Day 0 Configurations

Configure the Enhanced Classic LAN Fabric

In these procedures, you will be configuring the Enhanced Classic LAN fabric that will be used to manage part of your legacy/classic network through NDFC.

  • If your existing legacy/classic network falls into the three-tier topology scenario, you will be configuring a fabric that will be used for the Access and Aggregation tiers in that three-tier topology.

    You will be configuring a separate External Connectivity Network fabric for the Core tier in a later section in this case.

  • If your existing legacy/classic network falls into the two-tier (Collapsed Core) topology scenario, you will be configuring a fabric that will be used for both tiers in that two-tier topology.

    In this case, the Core and Aggregation tiers are collapsed into a single, combined tier called the "Collapsed Core" tier.

You will be using the Enhanced Classic LAN fabric template for these configurations. For more information on that fabric template, see Enhanced Classic LAN.

Before you begin

Verify that you have completed all of the necessary tasks provided in Prerequisites before beginning these procedures.

Procedure

Step 1

In NDFC, navigate to LAN > Fabrics.

A page showing all of the configured fabrics appears.

Step 2

Click Actions > Create Fabric.

Step 3

In the Create Fabric screen, enter a name for the Enhanced Classic LAN fabric (for example, Access-Agg-Fab), then click Choose Template.

Step 4

Choose the Enhanced Classic LAN template, then click Select.

Step 5

In the General Parameters tab in the Enhanced Classic LAN template, make the necessary configurations.

The following configurations are mandatory in the General Parameters page:

  • In the Routing Protocol field, choose the routing protocol between this Enhanced Classic LAN fabric and the External Connectivity Network fabric that will be configured in the next section, if necessary.

    Options are:

    • ebgp

    • ospf

    • none: NDFC does not configure the peering protocol if the none option is selected. You must manually configure the peering protocol with this option, if necessary.

  • If the Routing Protocol is ebgp, in the BGP ASN field, enter a unique, non-overlapping value.

    For this use case, we will use 65535 as the BGP ASN number that will be assigned to the Enhanced Classic LAN fabric.

The remaining fields are optional. They have been automatically configured based on Cisco best practices, but you can change them if necessary. For example, in the General Parameters page.

Step 6

In the Spanning Tree tab, make the necessary configurations for your setup.

For example, in the Spanning-tree Root Bridge Protocol field, the rpvst+ (Rapid Per-VLAN Spanning Tree) option is selected by default, but the mst (Multiple Spanning Tree) and unmanaged (STP root not managed by NDFC) options are also acceptable.

Step 7

In the Bootstrap tab, determine how you want NDFC to discover the switches in the Enhanced Classic LAN fabric.

You can use either of these two methods to discover the switches in the fabric:

  • By manually entering the necessary information to allow NDFC to discover those switches. This option is applicable if you have already configured certain parameters, such as the out-of-band management IP addresses, on the switches that need to be discovered.

    If you decide to use this method, that step is provided later in these procedures (Step 10).

  • By using the Power On Auto Provisioning (POAP) feature in NDFC. This option is useful if you do not already have certain parameters, such as the management IP address, default route, and start up configurations, already configured on the switches that need to be discovered.

    POAP automates the process of installing configuration files on devices that are deployed on the network for the first time. POAP allows devices to be brought up without performing any manual configuration. When a POAP feature-enabled device boots and does not find the startup configuration, the device enters POAP mode, locates a DHCP server, and bootstraps itself with its interface IP address, gateway, and DNS server IP addresses. The device obtains the IP address of a TFTP server and downloads a configuration script that enables the switch to download and install the appropriate software image and configuration file.

    Note the following:

    • Only out-of-band POAP is supported for switches in the Enhanced Classic LAN Fabric type.

    • NDFC can be configured as the local DHCP server, handing out the IP addresses when requested by the switch while in the POAP phase. Once the switch fetches the IP address, a default route for the reachability and desired startup configuration (optionally an image used to boot the switch) is pushed to the switch. Alternatively, an external DHCP server is also supported.

    If you decide to use this method, follow these procedures to configure the POAP feature:

    1. Click the Bootstrap tab in this page to make the necessary configurations in the Bootstrap area.

    2. Check the box in the Enable Bootstrap field.

    3. (Optional) Check the box in the Enable Local DHCP Server field (NDFC as DHCP server).

    4. Define the subnet scope and default gateway that will be sent to the switch as soon as the switch is pre-provisioned while in the POAP loop.

Step 8

Make any additional configurations to the template for the Enhanced Classic LAN fabric in the remaining tabs, if necessary.

Updates to any of the values in the following tabs are all optional.

  • VPC: Modify vPC default values.

  • Advanced: Modify entries for AAA, NXAPI, or templates to be used for sub-operations and CoPP profile, as well as group freeform configurations for Access and/or Aggregation switches.

  • Resources: Modify entries for the default IP and subnet ranges.

  • Manageability: Modify entries for DNS, NTP, and syslog server settings.

  • Configuration Backup: Modify entries to define the cadence of automatic fabric level backups.

  • Flow Monitor: Modify entries to enable Netflow.

For more information on these fields in the Enhanced Classic LAN fabric template, see xref2:Enhanced Classic LAN KB article.

Step 9

When you have completed the necessary configurations to the Enhanced Classic LAN fabric template, click Save.

The LAN Fabric page appears again, with the newly created Enhanced Classic LAN fabric added to the list of configured fabrics.

Step 10

If necessary, enter the necessary information to allow NDFC to discover the switches in the Enhanced Classic LAN fabric.

Note

 

You do not have to go through the procedures in this step if you Enabled Bootstrap through the Bootstrap area in NDFC in the previous step.

Verify that reachability exists between NDFC and these switches before proceeding with this step.

  1. In the Overview page for the Enhanced Classic LAN fabric, click the Switches tab, then click Action > Add Switches.

  2. In the Add Switches screen, verify that the Discover option is selected, then add the necessary information to discover the switches.

    • In the Seed IP field, enter the management IP addresses of the switches. Only out-of-band management of switches is supported.

    • In the Preserve Config field, make the appropriate selection.

      If you remove the check from the box in the Preserve Config field, all existing configurations except the management IP address, the default gateway, and the boot variables will be erased so that a fresh configuration will be pushed out from NDFC.

      • If you are bringing in a greenfield deployment for NDFC to manage, remove the check from the box so that any existing configurations are not preserved on the switches.

      • If you are bringing in a brownfield deployment for NDFC to manage, check the box if you want existing configurations on the switches preserved; otherwise, remove the check from the box if you do not want the existing configurations on the switches preserved.

    • Enter any remaining information in the Add Switches screen that is necessary to discover the switches.

  3. Click Discover Switches.

    Click Confirm in the confirmation popup window that appears.

  4. In the Discovery Results screen, check the check box next to the switches that will be imported into the Enhanced Classic LAN fabric and click Add Switches.

    The status will change to Switch Added when the process is complete. Click Close to close out of this window.

Step 11

Define the roles for the switches in the Enhanced Classic LAN fabric.

Once the switches are discovered in the Enhanced Classic LAN fabric, the next step is to define the roles, or the intent, for those switches. Based on the roles that you assign to the switches, the appropriate configuration will be generated and pushed to the switches by NDFC.

The following roles are available for the switches in the Enhanced Classic LAN fabric in this step:

  • Access role: Normally, you would manually assign this role to the switches in the Access tier in either the three-tier hierarchical network topology or the two-tier Collapsed Core topology.

    However, by default, all Nexus 9000 switches that are discovered in a fabric that uses the Enhanced Classic LAN template are automatically assigned an Access role. This is because the majority of switches that are used in this type of fabric are normally used at the Access tier, so you won't have to manually assign the Access role to those particular Nexus 9000 switches in this case.

  • Aggregation role: You will assign this role to the following switches:

    • For the three-tier hierarchical network topology, you will assign the Aggregation role to the switches in the Aggregation tier as the Layer 2/Layer 3 demarcation. Aggregation also acts as the Spanning Tree Bridge and a gateway with the relevant FHRP configurations.

    • For the two-tier Collapsed Core topology, you will assign the Aggregation role to the switches in the Collapsed Core tier, where the Core and Aggregation levels are unified on the same switch. These switches serve as a Layer 2/Layer 3 demarcation, a bridge, and a gateway, and will also connect to the WAN (optionally using VRF-Lite, which is fully supported in the Aggregation layer).

  1. After the discovery process is finished for the switches, navigate back to the Switches tab, if necessary.

  2. Verify that the roles for all of the Nexus 9000 switches discovered in this fabric are automatically set to Access.

    As described previously, all Nexus 9000 switches in this type of fabric are automatically assigned an Access role so that you don't have to manually assign this role to all of the switches in the Access tier of a three-tier or two-tier Collapsed Core topology.

    In addition, all the switches will show NA in the Config Status column, because no configurations have been pushed out to the switches at this point in the process.

  3. Click the boxes next to the switches that will be assigned the Aggregation role.

  4. Click Actions > Set Role.

  5. Choose Aggregation from the list of roles for the switches, then click Select.

    Click Ok in the warning popup that appears.

Step 12

Configure vPC pairing for the switches.

Once the roles have been defined, you can configure vPC pairing for the switches that have been assigned Access or Aggregation roles.

  • For switches that are defined with the Access role, vPC is recommended, but is not mandatory.

  • For the switches that are defined with the Aggregation role, vPC peering is mandatory for fabrics that are configured using the Enhanced Classic LAN template, as it is recommended based on Cisco best practices.

For both types of switches, a related setting in the Advanced tab of Fabric Settings is enabled by default, which allows NDFC to automatically detect and pair Access or Aggregation switches for optimal traffic engineering. You can disable this feature, if desired, in the Enable Agg/Access Auto Pairing field in the Advanced tab.

The following vPC pairing options are supported:

  • Back-to-back

  • Port channel

  • Trunk ports

The following procedures apply, regardless of whether you are configuring a three-tier heirarchal network topology or a two-tier Collapsed Core topology:

  1. To set vPC pairing for the Access switches, select a switch that is assigned with the Access role, then click Actions > vPC Pairing.

  2. In the Select vPC Peer screen, select a second Access switch to use for the vPC pairing, then click Save.

    The additional switches that NDFC will recommend to be used for the vPC pairing for Access switches will be shown with the value True under the Recommended column.

  3. To set vPC pairing for the Aggregation switches, select a switch that is assigned with the Aggregation role, then click Actions > vPC Pairing.

  4. In the Select vPC Peer screen, select a second Aggregation switch to use for the vPC pairing, then click Save.

    The additional switches that NDFC will recommend to be used for the vPC pairing for Aggregation switches will be shown with the value True under the Recommended column.

    Note

     

    vPCs are automatically discovered for brownfield deployments.

Step 13

Recalculate and deploy.

  1. At the top of the page, click Actions > Recalculate and Deploy.

  2. Preview the configuration updates as the recalculation process progresses.

    You can click on the blue link in the Pending Config column to get additional information on the changes that are being configured for the switches. For example, if you were to click on the blue link in the Pending Config column for one of the Access switches, you might see information similar to the following.

    Similarly, you might see information similar to the following if you were to click on the blue link in the Pending Config column for one of the Aggregation switches.

  3. When the recalculation process is completed, click Deploy All, then click Close when you see Success and Deployment Completed in the Deploy Configuration window.

  4. In the Fabric Overview window, verify that the status shown in the Config Status column shows as In-Sync.

What to do next

Configure the External Connectivity Network Fabric


Note

The procedures in this section apply only if you have a three-tier heirarchical topology, as described in Supported Legacy/Classic Network Topologies. Do not follow these procedures if you have a two-tier, collapsed core topology, because you will have already configured the only fabric that you need for that two-tier topology in Configure the Enhanced Classic LAN Fabric.

In these procedures, you will be configuring an External Connectivity Network fabric specifically for the core tier in a three-tier topology, as described in Supported Legacy/Classic Network Topologies.

You already configured the Enhanced Classic LAN fabric for the access and aggregation tiers in a previous section. You will configure two separate fabrics because typical deployments use a shared core, which will reside in a separate, External Connectivity Network fabric that is shared by the first (access-aggregate) fabric that you configured in previous procedures.

You will be using the External Connectivity Network fabric template for these configurations. For more information on that fabric template, see Enhanced Classic LAN.

Before you begin

Verify that you have configured the Enhanced Classic LAN fabric using the procecures provided in Configure the Enhanced Classic LAN Fabric.

Procedure

Step 1

In NDFC, navigate to LAN > Fabrics, if you are not there already.

A page showing all of the configured fabrics appears.

Step 2

Click Actions > Create Fabric.

Step 3

In the Create Fabric screen, enter a name for the External Connectivity Network fabric (for example, Core-Fab), then click Choose Template.

Step 4

Choose the External Connectivity Network template, then click Select.

Step 5

In the General Parameters tab, make the necessary configuration specifically for this use case.

  • In the BGP ASN field, enter a unique, non-overlapping value.

    For this use case, we will use 65011 as the BGP ASN number that will be assigned to the External Connectivity Network fabric.

  • Uncheck the box next to the Fabric Monitor Mode field.

Step 6

Determine how you want NDFC to discover the switches in the External Connectivity Network fabric, if applicable.

The options available to you depend on the type of deployment that you are managing through NDFC:

  • If you are managing a greenfield deployment, then, similar to the Enhanced Classic LAN fabric, you can use either of these two methods to discover the switches in the fabric:

    • By manually entering the necessary information to allow NDFC to discover those switches. This option is applicable if you have already configured certain parameters, such as the out-of-band management IP addresses, on the switches that need to be discovered.

      If you decide to use this method, that step is provided later in these procedures (Step 9).

    • By using the Power On Auto Provisioning (POAP) feature in NDFC. This option is useful if you do not already have certain parameters, such as the management IP address, default route, and start up configurations, already configured on the switches that need to be discovered.

      If you decide to use this method, click the Bootstrap tab in this page to make the necessary configurations in the Bootstrap area using the same process as provided in the procedures for the Enhanced Classic LAN fabric.

  • If you are managing a brownfield deployment, then the only option available for you is to manually enter the necessary information to allow NDFC to discover the switches; you cannot use the Power On Auto Provisioning (POAP) feature when managing a brownfield deployment. Go to Step 9 for those procedures.

Step 7

Complete the remaining configurations for the External Connectivity Network fabric, if necessary.

The remaining parameters are optional. They have been automatically configured based on Cisco best practices, but you can change them if necessary.

Step 8

When you have completed the necessary configurations to the External Connectivity Network fabric template, click Save.

The LAN Fabric page appears again, with the newly created External Connectivity Network fabric added to the list of configured fabrics.

Step 9

If necessary, manually enter the necessary information to allow NDFC to discover the switches in the External Connectivity Network fabric.

Note

 

You do not have to go through the procedures in this step if you enabled POAP through the Bootstrap area in NDFC in the previous step.

Verify that reachability exists between NDFC and these switches before proceeding with this step.

  1. In the Overview page for the External Connectivity Network fabric, click the Switches tab, then click Action > Add Switches.

  2. In the Add Switches screen, verify that the Discover option is selected, then add the necessary information to discover the switches.

    • In the Seed IP field, enter the management IP addresses of the switches. Only out-of-band management of switches is supported.

    • Enter any remaining information in the Add Switches screen that is necessary to discover the switches.

  3. Click Discover Switches.

    Click Confirm in the confirmation popup window that appears.

  4. In the Discovery Results screen, check the check box next to the switches that will be imported into the External Connectivity Network fabric and click Add Switches.

    The status will change to Switch Added when the process is complete. Click Close to close out of this window.

Step 10

Define the role for the switches in the External Connectivity Network fabric.

Similar to the process in the Enhanced Classic LAN fabric, once the switches are discovered in the External Connectivity Network fabric, the next step is to define the roles for those switches. Based on the roles that you assign to the switches, the appropriate configuration will be generated and pushed to the switches by NDFC.

  1. Click the box next to the switch for the External Connectivity Network fabric, then click Actions > Set Role.

  2. Determine what role you want to set for the switches in the External Connectivity Network.

    As described in Supported Legacy/Classic Network Topologies, you can set the roles for the switches in the External Connectivity Network to either the Core Router or Edge Router role.

    Locate and select either the Core Router or the Edge Router option in the Select Role list, then click Select.

Step 11

Recalculate and deploy.

  1. At the top of the page, click Actions > Recalculate and Deploy.

  2. Preview the configuration updates as the recalculation process progresses.

    You can click on the blue link in the Pending Config column to get additional information on the changes that are being configured for the switches.

  3. When the recalculation process is completed, click Deploy All, then click Close when you see Success and Deployment Completed in the Deploy Configuration window.

  4. In the Fabric Overview window, verify that the status shown in the Config Status column shows as Success.

Step 12

Navigate to LAN > Fabrics and select the External Connectivity Network fabric that you just created.

The Overview page for this External Connectivity Network fabric appears.

Step 13

Click the Switches tab to verify that the switch that you just added for the second fabric appears correctly.

Step 14

Click the X at the top right corner of the window to exit out of this page.

What to do next

If you want to group the fabrics together using the Fabric Group fabric template, go to Create a Fabric Group.

Create a Fabric Group


Note

The procedures in this section apply only if you have a three-tier heirarchical topology, where you have two separate fabrics that you might want to show under a fabric group. You do not need these procedures if you have a two-tier, Collapsed Core topology, because there is only one fabric configured for that type of topology.

If you would like to have a group visualization for the Topological view, you can create a Fabric Group fabric type with the Access-Aggregrate and Core fabrics as child members of this group. You will be using the Fabric Group fabric template for these configurations. For more information on that fabric template, see Enhanced Classic LAN.

Procedure

Step 1

In NDFC, navigate to LAN > Fabrics, if you are not there already.

A page showing all of the configured fabrics appears.

Step 2

Click Actions > Create Fabric.

Step 3

In the Create Fabric screen, enter a name for the new fabric (for example, Classic-Group), then click Choose Template.

Step 4

Choose the Fabric Group template, then click Select.

Step 5

Click Save in the Create Fabric page.

You are returned to the LAN Fabrics page.

Step 6

Double-click the fabric group that you just created.

The Fabric Overview page appears for the fabric group.

Step 7

Click Actions > Add Child Fabric.

The Select Child Fabrics page appears.

Step 8

Choose the Enhanced Classic LAN fabric that you created using the procedures provided in Configure the Enhanced Classic LAN Fabric, then click Select.

You are returned to the Fabric Overview page.

Step 9

Click Actions > Add Child Fabric again.

The Select Child Fabrics page appears.

Step 10

Choose the External Connectivity Network fabric that you created using the procedures provided in Configure the External Connectivity Network Fabric, then click Select.

You are returned to the Fabric Overview page.

Step 11

Click the X in the upper right corner of the page.

The LAN Fabrics page appears again, with the newly created fabric group added to the list of configured fabrics.

Right-click operations are now available from the Topology page per switch.

Step 12

If necessary, navigate to LAN > Switches, select one or more switches, then click Actions > Deploy.

What to do next

Begin the Day 1 configurations using the procedures provided in Day 1 Configurations.