NSX with ECMP configuration guide

Author: Ignasi Barrera

This guide describes how to configure Abiquo to create the NSX infrastructure for each Virtual Datacenter according to the following blueprint:

For each Virtual Datacenter, Abiquo will create the DLRs and ESGs, and connect the gateways to the tenant network. The following sections describe the properties that are global to the system and the ones that you can configure per tenant.

Global properties in the abiquo.properties file

The following properties are global to the platform and you can configure them in the /opt/abiquo/config/abiquo.properties file:

Name	Description
abiquo.nsx.transport-zone	The transport zone where the networks created by Abiquo will be attached
abiquo.nsx.edge.cluster-id	Identifier (in VCenter) of the cluster where Abiquo will deploy the DLRs and ESGs
abiquo.nsx.edge.datastore-id	Identifier (in VCenter) of the datastore where Abiquo will deploy the DLRs and ESGs

Properties that can be configured per tenant

The following properties can be configured globally or per tenant. You can preconfigure default values in the /opt/abiquo/config/abiquo.properties but you can also configure them for each tenant from the Abiquo user interface.

Property names

Note that the properties in the following table don't have the "abiquo." prefix. When configuring the properties in a tenant, do not use this prefix. When configuring properties globally in the abiquo.properties file, you must prepend the abiquo. prefix.

Name	Description
nsx.gateway.network-id	VLAN tag of the tenant network where the ESGs will be connected. Abiquo will create a distributed port group if none exists for that VLAN
nsx.gateway.network	Network CIDR of the tenant network
nsx.gateway.datacenter	The Datacenter where Abiquo will create the distributed port group for the tenant VLAN, if missing
nsx.gateway.dvs	The distributed virtual switch where Abiquo will create the distributed port group for the tenant VLAN, if missing
nsx.gateway.bgp.as	Identifier of the AS used in the tenant network
nsx.edge.uplink.ips	Comma separated list of the IP addresses to assign to the uplink interfaces of the ESGs. The number of IP addresses here will determine the number of ESGs Abiquo will deploy when creating a Virtual datacenter
nsx.edge.bgp.peers	Comma separated list of the IP addresses to be configured as BGP neighbor of each ESG uplink
nsx.edge.bgp.as	Identifier of the AS used by the ESGs
nsx.edge.bgp.hold-down-timer	Hold down timer value for the BGP between the ESGs and the tenant network
nsx.edge.bgp.keep-alive-timer	Keep alive timer or the BGP between the ESGs and the tenant network
nsx.edge.bgp.weight	Weight of each neighbor in the BGP between the ESGs and the tenant network
nsx.local.bgp.as	Identifier of the AS used by the local DLR
nsx.local.bgp.hold-down-timer	Hold down timer value for the BGP between the DLR and the ESGs
nsx.local.bgp.keep-alive-timer	Keep alive timer for the BGP between the DLR and the ESGs
nsx.local.bgp.weight	Weight of each neighbor in the BGP between the DLR and the ESGs
nsx.transit.network	Network CIDR of the transit network

Configure the tenant properties through the Abiquo UI

First, go to the Users view and edit the desired tenant.

In the Edit enterprise dialog, go to the Properties tab and add all the required tenant properties.

Configuring the tenant properties using the Abiquo API

You can also configure the tenant properties using the Abiquo API. The resources and operations related to these properties are described in detail here:

http://wiki.abiquo.com/display/ABI38/EnterprisePropertiesResource

Adding the NSX device in the Abiquo Datacenter

When you have configured the global and tenant properties, register the NSX installation in the Abiquo datacenter. Select the desired Abiquo Datacenter and go to the Network > Devices tab to create a new device:

In the popup, enter the details of the NSX to configure.

NSX plugin type

When selecting the plugin type, make sure to select the nsx-ecmp. The nsx-gateway plugin will configure the simple version in which Abiquo only deploys an ESG for each virtual datacenter.

After you have added the device to Abiquo, all virtual datacenters that the tenant creates will deploy the NSX with ECMP blueprint.