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This chapter provides an overview of Cisco Virtual Topology System (VTS). It also provides a high level workflow of the tasks that you need to perform after you install Cisco VTS.
To log in to the Cisco VTS GUI:
The Cisco VTS Setup wizard guides you through a series of steps that helps you set up the system and get started. We recommend that you use the Setup wizard if you are not familiar with the VTS UI and the sequence of the initial configuration tasks.
![]() Note | Not all steps in the wizard are mandatory. Green check mark indicates that the task is not mandatory. These tasks can be done outside of the wizard flow or have default values. |
The following sections provide information about the series of screens that are part of the wizard.
This is the initial screen in the Setup wizard. This helps you to set up the following system parameters:
The Virtual Machine Manager screen is displayed. |
The Virtual Machine Manager screen in the Setup wizard helps you to register the VMM.
Step 1 | Click the Add
(+) button.
The Add Virtual Machine Manager popup is displayed. | ||
Step 2 | Enter the
following details:
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Step 3 | Click Add
The VMM you added is listed in the Virtual Machine Manager screen. You can check the status of VMM registration in the Status column. | ||
Step 4 | Click Next if the VMM registration is successful. The Authorization Group screen is displayed. |
The Authorization Group screen in the Setup wizard helps you to create authorization groups. The authorization group will have credentials for logging into your devices. You can create as many authorization groups as necessary.
Enter the following details, and click Add:
The authorization group gets added to the authorization group table. To edit an authorization group, select the Auth Group Name check box and click the Edit icon. To delete an authorization group, select the Auth Group Name check box and click the delete (X) icon. |
Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) has to be enabled on leafs, spine, DCI, and computes. See documentation for the respective devices for details about how to enable LLDP on these devices.
A seed device has to be identified, and the IP should be provided. The seed IP is that of one of the leaf or spine devices.
All devices must have the same set of credentials. These credentials will be used during the discovery process. See Managing Inventory for more information. The credentials must be of the appropriate privilege level on the devices.
To perform discovery:
Step 1 | Click . | ||
Step 2 | Enter the Seed Device IP. | ||
Step 3 | Enter the Seed Device User Name. | ||
Step 4 | Enter the Seed Device Passphrase. | ||
Step 5 | Click
Start
Discovery.
To import device details into inventory via CSV file, manually, click the Import CSV, then select the CSV file and import it. If you want to edit details for more than one devices, you may select the devices, and then click Bulk Edit option. Click Apply after you make the changes. | ||
Step 6 | To add the
devices to Cisco VTS inventory, select the devices and click
Add to
Inventory button.
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Step 7 | Click
Next.
The Inventory screen is displayed. |
Network Inventory—Details about the switches in the inventory. It shows the following details.
Device Name
Admin State
IP Address
Auth Group
Device Platform
Device Role
Group Tag
bgp-asn
Loopback Interface Number
Loopback Interface IP
![]() Note | You need to discover the devices and add them to the inventory before you bring up the IoS XRv. If you do these tasks simultaneously, you might encounter errors. |
Fabric Inventory—Details about the fabric connection between the switches. It shows the following details:
The Host Inventory has the Install Capabilities button. You can select the host from the list, and click Install Capabilities. If the host is connected to a physical VTEP (ToR), it installs the host agent in case of an OpenStack environment. If the capability is Virtual, clicking Install Capabilities installs the VTF VM on that host. See Installing OpenStack Host Agent and VTF using GUI.
Click on the info icon adjacent to the Host Name. Host Summary table popup appears.
If Virtual Capability is 'virtual-switch', both Additional Host Details and VTF Details can be viewed in the Host Summary table.
If Virtual Capability is 'no-virtual-switch' only Additional Host Details can be viewed in the Host Summary table.
Click Finish to exit the Setup wizard.
On logging in for the first time, if you choose the I will set up myself option, the Quick Guide appears.
![]() Note | You may opt to close the Quick Guide and proceed to the set up tasks on your own, via the Cisco VTS GUI. To get a list of tasks that need to be performed to set up and get started with Cisco VTS, see Initial Configuration Tasks section. At any time, you can access the Quick Guide from the settings menu on the top right corner of the Cisco VTS GUI. |
Task |
Subtasks |
Doc Section |
Administration |
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Set up Inventory |
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Admin Domains |
Create Admin Domains |
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Set up Tenants |
Add Tenants |
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Set up Overlay |
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After bringing up the Virtual Topology Controller (VTC) Virtual Machine (VM), do the following:
![]() Note | Before you perform the tasks below, ensure that installation is complete, day zero configuration on leafs is done, and all underlay configurations are working. |
Sequence |
Task |
Navigation in VTS GUI / User Guide Section |
Additional Notes |
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1 |
Create an Authorization Group |
Inventory > Authorization Group For more information about creating authorization group, see Managing Users and Groups |
This will have credentials for logging into your devices. You can create as many auth groups as necessary. |
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2 |
Discover the Topology of all the leafs, spine, border-leafs, and DCI |
Discovery > Topology Discovery For more information about adding devices and host information, see Performing Auto Discovery |
VTFs and IOS XRv are not detected in topology discovery. |
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3 |
Import the devices after adding the auth group |
Inventory > Import Inventory For more information about adding devices and host information, see Importing Inventory using CSV File |
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4 |
Add the Domain ID, DHCP Server IP, and Anycast Gateway MAC |
Administration > System Settings For more information about adding devices and host information, see Administering Cisco VTS. |
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5 |
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See the Installing the Virtual Topology Forwarder section in the Cisco VTS Installation Guide. |
IOS XRv takes a few minutes to boot. Register the VTF only after you see the VFG group on the GUI. To verify that the VFG group is created, go to Inventory > Virtual Forwarding Groups. |
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6 |
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7 |
Update the BGP ASN information for the devices |
Inventory > Network Inventory For more information, see Viewing Network Inventory. |
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Create resource pools |
For more information about creating an admin domain, see Managing Resource Pools |
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8 |
Create an Admin Domain |
Admin Domains > Domains For more information about creating an admin domain, see Creating an Admin Domain |
Properties for the L2/L3 Gateway Group are as follows: |
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9 |
Add the devices to the Gateway Group |
Admin Domains > Domains For more information about creating an admin domain, see Creating an Admin Domain |
See the Supported Platforms section in the Cisco VTS Installation Guide for details about devices support for different roles. | ||
10 |
Add the ToR and IOS XRv to the L2 and L3 Gateway Group |
Admin Domains > Domains For more information about creating an admin domain, see Creating an Admin Domain |
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11 |
Save the Admin Domain you created |
Admin Domains > Domains For more information about creating an admin domain, see Creating an Admin Domain |
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The following points need to be taken care of while you create a VDS.
![]() Note |
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If you are using VPC on the leaves:
Step 1 | Create one VDS switch for one or more VPC pairs. |
Step 2 | Enable
enhanced LACP.
See VMware documentation for the detailed procedure. |
Step 3 | Create a Link
Aggregation Group for each VDS.
See VMware documentation for the detailed procedure. |
Step 4 | You may remove the default port group that gets created as it will not be used . |