Ixia Software Release Notes
IxOS 8.31 EA
Build Number: 8.31.1360.8 (October 5, 2017)


About This Release 

IxOS 8.31 EA is an "Early Adopter" release.

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 8.31 EA:

 
      

              Application
              IxOS 8.31 EA
          

      
         
          

              BPS
              Not Supported
          
       
	  

              FLIX OS
              2017.1.0.1 (XGS2-HS & XGS12-HS)
2017.1.75.6 (XGS2-HSL/XGS12-HSL/NovusONE/PSONE)		
          
	 
	  

              HLTAPI
              8.31 EA
          

	  

              IxANVL
              Not Supported
          

	  

              IxChariot
              Not Supported
          

          

              IxLoad
              Not Supported
          

          

              IxNetwork
              8.31 EA
          

          

              IxVM
              8.31 EA
          

          

              Licensing
              4.60 EA
          

          

              Test Conductor
              3.60 GA
          

      




In addition, current interoperability and compatibility coverage for IxOS 
8.31 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 8.31 EA ships with Ixia Licensing 4.60 EA.

IxLicensing 4.60 EA upgrades IxLicensing 4.50 EA 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 4.60 EA upgrades Ixia Licensing 4.50 EA and prior versions on the 
machines. If the setup is upgraded from versions prior to 4.60,
the setup cannot be reverted to the previous version and will need to stay at 4.60 EA after the upgrade.

This upgrade can be performed in below 2 ways:

  - Ixia Registration Utility (IRU) to Ixia Licensing Utility (ILU)
  - Previous 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 4.60 EA installs .Net 4.0 on Chassis and .Net 4.5.1 on Clients  and VM Chassis.
 
NOTE: Ixia Licensing 4.60 EA 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 IxOS 8.13 EA, the XGS2-HS and XGS12-HS chassis can optionally be converted
to run Native IxOS, for improved stability and performance.
The conversion removes the Microsoft Windows Operating System, and replaces it with IxOS running natively on the chassis.
Once complete the chassis are effectively converted to XGS2-HSL and XGS12-HSL. 
For more information, including the conversion process procedure, please
read the Converting_XGS_and_PSOne_to_Native_IxOS.pdf document available on the IxOS Downloads And Update page
(https://support.ixiacom.com/support-overview/product-support/downloads-updates/versions/21)

For installation on Windows, Please follow the Windows Chassis Installation Requirements below.


Windows Chassis Installation Requirements

When installing IxOS 8.31 EA on a chassis, a minimum of 512MB of installed 
RAM and a minimum 2.5GB of free disk space on Drive C: is required. 
 
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.

NOTE: "Untrusted publisher" dialog box appears when installing on Windows 7.  
      Microsoft has issued a hotfix to resolve this issue. It is included in the IxOS installer 
      and requires a reboot early in the installation process, if not already installed.
      Please refer to the following Microsoft knowledgebase item for more information: 
      2921916


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 8.31 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 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 8.21 EA;
  - Windows Vista Enterprise SP2 32-bit and 64-bit - DROPPED

The support for the following Operating System has been dropped starting with IxOS 8.30 EA;
  - Windows XP Professional 32-bit SP3 - 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
  - CentOS Linux 7 (Core)
  
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


Chassis Management Console Browser Requirements
 

 
      

              Application
              Version
          

      
         
          

              Google Chrome
              32 or newer
          
       
	  

              Mozilla Firefox
              26 or newer
          
	 
	  

              Microsoft Internet Explorer
              11 or newer
          

	  

              Apple Safari
              9.1.3 or newer
          

      




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 'IxOS8.31.XXX.XXXLinux.bin' is used in the example 
below. In most cases, the file name will be different.)

3.1 Copy the 'IxOS8.31.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: ./IxOS8.31.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
./IxOS8.31.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/ixos8.31
        IXIA_VERSION=8.31.XXX.XXX
        TCLLIBPATH=/export/home/ixos8.31/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 



        
            

                
                    
 USA, Canada and Latin America Customer Support

                    

                    

                      Hours:
                      6:00am PST to 6:00pm PST
                    

                    

                      Email:
                      support@ixiacom.com
                    

                    

                      Phone:
                      1-818-595-2599

                    

                    

                      e-Fax:
                      1-818-449-0992 
                    

                    

                		
            
     
            

                
                    
 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
                    

                    

                		
            

            

                
                    
Japan Customer Support

                    

                    

                      Hours:
                      09:00 to 18:00 local time (Japan), Monday through Friday
                    

                    

                      Email:
                      support-japan@ixiacom.com
                    

                    

                      Phone:
                      +81-3-5326-1980
                    

                    

                      Fax:
                      +81-3-3348-7733
                    

                    

                		
            

            

                
                    
 Asia Pacific Customer Support

                    

                    

                      Hours:
                      09:00 to 17:30 local time (Singapore)
                    

                    

                      Email:
                      support-asiapac@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

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 transceiver 
(SFP/SFP+/QSFP/QSFP28/CXP/CFP4) 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 transceiver cage is SHARP. To avoid injury, ALWAYS keep the transceiver cage covered.
   
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 8.31 EA Features

Intinsic Latency Cancellation (ILC) support on 100 Mbps speed for Novus Appliance and Load Modules
Intinsic Latency Cancellation (ILC) support is added for 100 Mbps speed on Novus Appliance and Load Modules

NOVUS100GE8Q28+FAN
Management interface registers are added for all speed modes on Novus 100G load module. It can be accessed using IxExplorer GUI.
Physical Coding Sublayer (PCS) support is added for Novus 100GE ports.

Novus 8x100GE QSFP28 Load Module - 10GE/40GE Speed Option
905-1025: NOVUS 1x40GE/4x10GE FAN-OUT OPTION for a factory installed 1x40GE/4x10GE fan-out option for new purchases of the NOVUS100GE8Q28+FAN, 8-port, QSFP28 100GE (944-1140), NOVUS-M100GE8Q28+FAN (944-1156), or the NOVUS-R100GE8Q28+FAN 8-port, QSFP28 100GE reduced (944-1147) load modules. Note: This option is REQUIRED ON NEW PURCHASES to enable the 1x40GE/4x10GE speed on the NOVUS100GE8Q28+FAN, NOVUS-M100GE8Q28+FAN and NOVUS-R100GE8Q28+FAN load modules.
905-1026: NOVUS 1x40GE/4x10GE FAN-OUT-UPG FIELD UPGRADE Option purchase of the 1x40GE/4x10GE fan-out option for the NOVUS100GE8Q28+FAN, 8-port, QSFP28 100GE (944-1140) or the NOVUS-R100GE8Q28+FAN 8-port, NOVUS-M100GE8Q28+FAN (944-1156), or the QSFP28 100GE reduced (944-1147) load modules. Note: This option is REQUIRED ON FIELD UPGRADE PURCHASES to enable the 1x40GE/4x10GE speed on the NOVUS100GE8Q28+FAN, NOVUS-M100GE8Q28+FAN, or the NOVUS-R100GE8Q28+FAN 8-port, QSFP28 100GE reduced (944-1147) load modules. Note: For the 1x40GE/4x10GE upgrade purchase please provide the serial number of the desired load module to install the option on at the time of order placement.

VM
Support for new Port Statistics ("IPv4 Received Packets", "TCP Received Packets", "UDP Received Packets", "UDS Byte Count 1 / 2") has been added inside IxExplorer VE.
Support for new Intel Ethernet Controllers running in PCI PT or SR-IOV mode has been added. The list of supported NICs now includes 1G / 10G / 25G / 40G models.
Support for Qualified environments has been improved with the addition of new orchestrators (VMware vCenter 6.X) and vSwitches (VMware Distributed Virtual Switch).

Known Issues List

NOVUS100GE8Q28+FAN+10G+25G+40G+50G

Bug Number Notes
1452633 Switching mode from 10G to other speed modes from WebUI will display incorrect ports as active ports
1453014 The average latency value may be slightly higher than expected when using the 40/10GE speed option for the Novus 100GE QSFP28, 8-port load modules.
1454250 To change the TX lane mapping using TCL commands, one needs to use txLane setLaneList instead of txLane setLane command.
1458443 Occasionally IP interface setup and ARP may fail on ports if IxTclHal is used directly after IxNetwork. To avoid this issue, always use the IxNetwork standard cleanup API call “unassign” or HLAPI call “cleanup_sesssion” before using the IxTclHal APIs. If the test is already in a bad state with ARP not resolving, a port CPU reboot will clear the issue.

VM

Bug Number Notes
1453674 Due to having "malicious driver detection" feature enabled on ixgbe interfaces, running Raw or Ethernet/VLAN traffic will cause the interfaces to go down. To disable this feature, please run the following command on KVM / OpenStack platforms: insmod ixgbe.ko MDD=0,0
1455278 Performing release / connect ports from IxNetwork after changing the Promiscuous Mode or MTU settings will revert these settings to the original values. The workaround is to refresh the chassis connection from Port Selection after changing Promiscuous Mode or MTU settings from the Virtual Test Appliance CLI.
1455602 The Intel XL710 is a 40 GbE controller. The 2 x 40 GbE adapter using this controller is not intended to be a 2 x 40 GbE but a 1 x 40 GbE with an active back-up port. When attempting to use line-rate traffic involving both ports, the internal switch is saturated and the combined bandwidth between the two ports are limited to a total of 50 Gb/s.

Resolved Defects List

LSM1000XMVDC16

Bug Number Notes
1451459 100Mbps Full/Half Duplex mode can be selected for SFP phy mode.

Miscellaneous

Bug Number Notes
1453848 An issue where clicking on "BroadCast Topology" button caused IxExplorer to crash when no chassis is connected is fixed
1453981 Power Supply 1 removal issue is resolved for XGS2 chassis.

NOVUS100GE8Q28+FAN+25G+50G

Bug Number Notes
1453260 Hardware faults are not seen on ports while disabling/suspending streams on the fly with a specific configuration
1454309 Laser off perfomed on transceiver is now independent for each port of a resource group.
1455166 An issue where Transmit Duration statistic was getting reset to 0 when pausing and resuming the traffic stream is fixed

Novus10/1GE

Bug Number Notes
1449658 Simulate link up/down does not work from IxNetwork for Master/Slave configuration in SGMII mode.
1452797 TCL command streamTransmitStats is added to disable the theoretical rate calculation. This brings the performance of Novus 10/1GE cards to the same level as Yukon / Flex / Everest for stream statistics retrieval and also eliminates the difference between fixed and increment frame size streams.
1453727 Link flap issue is not seen for two different Novus 10G cards having different ppm values.