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MC1903
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Looking for recommendations for a virtual router that supports BGP to use in my NSX-T Lab environment...

Hi,

I am looking for recommendations for a virtual router that supports BGP to use in my NSX-T Lab environment.

I have recently deployed some Cisco CSR 1000v virtual routers. They work, but as they are 'unlicensed/trial licensed' , they will only pass 2.5 Mbps of traffic and they expire in 60 days.

I need a longer term and a better performing solution - any suggestions?

Thanks,

M

I am looking for a Virtual Router that supports BGP to use in my Lab environment.I nmeed

I need

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7 Replies
Sreec
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

You can try vyos or pfsense

https://www.vyos.io/products/#vyos-router

https://www.pfsense.org/download/

Cheers,
Sree | VCIX-5X| VCAP-5X| VExpert 6x|Cisco Certified Specialist
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LeitaoL
Contributor
Contributor

I can add a suggestion : Cumuls VX

But has anyone got an example configuration for any of these to work properly with BGP with NSX-T?

I've tried VYOS and PFSENSE without success.

I've looked at Cumulus VX but haven't found the time yet to begin working with it.

Thanks

shank89
Expert
Expert

I can second VYOS over PFsense, as PFsense is stateful and will cause issues if you want to run ECMP.

I run several vYOS routers to increase my BGP footprint in my lab to replicate some larger environments, below is a very basic snipped of one of the virtualised router configs;

interfaces {

    ethernet eth0 {

        hw-id 00:50:56:86:b0:9d

        vif 200 {

            address 10.50.0.1/24

        }

    }

    ethernet eth1 {

        hw-id 00:50:56:86:7a:d9

    }

    ethernet eth2 {

        hw-id 00:50:56:86:77:00

    }

    ethernet eth3 {

        hw-id 00:50:56:86:58:e6

        vif 4000 {

            address 10.40.0.2/24

            description VLAN4000

        }

    }

    loopback lo {

    }

}

protocols {

    bgp 65200 {

        address-family {

            ipv4-unicast {

                redistribute {

                    connected {

                    }

                }

            }

        }

        neighbor 10.40.0.1 {

            remote-as 65001

        }

        neighbor 10.40.0.3 {

            remote-as 65200

        }

        neighbor 10.50.0.2 {

            remote-as 65100

        }

        neighbor 10.50.0.3 {

            remote-as 65100

        }

        parameters {

            router-id 10.40.0.2

        }

    }

    static {

        route 0.0.0.0/0 {

            next-hop 10.40.0.1 {

            }

        }

    }

}

service {

    ssh {

        access-control {

            allow {

                user root

                user vyos

            }

        }

        listen-address 10.40.0.2

    }

}

system {

    config-management {

        commit-revisions 100

    }

    console {

        device ttyS0 {

            speed 115200

        }

    }

    host-name vyOS-SiteA-RTR1

    login {

        user vyos {

            authentication {

                encrypted-password ****************

                plaintext-password ****************

            }

        }

    }

    ntp {

        server 0.pool.ntp.org {

        }

        server 1.pool.ntp.org {

        }

        server 2.pool.ntp.org {

        }

    }

    syslog {

        global {

            facility all {

                level info

            }

            facility protocols {

                level debug

            }

        }

    }

}

vyos@vyOS-SiteA-RTR1:~$

Keep in mind you have to make sure you 'wire' the virtual machine properly, so it has both an uplink interface to your gateway / router for comms to your network and downlink interfaces for whatever you want to be using it as it's router (VM's, edge appliances in this case etc).  For example, mine have 4 vmnics attached for diferent purposes, 1 uplink, 3 for downlink and different addresses.  In the example above, I have 4 interfaces but only 2 in use.  The attached image shows an example of the topology in my lab, also if you refer to this article that I wrote it shows you a bit more about the topology ( topology 3) Multisite Deployment of NSX-T Data Center | LAB2PROD

Shashank Mohan

VCIX-NV 2022 | VCP-DCV2019 | CCNP Specialist

https://lab2prod.com.au
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/shankmohan/
Twitter @ShankMohan
Author of NSX-T Logical Routing: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-1-4842-7458-3
MC1903
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Thank you all.

I am going to try building a VyOS OVA from the rolling release, as I am not paying for a 1000 euro subscription to download a pre-built LTS OVA.

If I can work that out, I will then worry about configuring it 🙂

Cheers

M

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shank89
Expert
Expert

Fair enough , I didn't pay either haha. 

You can grab the iso, build a vm and attach the iso.

Once built you can template it, just do that after you run the install image commands.

Shashank Mohan

VCIX-NV 2022 | VCP-DCV2019 | CCNP Specialist

https://lab2prod.com.au
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/shankmohan/
Twitter @ShankMohan
Author of NSX-T Logical Routing: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-1-4842-7458-3
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Lalegre
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

Guys,

Sorry to appear suddenly but is this VyOS free?

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shank89
Expert
Expert

Yup, here https://www.vyos.io/subscriptions/

Shashank Mohan

VCIX-NV 2022 | VCP-DCV2019 | CCNP Specialist

https://lab2prod.com.au
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/shankmohan/
Twitter @ShankMohan
Author of NSX-T Logical Routing: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-1-4842-7458-3