Cisco WAE 7.1 Release Notes
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Table of Contents
Cisco WAN Automation Engine Release Notes, Release 7.1
Overview of Inter-AS and Inter-Area Support
Cisco WAE Coordinated Maintenance
Using the Cisco Bug Search Tool
License Check Failures on Newer Linux Distributions
Cisco WAN Automation Engine Release Notes, Release 7.1
This document describes the features, limitations, and bugs for Cisco WAN Automation Engine (Cisco WAE) Release 7.1.
Introduction
Cisco WAN Automation Engine (WAE) provides the tools to create and maintain a model of the current network through the continual monitoring and analysis of the network and the traffic demands that are placed on it. This network model contains all relevant information about a network at a given time, including topology, configuration, and traffic information. You can use this information as a basis for analyzing the impact on the network due to changes in traffic demands, paths, node and link failures, network optimizations, or other changes.
The WAE platform is an open, programmable framework that interconnects software modules, communicates with the network, and provides APIs to interface with external applications.
Note To find related WAE documentation, see the Cisco WAE 7.1 Documentation Roadmap.
New Features
This section lists new features for the following:
- WAE Platform and System
- WAE Design
- Cisco WAE Live
- Cisco WAE Coordinated Maintenance
- CLI Changes
- YANG Data Model
- New APIs
WAE Platform and System
A YANG model architecture and new network model building workflow has been introduced in Cisco WAE 7.1. Network models are built from configuring Network Interface Modules (NIMOs) instead of using the snapshot collection process used in prior WAE 6.x releases. For these reasons, all tools and procedures are new. To learn how to use WAE 7.1, see the Cisco WAE 7.1 User Guide .
The following table outlines some of the new features in WAE 7.1.
Installation is simpler and faster than previous WAE releases.
WAE 7.1 adopts the YANG data modeling language for its configuration and operational data structure. In addition, WAE 7.1 provides a standard northbound API based on NETCONF/YANG and REST. See YANG Data Model.
The WAE UI has been redesigned. There are three available interfaces: WAE CLI, WAE Expert Mode, and the WAE UI. For more information, see the "Overview" section in the Cisco WAE 7.1 User Guide.
The network model is a result of running NIMOs. Each NIMO is associated with one network model (which is similar to the -plan-file option in CLI tools). Each NIMO typically has a source and the resulting output is written to the network model (which is similar to the -out-file option in CLI tools).
The output of one NIMO can be used as a source for another NIMO. Consolidation of multiple NIMOs is done using an aggregator.
Agents are collections that produce a raw set of data output, which is then used as input to NIMOs to build the network model.
- xtc—Connects to the REST interface of the XR Transport Controller (XTC) and retrieves the PCE topology. The topo-bgpls-xtc-nimo and lsp-pcep-xtc-nimo modules use the raw output to build their respective network model.
- cfg-parse—Retrieves the router configurations through login or CLI, and then parses the router configurations and writes raw output to the database. The port-cfg-parse-nimo module uses the raw output for Layer 1 collection.
WMD provides a near real-time representation (model) of the network in memory so that applications can get access to that model. For more information, see the "Overview" chapter in the Cisco WAE User Guide.
The Bandwidth on Demand (BWoD) application utilizes the near real-time model of the network offered by WMD to compute and maintain paths for SR policies with bandwidth constraints delegated to WAE from XTC. In order to compute the shortest path available for a SR policy with a bandwidth constraint and ensure that path will be free of congestion, a Path Computation Element (PCE) must be aware of traffic loading on the network. The WAE BWoD application extends the existing topology-aware PCE capabilities of XTC by allowing delegation of bandwidth-aware path computation ofSR policiesto be sub-delegated to WAE through a new XTC REST API. Users may fine-tune the behavior of the BWoD application, affecting the path it computes, through selection of application options including network utilization threshold (definition of congestion) and path optimization criteria preferences.
The Bandwidth Optimization application is an approach to managing network traffic that focuses on deploying a small number of LSPs to achieve a specific outcome in the network. Examples of this type of tactical traffic engineering are deploying LSPs to shift traffic away from a congested link, establishing a low-latency LSP for priority voice or video traffic, or deploying LSPs to avoid certain nodes or links. WAE provides the Bandwidth Optimization application to react and manage traffic as the state of the network changes.
The basic idea of LSA is to split a service into an upper layer and one or several lower level parts. This can be viewed as splitting the service into a customer-facing (CFS) and a resource-facing (RFS) part. The CFS code (upper-level) runs in one (or several) NSO cfs-nodes, and the RFS code (lower-level) runs in one of many NSO rfs-nodes. The rfs-nodes have each a portion of the managed devices mounted in their / devices tree and the cfs-nodes have the NSO rfs-nodes mounted in their /devices tree. For more information on NSO LSA, see the NSO Layered Service Architecture guide. For information on how to configure LSA for WAE, see the "WAE Administration" chapter in the Cisco WAE User Guide .
Multi-layer collection is supported. WAE collects and models the following information:
- Topologies from DWDM networks that support Generalized Multiprotocol Label Switching (GMPLS) with non-User Network Interface (UNI) circuits
- L1 circuit paths
- L1 topology with and without amplifiers
- Unprotected and restorable paths
- Actual L1 circuit path hops
- Feasibility metrics and limits
- Inactive L1 links
- L1 node and L1 link SRLGs
- Site information
- User properties
- Configurable Lambda ID mapping options
- Aging information and last seen date
For more information, see the "Multi-Layer Collection" chapter in the Cisco WAE User Guide .
Centralized and distributed NetFlow collection is supported using the external-executable-nimo.
For more information, see the "NetFlow Data Collection" chapter in the Cisco WAE User Guide .
The following CLI options are deprecated:
If the plan file ends in .pln or .txt, it is converted automatically; the CLI option is no longer required.
WAE Design
The following features have been added or updated since WAE Design 6.4.x. For the latest WAE Design documentation, see the following URL: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/routers/quantum-wan-automation-visibility-engine/products-user-guide-list.html
The Send Patch dialog box provides the option to dry run a patch before deploying it. (Check Dry Run or set the Test Option to Test Only .) If the patch dry run succeeds, you can deploy the patch easily. (Click Send Patch in the status popup; return to the Send Patch dialog box with the patch preselected.)
- SR TE Optimization tool now creates or optimizes segment lists so they avoid routing through specified objects (nodes, interfaces, L1 links, L1 nodes, or SRLGs). In previous releases, only the avoidance of nodes was supported. For example, if an L1 link is specified to be avoided, then all L3 circuits associated (directly or indirectly via port circuits) to L1 circuits using this L1 link will be avoided. Multiple avoidance constraints may be simultaneously specified.
The following UI options are available under the Constraints area (SR LSP Optimization > SR-TE Opt):
- The SR TE Optimization tool allows for rerouting of existing LSPs. New rerouting LSP options available in the UI (SR LSP Optimization > SR-TE BW Opt > Analysis and SR LSP Optimization > SR-TE BW Opt > Analysis).
– Create new LSPs—If checked, new private SR LSPs with optimized routing can be created. If unchecked, new LSPs are not created.
– Fix LSPs—Controls whether or not LSP routes can be modified. This constraint is useful if you want to reroute existing LSPs to mitigate congestion.
The new CLI options are described in the New CLI Options section.
The Tools menu has been restructured by protocol.
For example, the various Optimization options under the Tools menu have submenus that are based on common protocols.
The View Preferences dialog box has these enhancements:
- New scaling options for objects and fonts. Circuit and link widths in layouts are scaled according to the scale factors in the network plot. The valid range, in percentages, for scale factors is from 5 to 1000.
- The option to choose a grey or multicolored palette for background maps in geographic layouts.
- The option to choose a grey or white background for schematic plots.
- A Reset button that lets you reset preferences to the default.
You can plot the routes of point-to-multipoint (P2MP) LSPs in a separate plot.
You can optimize the routing of L1 circuit paths by metric, delay, distance, or hop count. The L1 Circuit Path Optimization tool lets you find the shortest path while meeting disjointness requirements. You can find the shortest path with respect to:
WAE Design allows unresolved hops to be stored for each segment list hop.
You can specify the maximum segment list length for specific LSPs. Any segment lists that exceed the maximum length are replaced by new LSPs, LSP paths, and segment lists. Newly created LSPs are set as segment list hops for other LSPs.
You can configure the appearance of circuits and interfaces in network plots. You can choose to display the SID value as the interface text.
By default, L1 nodes are visible in the network plot. You can hide L1 nodes and their respective L1 links on a per-layout basis, though they still exist in the plan file and tables.
Option to set and position the display name of L1 nodes in network plots
By default, L1 node names appear above the object in a network plot; you can change this positioning.
When you delete objects from link aggregation groups (LAGs), you have the option to delete any associated L1 circuits and L1 ports.
Simulation now supports inter-AS RSVP LSPs. Also, the following tools now support inter-AS RSVP LSPs:
You can edit a patch before sending it. To do this, choose Tools > Patches > View , open a patch file, and click Edit Patch . A dialog box opens, displaying the contents of the patch as XML text.
You can save or discard the patch text edits. The tool warns you if you try to save invalid XML syntax. You can right-click in the patch text dialog and choose Undo to undo changes. Other standard text editing (cut, copy, paste, and so on) is also supported.
Option to visualize L1 paths when plotting demands, LSPs, LSP paths, or P2MP LSPs
You can easily visualize multilayer L1 paths when plotting demands, LSPs, LSP paths, or P2MP LSPs. For example, in a complicated plot you can easily verify whether two LSPs are disjoint in terms of L1 links.
To visualize L1 paths, do any of the following:
- Right-click a demand and choose Plot Demands
- Right-click an LSP and choose Plot LSPs
- Right-click an LSP path and choose Plot LSP Paths
- Right-click a P2MP LSP and choose Plot P2MP LSPs
The plot window contains a drop-down list with the following options:
– To better align the L1 links, WAE Design checks for L3-L1 links. If they do not exist, WAE Design checks for collocated L3/L1 nodes within sites.
– WAE Design does not perform alignment between L3 and L1 nodes. When you click an L3 interface, the associated L1 links are highlighted automatically.
For more information, see the "Cisco WAE Installation Requirements" chapter in the Cisco WAE Installation Guide .
Option to associate an existing demand to an existing private LSP
If a demand is associated with a private LSP, the demand can only route through that LSP, and the only demand that is permitted to cross that LSP is this demand.
In the demand’s Properties dialog box, you can associate an existing demand to an existing private LSP. (To open the Properties dialog box, right-click the demand and choose Properties .) The Private LSP drop-down list shows the private LSP that is currently associated with the selected demand. You can choose a different private LSP, or you can choose None to remove an associated LSP.
L1 feasibility calculations now consider unidirectional parameters for L1 links (noise and noise sigma) and a margin for L1 circuits.
The Capacity Planning Optimization tool now accounts for costs and different capacity increments. The CLI options are described in the New CLI Options section.
There is a new option that (through different calculation methods) can minimize computation time. The CLI option is described in the New CLI Options section.
You can determine the number of L1 circuit paths through an L1 node under normal operation and in a worst-case simulation.
The L1 Nodes table includes new columns:
- Num L1 Circuit Paths—Number of L1 circuit paths with paths through the L1 node.
- WC Num L1 Circuit Paths—Worst-case number of L1 circuit paths with paths through the L1 node.
- WC Failures—Failures that cause the worst-case number of L1 circuit paths.
The L1 Nodes context menu includes a new option: Fail to WC (worst case).
The L1 Nodes table contains a new "Shown" column with values of true or false:
Option to configure the number of route attempts on L1 paths
In earlier WAE Design releases, the number of attempted routes for L1 circuit paths was set to 5.
In WAE Design 7.1 you can configure the number of attempted routes for L1 circuit paths. Increasing the number of attempted routes allows for more paths to be explored, thereby potentially reducing the number of unrouted L1 circuits. This increases the overall computation time. To configure the number of route attempts, choose Edit > Network Options and set the Number of Attempts to Route L1 Circuit Paths parameter.
You can group nodes and sites and build a hierarchy of sites.
In earlier WAE Design releases, site memberships were fixed for all layouts, per plan file: You could only have one set of site groups, which you had to visualize in the same way.
In WAE Design 7.1 you can expand or collapse a site per layout. You can control the level of detail shown in individual layouts. You can collapse down to the node level at one site, but still keep other sites intact. For example, one layout could have "France" as the main focus, and other regions could be collapsed (U.S. sites grouped together under a single "USA" site). Another layout could have the opposite display: U.S. sites expanded, and the "France" site collapsed.
To expand or collapse sites per layout, right-click a site and choose Layout > Expand Site or Layout > Collapse Site .
When a site is expanded, its contents are shown (instead of the site itself). When a site is collapsed, the site itself is shown. This feature allows you to better scale a plot that contains many objects.
Option to ignore SSL errors in the Open/Save and from/to Design Archive dialog boxes
File > Open From > WAE Modeling Daemon
There is also an new icon on the Toolbar that can be used to open a plan file from WMD.
When you choose Tools > Simulation Analysis and run the analysis, the resulting report (Figure 1) shows:
Figure 1 WAE Design Simulation Analysis Report
Overview of Inter-AS and Inter-Area Support
The following table shows which WAE Design tools support inter-area and inter-AS functionality.
WAE Design Schema
Refer to the /opt/cariden/software/mate/current/docs/table_schema.html file for a complete reference.
Cisco WAE Live
The following features have been added or updated since WAE Live 6.4.x. For information on how to use WAE Live, see the Cisco WAE 6.4 Administration Guide and the Cisco WAE 6.4.1 User Guide .
There are a few WAE Live installation changes which include the following:
- WAE Live must be installed on a different machine than where the WAE 7.1 server software is installed.
- If you have not used WAE Live on the system before, the default password for the user
adminis "admin".- Updated WAE Live data store migration steps.
For more information on installation, data migration, and system requirements, see the Cisco WAE 7.1 Installation Guide .
From Settings > Data Source , select the 7.1 Remote Archive radio button and enter the WAE 7.1 server details.
Cisco WAE Coordinated Maintenance
The installation steps for WAE Coordinated Maintenance has changed. For installation information, see the Cisco WAE 7.1 Installation Guide . For information on how to use WAE Coordinated Maintenance, see the Cisco WAE Coordinated Maintenance 1.2 User and Administration Guide.
CLI Changes
WAE CLI tools are located in <wae-installation-directory> /bin. For available CLI options and descriptions, execute the CLI tool with the -help option. If WAE Design is installed, the WAE Design CLI tools are located in /opt/cariden/software/mate/current/bin.
New CLI Tools
The following table describes new CLI tools in WAE 7.1.
New CLI Options
The following table describes new CLI options in WAE 7.1.
New APIs
The following table describes new API features. WAE Design API documentation is located in $CARIDEN_HOME/docs/api/design.
YANG Data Model
WAE 7.1 adopts the YANG data modeling language for its configuration and operational data structures. In addition, WAE 7.1 provides a standard northbound API based on NETCONF/YANG and REST.
YANG is a data modeling language used to describe configuration and operational data, remote procedure calls, and notifications for network devices. The salient features of YANG are:
Documentation
To find descriptions of all related Cisco WAE documentation, see the Cisco WAE 7.1 Documentation Roadmap.
Note We sometimes update the documentation after original publication. Therefore, you should always review the documentation on Cisco.com for any updates.
Documentation Changes
- The Cisco WAE Platform Configuration Guide and the Cisco WAE System Administration Guide are deprecated; content is available in the new Cisco WAE User Guide .
- The Cisco WAE Server Installation Guide has been renamed to Cisco WAE Installation Guide . It includes system requirements and procedures for installing WAE Live and WAE Coordinated Maintenance.
Open Bugs
The following are descriptions of the resolved bugs in Cisco WAE Release 7.1. The bug IDs link you to the Cisco Bug Search tool.
Using the Cisco Bug Search Tool
You can use the Cisco Bug Search Tool to search for a specific bug or to search for all bugs in a release.
Step 1 Go to the Cisco Bug Search Tool.
Step 2 Enter your registered Cisco.com username and password, and click Log In .
Note If you do not have a Cisco.com username and password, you can register here.
Step 3 Use any of these options to search for bugs, and then press Enter (Return) to initiate the search:
- To search for a specific bug, enter the bug ID in the Search For field.
- To search for bugs based on specific criteria, enter search criteria, such as a problem description, a feature, or a product name, in the Search For field.
- To search for bugs based on products, enter or select a product from the Product list. For example, if you enter “WAE,” you get several options from which to choose.
- To search for bugs based on releases, in the Releases list select whether to search for bugs affecting a specific release, bugs that were fixed in a specific release, or both. Then enter one or more release numbers in the Releases field.
Step 4 When the search results are displayed, use the filter tools to narrow the results. You can filter the bugs by status, severity, and so on.
To export the results to a spreadsheet, click Export Results to Excel .
Known Limitations
This section describes known limitations and restrictions for Cisco WAE.
Startup
The
$CARIDEN_HOMEdirectory is not automatically added to$PATH. (Only$CARIDEN_HOME/binis.) To start the WAE Design GUI from the command line when it is not under$CARIDEN_HOME/bin, you must specify its full path:/opt/cariden/software/mate/current/mate.License Check Failures on Newer Linux Distributions
Some newer Linux distributions use a new way (using
biosdevname) of naming hardware devices, including network interfaces. This causes some software that depends on the traditional naming (for example,eth0,eth1) to fail on license checks.The workaround is to append
biosdevname=0to the kernel line of the grub configuration file and reboot. (Syntax varies among distributions.)After reboot, you should be able to use ifconfig to verify that the NICs are named
eth0(oreth1, ...) instead of thebiosdevnamenames (such asp34p1).WAE Optical Plug-In
The optical plug-in (optical-nimo) is supported on Oracle JRE 1.8 but not on OpenJDK JRE. Oracle JRE 1.8 is not packaged with WAE 7.1. You can download Oracle JRE 1.8 from Oracle’s website.
If you are using a JRE other than Oracle JRE 1.8 for other Java programs and you want to use the optical plug-in, you must download Oracle JRE 1.8 and add the following lines to the beginning of the <WAE_installation_directory> /packages/optical-ctc-plugin/run.sh file:
WAE Design
- macOS Sierra 10.12 and later implements an additional security measure for applications that are not distributed through the App Store; this includes WAE Design.
By default, WAE Design is in a quarantine state as shown by the following command on a terminal:
The command returns the following output for a quarantined application:
As a workaround, remove WAE Design from quarantine by entering the following command in the directory where WAE Design is installed:
You can now run WAE Design 7.1 from macOS Sierra 10.12 and later.
FlexLM License Server
You cannot run the floating license server on a setup (Linux VM or actual host) that uses bonded virtual interfaces (that is, a setup with multiple interfaces that have the same MAC address but different IP addresses within a VM). If the WAE Design client tries to check out a license from a setup that uses bonded virtual interfaces, the license checkout fails with the error "No license found."
As a workaround, run the floating license server in a standard Linux VM or host.
WAE Collection
- Due to vendor MIB limitations, WAE cannot represent QoS traffic on interfaces that have more than one VLAN configured. If a network contains such interfaces, their queue traffic statistics are omitted from the collection. The total traffic on these interfaces is still measured. As a result, demands for every class of service estimated through Demand Deduction are less accurate. Estimates of traffic totals over all classes of services, however, are not affected.
- Due to lack of MIB support, SR tunnel type is not collected for Cisco IOS XR routers through SNMP.
- Collection of interface egress shaping rate for Alcatel-Lucent devices does not support LAG interfaces.
- Juniper MIBs do not support P2MP LSPs.
- OSPFv3 and IPv6 IS-IS databases cannot be collected.
- WAE cannot associate a GRE tunnel with the physical interface it uses to reach the tunnel destination because the IP-Tunnel MIB lacks this information.
- For Juniper routers: Signaled standby LSP option is not available from the standard MPLS-TE MIB. Only the active path option name is collected.
- For Cisco IOS XR routers:
– IGP topology collected through topo-igp-nimo module:
– IS-IS link-state database with TE extensions contains incorrect interface “admin-weights” (TE metric) on Intel-based routers.
– IPv6 IS-IS link-state database does not contain IPv6 interface addresses or parallel interfaces. This information is only available when Cisco IOS XR supports IS-IS IPv6 TE extensions.
– MAC Accounting is not supported.
– The lsp-snmp-nimo module does not set the Standby value in the <LSPPaths> table for signaled backup paths or collect named affinities configured with affinity-maps.
– The topo-bgp-nimo module does not build BGP pseudo-nodes among internal ASNs.
– The topo-bgp-nimo module does not collect BGP peers under PE-CE VRFs.
- TE Extended Admin Groups (EAGs), also known as extended affinities, are only supported from Juniper and parse_configs.
- There is no support for building port circuits for LAG members that are not within the same IGP (inter-AS circuits).
- It is not possible to distinguish between physically connected and unconnected LAG ports that are down for LAG port matching.
- The topo-igp-nimo module cannot be used when routers have a large number of links that cannot fit into a single PDU.
- With segment routing, concurrent RSVP-TE and SR-TE paths are not supported on the same LSP.
Accessibility Features
For a list of accessibility features in Cisco WAE, visit Cisco's Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) website, or contact accessibility@cisco.com.
All product documents except for images, graphics, and some charts are accessible. If you would like to receive the product documentation in audio format, braille, or large print, contact accessibility@cisco.com.
Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. To view a list of Cisco trademarks, go to this URL: www.cisco.com/go/trademarks . Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. (1721R)
Any Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and phone numbers used in this document are not intended to be actual addresses and phone numbers. Any examples, command display output, network topology diagrams, and other figures included in the document are shown for illustrative purposes only. Any use of actual IP addresses or phone numbers in illustrative content is unintentional and coincidental.
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