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Integrating The HP Network Simulator With GNS3 v.0.5
Integrating The HP Network Simulator With GNS3 v.0.5
Contents
1 INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................. 3
1.1 PURPOSE ...................................................................................................................... 3
1.2 HOW IT WORKS............................................................................................................. 4
1.3 APLICABILITY ................................................................................................................ 5
2 INSTALL VIRTUALBOX .................................................................................................... 6
2.1 OBTAIN SOFTWARE ...................................................................................................... 6
2.2 INSTALLATION .............................................................................................................. 6
3 INSTALL HP NETWORK SIMULATOR .................................................................................. 8
3.1 OBTAIN SOFTWARE ...................................................................................................... 8
3.2 INSTALLATION .............................................................................................................. 8
4 INSTALL GNS3 ............................................................................................................. 10
4.1 OBTAIN SOFTWARE .................................................................................................... 10
4.2 INSTALLATION ............................................................................................................ 10
5 INTEGRATION WITH HP NETWORK SIMULATOR ............................................................... 16
5.1 GENERATE COMWARE SWITCH INSTANCES ................................................................ 16
5.1.1 Launch HNS .............................................................................................................................. 16
5.1.2 Make the Comware simulator config file ................................................................................. 17
5.1.3 Save the project ....................................................................................................................... 17
5.1.4 Create the Simware 7 switch instances ................................................................................... 18
5.2 CONFIGURE GNS3 ....................................................................................................... 20
5.2.1 Start GNS3 ................................................................................................................................ 20
5.2.2 Configure VirtualBox Integration ............................................................................................. 20
5.2.3 Configure new HP icons for GNS3 ............................................................................................ 23
5.3 TESTING COMWARE SWITCH INTEGRATION WITH GNS3 ............................................ 24
5.4 DEVICE CONTROL ....................................................................................................... 26
5.4.1 Starting / stopping device ........................................................................................................ 26
5.4.2 Displaying the device console .................................................................................................. 27
5.4.3 Using Wireshark to capture network traffic ............................................................................ 27
6 ADDING 3RD PARTY VENDOR DEVICES............................................................................ 28
6.1 VIRTUALBOX LINKED CLONES .................................................................................... 28
6.1.1 Create a Linked Clone ............................................................................................................... 28
6.1.2 Add device to GNS3 .................................................................................................................. 30
6.2 CISCO CSR1000V ........................................................................................................ 31
6.2.1 Obtain Software ....................................................................................................................... 31
6.2.2 Create the Cisco CSR1000v VM ................................................................................................ 31
6.2.3 Add the CSR1000v instances to GNS3 ..................................................................................... 34
6.3 MICROSOFT WINDOWS 2008 R2 SERVER ................................................................... 35
6.3.1 Obtain Software ....................................................................................................................... 35
6.3.2 Create Virtual Machine ............................................................................................................. 35
6.3.3 Add Windows instance to GNS3 ............................................................................................... 36
7 APPENDIX ................................................................................................................... 37
HP Network Simulator Instructions ................................................................................................................................. 37
8 DOCUMENT CONTROL INFORMATION ............................................................................. 38
8.1 DISTRIBUTION LIST .................................................................................................... 38
8.2 TERMS AND ACRONYMOUS ........................................................................................ 38
8.3 RELATED DOCUMENTATION ....................................................................................... 38
1 INTRODUCTION
The HP Network Simulator enables the generation and design of virtual Comware 7 based labs for
testing and training purposes. The latest iteration of the Simware 7 platform has now been modified
to operate on the VirtualBox hypervisor rather than QEMU which has brought substantial
improvements to the speed and operation on Windows based machines.
However a key feature lacking is visual representation and control of the topologies that the new
version of Simware can produce. GNS3 is a popular GUI and simulation package for Cisco based
topologies that can be extended to work with HP and other vendor simulation packages filling this gap
in functionality.
1.1 PURPOSE
The purpose of this document is to detail the installation steps to enable GNS3 integration with HP
Comware 7 simulation software and thus quickly produce your own network topologies using
multivendor virtual machines with the aid of the Oracle VirtualBox hypervisor.
In addition, this guide details the basic build and operation of a Windows based host that can be used
in the simulated environment.
As an example of use, figure 1 shows a topology using multiple network technologies from HP,
Microsoft and Checkpoint simulating a typical computer network system. The result permits testing
and analysis of potential network designs as well as a learning aid for many network based
technologies.
Figure1: Sample HP Lab Environment showing Simware 7 integration with Checkpoint Firewall and
multiple Windows 2008 servers
To create and control simulated environments using HP Comware 7 based virtual devices, the
following components are needed;
Windows 8 Host Operating System
The Windows platform provided on HP COE computers. The operating system provides the
platform for the execution of the other components of the simulation.
Oracle VirtualBox Hypervisor
VirtualBox is installed on an existing host operating system as an application; this host
application allows additional guest operating systems, each known as a Guest OS, to be
loaded and run, each with its own virtual environment.
VirtualBox forms the basis of the virtual environment in which the simulated environment is
operated. The Guest OS can be any combination of HP Comware, Cisco IOS XE, Checkpoint
Firewalls, Windows or Linux OS, plus many others.
Communication between Virtual Devices uses host based UDP tunnels to transport traffic
between virtual network interface cards.
HP Network Simulator
The HP Network Simulator is a tool that creates HP Comware 7network topologies for both
switched and routed devices in VirtualBox through the use of configuration text file.
Included in this document is a typical configuration of a Comware 7 switch device that uses
1Gig ports, however there are many virtual Comware devices that can be configured. A full
list of configurable devices and instructions for use can be found in “HP Network Simulator
for Comware Devices” in Appendix A.
GNS3
GNS3 is open source software that simulates complex networks while being as close as
possible to the way real networks perform, all of this without having dedicated network
hardware such as routers and switches.
GNS3 provides an intuitive graphical user interface to design and configure virtual networks,
it runs on traditional PC hardware and may be used on multiple operating systems, including
Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.
While GNS3 has been used by network engineers in the past as a Dynamips emulator for older
Cisco platforms, in this environment the GUI will be used to control network topologies based
on the VirtualBox hypervisor.
Wireshark
Wireshark is a network packet analyser. A network packet analyser will try to capture
network packets and tries to display that packet data in as detailed a way as possible.
You could think of a network packet analyser as a measuring device used to examine what's
going on inside a network cable, just like a voltmeter is used by an electrician to examine
what's going on inside an electric cable (but at a higher level, of course).
The operation and configuration of Wireshark other than basic connectivity is outside the
scope of this guide.
1.3 APLICABILITY
The following instructions have been validated with the following software versions.
Microsoft Windows 8
Oracle VirtualBox version 4.3.10
HP Network Simulator version 7.1.50
GNS3 version 0.8.6
Other software versions may operate as described in this guide but this cannot be guaranteed by the
author.
2 INSTALL VIRTUALBOX
The following subsections detail the installation of the Oracle VirtualBox hypervisor on the Windows
8 platform.
2.2 INSTALLATION
Once downloaded, install VirtualBox by double-clicking the application
Select the default installation settings as detailed below and then select the directory in
which to install VirtualBox;
Next, select the file associations and the launch icon locations;
Proceed with the installation of the VirtualBox network adaptors, this will cause the host
machine network connection to drop out while the new adaptors are installed.
Click through a couple of Yes/ Next buttons to install the software. Once installed, the
following dialog box should appear;
Congratulations, VirtualBox is now installed and when launched the following GUI is
displayed; At this point reboot the Windows PC.
3.2 INSTALLATION
Launch the downloaded file from item 3.1
4 INSTALL GNS3
Install GNS3 to manage network topology creation.
4.2 INSTALLATION
Launch the downloaded file from step 4.1
Choose the start menu folder in which the GNS3 program shortcut should reside
Select the following software features that should be installed. Note that GNS3 will install
WinPCAP version 4.1.3 which could interfere with other programs that require this software.
Additionally Wireshark will be installed so that connected interfaces in your virtual topologies
can be monitored.
Choose the file path where the GNS3 software should be installed.
Install WinPCAP if not already installed on your PC. This library of functions is required when
using packet capture for Wireshark or bridging network interfaces within GNS3.
Choose where WinPCAP should be installed on your PC and then allow the WinPCAP driver to
start when the host machine boots
Wireshark is a standard packet capture and analysis tool that has been integrated into GNS3
and is installed by default with GNS3.
Select the start menu items and the file associations that Wireshark should be used with.
The dialog below will be shown if WinPCAP is already installed the host machine. Wireshark
and GNS3 require version 4.1.2 or above for correct operation.
Press “next” and then “Finish” when the installation of Wireshark has completed.
Complete the installation of GNS3 and then press “next” and “finish”
Note:
A common error message occurs indicating that VirtualBox has not been installed if;
When creating many virtual Comware 7devices, using the “Clone” feature of VirtualBox either as a full
or linked clone does not work correctly with Simware 7, as the resulting cloned machines do not have
interfaces that are recognised by the Simware OS. Generating Simware devices using the config file
ensures that the instances do not share identity information such as interface and base MAC
addresses.
The following configuration embedded in the file below can be cut and pasted into the HNS window. It
will create 20 x 8 Port switches using 64bit architecture with 512Mb of RAM. Please modify the file if
more memory is required for feature such as MP BGP etc.
Simware7 instances.zip
Save the configuration as a Project using the “Save As” icon. This name is used in VirtualBox to
create the name of the virtual machine group in which the Simware 7 instances will reside.
Click the icon to start the creation of the Comware 7 switch instances;
Once all of the switches have been created, the message shown below will appear indicating
that running all 20 switches will consume 10 GB of RAM and substation CPU usage. Ensure
that you have the PC specified with enough RAM if you plan to test large topologies.
Open VirtualBox and see that 20 Comware devices have been created and grouped using the
following convention;
ProjectName-deviceX
Select “VirtualBox” and ensure that the General Settings match the values indicated below.
Press the “Test Settings” button and ensure that VirtualBox API is started. If you have
problems here, make sure that you have the correct path to “vboxwrapper.exe”
To ensure that the UDP tunnels created between Virtualbox machines do not conflict with
installed programs such as Microsoft Lync, it is necessary to change the base UDP port from
20900 to 36000. If this setting has not been modified then connectivity problems will occur
between virtual devices. These faults manifest as a unidirectional connection or problems
with protocols such as LLDP, LACP and STP.
The next step is to add the Simware devices from VirtualBox to GNS3. Select the tab
“VirtualBox Guest”;
o Select a Comware 7 device from the “VM List”, if this tab is empty, refresh the list.
o Set the number of NICs to 8
o Check the box “Show Advanced Options”
o Select the NIC model to “e1000”
o Check the box “Enable Console Support”. Without this, the Simware device will not
correctly boot.
o Set an “Identifier name”, this is used to name the devices in your topology
o Press “Save”, the VirtualBox Virtual Machines list will now be updated
Repeat the above procedure to add more Simware devices to use in GNS3 projects, the results
should look similar to this;
To make GNS topologies look more HP inspired, use the icon repository embedded below that matches
the Visio icons devised by HPN. Extract the embedded file below into your GNS working directory.
hp.zip
Browse to and select the “hp.rcc” file that you have just placed in your CNG3 working directory and
press the add button. At the bottom of the left hand pan, expand the hp.rcc icon to find the new icons
available for use in GNS3.
NOTE: Creating new icons for GNS3 requires extra tooling and is outside the scope of this document.
To use the new device shapes, move the icons to the right pane using the arrow button in the
centre of the menu.
While selecting the icon in the right pane, select the “Type” as VirtualBox Guest.
The icon can be renamed at this point as well.
Repeat the above process to add more icons for use in GNS3, the result should match the
example below;
Drag and drop a HP L3 switch onto the central working pane. As you release the icon, a dialog
box opens asking you to detect which VirtualBox guest to open. Select SW1.
Repeat the process for SW2, the result should match the figure below
Select the connect button , right click on the devices, select the interfaces that you want
to connect
NOTE: By default, the first interface is assigned to management, this will always be connected to
the VirtualBox host only adaptor and will not be configured by GNS3, handy if the interface is set
up for remote management.
Devices that redirect their display to the serial console, such as Cisco XRv, vNexus can be used with
the console server built into GNS3. To display the serial console click;
Clone machine with a new name and reinitialise the MAC addresses of the NICs. Then Choose
“Linked Clone” and press the “Clone” button
A new clone is created that can be added in GNS3 in the same way that the Simware devices
were added.
o Navigate to the VirtualBox Guest settings
o Press “ Refresh VM List”
o Select the cloned VM name
o Select the number of network cards attached
o Un check “Reserve first NIC for VirtualBox NAT to host OS”
o Press save
’
Create a new virtual machine from the VirtualBox Manager and ensure that the VM device
type and memory (2560Mb) settings match the following;
Create a 8Gb thin provisioned storage device with the settings indicated below
Configure 4 NICs, binding them to the Host Only adaptor. Ensure your network settings
mirror those indicated below;
From the Storage tab, select the install disk .iso that was downloaded in step 6.1.1
The final step is to provision a “linked clone” of the machine using the instructions detailed
in 6.1 of this guide.
The device can now be added to topologies using the VirtualBox icon and can also be customised in
Symbol Manager in the same way as the HP Comware devices. When the device boots, the console
will be display in the VirtualBox console window;
Once the master device is created, run the “SYSPREP” utility to package the image and then use
linked clones when deploying the multiple virtual machines.
A new clone can be added in GNS3 in the same way that the Simware devices were added.
7 APPENDIX
HP Network Simulator Instructions
HP Network
Simulator for Comware Devices User Guide v2.0 20140306.pdf