Setting up static VXLAN on ArubaOS-CX

ArubaOS-CX 6000 series switch supports VXLAN, both static and dynamic (EVPN). The virtual version also supports it. Let’s learn basic VXLAN configuration using a virtual lab on EVE-NG.

In this lab we are going to build a topology as the diagram below. There are 3 leaf CX switches (CX1/CX2/CX3) with access port on vlan 10. The vlan 10 is not part of their uplinks, so we need to setup VXLAN tunnels to have L2 connectivity between them.

Note that you need to setup full-mesh tunnels because traffic can’t traverse 2 VXLAN tunnels. First let’s configure vlan and ports.

CX1 configuration

vlan 10
interface 1/1/1
    no shutdown
    ip address 10.0.0.1/30
interface 1/1/6
    no shutdown
    no routing
    vlan access 10
ip route 0.0.0.0/0 10.0.0.2

CX2 configuration

vlan 10
interface 1/1/1
    no shutdown
    ip address 20.0.0.1/30
interface 1/1/6
    no shutdown
    no routing
    vlan access 10
ip route 0.0.0.0/0 20.0.0.2

CX3 configuration

vlan 10
interface 1/1/1
    no shutdown
    ip address 30.0.0.1/30
interface 1/1/6
    no shutdown
    no routing
    vlan access 10
ip route 0.0.0.0/0 30.0.0.2

Router configuration

interface 1/1/1
    no shutdown
    ip address 10.0.0.2/30
interface 1/1/2
    no shutdown
    ip address 20.0.0.2/30
interface 1/1/3
    no shutdown
    ip address 30.0.0.2/30

Let’s check they can ping each other.

CX1# ping 20.0.0.1
PING 20.0.0.1 (20.0.0.1) 100(128) bytes of data.
108 bytes from 20.0.0.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=63 time=3.52 ms
108 bytes from 20.0.0.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=63 time=4.05 ms

CX1# ping 30.0.0.1
PING 30.0.0.1 (30.0.0.1) 100(128) bytes of data.
108 bytes from 30.0.0.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=63 time=4.06 ms
108 bytes from 30.0.0.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=63 time=3.22 ms

If routing is OK, proceed to setting up static VXLAN.

CX1 static VXLAN configuration

interface vxlan 1
    source ip 10.0.0.1
    no shutdown
    vni 10
        vlan 10
        vtep-peer 20.0.0.1
        vtep-peer 30.0.0.1

CX2 static VXLAN configuration

interface vxlan 1
    source ip 20.0.0.1
    no shutdown
    vni 10
        vlan 10
        vtep-peer 10.0.0.1
        vtep-peer 30.0.0.1

CX3 static VXLAN configuration

interface vxlan 1
    source ip 30.0.0.1
    no shutdown
    vni 10
        vlan 10
        vtep-peer 10.0.0.1
        vtep-peer 20.0.0.1

Then start VPC and configure IP address with ‘ip’ command.

VPCS> ip 192.168.10.1/24
Checking for duplicate address...
PC1 : 192.168.10.1 255.255.255.0

Check if all 3 VPCs can ping each other.

VPCS> ping 192.168.10.2

84 bytes from 192.168.10.2 icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=4.621 ms
84 bytes from 192.168.10.2 icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=4.451 ms
84 bytes from 192.168.10.2 icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=4.859 ms
84 bytes from 192.168.10.2 icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=4.942 ms
84 bytes from 192.168.10.2 icmp_seq=5 ttl=64 time=4.207 ms

VPCS> ping 192.168.10.3

84 bytes from 192.168.10.3 icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=4.201 ms
84 bytes from 192.168.10.3 icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=4.687 ms
84 bytes from 192.168.10.3 icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=4.343 ms
84 bytes from 192.168.10.3 icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=4.711 ms
84 bytes from 192.168.10.3 icmp_seq=5 ttl=64 time=3.919 ms

Check MAC address table on CX. You should see ‘vxlan1’ in ‘Port’ column.

CX1# show mac-address-table
MAC age-time            : 300 seconds
Number of MAC addresses : 3

MAC Address          VLAN     Type                      Port
--------------------------------------------------------------
00:50:79:66:68:06    10       dynamic    vxlan1(30.0.0.1)
00:50:79:66:68:04    10       dynamic                   1/1/6
00:50:79:66:68:05    10       dynamic    vxlan1(20.0.0.1)

You configured static VXLAN successfully.