VMworld 2018 Europe Sessions on NSX Networking and Security in VMware Cloud on AWS

VMworld 2018 Europe in Barcelona is a week away. Want to learn more about NSX Networking and Security in VMware Cloud on AWS, how you can easily deploy and secure workloads in the cloud, or how to build hybrid cloud solutions with the familiarity and capabilities of vSphere? Make sure to attend the below sessions at VMworld 2018 Europe next week. We will go into a deep dive of all the functionality and show how VMware Cloud on AWS is being used by customers. Continue reading

VMware NSX: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

After four live sessions we finished the VMware NSX Technical Deep Dive webinar yesterday. Still have to edit the materials, but right now the whole thing is already over 6 hours long, and there are two more guest speaker sessions to come.

Anyways, in the previous sessions we covered all the good parts of NSX and a few of the bad ones. Everything that was left for yesterday were the ugly parts.

Test Driving Inter Regional VPC peering in AWS

Custom VPC and Internet Access in AWS

VXLAN and EVPN on Hypervisor Hosts

One of my readers sent me a series of questions regarding a new cloud deployment where the cloud implementers want to run VXLAN and EVPN on the hypervisor hosts:

I am currently working on a leaf-and-spine VXLAN+ EVPN PoC. At the same time, the systems team in my company is working on building a Cloudstack platform and are insisting on using VXLAN on the compute node even to the point of using BGP for inter-VXLAN traffic on the nodes.

Using VXLAN (or GRE) encap/decap on the hypervisor hosts is nothing new. That’s how NSX and many OpenStack implementations work.

Virtualization Is The Real Opportunity For Epyc

The fleet of servers in the enterprise datacenters of the world – distinct from hyperscalers, cloud builders, and HPC centers – are getting a bit long in the tooth. …

Virtualization Is The Real Opportunity For Epyc was written by Timothy Prickett Morgan at .

oVirt SAML with keyloak using 389ds user federation

In this post I will introduce how simple it is to integrate SAML with oVirt using Keycloak and LDAP user federation.

Prerequisites: I assume you have already setup the 389ds directory server, but the solution is very similar for any other LDAP provider. As SAML is not integrated into oVirt directly, we use Apache to do the SAML authentication for us. The mod_auth_mellon module nicely covers all needed functionality.

mod_auth_mellon configuration

First we need to configure oVirt's apache. SSH to the oVirt engine and create a directory where we'll store all SAML related certificates.

ssh root@engine
yum install -y mod_auth_mellon
mkdir -p /etc/httpd/saml2

When we install the mod_auth_mellon package, it will create /etc/httpd/conf.d/auth_mellon.conf. We need to modify this file to our needs, as follows:

<Location />
    MellonEnable "info"
    MellonDecoder "none"
    MellonVariable "cookie"
    MellonSecureCookie On
    MellonSessionDump On
    MellonSamlResponseDump On
    MellonSessionLength 86400

    MellonUser "NAME_ID"
    MellonEndpointPath /saml2

    MellonSPCertFile /etc/httpd/saml2/ovirtsp-cert.cert
    MellonSPPrivateKeyFile /etc/httpd/saml2/ovirtsp-key.key
    MellonSPMetadataFile /etc/httpd/saml2/ovirtsp-metadata.xml
    MellonIdPMetadataFile /etc/httpd/saml2/idp-metadata.xml

    RewriteEngine On
    RewriteCond %{LA-U:REMOTE_USER} ^(.*)$
    RewriteRule ^(.*)$ - [L,NS,P,E=REMOTE_USER:%1]
    RequestHeader set X-Remote-User %{REMOTE_USER}s
</Location>

<LocationMatch ^/ovirt-engine/sso/(interactive-login-negotiate|oauth/token-http-auth)|^/ovirt-engine/api>
  <If "req('Authorization') !~ /^(Bearer| Continue reading

oVirt SAML with keyloak using 389ds user federation

In this post I will introduce how simple it is to integrate SAML with oVirt using Keycloak and LDAP user federation.

Prerequisites: I assume you have already setup the 389ds directory server, but the solution is very similar for any other LDAP provider. As SAML is not integrated into oVirt directly, we use Apache to do the SAML authentication for us. The mod_auth_mellon module nicely covers all needed functionality.

mod_auth_mellon configuration

First we need to configure oVirt's apache. SSH to the oVirt engine and create a directory where we'll store all SAML related certificates.

ssh root@engine
yum install -y mod_auth_mellon
mkdir -p /etc/httpd/saml2

When we install the mod_auth_mellon package, it will create /etc/httpd/conf.d/auth_mellon.conf. We need to modify this file to our needs, as follows:

<Location />
    MellonEnable "info"
    MellonDecoder "none"
    MellonVariable "cookie"
    MellonSecureCookie On
    MellonSessionDump On
    MellonSamlResponseDump On
    MellonSessionLength 86400

    MellonUser "NAME_ID"
    MellonEndpointPath /saml2

    MellonSPCertFile /etc/httpd/saml2/ovirtsp-cert.cert
    MellonSPPrivateKeyFile /etc/httpd/saml2/ovirtsp-key.key
    MellonSPMetadataFile /etc/httpd/saml2/ovirtsp-metadata.xml
    MellonIdPMetadataFile /etc/httpd/saml2/idp-metadata.xml

    RewriteEngine On
    RewriteCond %{LA-U:REMOTE_USER} ^(.*)$
    RewriteRule ^(.*)$ - [L,NS,P,E=REMOTE_USER:%1]
    RequestHeader set X-Remote-User %{REMOTE_USER}s
</Location>

<LocationMatch ^/ovirt-engine/sso/(interactive-login-negotiate|oauth/token-http-auth)|^/ovirt-engine/api>
  <If "req('Authorization') !~ /^(Bearer| Continue reading

Skydive With oVirt

Skydive network is an open source real-time network topology and protocols analyzer providing a comprehensive way of understanding what is happening in your network infrastructure. The common use cases will be, troubleshooting, monitoring, SDN integration and much more. It has features such as:

• Topology capturing - Captures network topology, interface, bridge and more
• Flow capture - Distributed probe, L2-L4 classifier, GRE, VXLAN, GENEVE, MPLS/GRE, MPLS/UDP tunnelling support
• Extendable - Support for external SDN Controllers or container based infrastructure, OpenStack. Supports extensions through API

Benefit to oVirt users

Skydive allows oVirt administrators to see the network configuration and topology of their oVirt cluster. Administrators can capture traffic from VM1 to VM2 or monitor the traffic between VMs or hosts. Skydive can generate traffic between 2 running VMs on different hosts and then analyze. Administrators can create alerts in Skydive UI to notify when traffic is disconnected or down.

Installation steps

1. git clone https://github.com/skydive-project/skydive.git

2. Create inventory file

    [skydive:children]
    analyzers
    agents
   
    [skydive:vars]
    skydive_listen_ip=0.0.0.0
    skydive_fabric_default_interface=ovirtmgmt
   
    skydive_os_auth_url=https://<ovn_provider_FQDN>:35357/v2.0
    skydive_os_service_username=<ovn_provider_username>
    skydive_os_service_password=<ovn_provider_password>
    skydive_os_service_tenant_name=service
    skydive_os_service_domain_name=Default
    skydive_os_service_region_name=RegionOne
   
    [analyzers]
    <analyzer_FQDN> ansible_ssh_user=root ansible_ssh_pass=<ssh_password>
   
    [agents]
    <agent_FQDN> ansible_ssh_user=root  Continue reading

Skydive With oVirt

Skydive network is an open source real-time network topology and protocols analyzer providing a comprehensive way of understanding what is happening in your network infrastructure. The common use cases will be, troubleshooting, monitoring, SDN integration and much more. It has features such as:

• Topology capturing - Captures network topology, interface, bridge and more
• Flow capture - Distributed probe, L2-L4 classifier, GRE, VXLAN, GENEVE, MPLS/GRE, MPLS/UDP tunnelling support
• Extendable - Support for external SDN Controllers or container based infrastructure, OpenStack. Supports extensions through API

Benefit to oVirt users

Skydive allows oVirt administrators to see the network configuration and topology of their oVirt cluster. Administrators can capture traffic from VM1 to VM2 or monitor the traffic between VMs or hosts. Skydive can generate traffic between 2 running VMs on different hosts and then analyze. Administrators can create alerts in Skydive UI to notify when traffic is disconnected or down.

Installation steps

1. git clone https://github.com/skydive-project/skydive.git

2. Create inventory file

    [skydive:children]
    analyzers
    agents
   
    [skydive:vars]
    skydive_listen_ip=0.0.0.0
    skydive_fabric_default_interface=ovirtmgmt
   
    skydive_os_auth_url=https://<ovn_provider_FQDN>:35357/v2.0
    skydive_os_service_username=<ovn_provider_username>
    skydive_os_service_password=<ovn_provider_password>
    skydive_os_service_tenant_name=service
    skydive_os_service_domain_name=Default
    skydive_os_service_region_name=RegionOne
   
    [analyzers]
    <analyzer_FQDN> ansible_ssh_user=root ansible_ssh_pass=<ssh_password>
   
    [agents]
    <agent_FQDN> ansible_ssh_user=root  Continue reading

Upgraded DPDK support in oVirt

DPDK (Data Plane Development Kit) is a set of open-source high-performance packet processing libraries and user space drivers.

oVirt support for DPDK was introduced in 2017, and is now enhanced in terms of deployment via Ansible and usage via Open Virtual Network.

While still experimental, OVN-DPDK in oVirt is now available in version 4.2.

What's new?

Ansible DPDK host setup

Host configuration for DPDK usage is now automated using Ansible. This primarly includes:

• Hugepages configuration – hugepage size and quantity in the kernel.
• CPU partitioning.
• Binding NICs to userspace drivers.
• OVS-DPDK related configuration (initialization, socket memory, pmd thread core binding, etc).

The role is installed via Ansible galaxy:

# ansible-galaxy install oVirt.dpdk-setup

An example playbook:

- hosts: dpdk_host_0
  vars:
    pci_drivers:
      "0000:02:00.1": "vfio-pci"
      "0000:02:00.2": "igb"
      "0000:02:00.3": ""
    configure_kernel: true
    bind_drivers: true
    set_ovs_dpdk: false
  roles:
    - ovirt-ansible-dpdk-setup

The role is controlled by 3 boolean variables (all set to true by default) and a dictionary of devices and their drivers:

• configure_kernel – determines whether the kernel should be configured for DPDK usage (hugepages, CPU partitioning). WARNING: When set to true it is very likely to trigger a reboot of the host, unless all required configuration is already Continue reading

Upgraded DPDK support in oVirt

DPDK (Data Plane Development Kit) is a set of open-source high-performance packet processing libraries and user space drivers.

oVirt support for DPDK was introduced in 2017, and is now enhanced in terms of deployment via Ansible and usage via Open Virtual Network.

While still experimental, OVN-DPDK in oVirt is now available in version 4.2.

What's new?

Ansible DPDK host setup

Host configuration for DPDK usage is now automated using Ansible. This primarly includes:

• Hugepages configuration – hugepage size and quantity in the kernel.
• CPU partitioning.
• Binding NICs to userspace drivers.
• OVS-DPDK related configuration (initialization, socket memory, pmd thread core binding, etc).

The role is installed via Ansible galaxy:

# ansible-galaxy install oVirt.dpdk-setup

An example playbook:

- hosts: dpdk_host_0
  vars:
    pci_drivers:
      "0000:02:00.1": "vfio-pci"
      "0000:02:00.2": "igb"
      "0000:02:00.3": ""
    configure_kernel: true
    bind_drivers: true
    set_ovs_dpdk: false
  roles:
    - ovirt-ansible-dpdk-setup

The role is controlled by 3 boolean variables (all set to true by default) and a dictionary of devices and their drivers:

• configure_kernel – determines whether the kernel should be configured for DPDK usage (hugepages, CPU partitioning). WARNING: When set to true it is very likely to trigger a reboot of the host, unless all required configuration is already Continue reading

Where in the World is NSX?

VMware NSX is going worldwide! We’ll be out and about through the end of the year, spreading networking and security love across America, Asia Pacific, and Europe. Our goal is to help agile organizations move toward a Virtual Cloud Network with consistent connectivity, branch optimization, and security across all infrastructure.

Whether we’ll be at a booth, product demo, talk, or otherwise – we want to connect! Join us at any of the major conferences and NSX upcoming events listed below to chat with our product experts. And, if you think you’ll be in attendance, be sure to tweet at us to let us know!

NSX Upcoming Events

Checkpoint CPX –  2/4
When: February 2 – 4, 2019
Where: Las Vegas, NV
Click here to learn more

Networking Field Day – 2/13
When: February 13 – 15, 2019
Where: Palo Alto, CA
Click here to learn more

Mobile World Congress – 2/25
When: February 25 – 28, 2019
Where: Barcelona, Spain
Click here to learn more

RSAC – 3/4
When: March 4 – 8, 2019
Where: San Francisco, CA
Click here to learn more

Cisco Live APJ– 3/5
When: March 5 Continue reading

How to create your own Docker image

New Ubuntu 18.04 Docker image – Python For Network Engineers

Build oVirt Reports Using Grafana

Grafana, The open platform for beautiful analytics and monitoring, recently added support for PostgreSQL.

It in now possible to connect Grafana to oVirt DWH, in order to visualize and monitor the oVirt environment.

Grafana dashboard example

Adding a Read-Only User to the History Database

You may want to add a read only user to connect the history database :

Note: In oVirt 4.2 we ship postgres 9.5 through the Software Collection.

1. In order to run psql you will need to run:

   # su - postgres 
   $ scl enable rh-postgresql95 -- psql ovirt_engine_history
   

2. Create the user to be granted read-only access to the history database:

   ovirt_engine_history=# CREATE ROLE [user name] WITH LOGIN ENCRYPTED PASSWORD '[password]';
   

3. Grant the newly created user permission to connect to the history database:

   ovirt_engine_history=# GRANT CONNECT ON DATABASE ovirt_engine_history TO [user name];
   

4. Grant the newly created user usage of the public schema:

   ovirt_engine_history=# GRANT USAGE ON SCHEMA public TO [user name];
   

5. Exit the database

   ovirt_engine_history=# \q
   

6. Generate the rest of the permissions that will be granted to the newly created user and save them to a file:

   $ scl enable rh-postgresql95 -- psql -U postgres -c "SELECT 'GRANT SELECT ON ' || relname  Continue reading

Build oVirt Reports Using Grafana

Grafana, The open platform for beautiful analytics and monitoring, recently added support for PostgreSQL.

It in now possible to connect Grafana to oVirt DWH, in order to visualize and monitor the oVirt environment.

Grafana dashboard example

Adding a Read-Only User to the History Database

You may want to add a read only user to connect the history database :

Note: In oVirt 4.2 we ship postgres 9.5 through the Software Collection.

1. In order to run psql you will need to run:

   # su - postgres 
   $ scl enable rh-postgresql95 -- psql ovirt_engine_history
   

2. Create the user to be granted read-only access to the history database:

   ovirt_engine_history=# CREATE ROLE [user name] WITH LOGIN ENCRYPTED PASSWORD '[password]';
   

3. Grant the newly created user permission to connect to the history database:

   ovirt_engine_history=# GRANT CONNECT ON DATABASE ovirt_engine_history TO [user name];
   

4. Grant the newly created user usage of the public schema:

   ovirt_engine_history=# GRANT USAGE ON SCHEMA public TO [user name];
   

5. Exit the database

   ovirt_engine_history=# \q
   

6. Generate the rest of the permissions that will be granted to the newly created user and save them to a file:

   $ scl enable rh-postgresql95 -- psql -U postgres -c "SELECT 'GRANT SELECT ON ' || relname  Continue reading

Snabb Switch Update on Software Gone Wild

In 2014, we did a series of podcasts on Snabb Switch (Snabb Switch and OpenStack, Deep Dive), a software-only switch delivering 10-20 Gbps of forwarded bandwidth per x86 core. In the meantime, Snabb community slowly expanded, optimized the switching code, built a number of solutions on top of the packet forwarding core, and even forked a just-in-time Lua compiler to get better performance.

To find out the details, listen to Episode 91 of Software Gone Wild in which Luke Gorrie explained how far the Snabb project has progressed in the last four years.

Join NSX at RSA, Dell Technologies World, and Interop Conferences

Conference season is upon us, and the NSX team will be out in full effect. Join us at any of the following events to get a demo, ask us questions, and hear us wax poetic about all things security and network virtualization!

RSA Conference

April 16–20, 2018
Moscone Center
San Francisco, CA
Booth #4101, North Hall

NSX is delighted to attend everyone’s favorite security conference, RSA. This year’s theme is “Now Matters,” aptly named in time with the astounding number of threats to cybersecurity and data breaches we’ve collectively seen in the news this year. That said, don’t miss a great talk on how app architecture “now matters” when it comes to transforming security by Tomrn, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Security Products, VMware. His session will be on April 17 from 1:00pm–1:45pm. The team will also be doing demos at the VMware booth (#4101 in the North Hall) – so be sure to swing by and chat with us about our offerings. 

VMware Speaking Sessions at RSA Conference:

• “How Cloud, Mobility, and Shifting App Architectures Will Transform Security” by Tom Corn

NSX Mindset Reception:

Join us for a NSX Mindset reception with VMware Continue reading

Video: Automatic Diagramming with PowerNSX

Here's a trick question: how often do your Visio diagrams match what's really implemented in your network?

Wouldn't it be great to be able to create or modify them on-the-fly based on what's really configured in the network? That's exactly what Anthony Burke demonstrated in the PowerNSX part of PowerShell for Networking Engineers webinar (source code).

You’ll need at least free ipSpace.net subscription to watch the video.