Classic LAN, Release 12.1.3

 
Updated April 8, 2024
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New and Changed Information

The following table provides an overview of the significant changes up to this current release. The table does not provide an exhaustive list of all changes or of the new features up to this release.

Release Version Feature Description

NDFC release 12.1.3

Reorganized content

Content within this document was originally provided in the Cisco NDFC-Fabric Controller Configuration Guide or the Cisco NDFC-SAN Controller Configuration Guide. Beginning with release 12.1.3, this content is now provided solely in this document and is no longer provided in those documents.

Creating a Classic LAN Fabric

This topic describes how to create a new VXLAN EVPN fabric using the Data Center VXLAN EVPN template and contains descriptions for the IPv4 underlay. For information about IPv6 Underlay Support, see IPv6 Underlay Support for Easy Fabric in the Cisco NDFC Fabric Controller Configuration Guide.

  1. Navigate to the LAN Fabrics page:

    LAN > Fabrics

  2. Click Actions > Create Fabric.

    The Create Fabric window appears.

  3. Enter a unique name for the fabric in the Fabric Name field, then click Choose Fabric.

    A list of all available fabric templates are listed.

  4. From the available list of fabric templates, choose the Classic LAN template, then click Select.

  5. Enter the necessary field values to create a fabric.

    The tabs and their fields in the screen are explained in the following sections. The overlay and underlay network parameters are included in these tabs.

  6. When you have completed the necessary configurations, click Save.

    • Click on the fabric to display a summary in the slide-in pane.

    • Click on the Launch icon to display the Fabric Overview.

General Parameters

The General Parameters tab is displayed by default. The fields in this tab are described in the following table.

Field Description

Fabric Monitor Mode

Select this check box to only monitor the fabric, but not deploy the configuration.

Enable Performance Monitoring

Select this check box to monitor the performance of the fabric.

Ensure that you do not clear interface counters from the Command Line Interface of the switches. Clearing interface counters can cause the Performance Monitor to display incorrect data for traffic utilization. If you must clear the counters and the switch has both clear counters and clear counters snmp commands (not all switches have the clear counters snmp command), ensure that you run both the main and the SNMP commands simultaneously. For example, you must run the clear counters interface ethernet slot/port command followed by the clear counters interface ethernet slot/port snmp command. This can lead to a one time spike.

What’s next: Complete the configurations in another tab if necessary, or click Save when you have completed the necessary configurations for this fabric.

Advanced

The fields in the Advanced tab are described in the following table. Most of the fields are automatically generated based on Cisco-recommended best practice configurations, but you can update the fields if needed.

Field Description

Power Supply Mode

Choose the appropriate power supply mode.

Enable MPLS Handoff

Check the check box to enable the MPLS Handoff feature.

Underlay MPLS Loopback Id

Specifies the underlay MPLS loopback ID. The default value is 101.

Enable AAA IP Authorization

Enables AAA IP authorization, when IP Authorization is enabled in the remote authentication server. This is required to support Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller in scenarios where customers have strict control of which IP addresses can have access to the switches.

Enable NDFC as Trap Host

Select this check box to enable Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller as an SNMP trap destination. Typically, for a native HA Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller deployment, the eth1 VIP IP address will be configured as SNMP trap destination on the switches. By default, this check box is enabled.

Enable CDP for Bootstrapped Switch

Enables CDP on management interface.

Enable NX-API

Specifies enabling of NX-API on HTTPS.

NX-API HTTPS Port Number

Field becomes active if the Enable NX-API option is enabled.

Enter the NX-API HTTPS port number. Default value is 443.

Enable HTTP NX-API

Specifies enabling of NX-API on HTTP. Enable this check box and the Enable NX-API check box to use HTTP. This check box is checked by default. If you uncheck this check box, the applications that use NX-API and supported by Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller, such as Endpoint Locator (EPL), Layer 4-Layer 7 services (L4-L7 services), VXLAN OAM, and so on, start using the HTTPS instead of HTTP.

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If you check the Enable NX-API check box and the Enable NX-API on HTTP check box, applications use HTTP.

NX-API HTTP Port Number

Field becomes active if the Enable HTTP NX-API option is enabled.

Enter the NX-API HTTPS port number. Default value is 80.

Inband Mgmt

For Classic LAN fabrics, this knob enables Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller to import and manage of switches with inband connectivity (reachable over switch loopback, routed, or SVI interfaces), in addition to management of switches with out-of-band connectivity (that is, reachable over switch mgmt0 interface). The only requirement is that for Inband managed switches, there should be IP reachability from Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller to the switches through the Nexus Dashboard data interface. After enabling Inband management, during discovery, provide the IPs of all the switches to be imported using Inband Management and set maximum hops to 0. Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller has a pre-check that validates that the Inband managed switch IPs are reachable over the Nexus Dashboard data interface. Once the pre-check has passed, Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller then discovers and learns about the interface on that switch that has the specified discovery IP in addition to the VRF that the interface belongs to. As part of the process of switch import/discovery, this information is captured in the baseline intent that is populated on the Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller. For more information, see Inband Management in External Fabrics and LAN Classic Fabrics in the Cisco NDFC Fabric Controller Configuration Guide.

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Bootstrap or POAP is only supported for switches that are reachable over out-of-band connectivity, that is, over switch mgmt0. The various POAP services on the Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller are typically bound to the eth1 or out-of-band interface. In scenarios, where the Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller eth0/eth1 interfaces reside in the same IP subnet, the POAP services are bound to both interfaces.

Enable Precision Time Protocol (PTP)

Enables PTP across a fabric. When you check this check box, PTP is enabled globally and on core-facing interfaces. Additionally, the PTP Source Loopback Id and PTP Domain Id fields are editable. For more information, see Precision Time Protocol for Classic LAN Fabrics.

PTP Source Loopback Id

Specifies the loopback interface ID Loopback that is used as the Source IP Address for all PTP packets. The valid values range from 0 to 1023. The PTP loopback ID cannot be the same as RP, Phantom RP, NVE, or MPLS loopback ID. Otherwise, an error will be generated. The PTP loopback ID can be the same as BGP loopback or user-defined loopback which is created from Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller.

If the PTP loopback ID is not found during Deploy Config, the following error is generated:

Loopback interface to use for PTP source IP is not found. Create PTP loopback interface on all the devices to enable PTP feature.

PTP Domain Id

Specifies the PTP domain ID on a single network. The valid values range from 0 to 127.

Fabric Freeform

You can apply configurations globally across all the devices discovered in the external fabric using this freeform field.

AAA Freeform Config

Specifies the AAA freeform configurations.

What’s next: Complete the configurations in another tab if necessary, or click Save when you have completed the necessary configurations for this fabric.

Resources

The fields in the Resources tab are described in the following table. Most of the fields are automatically generated based on Cisco-recommended best practice configurations, but you can update the fields if needed.

Field Description

Subinterface Dot1q Range

Specifies the subinterface range when L3 sub interfaces are used.

Underlay MPLS Loopback IP Range

Specifies the underlay MPLS loopback IP address range.

Underlay routing loopback and Underlay MPLS loopback IP range must be a unique range. It should not overlap with IP ranges of the other fabrics, else VPNv4 peering will not come up.

What’s next: Complete the configurations in another tab if necessary, or click Save when you have completed the necessary configurations for this fabric.

Configuration Backup

The fields in the Configuration Backup tab are described in the following table. Most of the fields are automatically generated based on Cisco-recommended best practice configurations, but you can update the fields if needed.

Field Description

Hourly Fabric Backup

Select the check box to enable an hourly backup of fabric configurations and the intent.

The hourly backups are triggered during the first 10 minutes of the hour.

Scheduled Fabric Backup

Check the check box to enable a daily backup. This backup tracks changes in running configurations on the fabric devices that are not tracked by configuration compliance.

Scheduled Time

Specify the scheduled backup time in a 24-hour format. This field is enabled if you check the Scheduled Fabric Backup check box.

Select both the check boxes to enable both back up processes.

The backup process is initiated after you click Save.

The scheduled backups are triggered exactly at the time you specify with a delay of up to two minutes. The scheduled backups are triggered regardless of the configuration deployment status.

The number of fabric backups that will be retained on NDFC is decided by the Settings > Server Settings > LAN Fabric > Maximum Backups per Fabric.

The number of archived files that can be retained is set in the # Number of archived files per device to be retained: field in the Server Properties window.

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To trigger an immediate backup, do the following:

  1. Choose LAN > Topology.

  2. Click within the specific fabric box. The fabric topology screen comes up.

  3. From the Actions pane at the left part of the screen, click Re-Sync Fabric.

You can also initiate the fabric backup in the fabric topology window. Click Backup Now in the Actions pane.

What’s next: Complete the configurations in another tab if necessary, or click Save when you have completed the necessary configurations for this fabric.

Bootstrap

The fields in the Bootstrap tab are described in the following table. Most of the fields are automatically generated based on Cisco-recommended best practice configurations, but you can update the fields if needed.

Field Description

Enable Bootstrap

Select this check box to enable the bootstrap feature. Bootstrap allows easy day-0 import and bring-up of new devices into an existing fabric. Bootstrap leverages the NX-OS POAP functionality.

Starting from Cisco NDFC Release 12.1.1e, to add more switches and for POAP capability, chose check box for Enable Bootstrap and Enable Local DHCP Server. For more information, see Inband Management and Inband POAP in Easy Fabrics in the Cisco NDFC-Fabric Controller Configuration Guide.

After you enable bootstrap, you can enable the DHCP server for automatic IP address assignment using one of the following methods:

  • External DHCP Server: Enter information about the external DHCP server in the Switch Mgmt Default Gateway and Switch Mgmt IP Subnet Prefix fields.

  • Local DHCP Server: Enable the Local DHCP Server check box and enter details for the remaining mandatory fields.

Enable Inband POAP

Choose this check box to enable Inband POAP.

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You must enable Inband Mgmt on the Advanced tab to enable this option.

Enable Local DHCP Server

Select this check box to initiate enabling of automatic IP address assignment through the local DHCP server. When you select this check box, the DHCP Scope Start Address and DHCP Scope End Address fields become editable.

If you do not select this check box, Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller uses the remote or external DHCP server for automatic IP address assignment.

DHCP Version

Select DHCPv4 or DHCPv6 from this drop-down list. When you select DHCPv4, the Switch Mgmt IPv6 Subnet Prefix field is disabled. If you select DHCPv6, the Switch Mgmt IP Subnet Prefix is disabled.

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Cisco Nexus 9000 and 3000 Series Switches support IPv6 POAP only when switches are either Layer-2 adjacent (eth1 or out-of-band subnet must be a /64) or they are L3 adjacent residing in some IPv6 /64 subnet. Subnet prefixes other than /64 are not supported.

DHCP Scope Start Address and DHCP Scope End Address

Specifies the first and last IP addresses of the IP address range to be used for the switch out of band POAP.

Switch Mgmt Default Gateway

Specifies the default gateway for the management VRF on the switch.

Switch Mgmt IP Subnet Prefix

Specifies the prefix for the Mgmt0 interface on the switch. The prefix should be between 8 and 30.

DHCP scope and management default gateway IP address specification - If you specify the management default gateway IP address 10.0.1.1 and subnet mask 24, ensure that the DHCP scope is within the specified subnet, between 10.0.1.2 and 10.0.1.254.

Enable AAA Config

Select this check box to include AAA configurations from the Manageability tab as part of the device start-up config post bootstrap.

Bootstrap Freeform Config

(Optional) Enter additional commands as needed. For example, if you require some additional configurations to be pushed to the device and be available post device bootstrap, they can be captured in this field, to save the desired intent. After the devices boot up, they will contain the configuration defined in the Bootstrap Freeform Config field.

Copy-paste the running-config to a freeform config field with correct indentation, as seen in the running configuration on the NX-OS switches. The freeform config must match the running config. For more information, see Enabling Freeform Configurations on Fabric Switches in the Cisco NDFC Fabric Controller Configuration Guide.

DHCPv4 Multi Subnet Scope

Specifies the field to enter one subnet scope per line. This field is editable after you check the Enable Local DHCP Server check box.

The format of the scope should be defined as:

DHCP Scope Start Address, DHCP Scope End Address, Switch Management Default Gateway, Switch Management Subnet Prefix

For example: 10.6.0.2, 10.6.0.9, 10.6.0.1, 24

What’s next: Complete the configurations in another tab if necessary, or click Save when you have completed the necessary configurations for this fabric.

Flow Monitor

The fields in the Flow Monitor tab are described in the following table. Most of the fields are automatically generated based on Cisco-recommended best practice configurations, but you can update the fields if needed.

Field Description

Enable Netflow

Check this check box to enable Netflow on VTEPs for this Fabric. By default, Netflow is disabled. On Enable, NetFlow configuration will be applied to all VTEPS that support netflow.

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When Netflow is enabled on the fabric, you can choose not to have netflow on a particular switch by having a dummy no_netflow PTI.

If netflow is not enabled at the fabric level, an error message is generated when you enable netflow at the interface, network, or vrf level. For information about Netflow support for Cisco NDFC, see the section "Netflow Support" Understanding LAN Fabrics.

In the Netflow Exporter area, click Actions > Add to add one or more Netflow exporters. This exporter is the receiver of the netflow data. The fields on this screen are:

  • Exporter Name - Specifies the name of the exporter.

  • IP - Specifies the IP address of the exporter.

  • VRF - Specifies the VRF over which the exporter is routed.

  • Source Interface - Enter the source interface name.

  • UDP Port - Specifies the UDP port over which the netflow data is exported.

Click Save to configure the exporter. Click Cancel to discard. You can also choose an existing exporter and select Actions > Edit or Actions > Delete to perform relevant actions.

In the Netflow Record area, click Actions > Add to add one or more Netflow records. The fields on this screen are:

  • Record Name - Specifies the name of the record.

  • Record Template - Specifies the template for the record. Enter one of the record templates names. In Release 12.0.2, the following two record templates are available for use. You can create custom netflow record templates. Custom record templates saved in the template library are available for use here.

    • netflow_ipv4_record - to use the IPv4 record template.

    • netflow_l2_record - to use the Layer 2 record template.

  • Is Layer2 Record - Check this check box if the record is for Layer2 netflow.

Click Save to configure the report. Click Cancel to discard. You can also choose an existing record and select Actions > Edit or Actions > Delete to perform relevant actions.

In the Netflow Monitor area, click Actions > Add to add one or more Netflow monitors. The fields on this screen are:

  • Monitor Name - Specifies the name of the monitor.

  • Record Name - Specifies the name of the record for the monitor.

  • Exporter1 Name - Specifies the name of the exporter for the netflow monitor.

  • Exporter2 Name - (optional) Specifies the name of the secondary exporter for the netflow monitor.

The record name and exporters referred to in each netflow monitor must be defined in "Netflow Record" and "Netflow Exporter".

Click Save to configure the monitor. Click Cancel to discard. You can also choose an existing monitor and select Actions > Edit or Actions > Delete to perform relevant actions.

What’s next: Complete the configurations in another tab if necessary, or click Save when you have completed the necessary configurations for this fabric.

Precision Time Protocol for Classic LAN Fabrics

In the Fabric settings for the Classic LAN template, select the Enable Precision Time Protocol (PTP) check box to enable PTP across a fabric. When you select this check box, PTP is enabled globally and on core-facing interfaces. Additionally, the PTP Loopback Id and PTP Domain Id fields are editable.

The PTP feature is supported with Cisco Nexus 9000 Series cloud-scale switches, with NX-OS version 7.0(3)I7(1) or later. Warnings are displayed if there are non-cloud scale devices in the fabric, and PTP is not enabled. Examples of the cloud-scale devices are Cisco Nexus 93180YC-EX, Cisco Nexus 93180YC-FX, Cisco Nexus 93240YC-FX2, and Cisco Nexus 93360YC-FX2 switches. For more information, refer to https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/switches/nexus-9000-series-switches/index.html.

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PTP global configuration is supported with Cisco Nexus 3000 Series switches; however, PTP and TTAG configurations are not supported.

For more information, see the Configuring PTP chapter in Cisco Nexus 9000 Series NX-OS System Management Configuration Guide and Cisco Nexus Insights for Cisco User Guide.

For Classic LAN fabric deployments, you have to enable PTP globally, and also enable PTP on core-facing interfaces. The interfaces could be configured to the external PTP server like a VM or Linux-based machine. Therefore, the interface should be edited to have a connection with the grandmaster clock. For PTP and TTAG configurations to be operational on Classic LAN Fabrics, you must sync up of Switch Configs to Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller using the host_port_resync policy. For more information, see Out-of-Band Switch Interface Configurations.

It is recommended that the grandmaster clock should be configured outside of Data Center VXLAN EVPN and it is IP reachable. The interfaces toward the grandmaster clock need to be enabled with PTP via the interface freeform config.

All core-facing interfaces are auto-enabled with the PTP configuration after you click Deploy Config. This action ensures that all devices are PTP synced to the grandmaster clock. Additionally, for any interfaces that are not core-facing, such as interfaces on the border devices and leafs that are connected to hosts, firewalls, service-nodes, or other routers, the TTAG related CLI must be added. The TTAG is added for all traffic entering the VXLAN EVPN fabric and the TTAG must be stripped when traffic is exiting this fabric.

Here is the sample PTP configuration:

feature ptp

ptp source 100.100.100.10 -> IP address of the loopback interface (loopback0)
that is already created, or user-created loopback interface in the fabric settings

ptp domain 1 -> PTP domain ID specified in fabric settings

interface Ethernet1/59 -> Core facing interface
  ptp

interface Ethernet1/50 -> Host facing interface
  ttag
  ttag-strip

The following guidelines are applicable for PTP:

  • The PTP feature can be enabled in a fabric when all the switches in the fabric have Cisco NX-OS Release 7.0(3)I7(1) or a higher version. Otherwise, the following error message is displayed:

    PTP feature can be enabled in the fabric, when all the switches have
NX-OS Release 7.0(3)I7(1) or higher version. Please upgrade switches to
NX-OS Release 7.0(3)I7(1) or higher version to enable PTP in this fabric.

  • For hardware telemetry support in NIR, the PTP configuration is a prerequisite.

  • If you are adding a non-cloud scale device to an existing fabric which contains PTP configuration, the following warning is displayed:

    TTAG is enabled fabric wide, when all devices are cloud-scale switches
so it cannot be enabled for newly added non cloud-scale device(s).

  • If a fabric contains both cloud-scale and non-cloud scale devices, the following warning is displayed when you try to enable PTP:

    TTAG is enabled fabric wide when all devices are cloud-scale switches
and is not enabled due to non cloud-scale device(s).

  • TTAG configuration is generated for all the devices if host configuration sync up is performed on all the devices. TTAG configuration will not be generated for any newly added devices if host configuration sync up is not performed on all newly added devices.

    If the configuration is not synced, the following warning is displayed:

    TTAG on interfaces with PTP feature can only be configured for cloud-scale devices.
It will not be enabled on any newly added switches due to the presence of non cloud-scale devices.

  • PTP and TTAG configurations are deployed on host interfaces.

  • PTP and TTAG Configurations are supported between switches in the same fabric (intra-fabric links). PTP is created for inter-fabric links, and TTAG is created for the inter-fabric link if the other fabric (Switch) is not managed by Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller. Inter-fabric links do not support PTP or TTAG configurations if both fabrics are managed by Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller.

  • TTAG configuration is configured by default after the breakout. After the links are discovered and connected post breakout, perform Deploy Config to generate the correct configuration based on the type of port (host, intra-fabric link, or inter fabric link).

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