Ixia Software Release Notes
IxNetwork 9.31
Build Number: 9.31.2302.4 (January 2023)
Welcome to IxNetwork 9.31 Release. This release is primarily focused on new AresONE 800GE-OSFP-C test platform and support of MACsec 400GE/200GE on AresONE-P platform.
For a complete listing of all the new features included in this release, please refer to the 'What is New' section.
Application Compatibility
The following application releases support IxNetwork 9.31:
| Application |
IxNetwork 9.31 |
| BPS |
Not Supported |
| HLTAPI |
9.31 |
| IxANVL |
Not Supported |
| IxLoad |
Not Supported |
| IxOS |
9.31 |
| IxVM |
Not Supported |
| Licensing |
5.60 |
| Wireshark |
3.2.6 |
Starting with version 8.10 EA, it is recommended to provide your credentials while starting the IxNetwork client application.
The credentials are validated using an e-mail based authentication mechanism. For details, see Start IxNetwork section in the IxNetwork Getting Started Guide.
It is recommended to create an account before you start using IxNetwork. Select the Create new account option on the login page available at: login.ixiacom.com and enter your details.
You will receive an e-mail. You can use the new account only after you verify the e-mail address by opening the link in the verification e-mail received from "Ixia Identity".
If the client machine running IxNetwork is offline, a token is required to sign in. The token is a binary file, that can be obtained by signing in to login.ixiacom.com from a computer with Internet access and downloading the Offline Authentication Token.
Note:
When signing in, or managing the account in a web browser, always confirm that you are doing so over a secure connection. Keysight does not ask for user name, password, or other personal information via e-mail.
There is also an offline option to continue without user authentication.
If you do not user authentication, you will miss out on new product releases and feature notifications, as well as, upcoming features, such as:
- One-click feedback and support
- Cloud configuration storage
- One-click configuration sharing
Privacy Matters:
To improve the experience for customers and the quality of Ixia's products, data may be collected and stored by Ixia.
This typically includes data about the product usage and environment (such as operating system, browser, language), and personal data such as user name, email and IP addresses.
Only Ixia's IT, project managers and marketing worldwide will have access to this data.
When you first sign in to either application, you will be asked to consent to such data collection and use, and to the data transfer to Ixia in the United States.
You may withdraw your consent at any time and for any reason. Please refer to our privacy policy for more information and opt-out possibility (available at https://www.ixiacom.com/privacy-policy)
IxNetwork requires that a license for its use be installed for each chassis used by IxNetwork. That license may be installed on each chassis or on a server on your network, referred to as the central license server.
For more information about the new Licensing system, please refer to the "Ixia Licensing Management User Guide" provided with the Ixia software, or downloadable from the Ixia web site: https://ksm.software.keysight.com/content/KSMQuickReferenceGuide.pdf
Prerequisites
As part of the IxNetwork installation, the installer installs Microsoft SQL Express
and Microsoft .Net Framework on a client machine and Microsoft .Net Framework on a
chassis.
Windows client and chassis should have all the Windows updates installed.
If you experience any issue related to the installation of these prerequisites,
please uninstall any existing versions, reboot, and reattempt installation.
IxNetwork Installation
IxNetwork has two components:
- The 'chassis' component needs to be installed on the Ixia windows chassis being used or when using a native IxOS chassis it is included in the IxOS install package.
It is required to install IxOS before installing the IxNetwork 'chassis' component.
- The 'client' component needs to be installed on the user-provided Windows workstation where the IxNetwork GUI will be run.
The Web Edition 'client' component can be deployed on VMware ESXi, KVM, Docker or directly on a Native IxOS chassis.
IxNetwork Download from Ixia Website
IxNetwork software is available as a download from the Ixia website.
1. Download IxNetwork software from the Ixia website to an Ixia chassis or
client PC. Double-click on the file from within Windows Explorer.
2. Follow the on-screen instructions provided by the installer.
IxNetwork Chassis Installation Requirements
When installing IxNetwork 9.00 + on a chassis, a minimum of 4GB of installed
RAM and 30GB of free disk space is required.
If your chassis does not meet these requirements, please contact Customer Support
at support@ixiacom.com or +1 818 595 2599.
NOTE: IxNetwork installs the Ixia Stat Engine component. This component is shared by other Ixia applications.
It can be manually uninstalled from the target machine by using the Windows Add/Remove Programs applet.
Operating System Support
The following operating systems are supported on the chassis
- Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit
- Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
- CentOS 7 64-bit (only for Ixia Linux Chassis)
For other foreign language support, please change the default to US English.
Note: Regardless of configured OS language, the keyboard must be configured for US English.
IxNetwork Chassis Installation Notes
1. Install the required IxOS version.
2. Use the IxNetwork chassis installer to install the IxNetwork chassis component.
The client component of IxNetwork cannot be installed on the Ixia Windows chassis.
3. If the required IxOS was already installed and running, restart IxServer.
Client Installation Requirements
IxNetwork 9.00+ requires the user workstation to have the following minimum
system requirements. It is recommended to use the 'next higher' requirement for
improved performance.
IxNetwork application has been qualified with full load stress test up to 7 days.
System Requirements
| Ixia Configuration |
Per User System Requirements |
| Ports |
Flow Groups |
Flows |
CPU (# or cores) |
Memory (GB) |
HDD (GB) |
Operating System |
| Install |
Temporary |
Running |
| 4 |
4 |
500 |
1 |
2 |
14GB |
3GB |
10GB |
64 bit |
| 8 |
8 |
4,000 |
2 |
2 |
14GB |
3GB |
20GB |
64 bit |
| 16 |
16 |
8,000 |
2 |
3 |
14GB |
3GB |
20GB |
64 bit |
| 32 |
32 |
16,000 |
2 |
4 |
14GB |
3GB |
20GB |
64 bit |
| 64 |
64 |
32,000 |
4 |
6 |
14GB |
3GB |
20GB |
64 bit |
| 128 |
16,000 |
4,000,000 |
4 |
8 |
14GB |
3GB |
30GB |
64 bit |
| 1200 |
16,000 |
4,000,000 |
12 |
24 |
14GB |
3GB |
40GB |
64 bit |
| Platform |
Qualified no. of users |
| On chassis * |
| Ares One |
2 |
| Novus One Plus |
2 |
| XGS-SDL |
4 |
| XGS-HSL |
8 |
| Virtual Chassis ** |
1 |
| Off Chassis |
| Windows App Server |
48 |
| ESXi 6.0+/KVM V/Docker |
48 |
* on chassis assumes only that same chassis is used in the test.
** the VM resources must be increased with the per user specs
Data storage must present local storage instead of NFS
~ 25 IOPS per user are needed at minimum (HDD max 4 users, SSD up to 15 users, 15+ NVME/OPTANE drive)
A compatible Graphics Card must be present on the server
Multi-user support is directly dependent on the available hardware resources.
The system must meet the required operating system requirements + per user requirements * no. of users.
EX: If we want to run 4 lite users on a Windows 2019 server: Windows needs minimum 2 GB RAM + 4 users * 2 GB/user = 10 GB RAM is needed at a minimum.
Operating System Support
The following versions of Windows operating systems are supported on the client:
- Windows 2022 Server Standard 64-bit
- Windows 2019 Server Standard 64-bit
- Windows 2016 Server Standard 64-bit
- Windows 2012 Server R2 Standard 64-bit (*)
- Windows 11 Consumer/Business Edition 64-bit
- Windows 10 Pro/Enterprise 64-bit
- Windows 8.1 Enterprise 32-bit and 64-bit (*)
(*) The following foreign languages are supported only on Windows 8.1 Enterprise and Windows 2012 Server R2 SP1 Standard:
- Chinese (traditional and simplified)
- Japanese
For other foreign language support, please change the default to US English.
Note: Regardless of configured OS language, the keyboard must be configured
for US English.
IxNetwork Low Level API library is supported on the following operating systems:
- Microsoft Windows(OS as stated above) - Tcl 8.5 and 8.6, Perl 5.18, Python 2.7 and 3.6, Ruby 1.9.3
- CentOS 7 on x64 platform - Tcl 8.5 and 8.6, Perl 5.18, Python 2.7 and 3.6, Ruby 1.9.3
IxNetwork Low Level API library has been tried but is not officially supported, on the
following operating systems/language version combination:
- CentOS 6.3, 6.4, 6.5 on x64 platform - Tcl 8.5, Perl 5.18, Python 2.7, Ruby 1.9.3
- Arch Linux on x64 platform - Tcl 8.6, Perl 5.26, Python 3.7
- Free BSD 10.1 on x64 platform - Tcl 8.6, Perl 5.18, Python 2.7
- OS X Yosemite on x64 platform - Tcl 8.6, Perl 5.18, Python 2.7
- Windows 8.1/2012 - Ruby 1.8.7, Ruby 2.2.2
IxNetwork High Level API library is supported on the following operating systems:
- Microsoft Windows(OS as stated above) - Tcl 8.5 and 8.6, Perl 5.24 and Python 2.7 and 3.6
- CentOS 7 on x64 platform - Tcl 8.5 and 8.6 , Perl 5.24 and Python 2.7 and 3.6
IxNetwork Web Edition
1. IxNetwork Web Edition supports IxNetwork web based user interface, QuickTest and API Browser.
2. IxNetwork Web Edition can be installed on VM (ESXi and KVM), Native IxOS chassis.
3. IxNetwork Web Edition software (OVA, QCOW2, Docker, and HSL package) are available as downloads from the Ixia website.
| IxNetwork Web Edition |
OS |
Network |
Storage |
| ESXi OVA |
ESXi 6.0 Update 2 or ESXi 6.5 (64 bit only) |
VMXNET3 |
128 GB |
| KVM QCOW2 |
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS or CentOS 7.6.1810 (64 bit only) |
virtio |
128 GB |
| Docker |
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS or CentOS 7.6.1810 (64 bit only) |
Promiscuous mode enabled |
128 GB |
| Application |
IxNetwork Web Edition |
| Google Chrome |
80 or newer |
| Mozilla Firefox |
79 or newer |
| Microsoft Internet Explorer |
11 or newer |
| Microsoft Edge |
44.17763.1.0 or newer |
| Apple Safari |
12.1.1 or newer |
IxNetwork Web Edition can be installed on VMWARE ESXI via the provided OVA
1. Deploy IxNetwork Web Edition OVA directly on VMWARE ESXI server.
2. Start the deployed VM.
3. Get connected to the link displayed on the console screen (from the browser).
4. Log in with credentials username: admin and password: admin
Note: to use BGP protocol with VM ports, please change the VLAN from VSwitch in 4095
IxNetwork Web Edition can be installed on KVM via the provided QCOW2 image
Note: IxNetwork Web Edition is supported on KVM with CentOS and Ubuntu Distributions.
1. Deploy QuickTest Web Edition QCOW2 in KVM/Virtual Machine Manager
2. Start the deployed VM.
3. Get connected to the link displayed in the console screen (from the browser).
4. Log in with credentials username: admin and password: admin
IxNetwork Web Edition can be deployed as a Docker container via the provided image
Note: IxNetwork Web Edition is supported as Docker container with CentOS and Ubuntu Distributions.
1. Copy the .tar file on the host
2. Please make sure that the following will have promiscuous enabled:
- network adapter from the host (CentOS/Ubuntu) or the virtual switch
- the interface of the CentOS/Ubuntu
3. Load the image to docker: docker load -i </path/to/tar/file>
4. Create the macvlan bridge to be used by IxNetwork Web Edition: docker network create -d macvlan -o parent=<interface> --subnet <subnet> --gateway=<gateway> <bridge_name>
5. Deploy the IxNetwork Web Edition container using the following command:
a. When using MAC VLAN BRIDGE:
docker run --net <BRIDGE NAME> \
--ip <CONTAINER IP> \
--hostname <HOSTNAME> \
--name <CONTAINER NAME> \
--cap-add=SYS_ADMIN \
--cap-add=NET_ADMIN \
-i -d \
-v /sys/fs/cgroup:/sys/fs/cgroup \
<IMAGE NAME>
b. When using HTTPS on a specific external port and host IP:
docker run \
- p <EXTERNAL PORT>:443 \
--cap-add=SYS_ADMIN \
--cap-add=NET_ADMIN \
-i -d \
-v /sys/fs/cgroup:/sys/fs/cgroup \
<IMAGE NAME>
6. Open up a browser and connect to the configured IP.
7. Log in with credentials username: admin and password: admin
Notes:Optional mapping of configuration files, results and settings to external folders on host add the following parameters to the command:
-v <HOST CONFIGS LOCATION>:/root/.local/share/Ixia/sdmStreamManager/common \
-v <HOST RESULTSLOCATION>:/root/.local/share/Ixia/IxNetwork/data/result \
-v <HOST SETTINGS LOCATION>:/root/.local/share/IXIA/IxNetwork.Globals \
Starting with version 9.31, IxNetwork Web UI Docker Container can only host cloud edition licenses and does no longer support regular licenses like it used to do in previous versions.
Optional mapping for Cloud Edition Licenses installation on initialization add the following parameter to the command
-v <CLOUD EDITION LICENSE ON HOST>/:/etc/keysight/licenses \
* The ip parameter assigns a specific IP to the container
** Name and Hostname are optional parameters
*** Docker containers need sufficient space on the host, if not the sessions will not start
**** If the container needs to be launched with the full list of capabilities, launch the container in --privileged mode
IxNetwork Web Edition can be installed on HSL/SDL/AresONE/Novus ONE chassis
1. Connect to XGS12-HSL/XGS2-HSL/XGS12-SDL/XGS2-SDL/AresONE/Novus ONE chassis.
2. Log in with credentials username: admin and password: admin
3. Go to Administration - IxNetwork Web Edition screen.
4. Click on "Manual Updates" and point to IxNetwork Web Edition HSL package file.
5. Follow the on-screen instructions provided by the installer.
IxNetwork Web Edition can be installed on VE Chassis
1. Connect to VE chassis.
2. Log in with credentials username: admin and password: admin
3. Click on the Install New Application button.
4. Click on "Browse" and point to the IxNetwork Web Edition package file.
5. Follow the on-screen instructions provided by the installer.
Notes:
- The first time IxNetwork Web Edition is installed on the VE Chassis the installation will take longer due to the installation of dependencies
- The VE Chassis virtual machine must be provisioned with at least 4 vCPUs / 8 GB RAM for the install to be complete, IxNetwork Web Edition will use half of the provisioned resources
- The vdisk size will have to be increased to at least 40GB to make room for the test results
- The disk drive performance can influence the application performance, having a faster drive will provide the best results
Display Requirements
Recommended screen resolution: 1920 x 1080
If a display device with high resolution is used, it is recommended to change the text size to
100% from the display settings of the operating system for best usability experience.
For Microsoft Windows 10 operating system: It is recommended to update at least to Windows 10 April 2018 Update
release for best usability experience.
Linux/UNIX Installation Notes
The binary Linux installer will hang indefinitely if being started from an account
without root or administrative privileges or at least R(read)W(write)X(execute) permissions
on the /opt folder.
Support on Linux/UNIX operating systems is for Tcl 8.5 & 8.6, Perl, Python 2.7 & 3.6 or Ruby API only,
there is no graphical user interface (GUI) provided.
Versions of Linux/UNIX platforms other than the ones enumerated above may operate
properly, but they are not officially supported.
Linux/UNIX Tcl Client Installation Notes
IxNetwork comes with Linux platforms dedicated installer, which has the TCL
interpreter bundled. The installation instructions are described in the IxNetwork
Help guide.
IxNetwork also ships a Platform Independent installer (compressed tar) for Linux/UNIX
platforms. Information about dependencies and installation instructions of this
Platform Independent installer is as below.
Dependencies:
- TCL interpreter version 8.5 & 8.6
Instructions for installation and testing:
1. Download and copy the IxNetwork Platform Independent Client installer to
the client machine with TCL interpreter version 8.5 & 8.6
2. Extract it with tar -zxvf command. For example:
# tar -zxvf IxNetworkPITclClient[version].tar.gz
3. Start the TCL shell or wish console on the client system and execute the
following commands:
- lappend auto_path [directory where the compressed tar file was extracted to]
- package req IxTclNetwork (this should return a version number)
- ixNet connect [IxNetwork TCL Server address] (this should return ::ixNet::OK)
If you are updating an existing installation, be sure to run the installer as the
same user which initially installed the software.
Always run the uninstaller prior to removing any files manually.
If installing as root and the install location is a network-mounted file system,
ensure root has write permission to the file system prior to starting the installer.
Linux/UNIX Python API Installation Notes
IxNetwork Linux/UNIX installer also delivers the Python API under the installation
directory [install_dir]/ixia/ixnetwork/[version]/lib/PythonApi.
User will need to manually install the IxNetwork.py file. Normally, the file will
be installed to the standard location for third-party Python modules. This location
varies by platform and by how Python was built/installed. On Linux/UNIX (and Mac OS X,
which is also /UNIX-based), it also depends on whether the module distribution being
installed is pure Python or contains extensions ("non-pure"):
Platform Standard installation location Default value
-------- ------------------------------ -------------
Linux/UNIX(pure) prefix/lib/pythonX.Y/site-packages /usr/local/lib/pythonX.Y/site-packages/IxNetwork
Linux/UNIX(non-pure) exec-prefix/lib/pythonX.Y/site-packages /usr/local/lib/pythonX.Y/site-packages/IxNetworkTCL
Linux/UNIX Ruby API Installation Notes
IxNetwork Linux/UNIX installer also delivers the Ruby API under the installation
directory [install_dir]/ixia/ixnetwork/[version]/lib/RubyApi.
User will need to manually install the IxNetwork.rb file. Normally, the file will
be installed to the standard location for third-party Ruby modules. This location
varies by platform and by how Ruby was built/installed.
User can also add in the script the location to the IxNetwork Ruby library
$:.unshift '<the folder where IxNetwork.rb is>'
require 'IxNetwork'
Linux/UNIX Perl API Installation Notes
IxNetwork Linux/UNIX installer also delivers the Perl API under the installation
directory [install_dir]/ixia/ixnetwork/[version]/lib/PerlApi.
User will need to manually install the IxNetwork.pl file. Normally, the file will
be installed to the standard location for third-party Perl modules. This location
varies by platform and by how Perl was built/installed.
User can also add in the script the location to the IxNetwork Perl library
use lib "<the folder where IxNetwork.pl is>";
use IxNetwork;
REST API Installation Notes
IxNetwork.exe process must be started with the following argument: -restPort [tcp port number]
Optional arguments: -restOnAllInterfaces -restTrace
Support for: GET, POST, PATCH, DELETE, OPTIONS methods
Automation language of choice must support the above methods
Base URL: http://localhost:<tcp rest port number>/api/v1/sessions/1/ixnetwork
Notes:
- The first time IxNetwork Web Edition is installed on the VE Chassis the installation will take longer due to the installation of dependencies
- The VE Chassis virtual machine must be provisioned with at least 4 vCPUs / 8 GB RAM for the install to be complete, IxNetwork Web Edition will use half of the provisioned resources
- The vdisk size will have to be increased to at least 40GB to make room for the test results
- The disk drive performance can influence the application performance, having a faster drive will provide the best results
Please refer to the IxNetwork documentation for guidance on its usage.
|
Ixia Headquarters
|
|
Support
|
Please refer to our website at https://support.ixiacom.com/version/ixnetwork-931.
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 mail to: support@ixiacom.com.
| AresONE 800GE-OSFP-C |
| 944-1408 : Ixia, AresONE 800GE-8P-OSFP-C, High Density, 8-port, full performance fixed chassis model with native OSFP800 800GE (PAM4) physical interfaces, L1-3, optical transceiver and copper DAC support |
| 944-1409 : Ixia, AresONE 800GER-8P-OSFP-C, High Density, 8-port, reduced performance fixed chassis model with native OSFP800 800GE (PAM4) physical interfaces, L1-3, optical transceiver and copper DAC support |
| 944-1410 : Ixia, AresONE 800GE-8PHW-4P-OSFP-C, 4-port, full performance fixed chassis model with native OSFP800 800GE (PAM4) physical interfaces, L1-3, optical transceiver and copper DAC support |
| 944-1411 : Ixia, AresONE 800GER-8PHW-4P-OSFP-C, 4-port, reduced performance fixed chassis model with native OSFP800 800GE (PAM4) physical interfaces, L1-3, optical transceiver and copper DAC support |
| L2 Security |
| Added MACsec 400GE/200GE support on AresONE-P platform with the following feature set:
1) Line rate MACsec traffic encryption/decryption with frame size greater than 128 bytes,
2) GCM-XPN128 and GCM-AES128 ciphers,
3) Static SAK provisioning,
4) Zero Confidentiality Offset,
5) VLAN in encrypted payload,
6) Traffic and MACsec stats,
7) Single MACsec session per port,
8) RFC2544 performance benchmarking,
9) L47 Applib traffic,
10) Negative test capabilities,
11) Wireshark capture and low-level APIs |
Infrastructure
| Bug Number |
Notes |
| IXNETWORK-24980 |
Data packet is not correct when custom header is in use and packet size is > 8000 bytes. |
L2 Security
| Bug Number |
Notes |
| IXNETWORK-25021 |
Latency values are higher than expected for both 400G and 200G MACSec modes. For 400G MACSec mode, the reported latency is 22.73 us higher than the actual. For 200G MACSec mode, the reported latency is 12.36 us higher than the actual. |
| IXNETWORK-25022 |
Mix of MACsec and Non-MACsec traffic is not supported in both 200G and 400G MACsec modes. |
| IXNETWORK-25037 |
Inter Arrival Time is not working as expected. |