Ixia Software Release Notes
IxNetwork 9.10
Build Number: 9.10.2007.7 (August 21, 2020)



About This Release

IxNetwork 9.10 is a alignment release. This release consolidates all releases since the last IxNetwork 9.00 alignment release, including IxNetwork 9.00 Update 1 / 2 / 3, IxNetwork 9.01 and 9.01 Update 1, 
and IxNetwork 9.05. This release is primarily focused on delivering advanced SDN technologies, expanding IxNetwork web edition coverage, improving TSN and Timing Synchronization, enhancing 
VE infrastructure and automation, as well as addressing key customer requirements. For a complete list of all the new features included in this release, please refer to the "What is New" section below.
- Continue to lead innovation with advanced SDN test solution - Introduced ISIS Flex-Algo and OSPFv3 SR emulation, expanded protocol coverage, and upgraded SR/SRv6 test solution to latest specifications.
- Expand IxNetwork web edition coverage - Additional control in port setting, traffic and protocols, enable the user to execute most of the day to day tests.
- Address 5G Time Sensitive Network test requirement - Improved 1588v2/PTP synchronization accuracy, added new NGPF ESMC emulation with extended QL support, added TSN Frame preemption wizard 
  for creating telecom scale configurations
- Enhance VE infrastructure - More features added to DPDK-enabled traffic engine, improved VE license usage with flexible VE license aggregation.
- Automation improvements - Official RestPy support, improved script authoring and troubleshooting, increased concurrent users per API Server


Please see sections below for application and hardware compatibility, new features, resolved issues, and known issues.

Application Compatibility

The following application releases support IxNetwork 9.10:
Application IxNetwork 9.10
BPS 9.10
HLTAPI 9.10
IxANVL Not Supported
IxChariot Not Supported
IxLoad 9.10
IxOS 9.10
IxVM 9.10
Licensing 5.30
Metronome 2.1
Wireshark 1.8
RESTPy 1.0
In addition, current interoperability and compatibility coverage for IxNetwork 9.10 can also be retrieved using the on-line compatibility tool. Please contact Keysight for details.

User Authentication

Starting with version 8.10 EA, you must provide your credentials while starting the IxNetwork User Interfaces.
The credentials are validated using an e-mail based authentication mechanism. For details see Start IxNetwork section in the IxNetwork Getting Started Guide.

You must 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 email. You can use the new account only after you verify the email 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. Ixia does not ask for user name, password or other personal information via email. 
 
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)

 

Licensing

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 IxLicensing system, please refer to the "Ixia Licensing Management User Guide" provided with the Ixia software, or downloadable from the Ixia web site: http://www.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.ix@keysight.com.


Installation Notes

  

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 either on a DVD-ROM or 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. NOTE: If you are upgrading from a DVD-ROM, the installer will be launched automatically. The files on the DVD-ROM will be the same files as the ones unzipped by the above process.

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 1-877-FOR-IXIA about appropriate upgrades. NOTE: When installing from the DVD, some virus scanning configurations present a malicious code alert during the execution of the Windows autorun feature. If this occurs, right-click the DVD-ROM drive icon in Explorer and 'Explore' the DVD. At the root of the DVD, double-click on the index.htm file. 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 8.1 Enterprise 64-bit (only for Ixia Virtual Chassis) - 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.

Chassis Installation Notes

1. Install the required IxOS version. 2. Install IxNetwork, and the IxNetwork installer will automatically install the 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 is qualified for running up to 7 days. It is recommended to restart the application after 7 days for consistent operation.

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 2019 Server Standard 64-bit - Windows 2016 Server Standard 64-bit - Windows 2012 Server R2 Standard 64-bit (*) - Windows 10 Pro/Enterprise 64-bit - Windows 8.1 Enterprise 32-bit and 64-bit (*) - Windows 7 SP1 Enterprise 32-bit and 64-bit - Windows 7 SP1 Professional 32-bit and 64-bit - Windows 7 SP1 Ultimate 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 ESXI6.0, or ESXI6.5 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 5. To start the QuickTest session manually, click "New Test". 6. To start the IxNetwork API Server session manually, click "New API Server". 7. To start scripting, click "Download a client". 8. Make sure that all dependencies are installed before starting scripting. 9. Click on package downloads for the corresponding language. 10. Sample codes are given for each language and follow the steps. 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 5. To start QuickTest session manually, click "New Test". 6. To start IxNetwork API Server session manually, click "New API Server". 7. To start scripting, click "Download a client". 8. Make sure that all dependencies are installed before starting scripting. 9. Click on package downloads for the corresponding language. 10. Sample codes are given for each language and follow the steps.

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 8. To start QuickTest session manually, click "New Test". 9. To start IxNetwork API Server session manually, click "New API Server". 10. To start scripting, click "Download a client". 11. Make sure that all dependencies are installed before starting scripting. 12. Click on package downloads for corresponding language. 13. Sample codes are given for each language and follow the steps. 14. 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 \ * The ip parameter assigns a specific IP to the container ** Name and Hostname are optional parameters

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

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 can be installed on VMWARE ESXI6.0, or ESXI6.5 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 5. To start the QuickTest session manually, click "New Test". 6. To start the IxNetwork API Server session manually, click "New API Server". 7. To start scripting, click "Download a client". 8. Make sure that all dependencies are installed before starting scripting. 9. Click on package downloads for the corresponding language. 10. Sample codes are given for each language and follow the steps.

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 5. To start QuickTest session manually, click "New Test". 6. To start IxNetwork API Server session manually, click "New API Server". 7. To start scripting, click "Download a client". 8. Make sure that all dependencies are installed before starting scripting. 9. Click on package downloads for the corresponding language. 10. Sample codes are given for each language and follow the steps.

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. Make sure the interface has promiscous mode enabled 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: docker run --net <bridge name> \ --ip <container ip> \ --hostname <hostname> \ --name <container name> \ --privileged \ --restart=always \ --cap-add=SYS_ADMIN \ --cap-add=SYS_TIME \ --cap-add=NET_ADMIN \ --cap-add=SYS_PTRACE \ -i -d \ -v /sys/fs/cgroup:/sys/fs/cgroup \ -v /var/crash/=/var/crash \ -v <host configs location>:/root/.local/share/Ixia/sdmStreamManager/common \ -v <host results location>:/root/.local/share/Ixia/IxNetwork/data/result \ -v <host settingslocation>:/root/.local/share/IXIA/IxNetwork.Globals \ --tmpfs /run \ <image name> 6. Open up a browser and connect to the configured IP. 7. Log in with credentials username: admin and password: admin 8. To start QuickTest session manually, click "New Test". 9. To start IxNetwork API Server session manually, click "New API Server". 10. To start scripting, click "Download a client". 11. Make sure that all dependencies are installed before starting scripting. 12. Click on package downloads for corresponding language. 13. Sample codes are given for each language and follow the steps. * The ip parameter assigns a specific IP to the container ** Name and Hostname are optional parameters

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

Tcl/Perl/Python/Ruby/REST Support for Client Applications

Please refer to the IxNetwork documentation for guidance on its usage. 

How to Report Problems

Ixia Headquarters

+1 877 367 4942 - Toll-free North America
+1 818 871 1800 - Outside North America
+1.818.871.1805 - Fax
www.ixiacom.com/contact/info

Support

Global Support +1 818 595 2599

support@ixiacom.com

APAC Support +91 80 4939 6410

support@ixiacom.com

Australia +61-742434942

support@ixiacom.com

EMEA Support +40 21 301 5699

support-emea@ixiacom.com

Greater China Region

+400 898 0598

support-china@ixiacom.com

Hong Kong +852-30084465

support@ixiacom.com

India Office +91 80 4939 6410

support-india@ixiacom.com

Japan Head Office +81 3 5326 1980

support-japan@ixiacom.com

Korea Office +82 2 3461 0095

support-korea@ixiacom.com

Singapore Office +65-6215-7700

support@ixiacom.com

Taiwan (local toll-free number) 00801856991

support@ixiacom.com


Additional Documentation

Please refer to our website at https://support.ixiacom.com/support-overview/product-support/downloads-updates.

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the web site. If you do not have the username and password, please forward your 
request to mailto:support.ix@keysight.com.

Features From Update Releases


IxNetwork Release Release Notes
IxNetwork 9.00 Update 1 Release Note
IxNetwork 9.00 Update 2 Release Note
IxNetwork 9.00 Update 3 Release Note
IxNetwork 9.01 Release Note
IxNetwork 9.01 Update 1 Release Note

What's New in IxNetwork

9.10 Features

Access
NGPF L2TP emulation now supports CSURQ CSUN messages.
NGPF L2TP emulation now supports sending calling number AVP type 22.
NGPF PPPoE and DHCPv4/v6 emulation now support configuring session lifetime parameter at per device group level in addition to at per port level.
NGPF DHCPv4 emulation now supports sending gateway ARP on demand.

Automation
An utility which converts IxNetwork classic protocol configuration to equivalent NGPF configuration is now available. Classic configuration of routing, MPLS, and multicast protocols along with physical port and traffic information gets mapped into NGPF. This utility is of beta quality.
This release adds official support for RESTPy API framework.
Automatic GUI refresh while script run and script watch feature to see script activity was added.
Added a new view to show the history of REST API calls made by user actions in UI.

Carrier Ethernet
NGPF now supports CFM/Y.1731 emulation. It is also enhanced to support MIP/MEP emulation over FEC 128 pseudowire and DMM version 1.
Advanced Traffic Wizard is enhanced with packet template of Y.1731 Bandwidth Notification message so that the user can simulate such messages using traffic.

Infrastructure
IxNetwork now supports pausing traffic from traffic global options.
IxNetwork FT support added for Windows, Hogan, and VM chassis. It is supported for Novus10G variant LMs and VM ports.
IxNetwork now supports adding and running new test topologies without stopping the existing ones.
IxNetwork now supports sending local and remote fault in Novus 100G load module.
IxNetwork now supports syslog generation based on RFC 5424 and 5426 and users can get telemetry statistics for events like port up/down, protocol start/stop, session flap, API calls etc.
IxNetworkWeb edition now supports changing the admin password from the VM CLI.
IxNetworkWeb edition now supports License Manager for all deployed VMs in the Administration page.
IxNetwork-FT on VM now supports external License server through a one time use of a command 'protocolServer setLicenseServer $license_server_ip' on the client.

QuickTests
QuickTest name can be easily changed in Data Miner
RFC 2889 report has information about “Flooded frames” for monitor port
L1 Tx/Rx statistic will have information about loss bits %
RFC 2544 can now support IPv4/IPv6 ratio custom set with the values 0/100

Routing/switching
NGPF ISIS emulation now support multiple links between nodes in simulated topology (ST).
The BGP Prefix-SID attribute defined in RFC 8669 now supports multiple MPLS labels (label stack) defined in RFC 8277.
NGPF BGP-LS with ISIS SR has been upgraded to the latest draft draft-ietf-idr-bgp-ls-segment-routing-ext-16.
BGP unnumbered emulation for route type AFI=1, SAFI=1,2,4, and 128 is now supported.
NGPF ISIS emulation now supports IPv6 Traffic Engineering per RFC 6119, new traffic engineering metrics per RFC 8570, extended admin group per RFC 7308, and application specific TE per draft-ietf-isis-te-app-05.

SDN
EVPN and EVPN VXLAN are enhanced to support type 0 and type 2 route distinguisher in MAC/IP route, IMET route, and IP prefix route.
NGPF ISIS emulation now supports Flexible Algorithm for SR MPLS and SRv6.
PCEP now supports draft-ietf-pce-binding-label-sid-03 for SR-TE type of LSPs.

TSN
NGPF 1588v2 (PTP) emulation now supports Common Mean Link Delay Service for 802.1AS-2020 profile for use in time sensitive applications.

Timing
NGPF 1588v2 (PTP) emulation now supports clock with 2.5 nanoseconds time stamping resolution for PTP event messages compared to 20 nanoseconds as earlier. This improves overall accuracy for PTP.
NGPF now supports ESMC emulation. It is also enhanced with extended QL TLV.

Traffic
Advanced Traffic Wizard is enhanced to provide option for either choosing or excluding MPLS label from different label providers for the same destination.

VM
Support for DPDK Traffic Engine Mode Switch (GUI / API) has been added. This setting controls the DPDK Traffic Engine status at test level and is disabled by default.
Support for DPDK Traffic Engine Mode Switch (CLI) has been enhanced. The commands now respect port ownership and are overridden by IxNetwork GUI / API settings.
Support for DPDK Traffic Engine Validation Errors has been enhanced. When the vCPU type / count requirements are not met errors are displayed across CLI / GUI / API.
Support for DPDK Traffic Engine Status has been added. This information is displayed in the Ports / Ethernet VM tab inside the DPDK Performance Acceleration column.
Support for DPDK Traffic Engine Resource Utilization has been changed. First vPort per vCard now requires 4 vCPU / 4 GB RAM. Each additional vPort requires 2 vCPU.
Support for DPDK Traffic Engine Control Plane Performance has been enhanced. The control plane protocols can now use 2 vCPU even while running data plane traffic.
Support for DPDK Traffic Engine On-The-Fly-Changes has been added. The user can Change Line Rate / Change Frame Size or Pause / Resume / Suspend running traffic.
Support for DPDK Traffic Engine RFC Quick Tests has been added. The user can now execute RFC 2544 / RFC 2889 / RFC 3918 / Y.1564 tests with increased performance.
Support for DPDK Traffic Engine Floating Timestamp Auto Instrumentation has been added. The user can now insert the timestamp in the Auto Instrumentation header.
Support for DPDK Traffic Engine UDF Chaining in L23 Flow Groups has been added. The user can now craft packet sequences with multiple complex header modifications.
Support for DPDK Traffic Engine User Defined Statistics has been enhanced. UDS are now disabled by default. Enabling UDS will now cause a smaller performance drop.
Support for DPDK Traffic Engine in Amazon AWS Public Cloud has been added. It can be used with various instances but performance is limited by the AWS infrastructure.
Support for License Aggregation Mode has been added. It allows mixing 1G / 10G / Subscription / Perpetual licenses in one test and sharing 10G units across 1G ports.
Support for Mellanox ConnectX-5 100G / Mellanox ConnectX-6 200G running in PCI-PT / SR-IOV mode has been added. These NICs do not support DPDK Traffic Engine.
Support for higher Line Speeds (up to 400G) has been added. Users can now send traffic with higher 50G / 60G / 70G / 80G / 90G / 100G / 200G / 400G Line Speeds.
Support for Docker Containers Beta has been discontinued starting with this release. Existing customers can continue to use this feature with IxNetwork VE 9.00.
Support for VMware ESXi 5.x hypervisor / VMware vCenter 5.x orchestrator has been discontinued starting with this release. Versions 6.x and newer are supported.

Web Edition
RFC 7747 Failover Convergence will give information about the ECMP status
New information in the Report: Latency statistic flavor, DUT Product, Version, Serial Number and Pass/Fail criteria
Added support to age out routes action for OSPF and ISIS protocols.
Added support for editing simulated topology shape, and external links, route Import, and statistical route distribution.
Protocol property views were enhanced to show pattern master row.
RFC 7747 Failover Convergence has two new scheduling methods: Single Link Single Port Sequential and Single Link Multiple Ports Sequential
Custom Basic, Value List and Import from file multivalue patterns were added.
Protocols Learned Info support is now available.
RFC 2544 and Traffic Test can run with Raw Traffic created from IxNetwork Web session
NGPF topologies can be added on the fly without stopping protocols or traffic.
Device Groups can now be copy-pasted in the overview page
Added support for protocol properties of type TLV
Now users can select partial traffic end points from NGPF topologies.
Added support to configure Link Aggregation (LAG) and run protocol and traffic over LAGs with fail-over.
Now users can edit Layer1 capabilities like FEC on/off and also change speed modes
Added support for favorite ports, enabling users to automatically assign frequently used ports when starting a new configuration from a resource.
Now one can switch to Quick test web edition from IxNetwork web edition to run RFC based quick test with configuration built in IxNetwork web edition.
File panel / load config supports JSON config files
Support added for various color themes including popular dark theme.


Known Issue List

AppLibrary

Bug Number Notes
1529228 In case of multi-nic ports, if topology is restarted or configuration is changed, the AppLib traffic should be re-applied.

Automation

Bug Number Notes
1544034 Config conversion utility does not retain NGPF part of a mixed config (classic and NGPF protocol) post conversion.
1544799 IxNetwork config conversion engine does not retain traffic encapsulation properties after conversion with user defined changes in QoS/ToS pattern.

CPDP

Bug Number Notes
1534842 Erroneous CP-DP convergence values can be seen in case of XMVDC load module.
1545080 Clear CP/DP stats before doing re-convergence in order to measure proper convergence values.

Carrier Ethernet

Bug Number Notes
1539603 NGPF CFM is not supported in IxNetwork Web Edition.

Diagnostic

Bug Number Notes
1546432 Logger management UI is removed in IxNetwork 9.10. This is how to set Logging level to max in absence of Logger Management window – 1. Open API browser (File-]Tools-]IxNetwork API Browser) a. Navigate to /globals/preferences b. Click Edit and change clientTraceLevel to “debug” c. You need to restart IxNetwork for this to take effect if IxNetwork is _NOT_ running in API Server mode (with tclPort argument). Restart not required for API Server mode d. ** How to open IxNetwork API server - provide the following argument to IxNetwork while starting - IxNetwork.exe -tclPort 8009 -restPort 11009 -restOnAllInterfaces -visible 2. Alternative to step #1 (if you prefer TCL/script console) The TCL API to enable max debugging: Open wish console - Program Files-]Ixia-]IxNetwork [version]-] Wish 8.5... and run the following command package require IxTclNetwork ixNet connect 127.0.0.1 -port 8009 -version 9.10 set root [ixNet getRoot] set globals $root/globals set preferences $globals/preferences ixNet setAttribute $preferences -clientTraceLevel debug ixNet commit RestPy API to enable max debugging globals = ixNetwork.Globals preferences = globals.Preferences preferences.ClientTraceLevel = 'debug' 3. Open Logs window in IxNetwork (click on Logs on Bottom right corner of IxNetwork) a. Go to “All” tab b. Right click -] select “Set all trace debug (max)”

Infrastructure

Bug Number Notes
1513136 Running a high number of tests with IxNetwork Web installed on an SDL chassis may cause intermittent failures because of the websocket connection being closed.
1545544 Changing the MAC address of the machine where IxNetwork Web Edition is installed, will result in all licenses to be lost.
1546774 IxNetwork-FT supports Windows TCL Server only. Linux TCL Server is not supported.

L2 Security

Bug Number Notes
1543673 Wireshark fails to decrypt MACsec frames with XPN that has non-zero MSB (most significant 4Bytes).
1544409 Wireshark support is not present for MKA with XPN cipher suite scenario. When changing the cipher suite from XPN to non-XPN, in order for Wireshark to function properly, user should reload the configuration and then make the change.

MPLS

Bug Number Notes
1547418 TBD

QuickTest Web Edition

Bug Number Notes
1487921 After a long duration test, the statistic area may need some time to be populated. This also depends on the number of framesizes/iterations.
1512559 Does not move to last flow view page on the first attempt.
1534997 QuickTest Web does not support the DUT feature.
1539196 RFC7747 - Failover Convergence - Single Link Multiple Ports is only for Packet Loss Duration and will not show DP Above and Event Start Timestamp.
1540774 RFC7747 - Failover Convergence - Rx Bytes column in Flow Statistics view shows non-zero values on failover port
1543952 QuickTest Web does not support LAG ports that are added using IxNetworkWeb.
1545199 "When True View Convergence tests are being done, "Traffic Apply - Write Rx Configuration Warning" may be seen. This can be ignored."
1545274 At times, the report page number in the table of contents may not match the actual table page number.
1546284 Sometimes, when switch session is performed, the status of sessions get mixed. Easy workaround is to refresh the browser.

Routing/switching

Bug Number Notes
1543013 An error message may be seen in GUI when 5 million imported routes are withdrawn on-the-fly (OTF) in AresOne-P load module. If the error is seen, wait for few minutes (around 8 minutes) for all the withdraw messages to go out before doing any other OTF action.

SDN

Bug Number Notes
1514518 There is an issue with scriptgen and sourcing back of OSPF segment routing mapping server configuration. Low-level scriptgen of such configuration with IxNetwork serialization does not load back correctly. To avoid this issue, use ixncfg config files or scriptgen with base64 serialization.
1546534 Error messages are seen in GUI when a resource containing SRv6 configuration is loaded from resource manager. The resources however are loaded correctly.

Statistics

Bug Number Notes
1531493 To reflect On-The-Fly changes automatically in Drill Down Views, set EnableDistributedPaging to false in the configuration file ([IxNetwork Build]\aptixia\bin\win\ixia.GenericDataEngine.Core.dll.config).
1542682 IxNetwork test statistic values lesser than 0.001 are shown as zero when they are fetched from snapshot csv and reports. The same is applicable to small values like 'Fec Symbol Error Rate', 'Fec Corrected bit Rate', 'FEC Frame Loss Ratio', 'pre FEC Bit Error Rate', though they are represented in exponential formats in Desktop GUI and API/WebUI.
1543914 Traffic Statistics and Flow Statistics CSV files do not support Dead Flow column any longer.

VM

Bug Number Notes
1515045 When using the Classic Traffic Engine inside Amazon AWS C5 instances the traffic rate is much lower comparing to the limit advertised by AWS C5 instances.
1535246 When using the DPDK Traffic Engine the Inter Packet Gap / Inter Stream Gap are not always respected with accuracy due to the batch packet processing.
1537142 When using the Clear Statistics operation while a Port Reboot is in progress the application might become unstable and / or hang.
1540206 When using the DPDK Traffic Engine and not enough vCPU cores, performance will be decreased, loss might be seen, and Tx Rate accuracy will be lower.
1541671 When using the License Aggregation Mode it is not possible to change Line Speed / add Virtual Ports while test is running. Must stop test for these actions.
1542772 When using the Classic Traffic Engine the IP Checksum Errors statistics is not available. This is supported only for DPDK Traffic Engine.
1543633 When using the DPDK Traffic Engine (via the API) with multiple sequential Start / Stop Traffic commands it is advised to add sleep between these steps.
1543654 When using the DPDK Traffic Engine via the VMware VMXNET3 vSwitch the Jumbo Frames will be dropped because of vSwitch driver capabilities.
1546628 When using the DPDK Traffic Engine the Mellanox 10G / 25G / 40G / 50G / 100G / 200G NICs running in PCI-PT or SR-IOV mode are not supported.

Web Edition

Bug Number Notes
1531099 IxNetwork 9.10 does not support importing EVPN, VXLAN wizard configuration files saved using older versions.
1542015 A known limitation is that Logging Per-session status change results in degraded performance when having a large number of sessions. Performance test included 24,576,000.
1545872 When topology ports are reassigned to LAG, traffic items created over reassigned ports are deleted.


Resolved Defect List

Access

Bug Number Notes
1533756 In some cases, TWAMP control statistics incremented both the failed and successful sessions after failed TWAMP negotiation.
1535324 NGPF 802.1X had a port crash in 10/1GE16DP, when a faulty big size packet was received. Graceful handling of big size packets and subsequent exit were missing.
1538132 NGPF 802.1X support was not added in Novus One Plus Card.

AresONE

Bug Number Notes
1519968 An option to select the Clause 91.6.2a Alignment Marker Type for 100G to be either xR4 or xR2 to address compatibility issue with some devices is now added. The new setting controls the alignment marker mapping while transmitting and receiving.

Automation

Bug Number Notes
1524259 Low level API of IPTV named Import Failure Timestamp File is now modified to ImportFailureTimestampFile.
1544826 Overlay nodes can be created to set individual values outside of the selected pattern. Retrieving the overlay nodes provides an optimized list which may not have same count/index as was originally set. For most predictable behavior, it is recommended to only create new overlay nodes, and not to modify them.

Infrastructure

Bug Number Notes
1525328 IxNetwork enhanced to show faulty ports as grayed out in port selector.
1540209 TCLAPI picks the wrong neighbor address from Discovered Neighbor table.

MPLS

Bug Number Notes
1545692 BGP LU label is not inserted in traffic between IP endpoints if FEC 128 pseudowire configuration is present in the same topology.

QuickTest Web Edition

Bug Number Notes
1517152 In some cases when enabling more ingress tracking options, a high number of sequence errors will appear, when running on 50G.
1538240 PDF report table for traffic item shows value -2 for TX Rx during initial stages. The -2 value displayed indicates that rate is being calculated and not yet ready.

Routing/switching

Bug Number Notes
1515764 Port goes to bad state due to memory leak when BGP routes with AIGP TLV are flapped.
1544629 IxNetwork Classic ISIS protocol has an enabling-disabling issue while changing license from tier3 to tier2.
1545590 NGPF ISIS Simulated Topology endpoint addresses were not correct when endpoints of a subset of ports was selected for an ISIS device topology configured on multiple ports.

SDN

Bug Number Notes
1527298 Invalid aliasing traffic across different EVIs gets created while creating traffic in EVPN multi-homing scenario.
1541176 EVPN emulation does work on LAG ports.

Statistics

Bug Number Notes
1542016 Tx Rate value may be different in snapshot CSV (and its consumers like QuickTest Web edition) than real-time view (like desktop UI) during port down operation.

TSN

Bug Number Notes
1528807 Auto negotiation is getting turned on when the test ports are getting rebooted with Data Center Mode enabled for test case GPTP_2_6_2_1 as part of Avnu Automotive Conformance.
1535521 Presentation timestamp field in AVTPDU's were not getting populated with correct 802.1AS timestamps for test cases test_auto_avtp_c_5_2_3_a test_auto_sr_c_a8_1_1_a as part of Avnu Automotive Conformance.
1539249 R-tag frame header is not being inserted correctly for test case test_frer_c_1_1_1_a as part of TSN Conformance.
1544842 Incorrect error message being shown in the test results when the DUT fails to forward frames for test case test_qbv_c_1_1_1_a test_qbv_c_1_1_1_b as part of TSN Conformance.

Time Synchronization

Bug Number Notes
1544505 PTP over Ethernet with stacked VLAN configuration drops incoming PTP messages.

VM

Bug Number Notes
1519884 SR 857850 - Fixed an issue where the Installation Guide / Troubleshooting documentation failed to mention the 192.168.255.0/24 network cannot be used.
1542526 SR 898550 - Fixed an issue which prevented Deployment Wizard from working with VMware vCenter 6.7 and newer.

Web Edition

Bug Number Notes
1512141 Router ID field is missing from IPv6 Address Pools in IxNetwork WebUI.