NX-OS

Overview

The NX-OSv image is a reference platform for an implementation of the Cisco NX-OS operating system that runs as a full virtual machine. The NX-OSv image is based on the NX-OS operating system and a hardware model based on the Nexus 7000-series platform. It supports up to 28 GigabitEthernet interfaces. NX-OSv provides partial layer-3 control plane and management plane features from the 7.x.x version of the NX-OS operating system. The software data-plane in NX-OSv does not emulate the Nexus 7000-series forwarding hardware, and layer-2 functionality is not present in the NX-OSv image.

NX-OSv is now deprecated, and no new versions of this image will be released. Older NX-OSv VM images are still available for use within CML, but NX-OSv is no longer included in the refplat ISO image. NX-OSv may be available on your CML instance if you migrated from an earlier version of CML or if you added the node and image definition yourself. See the CML software download page and then look for the NX-OSv images.

Note: This image is provided as-is. There is no support for this image from Cisco's Technical Advisory Center. This image is not for use in a production environment and is simply a basic VM for the Nexus 7000-series platforms. Cisco does not plan to deliver additional NX-OSv 7.x VM images nor to deliver layer-2 switching features in the NX-OSv reference platform.

Limitations

NX-OSv is performance-limited when forwarding traffic. Achieved throughputs are ~50.8 Mbits/sec when passing traffic through one NX-OSv device, and ~44.9 Mbits/sec when chained over two NX-OSv devices. Baseline throughput was 589 Mbits/sec.

NX-OSv Features

Supported Features

The following list of features are included in the NX-OSv image:

  • 802.1x
  • AAA
  • AMT
  • BGP
  • CDP/LLDP
  • EIGRP
  • FHRP-HSRP, GLBP, VRRP
  • ICMP
  • IGMP
  • IPv4
  • IPv4/6
  • IPv6
  • ISIS
  • L3 routing protocols
  • LDAP
  • LISP
  • MLD
  • MSDP
  • NTP
  • OSPF
  • PIM/PIM6
  • Radius
  • RIP
  • SNMP
  • Syslog
  • TACACS+
  • VRF
  • XML/Netconf
  • NX-API

Unsupported Features

The following features are not supported by NX-OSv and are known not to work:

  • OTV
  • QinQ
  • ACL's
  • vPC
  • BFD
  • CoPPS
  • UDLD
  • Hardware TCAM Related Features
  • Cisco TrustSec
  • Port Security
  • HA-ISSU Software Upgrades

Features Tested with CML

NX-OSv has more limited feature coverage than NX-OS 9000v. This table shows the latest test results when testing the NX-OSv Feature Tests lab, running in CML:

Test Name Result
CDP PASS
SVI PASS
Port-security Not supported
Port-channel Not supported
vPC Not supported
DHCP Not supported
Spanning-tree Not supported
HSRP Not supported
Loopback PASS
Routed port PASS

The test topology was

NX-OSv Feature Tests

CDP

  • peer device is detected on the interface and listed in the CDP table
NXOS-A(config-if)# 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
NXOS-B(TB000A6F44B)
                    Eth2/1         158    R S I s   N7K-C7018     Eth2/1

Total entries displayed: 1

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-1:~$ ping 192.168.253.2
PING 192.168.253.2 (192.168.253.2): 56 data bytes
^C
--- 192.168.253.2 ping statistics ---
1 packets transmitted, 0 packets received, 100% packet loss
alpine-1:~$ 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=0 ttl=42 time=5.884 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.253.2: seq=1 ttl=42 time=4.744 ms

Loopback

  • Loopback address configured on N9K
NXOS-A(config-if)# show ip interface brief
IP Interface Status for VRF "default"(1)
Interface            IP Address      Interface Status
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
NXOS-A(config-if)# show ip interface brief
IP Interface Status for VRF "default"(1)
Interface            IP Address      Interface Status
Eth2/3               10.10.10.1      protocol-up/link-up/admin-up