2.7, you should upgrade your CML instance to 2.7. E.g. if you want to use IOL or SD-WAN nodes firstly introduced with CML 2.7, you will have to upgrade your instance to CML 2.7 before you can start those nodes. If you tried to import those nodes into an instance running older CML version, e.g., CML 2.5, the instance will not be able to load or launch these nodes.

Your CML server should be running and should have the refplat ISO mounted as a CD/DVD drive.

Log into the System Administration Cockpit by following the Logging into the System Administration Cockpit instructions.

In the System Administration Cockpit, click CML2 in the navigation bar on the left side of the page and expand the Copy Refplat ISO item in the Maintenance section.

Click the Copy Refplat ISO button.

Depending on the network and disk speeds, it can take several minutes to a couple of hours to copy the entire contents of the refplat ISO to your CML server’s disk.

Caution

  • The copy process may be incorrectly reported as successful even when it has failed, e.g., when cockpit gets disconnected, the process is halted and cockpit may wrongly show that the process has completed.

  • You must ensure that your Cockpit session does not time out while executing the copy process. Alternatively, you can start the process from terminal using nohup or tmux, i.e., sudo /usr/share/cockpit/virl2/copy-refplat-iso-to-disk.sh &.

  • If the copy process failed or was interrupted, the Copy refplat ISO action must be re-run.

The copy process will fail if there are any labs running on the CML server, if the refplat ISO is not mounted as a CD/DVD drive, or if there is insufficient space on the CML server for the contents of the refplat ISO image.

The copy process can also fail if the remote CD/DVD drive connection is unreliable. If the copy process fails when using the refplat ISO as a mounted CD/DVD drive, you may instead copy the refplat ISO file to the CML server.

  1. Unmount or disable the CD/DVD drive that was using the refplat ISO file.

  2. Use scp to copy the refplat ISO file to the CML server.

    Note

    You must use an scp application from the command line. In particular, you cannot use WinSCP to connect to the CML server on port 22. Windows users will need to run an scp-compatible command from cmd.exe or from PowerShell. For example, you could use pscp, which is included with the PuTTY application, or you could install OpenSSH for Windows.

  3. Use your regular CML UI credentials to authenticate on the regular SSH port (22). Be sure to name the file refplat_images.iso. For example

    scp refplat-20220211-fcs.iso admin@com-ip-addr:refplat_images.iso

  4. Files uploaded via scp on port 22 will be placed in /var/local/virl2/dropfolder/.

  5. Restart the controller services via the CML2 page in the System Administration Cockpit.

  6. Finally, re-run the Copy Refplat ISO again. This time, the process will use the refplat_images.iso file that you copied to the CML server as the source of the VM images.

  7. Once the Copy Refplat ISO process succeeds, you may delete the /var/local/virl2/dropfolder/refplat_images.iso file.

The node definitions and image definitions from the refplat ISO have been copied to your CML server. Your CML server no longer needs to have the refplat ISO image mounted as a CD/DVD drive. Your CML server is now ready to run simulations.