Manual Chapter : Deploying a VXLAN Multipoint Tunnel over an IPv6 Network

Applies To:

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BIG-IP LTM

  • 17.1.1, 17.1.0, 17.0.0, 16.1.4, 16.1.3, 16.1.2, 16.1.1, 16.1.0, 16.0.1, 16.0.0, 15.1.9, 15.1.8, 15.1.7, 15.1.6, 15.1.5, 15.1.4, 15.1.3, 15.1.2, 15.1.1, 15.1.0, 15.0.1, 15.0.0, 14.1.5, 14.1.4, 14.1.3, 14.1.2, 14.1.0
Manual Chapter

Deploying a VXLAN Multipoint Tunnel over an IPv6 Network

Overview: Deploying a VXLAN multipoint tunnel over an IPv6 network

You can deploy a VXLAN multipoint tunnel that specifies IPv6 addresses as local VXLAN tunnel endpoints (VTEPs). This capability is especially important for interoperability with other VTEPs and controller vendors.
This illustration shows a sample configuration with three BIG-IP systems, where the systems function as local VTEPs, in IPv6 format.
Each BIG-IP system in the configuration includes a VLAN, two self IP addresses, and a VXLAN tunnel object that references a VXLAN multipoint profile.

Configuration summary

To configure a VXLAN multipoint tunnel that supports IPv6 addressing, you can use the BIG-IP Configuration utility. But first, confirm that you have already created these objects on each system in the configuration:
  • A VLAN that's associated with an interface
  • An IPv6 self IP address that's associated with the above VLAN. This self IP address will serve as the local VXLAN tunnel endpoint (VTEP).
This illustration shows the tasks that you must perform to deploy a VXLAN multipoint tunnel over an IPv6 network, after you've satisfied the prerequisites.

Create a VXLAN multipoint tunnel

Using this procedure, you create a VXLAN multipoint tunnel object on each BIG-IP system. The tunnel object references the IPv6 local endpoint that you previously created on the system.
In our sample configuration, the tunnels on all three BIG-IP systems are assigned the same name, but this is not required.
  1. On the Main tab, click
    Network
    Tunnels
    Tunnel List
    Create
    .
    The New Tunnel screen opens.
  2. Type a
    Name
    for the tunnel.
    In our sample configuration, this name is
    tunnel_1
    .
  3. From the
    Profile
    list, select
    vxlan-multipoint
    .
  4. In the
    Local Address
    field, type the IPv6 self IP address that represents the local endpoint for the system you are configuring.
    In our sample configuration, this address is either
    2001:30:1
    ,
    2001:30:2
    , or
    2001:30:3
    .
  5. In the
    Remote Address
    field, retain the default setting (
    Any
    ).
  6. For the
    Mode
    list, retain the default selection,
    Bidirectional
    .
  7. In the
    MTU
    field, type the maximum transmission unit of the tunnel.
    The default value is
    0
    . The valid range is from
    0
    to
    65515
    .
  8. For the
    Use PMTU
    (Path MTU) setting, select or clear the check box.
    • If enabled and the tunnel MTU is set to
      0
      , the tunnel will use the PMTU information.
    • If enabled and the tunnel MTU is fixed to a non-zero value, the tunnel will use the minimum of PMTU and MTU.
    • If disabled, the tunnel will use fixed MTU or calculate its MTU using tunnel encapsulation configurations
    .
  9. From the
    TOS
    list, select
    Preserve
    , or select
    Specify
    and type a Type of Service (TOS) value.
    The valid range is from
    0
    to
    255
    .
  10. From the
    Auto-Last Hop
    list, select a value.
    • Choose
      Default
      if you want the system to use the global
      Auto Last Hop
      setting (if enabled).
    • Choose
      Enabled
      if you want this setting to take precedence over the global
      Auto Last Hop
      setting, for this tunnel only.
    • Choose
      Disabled
      if you want to disable auto last hop behavior for this tunnel only.
  11. From the
    Traffic Group
    list, select the traffic group that includes the local IP address for the tunnel.
  12. Click
    Repeat
    , and perform these steps on the other BIG-IP systems in the configuration.
  13. Click
    Finished
    .
After you perform this task, each BIG-IP system configuration contains a tunnel object that references an IPv6 local endpoint.

Create self IP addresses to associate with a VXLAN tunnel

On each BIG-IP system in the configuration, you must create a unique self IP address and assign the VXLAN tunnel to the address.
  1. On the Main tab, click
    Network
    Self IPs
    .
  2. Click
    Create
    .
  3. Type a
    Name
    for the self IP address, such as
    selfip_ipv4_bigip1
    .
  4. Type the
    IP Address
    that you want to associate with the VXLAN tunnel.
    In our sample configuration, this address is either
    10.9.0.1
    ,
    10.9.0.2
    , or
    10.9.0.3
    .
  5. For the
    Netmask
    setting, type or select a netmask for the IP address.
  6. From the
    VLAN/Tunnel
    list, select the name of the tunnel you created previously.
    In our sample configuration, this name is
    tunnel_1
    .
  7. For the
    Port Lockdown
    list, select an option that makes sense for your configuration.
  8. For the
    Traffic Group
    setting, retain the default setting or select another traffic group from the list.
  9. Click
    Repeat
    , and perform these steps on the other BIG-IP systems in your configuration.
  10. Click
    Finished
    .
After you complete this task, each BIG-IP system configuration contains a self IP address associated with a VXLAN tunnel.

Configure FDB records for remote tunnel endpoints

On each BIG-IP system in the configuration, you must update the tunnel forwarding database (FDB) records to add the local endpoints of the other BIG-IP systems in the configuration.
  1. Using an SSH console access program like PuTTY, log in to the BIG-IP system.
  2. Type this command, replacing the sample endpoint addresses with your own IPv6 addresses:
    tmsh modify net fdb tunnel
    tunnel_name
    records add { ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff { endpoints add { 2001:10::2 2001:10::3 } } }
    Following our sample configuration, we can see that the endpoints shown here are the addresses on
    BIG-IP System 2
    and
    BIG-IP System 3
    that you specify when you are configuring the FDB records on
    BIG-IP System 1
    .
  3. Type
    tmsh save sys config
    .
  4. Repeat these steps on the other BIG-IP systems in your configuration.

Sample TMSH syntax

This syntax shows how to use the TMSH command-line interface on the BIG-IP system to create the sample VXLAN multipoint configuration that includes IPv6 local VXLAN tunnel endpoints (VTEPs).
BIG-IP System 1
create net vlan vlan921 interfaces add { 7.0 { untagged } } create net self 2001:30::1/64 vlan vlan921 traffic-group traffic-group-local-only allow-service all create net tunnels tunnel tunnel_1 local-address 2001:30::1 profile vxlan-multipoint key 1 create net self 10.9.0.1/24 vlan tunnel_1 modify net fdb tunnel tunnel_1 records add { ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff { endpoints add { 2001:30::2 2001:30::3 } } }
BIG-IP System 2
create net vlan vlan921 interfaces add { 7.0 { untagged } } create net self 2001:30::2/64 vlan vlan921 traffic-group traffic-group-local-only allow-service all create net tunnels tunnel tunnel_1 local-address 2001:30::2 profile vxlan-multipoint key 1 create net self 10.9.0.2/24 vlan tunnel_1 modify net fdb tunnel tunnel_1 records add { ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff { endpoints add { 2001:30::1 2001:30::3 } } }
BIG-IP System 3
create net vlan vlan921 interfaces add { 7.0 { untagged } } create net self 2001:30::3/64 vlan vlan921 traffic-group traffic-group-local-only allow-service all create net tunnels tunnel tunnel_1 local-address 2001:30::3 profile vxlan-multipoint key 1 create net self 10.9.0.3/24 vlan tunnel_1 modify net fdb tunnel tunnel_1 records add { ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff { endpoints add { 2001:30::1 2001:30::2 } } }

Troubleshooting

You can use the
tcpdump
command to verify that the VLAN and tunnel are receiving the expected packets, and you can use the TMSH command-line interface to view statistics about the VXLAN tunnel endpoints (VTEPs).
For you to use the
tcpdump
command, your BIG-IP user account must grant you access to the advanced shell.

Packet receipt verification for VLANs and tunnels

This syntax shows how to use the
tcpdump
command to troubleshoot VXLAN tunnels. For the sample configuration, the
tcpdump
output shows that VLAN
vlan921
and tunnel
tunnel_1
are receiving the expected packets.
# tcpdump -ni vlan921 14:58:18.355464 IP6 2001:30::1.33702 > 2001:30::2.4789: VXLAN, flags [I] (0x08), vni 1 IP 10.9.0.1 > 10.9.0.2: ICMP echo request, id 31956, seq 9, length 64 in slot1/tmm3 lis= 14:58:18.355703 IP6 2001:30::2.32110 > 2001:30::1.4789: VXLAN, flags [I] (0x08), vni 1 IP 10.9.0.2 > 10.9.0.1: ICMP echo reply, id 31956, seq 9, length 64 out slot1/tmm4 lis=_wcard_tunnel_/Common/tunnel_1 # tcpdump -ni tunnel_1 14:58:55.354826 IP 10.9.0.1 > 10.9.0.2: ICMP echo request, id 31956, seq 46, length 64 in slot1/tmm4 lis= 14:58:55.354832 IP 10.9.0.2 > 10.9.0.1: ICMP echo reply, id 31956, seq 46, length 64 out slot1/tmm4 lis=

VTEP statistics on the BIG-IP system

This TMSH command shows VXLAN tunnel endpoint (VTEP) statistics for a BIG-IP system in the sample configuration. The command shows how to view statistics for all remote addresses or for a specific remote address.
# show net tunnels endpoint tunnel-name tunnel_1 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tunnel Name: tunnel_1 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Remote Address   TX Bytes  RX Bytes  TX Packets  RX Packets  TX Errors  RX Errors 2001:30::2          31.2K     31.7K         211         215          0          0 2001:30::3           3.3K      3.7K          24          27          0          0 # show net tunnels endpoint tunnel-name tunnel_1 remote-address 2001:30::2 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tunnel Name: tunnel_1 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Remote Address   TX Bytes  RX Bytes  TX Packets  RX Packets  TX Errors  RX Errors 2001:30::2          31.2K     31.7K         211         215          0          0