Ixia Software Release Notes
IxOS 8.13 EA
Build Number: 8.13.1260.16 (October 21, 2016)



About This Release

IxOS 8.13 EA is an "Early Adopter" release.

It is based on IxOS 8.12 EA, and adds support for the new Native IxOS on the new XGS2-HSL and XGS12-HSL chassis. 
There is also a software option to convert the XGS2-HS to XGS2-HSL chassis, and the XGS12-HS to XGS12-HSL chassis.

Please see the specific IxOS sections below for application compatibility requirements, known issues and the Product Compatibility Matrix for IxOS hardware support.
 
  

Application Compatibility

The following application releases support IxOS 8.13 EA:
Application IxOS 8.13 EA
BPS 8.13 EA
FLIX OS 2016.2.0.28 (XGS2-HS & XGS12-HS)
2016.1.72.101 (XGS2-HSL & XGS12-HSL)
HLTAPI 8.13 EA
IxANVL Not Supported
IxChariot Not Supported
IxLoad 8.13 EA
IxNetwork 8.13 EA
IxVM Not Supported
Licensing 4.40 EA Patch1
Test Conductor 3.60 GA
In addition, current interoperability and compatibility coverage for IxOS 8.13 EA can also be retrieved using the on-line compatibility tool: http://www.ixiacom.com/support-overview/product-support/product-compatibility-matrix

Licensing

Ixia Licensing

Any chassis which runs IxServer must have an IxOS license installed on it. IxOS 8.13 EA ships with Ixia Licensing 4.40 EA Patch1. IxLicensing 4.40 EA Patch1 upgrades IxLicensing 4.40 and earlier versions. If this is upgraded on release 3.xx, Ixia Licensing Utility (ILU) and License Server Plus (LS+) will replace Ixia Registration Utility (IRU) and License Server (LS). Some of the key benefits of this new licensing system are: - Simplified activation procedure - Improves offline activation using Request files. - Enhanced Host ID calculation to increase uniqueness of Host ID. - Allows remote activation of licenses - Allows configuration of Proxy settings For more information about the new IxLicensing system, please refer to the "Ixia Licensing Management User Guide" provided with the Ixia software, or downloadable from the Ixia web site.

Installing a License

Ixia Licensing 4.40 EA Patch1 upgrades Ixia Licensing 4.40 and prior versions on the machines. If the setup is upgraded from versions prior to 4.30 to 4.30 or 4.40 EA Patch1, the setup cannot be reverted to the previous version and will need to stay at 4.30 or 4.40 patch1 after the upgrade. This upgrade can be performed in below 2 ways: - Ixia Registration Utility (IRU) to Ixia Licensing Utility (ILU) - Old version of Ixia Licensing Utility (ILU) to the latest version of Ixia Licensing Utility (ILU) In case of IRU to ILU upgrade, ILU will override IRU and its registration numbers will be migrated as activation codes in ILU. During installation the system checks the connectivity with Ixia Licensing web servers. Based on the connectivity, you can perform the upgrade in the following ways: - Online Migration - Offline Migration

Prerequisite Installation Notes

Ixia Licensing 4.40 EA Patch1 installs .Net 4.0 on Chassis and .Net 4.5.1 on Clients and VM Chassis. NOTE: Ixia Licensing 4.40 EA Patch1 installs .Net 4.5.1 on client machines. If an older release of an Ixia product containing .Net 4.0 hotfix is installed on top of this release, .Net 4.0 hotfix installation may fail. The workaround is to uninstall .Net 4.5.1 and then reinstall the older release of Ixia product and then modify this release of Ixia Licensing.

Additional Documentation for Licensing

Please refer to our website at http://support.ixiacom.com/support-services/product-support/user-guides You will be required to provide a login and password to enter this section of the web site. If you do not have the username and password, please forward your request to support@ixiacom.com.

Installation Notes

Installation on XGS2-HS and XGS12-HS chassis

Starting from IxLoad 8.13 EA, the XGS2-HS, XGS12-HS chassis can optionally be converted to run Native IxOS, for improved stability and performance. The conversion removes the Microsoft Windows OS, and replaces it with IxOS running natively on the chassis (over Linux OS). Once complete the chassis are effectively converted to XGS2-HSL and XGS12-HSL. For more information, including the conversion process procedure, please download and read the Converting_XGS_and_PSOne_to_Native_IxOS.pdf document available on the IxOS Downloads And Update (https://support.ixiacom.com/support-overview/product-support/downloads-updates/versions/21)

Installation on PerfectStorm ONE appliance

In order to run IxLoad 8.13 EA, the PerfectStorm ONE appliance must be converted to run Native IxOS. The new Native IxOS provides for improved stability and performance. The conversion removes the Microsoft Windows OS, and replaces it with IxOS running natively on the appliance (over Linux OS). For more information, including the conversion process procedure, please download and read the Converting_XGS_and_PSOne_to_Native_IxOS.pdf document available on the IxOS Downloads And Update (https://support.ixiacom.com/support-overview/product-support/downloads-updates/versions/21)

Windows Chassis Installation Requirements

When installing IxOS 8.13 EA on a chassis, a minimum of 512MB of installed RAM and a minimum 2GB of free disk space on Drive C: is required. In addition, be sure that at least 400MB of temporary space is available. If your chassis does not meet these requirements, please contact Customer Support at support@ixiacom.com or 1-877-FOR-IXIA about appropriate upgrades. On heavily loaded chassis configurations, 1GB of RAM is recommended. NOTE: Non-English versions of the Windows operating system are not supported. NOTE: When installing from CD, some virus scanning configurations present a malicious code alert during execution of the Windows autorun feature. If this occurs, right-click the CD-ROM drive icon in Explorer and 'Explore' the CD. At the root of the CD, double-click on the index.htm file.

Installation Features

The IxOS installation program offers the user a selection of five installation options: Client, Server, Demo Server, Tcl Server, and Hardware Manager. The Server option is normally chosen for installation on Ixia chassis. The Demo Server option should NOT be chosen for chassis installations: it is used for client installations.

Server Configuration Options

There are three options offered for configuring IxOS server operations: Service, Startup, and Manual (None). 1. The Service option creates a Windows service for IxServer which can be managed via the Windows Service Control Manager. Desktop shortcuts are not created when using this option. However, Start Menu shortcuts are still available. The usual IxServer user interface is not available. As a result, configuration of IxServer (or Tcl Server) requires the user to stop the services and invoke the server via the Start Menu shortcuts. Once the configuration is complete, the servers can be closed via the user interface, and the service restarted. NOTE: Presently, Telnet connectivity is unavailable when Tcl Server is configured to run as a service. 2. The Startup option starts IxServer when any user logs on to the chassis. Start Menu shortcuts are also created. 3. The Manual(None) option simply creates Desktop and Start Menu shortcuts. IxServer and/or Tcl Server are not automatically started when the user logs in to the machine or the machine is rebooted. NOTE: Regardless of the service option selection, Demo Server is always configured to operate manually.

Tcl Version Option

IxOS is now shipping with Active State Tcl 8.5. When Client is selected for installation, the user is offered to install Tcl 8.5. If you select Tcl 8.5, be sure that your Tcl-based applications will run under this version. NOTE: When using IxOS 8.13 EA, the Tix 8.5 Tcl extension is delivered with the Tcl 8.5 installation. NOTE: If the Solaris TCL console doesn't start because it's missing libiconv or libgcc, follow these steps: 1. extract the archives on the Solaris machine 2. run the commands: pkgadd -d libgcc-3.3-sol10-sparc-local pkgadd -d libiconv-1.14-sol10-sparc-local pkgadd -d libintl-3.4.0-sol10-sparc-local

Operating System Support

Client PC

Windows: - Windows XP Professional 32-bit SP3 - Windows 2008 Server 64-bit - Windows 7 Enterprise 32-bit - Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit - Windows 7 Professional 32-bit - Windows 7 Professional 64-bit - Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit - Windows 2012 Server Standard R2 64-bit - Windows 8.1 Enterprise 32-bit and 64-bit - Windows 10 Pro The support for the following Operating System has been dropped starting with IxOS 8.13 EA; - Windows Vista Enterprise SP2 32-bit and 64-bit - DROPPED UNIX: - Fedora Core 14 - RedHat Enterprise 5.0 Other versions of UNIX platforms may operate properly, but are not officially supported. VMWare: - Server 1.0.2 - Server 2.0

Chassis

- Windows XP Professional 32-bit SP3 - Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit NOTE: The following foreign languages are supported on the chassis running the above Windows versions: - Chinese (traditional and simplified) - French - German - Hebrew - Italian - Japanese - Spanish - Swedish

UNIX Installation Notes

In order to run the GUI installer, your client machine must be configured with an operational X-windows server. Be sure to set your DISPLAY environment variable to the host name or IP address of the client machine on which you want the installer GUI to display. Below are examples for setting the DISPLAY environment variable using various shells. If you need environment configuration assistance beyond this, please consult your System Administrator. // enable connections to X Server xhost + or xhost [remote hostname] // set DISPLAY environment variable // determine shell echo $SHELL // depending on what shell you use - Bourne shell (bsh or sh), // Bash (bash- Bourne shell again), C shell (csh) or Korn shell (ksh); // set DISPLAY environment variable: // bash: export DISPLAY=hostname:0 // bsh or ksh: DISPLAY=hostname:0 export DISPLAY // csh: setenv DISPLAY hostname:0 If you are updating an existing installation, be sure to run the installer as the same user who initially installed the software. Always run the uninstaller prior to removing any files manually. If installing as the root user, using an install location is a network-mounted file system, ensure the root user has write permission to the file system. To install the Tcl Client on Linux, perform the following steps: (Note: the binary file name 'IxOS8.13.XXX.XXXLinux.bin' is used in the example below. In most cases, the file name will be different.) 3.1 Copy the 'IxOS8.13.XXX.XXXLinux.bin' file to the system. 3.2 Before starting the installation, make sure the IxOS binary is executable. If not, type "chmod +x 'filename'" (where 'filename' is the binary file name). Check the permissions of the target directory to make sure full permission is granted. 3.3 Execute the IxOS installer file (use the gui option if installing via console or remote shell). Example: ./IxOS8.13.XXX.XXXLinux.bin 3.4 When the installer prompts, select Tcl version 8.5. 3.5 Follow the installation prompts to complete the installation. If the installation fails, check that there is enough disk space on the system by using the "df -ak" command. There must enough space in the /tmp folder (to extract the files), and in the target folder (where files are to be installed). If the /tmp dir does not have enough space, specify the dir by setting IATEMPDIR environment with path to the folder where you have enough free space. The following example show the use of the options: export IATEMPDIR=/tempdir ./IxOS8.13.XXX.XXXLinux.bin To install IxOS using tgz package, perform the following steps: 3.1 Create the destination folder. 3.2 Extract and copy all folders and files from the tgz package into the destination folder. 3.3 After installation, set the following variables:(Note: Examples below match the sample installation; they must be altered to match user installation.) IXIA_HOME=/export/home/ixos8.13 IXIA_VERSION=8.13.XXX.XXX TCLLIBPATH=/export/home/ixos8.13/lib 3.4 Optionally, specify the following environment variables to specify the location of the log, sample, and results files for IxOS: IXIA_LOGS_DIR=$IXIA_HOME/logs IXIA_RESULTS_DIR=$IXIA_HOME/results IXIA_SAMPLES=$IXIA_HOME/samples IXIA_TCL_DIR=$IXIA_HOME/lib 3.5 If the Tcl option was installed with an IxOS installation, add Ixia's bin and lib directory to the PATH and LD_LIBRARY_PATH variable in order to use it. For example: IxiaLibPath=$IXIA_HOME/lib IxiaBinPath=$IXIA_HOME/bin PATH=$IxiaBinPath:$PATH LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$IxiaLibPath:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH

Downgrading to a previous version of IxOS

When downgrading to a release of IxOS prior to 5.10 SP2 on a chassis, all Ixia applications must be un-installed from the chassis and re-installed after the IxOS downgrade is completed. Please perform the following steps using the Add/Remove Programs application. 1. Un-install current IxOS installation. 2. Un-install all Ixia applications. 3. Un-install StatEngine and all PCPU packages 4. Install IxOS 5. Install previously un-installed application. Note, these application installations install StatEngine if required. There is no need to install this separately. Note, any card, port, stream, etc., files generated by IxOS are forward compatible but not backward compatible.

Tcl/Tk Support for Client Applications

Tcl Server was first supplied free of charge starting with IxOS 3.80 EA. 
Installation of this feature is optional; it should only be installed if 
required for specific application.
 
Installation and operation of the Tcl Server is required for IxChariot when 
running hardware performance pairs, for IxANVL when running VNIC (Virtual 
Network Interface Card) and for IxAuthenticate. The Tcl Server can be installed 
on either the Ixia chassis or a separate Windows workstation. 

The following limitations exist with respect to Wish and Tcl shell support:

   Tcl shell does not run on any version of Windows with Ixia software. Under
   Linux or Solaris, the Tcl shell runs on any version of Tcl greater than or 
   equal to 8.3.

How to Report Problems

Contact List Change: 4150211; Date: 2013/09/24

USA, Canada and Latin America Customer Support

Hours: 6:00am PST to 6:00pm PST
Email: support@ixiacom.com
Phone: +1-818-595-2599

Europe, Middle East, and Africa Customer Support

Hours: 07:00 to 17:30 GMT
Email: support-emea@ixiacom.com
Phone: +40-21-301-5699

India Customer Support

Hours: 09:00 to 17:30 local time
Email: support-india@ixiacom.com
Phone: +91-80-4939-6410

China Customer Support

Hours: 09:00 - 18:00 local time (Beijing time), Monday through Friday
Email: support-china@ixiacom.com
Phone: 400-898-0598 (Greater China region)
Phone: +86-10-5732-3932 (Hong Kong customers)
Fax: +86-10-8454-9198

Asia Pacific Customer Support

Hours: 09:00 to 17:30 local time (Singapore)
Email: support-asiapac@ixiacom.com
Phone: +91-80-4939-6410

Japan Customer Support

Hours: 09:00 to 17:30 local time (Japan), Business days
Email: support-japan@ixiacom.com
Phone: +81-3-5326-1980
Fax: +81-3-3348-7733

Additional Documentation

Please refer to our website at http://support.ixiacom.com/support-services/product-support/user-guides.

You will be required to provide a login and password to enter this section of 
the web site. If you do not have the username and password, please forward your 
request to support@ixiacom.com.

Field Notices

Laser Warnings

The 10G load modules may use a Class III laser. Precautions should be taken to prevent personal injury. The spring-loaded safety cover should always be securely in place over the port when there is no cable installed. Avoid exposure and never look directly into an open port aperture.

Installing / Uninstalling Load Modules

Modules in the XGS12-SD, XGS12-HS, XGS12-HSL, XGS2-SD, XGS2-HS, XGS2-HSL, XG12, XM12, and XM2 can be installed/uninstalled with the chassis operational. For all chassis types, use caution when inserting or removing multi-slot modules to evenly insert and remove. Load modules are tightly spaced; avoid contacting the adjoining modules while inserting and removing.
Safety Notice Regarding Ixia Load Modules
WARNING: In order to prevent accidental injury to personnel, do not leave SFP (or SFP+) cages uncovered on Ixia load modules. When transceivers are not installed, port end caps (Part No. 503-006) must be used. The metal edge of the SFP cage is SHARP. To avoid injury, ALWAYS keep the SFP cage covered. Affected load modules include these: - NGY and NGY-NP with SFP+ interface, 2/4/8-port, all models - Dual PHY SFF cards with RJ45 and SFP Gigabit (TXS and STXS) - LSM1000XMV 4/8/12/16-port, all models - LSM1000XMS12/12R - LSM1000XMVDC 4/8/12/16-port - LSM1000XMVDC16NG GigE, 16-Port Dual-PHY - LSM1000XMVDC4NG GigE, 4-port Dual-PHY - LSM1000XMSP12 - ASM1000XMV12X/12XRTP - AFM1000SP - ELM1000ST2 - Xcellon FlexAP10G16S 10GbE SFP+ LAN - Xcellon FlexFE10G16S 10GbE SFP+ LAN - Xcellon-FlexAP10/4016SQ 10/40GbE LAN - Xcellon-Ultra NP (formerly ACCELERON-NP and XP) - Xdensity XDM10G32S 10GbE SFP+ load module - Xdensity XDM10G8S 10GbE SFP+ load module Contact Ixia Technical Support to obtain end caps. Please reference Ixia Product safety notice Part No. 913-0715 Rev A, June 2009. For additional information refer to Chapter three of the IXOS Getting Started Guide under the section, Notes, Cautions and Warnings.
Use Ejector Tabs Properly
Ejector tabs on load modules are to be used only to eject a load module from the chassis backplane connector. They are not designed to support the weight of the load module. Ejector tabs can bend or break if used improperly as handles to push, pull, or carry a load module.

What's New in IxOS

IxOS 8.13 EA Features

Automation
The Ixia Tcl API Server is now embedded in the Native IxOS chassis (both virtual and hardware). This enables users to run IxTclHAL scripts pointing directly to the Native IxOS chassis, in an end-to-end all-Linux automation environment, eliminating the requirement of an intermediary Windows machine.

Infrastructure
Support for the new Native IxOS on all PerfectStorm ONE appliances. IxOS now runs natively on the PerfectStorm ONE appliances shipped from the factory (without the Windows OS). There is also a software option to field-convert existing PerfectStorm ONE (Windows) appliances to the PerfectStorm ONE (Linux) appliances. The software and documentation on converting the appliances can be downloaded from the IxOS 8.13 EA download page on support.ixiacom.com.
The new Native IxOS chassis and appliances include a new easy-to-use Web Interface so users can simply browse to it for Chassis management and/or to use the BreakingPoint User application. The chassis also include a new Command Line Interface (CLI) for detailed configuration and troubleshooting. The CLI is consistent with Ixia's IxNetwork VE, IxLoad VE, and Ixia Developer
Support for the new Native IxOS on the new XGS2-HSL and XGS12-HSL chassis. IxOS now runs natively on the HSL chassis. No more Windows OS. There is also a software option to field-convert existing XGS2-HS and XGS12-HS (Windows) chassis to the XGS2-HSL and XGS12-HSL (Linux) chassis. The software and documentation on converting the chassis can be downloaded from the IxOS 8.13 EA download page on support.ixiacom.com.


Known Issues List

Chassis Management Console

Bug Number Notes
1391007 Ports will remain green on Perfect Storm 100G load module during mode switch.

Metronome

Bug Number Notes
1417448 Metronome timing system is not supported in this release with Native IxOS chassis

Miscellaneous

Bug Number Notes
1406934 After restoring XGS-HS chassis to Windows, you need physical access to the chassis in order to remove the power cables from the chassis for 10 seconds before powering it on. If power is not removed, the chassis will power on but the management IP will not be accessible.

NOVUS100GE8Q28+FAN

Bug Number Notes
1411687 Up to 2 NOVUS100GE8Q28 cards are supported in XGS12-HS (Windows) chassis in the current release. XGS12-HSL chassis supports up to 12 cards

PerfectStorm ONE

Bug Number Notes
1406494 Occasionally, PerfectStorm ONE might stop responding to any external communication. Workaround is to disable Turbo Mode from BIOS. Reboot chassis, keep pressing ESC + 2 to enter BIOS go to Configuration =] CPU Configuration =] TurboMode set to Disabled.


Resolved Defects List

NOVUS100GE8Q28+FAN

Bug Number Notes
1411207 Novus is advertising 25GBASE-CR while advertising support for 50G