Difference Between Cisco IOS XR 32-bit and 64-bit OS

This section provides the differences between Cisco IOS XR 32-bit and 64-bit operating system on the ASR 9000 series routers.

Architectural Difference Between 32-bit and 64-bit OS

The following image shows the architectural difference between 32-bit and 64-bit OS.

Figure 1. Architectural Difference Between 32-bit and 64-bit OS

Understanding the IOS XR 64-bit Architecture

IOS XR 64-bit OS runs in two variants:
  • VM-based 64-bit software:

    • Supported platforms: ASR 9000, NCS 6000

    • VM OS is separate from Host OS.

    Figure 2. VM-based 64-bit OS Architecture
  • Container-based 64-bit software:

    • Supported platforms: NCS 5500, NCS 5000

    • Container (LXC) OS shares the same kernel as the Host OS

    • Light-weight architecture

Figure 3. LXC-based 64-bit OS Architecture

The architecture includes the following common components:

  • Host (Hypervisor): The host is the underlying 64-bit operating system that acts as the hypervisor. The XR VM/LXC and the Admin VM/LXC spawn on the hypervisor. It also runs the container/VM daemons like libvirt and docker to spawn the XR and Calvados instances.

  • XR VM: The IOS XR control plane processes run within an isolated VM/LXC. This VM/LXC contains the IOS XR control plane processes (protocol stacks such as BGP, ISIS, OSPF, internal database, APIs, and so on). The XR VM brings its own kernel and runs the libvirt daemon and the docker daemon inside the XR VM. The User LXC/Docker containers are spawned inside XR VM unlike LXC-based platforms where the user containers are spawned on the Host kernel.

  • Admin VM: Admin VM/LXC, called Calvados, is the first instance that comes up once the Host layer is up. The admin VM/LXC therefore helps handle the lifecycle of the XR VM/LXC. The primary purpose of Calvados is to enable multi-tenancy on the same router by spawning multiple IOS XR instances. These instances act as separate logical routers (secure domain routers (SDRs)).

For more information, see the Data Sheet. For blogs and tutorials, see xrdocs.io.

Operational Differences Between 32-bit and 64-bit OS on ASR 9000 Series Routers

This section outlines the architectural and operational differences between 32-bit and 64-bit routers at a high level.

Category

IOS XR 32-bit OS

IOS XR 64-bit OS

Kernel

QNX

Linux

Control plane

The IOS XR control plane and feature configurations are unchanged.

Virtualization

No virtualization

All applications run as different processes.

Two VMs:

Sysadmin VM and XR VM on isolated RP/LC CPU.

Management LAN0

Visible in XR plane to perform management services.

Visible in XR VM to perform management services.

Management LAN1

Visible in Sysadmin VM to perform file transfer (install and file copy).

Console and Aux ports

 -

Console port directs to the XR VM. Aux port directs to the Sysadmin VM.

Software packaging

  • PIE-based packages.

  • Special VM image for fresh installation (Turboboot).

  • ISO/RPM based packages.

  • ISO image for bootup and fresh installation.

  • Flexible Golden ISO (GISO) image.

  • Offline RPM-based package management.

Boot facility

  • Install CLI-based boot

  • ROMMON: TFTP network boot

  • USB boot
  • Boot directly from ISO using:

    • Local settings

    • DHCP

    • USB

  • Install CLI using TFTP/FTP/SFTP/HTTP/HTTPs

  • ZTP support

File check system

Run the fsck command to checkthe status of the file system.

The file system is checked automatically during the bootup process, eliminating the need to run the command manually.

Chassis reload

No VMs. The reload happens at hardware module (each RSP/RP/LC) or at entire chassis level.

  • Run the reload command from XR mode to reload the corresponding RSP/RP node.

  • Run the reload command from admin mode to reload the the specified hardware module.

  • Run the reload location all command from admin Exec prompt to reload the entire chassis.

  • Run the hw-module location <location> reload command from admin mode to reload a specific module.

2 VMs on each of the RSP/RP/LC CPU. The reload happens at VM (admin/XR), hardware module or at entire chassis level.

  • Run the reload command from XR mode to reload the XR VM.

  • Run the reload command from admin mode to reload the the VMs (admin VM, XR VM or all VMs).

  • Run the hw-module location all reload command or reload rack 0 command from admin Exec prompt to reload the entire chassis. The reload location all command reloads only the VMs.

  • Run the hw-module location <location> reload command from admin mode to reload a specific module or the entire chassis.

Applications

NA

Third-party applications can be hosted on XR VM, which use the kernel stack for northbound communication.

FPD

 FPD upgrade performed in Sysadmin plane.

Run fpd auto-upgrade command and fpd auto-reload command from Sysadmin plane.

FPD upgrade performed in XR VM.

Run fpd auto-upgrade enable command and fpd auto-reload enable command from XR VM.

To disable the FPD upgrade, use diasble keyword in these commands.

Clock

Daylight saving (DST) must be configured explicitly.

DST changes are embeded into a timezone file, and is adjusted automatically.

Fabric mode

Default (1024 VQIs)

High-bandwidth (2048 VQIs)

Attach to LC console

Run run attachCon <lc_node> from XR plane.

Login to Sysadmin VM on RP/RSP where XR is active.

Run run chvrf 0 attachCon 0/1 from Sysadmin VM.

Internal copy

Storage device is common between the admin and xr plane. No copy commands are required.

Login to LC XR or Sysadmin VM and copy using scp command.

copy from LC to RSP:run scp lc0_xr:/filename /harddisk:/

Copy from Sysadmin to XR VM:copy harddisk:/ location 0/RSP0 harddisk:/ location 0/RSP0/CPU0/VM1

Reboot history

Both XR and admin planes provide reboot history of nodes.

XR VM provides details about VM reboot history. Sysadmin VM provides details about both the VM and the card-level reboot history.

Default console settings

  • 9600 bps

  • 8 data bits

  • No parity

  • 2 stop bits

  • 9600 bps

  • 8 data bits

  • No parity

  • 1 stop bits

CLI changes

Admin CLI changes: Configuration, Exec and Show commands

XR Exec and Show command CLI changes: No major changes in configuration CLIs.

CLI Differences Between 32-bit And 64-bit OS on ASR 9000 Series Routers

The following table shows the CLI usage for few commonly used commands and differences between 32-bit and 64-bit OS:

IOS XR 32-bit OS

IOS XR 64-bit OS

show platform

show platform—sysadmin

show platform vm—XR

show sdr—Sysadmin provides information about VMs

show vm—Sysadmin provides health of the VMs

show hw-module fpd location all

show hw-module fpd

N/A

show hw-module location <slot> fpd <fpd name>

admin upgrade hw-module fpd all force location all

upgrade hw-module location all fpd all force

admin upgrade hw-module location all fpd all force

show version

show version brief

show version

admin show diag <slot> eeprom-info

admin show diag detail location <slot>

show inventory

show inventory

admin show inventory

admin show inventory

admin show fpd package

admin show fpd package in Sysadmin mode

show fpd package in XR mode

admin show led

admin show led

admin show environment alarms

admin show alarm

show environment table

show environment temperatures

show install summary

N/A

admin show environment fan

admin show environment fans

admin show environment voltages

admin show environment voltages

admin show environment altitude

admin show environment altitude

admin show environment power

admin show env power-supply

show environment all

show environment all

admin show dsc

NA

admin reload location all

admin hw-module location all reload

show redundancy in admin mode

NA

fsck filesystem:

NA

show process cpu

run top_procs

show process cpu

run top

show pfm location <location-id>

show alarms brief card/system active/suppressed/history

show pfm location <location-id>

admin show alarms

The following section shows the difference in output for few commands in 32-bit and 64-bit OS:

show platform

32-bit:
Router#show platform
Node           Type                   State          Config State
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0/RSP1/CPU0    A9K-RSP880-SE(Active)  IOS XR RUN     PWR,NSHUT,MON
0/0/CPU0       A9K-400G-DWDM-TR       IOS XR RUN     PWR,NSHUT,MON
0/1/CPU0       A9K-8X100GE-L-SE       UNPOWERED      PWR,NSHUT,MON
64-bit:
Router#show platform
Node           Type                   State           Config state
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0/RSP0/CPU0    A9K-RSP880-SE(Active)  IOS XR RUN      NSHUT
0/RSP1/CPU0    A9K-RSP880-SE(Standby) IOS XR RUN      NSHUT
0/FT0          ASR-9904-FAN           OPERATIONAL     NSHUT
0/0/CPU0       A99-8X100GE-SE         IOS XR RUN      NSHUT
0/1/CPU0       A99-8X100GE-SE         IOS XR RUN      NSHUT
0/PT0          A9K-AC-PEM-V2          OPERATIONAL     NSHUT

admin show platform

32-bit:
Router#show platform
Node           Type                   State          Config State
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0/RSP1/CPU0    A9K-RSP880-SE(Active)  IOS XR RUN     PWR,NSHUT,MON
0/FT0/SP       ASR-9904-FAN           READY
0/0/CPU0       A9K-400G-DWDM-TR       IOS XR RUN     PWR,NSHUT,MON
0/1/CPU0       A9K-8X100GE-L-SE       UNPOWERED      PWR,NSHUT,MON
0/PS0/M0/SP    PWR-3KW-AC-V2          FAILED         PWR,NSHUT,MON
0/PS0/M1/SP    PWR-3KW-AC-V2          READY          PWR,NSHUT,MON
64-bit:
Router#admin show platform
Location  Card Type         HW State         SW State       Config State
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0/0       A99-8X100GE-SE    OPERATIONAL      OPERATIONAL    NSHUT
0/1       A99-8X100GE-SE    OPERATIONAL      OPERATIONAL    NSHUT
0/RSP0    A9K-RSP880-SE     OPERATIONAL      OPERATIONAL    NSHUT
0/RSP1    A9K-RSP880-SE     OPERATIONAL      OPERATIONAL    NSHUT
0/FT0     ASR-9904-FAN      OPERATIONAL      N/A            NSHUT
0/PT0     A9K-AC-PEM-V2     OPERATIONAL      N/A            NSHUT

show install

32-bit:

Note

The command show install summary is supported only in 32-bit OS. 


Router#show install ?
   active             Show the active package information
   audit              Audit installed packages
   auto-abort-timer   Show auto-abort-timer value
   boot-options       Show boot options
   committed          Show the committed package information
   compression        Show Install File Compression information(cisco-support)
   events             Show key events from the install history
   inactive           Show inactive package information
   log                Show log file
   package            Name of the package
   pie-info           Show information in a PIE file
   request            Show current request
   rollback           Show package information for a rollback point
   sp-desc            Show description of the Service Pack
   summary            Show summary information
   superceded         Show superceded packages
   which              Show the origin of a named process, component or package
64-bit:

Router#show install ?
   active             Show active package(s) installed(cisco-support)
   committed          Show committed package(s) information(cisco-support)
   inactive           Show inactive package(s) information(cisco-support)
   issu               Show ISSU information(cisco-support)
   log                Show log file(cisco-support)
   package            Show information for package(s) in repository(cisco-support)
   prepare            Show prepared package(s) ready for activation(cisco-support)
   repository         Show SDR software repository(cisco-support)
   request            Show current request(cisco-support)
   superseded         Show superseded package(s)(cisco-support)
   which              Show information about an installed file(cisco-support)

show install active/inactive/committed

32-bit:

Router#show install active summary
 Default Profile:
  SDRs:
  Owner
  Active Packages:
    disk0:asr9k-mini-px-<version>
    disk0:asr9k-mpls-px-<version>
    disk0:asr9k-mcast-px-<version>
    disk0:asr9k-mgbl-px-<version>
    disk0:asr9k-fpd-px-<version>
    disk0:asr9k-optic-px-<version>
    disk0:asr9k-k9sec-px-<version>
64-bit:

Router#show install active summary
   Active Packages: 8
    asr9k-xr-<version> version=x.x.xx [Boot image]
    asr9k-m2m-x64-<version>
    asr9k-optic-x64-<version>
    asr9k-mcast-x64-<version>
    asr9k-9000v-nV-x64-<version>
    asr9k-mpls-x64-<version>
    asr9k-mpls-te-rsvp-x64-<version>
    asr9k-eigrp-x64-<version>

admin show install active/inactive/committed

32-bit:

Router#admin show install active summary
Default Profile:
  SDRs:
  Owner
  Active Packages:
    disk0:asr9k-mini-px-<version>
    disk0:asr9k-mpls-px-<version>
    disk0:asr9k-mcast-px-<version>
    disk0:asr9k-mgbl-px-<version>
    disk0:asr9k-fpd-px-<version>
    disk0:asr9k-optic-px-<version>
    disk0:asr9k-k9sec-px-<version>
64-bit:

Router#admin show install active summary
   Active Packages: 1
    asr9k-sysadmin-<version> version=x.x.xx [Boot image]

fsck

32-bit:

Router#fsck ?
  disk0:      Name of the flash device
  disk0a:     Name of the flash device
  disk1:      Name of the flash device
  disk1a:     Name of the flash device
  harddisk:   Name of the flash device
  harddiska:  Name of the flash device
  harddiskb:  Name of the flash device
  lcdisk0:    Name of the flash device
  lcdisk0a:   Name of the flash device

Router#fsck disk0:
FSCK results for partition /disk0: on node 0/RSP0/CPU0.
==============================================================

64-bit:

In the 32-bit OS, all activities pertain to either /disk0: or /harddisk: partitions. On the contrary, the 64-bit OS uses the Linux volume management to carve physical devices into logical volumes. This is needed to create dedicated and protected storage volumes for host OS, admin and XR VMs. The logical volumes also provide for more compartmentalized system and ISSU upgrades.


Note

It is not recommended to run fsck command on Linux-based 64-bit OS. The fsck activities are performed automatically during bootup, and does not require manual inspection using fsck command in 64-bit OS.