Setting Up an Overlay Fabric

The distributed overlay fabric is a group of AOS-CX Switches that are part of the BGP Border Gateway Protocol. BGP is a routing protocol for exchanging data and information between different host gateways or autonomous systems on the Internet. -EVPN VXLAN overlay. The overlay fabric is created by configuring VXLAN tunnels between Stub and Edge Switches. The ArubaOS 10 Gateways also participate in the overlay fabric, using static VXLAN tunnels to the Stub VTEP. HPE Aruba Networking Central allows you to configure the overlay fabric on top of a virtual network using AOS-CX Switches. You can assign a list of fabric personas such as Border VTEP, Route Reflectors, Edge VTEP, or Stub VTEP to the overlay fabric.

  • Configuring the overlay fabric workflow is applicable only to AOS-CX Switches.
  • For more information, refer to the AOS-CX switches Feature Pack Ordering Guide and EULA.
  • The overlay fabric workflow requires HPE Aruba Networking Central Advanced licenses. A notification message is displayed indicating a valid advanced license is required for this feature. You can acknowledge the message by clicking the close button. The notification message is user-specific. Once the message is closed, it will not be displayed for the same user, but for other users, the message will be displayed. For more information, refer to the AOS-CX switches Feature Pack Ordering Guide and EULA.

The following workflow describes the steps to set up the overlay fabric for the AOS-CX Switches.

  1. Step 1: Create the Overlay Fabric Name

  2. Step 2: Assign Devices and Personas

  3. Step 3: Add the Overlay Network

  4. Step 4: Creating Static Tunnels from Stub VTEPs to a Gateway Cluster

  5. Step 5: Creating Static Tunnels from Stub VTEP to an Extended Edge Switch

  6. Step 6: View Fabric Summary

Step 1: Create the Overlay Fabric Name

To configure an overlay fabric for the AOS-CX Switch, complete the following steps:

  1. In the HPE Aruba Networking Central On-Premises app Short form for application. It generally refers to the application that is downloaded and used on mobile devices. , complete the following steps:
    • To select a group in the filter:
      1. Set the filter to a group.

        The dashboard context for the group is displayed.

      2. Under Manage, click Devices > Switches.
      3. To view the AOS-CX Switch configuration dashboard, click the AOS-CX or Config icon.
  2. Click Routing > Fabrics.

  3. In the Fabrics table, click the + icon.

    The Create a New Fabric page is displayed.

    Figure 1  Create a New Fabric Page

  4. In the Fabric Name field, enter a name.

    The value in the BGP AS Number field is auto-generated. BGP AS Number can be modified, if necessary.

  5. In the BGP AS Number field, enter the autonomous number for the fabric BGP.

  6. Enable the VLAN Virtual Local Area Network. In computer networking, a single Layer 2 network may be partitioned to create multiple distinct broadcast domains, which are mutually isolated so that packets can only pass between them through one or more routers; such a domain is referred to as a Virtual Local Area Network, Virtual LAN, or VLAN. Client Presence Detect to disable the VNI mapped VLANs if there are no authenticated clients on the VLAN, or if the VLAN has no statically configured ports and those ports are up. When not enabled, VNI mapped VLANs are always up. This is an optional step.

  7. Enable the FIB Optimization, to optimize unused host routes from Forwarding Information Base on the device.

    • Ageout Time (seconds) -Enter the time between 60 to 3600 seconds. The default time is set at 90 seconds.

    • Nexthops to Exclude - Enter the nexthops addresses you want to exclude from FIB optimization.

      The FIB Optimization is supported only on switch series 6300, 6400, and 8360 when the switch persona is Edge.

  8. Click Next. The Devices table is displayed with a list of all the Switches in the network.

  9. In the Host Name column, in the Devices table, select the devices that you want to assign to the Switches on the overlay network. The Assign selected device to window is displayed with a list of Switch personas.

    Figure 2  Create a New Fabric Page

Step 2: Assign Devices and Personas

To assign the selected devices to a fabric on the virtual network, complete the following steps:

  1. In the Assign selected device to window, select the persona to which you want to assign the devices.

    Figure 3  Create a New Fabric Page

  2. Click Apply.
  3. Click Next. The Overlay Networks section is displayed.

    4. Personas under the VSX pair should be the same.

Step 3: Add the Overlay Network

A default overlay network is created automatically. You can create, move or delete an additional overlay network, if required.

To create an additional overlay network, complete the following steps:

  1. In the Overlay Networks table, click the + icon.

    Figure 4  Overlay Networks Table

  2. In the Name field, enter a name for the overlay network.

  3. In the VNI field, enter a virtual tunnel identifier.

    The VNI is auto-generated, but it can be modified if necessary.

  4. In the Route Target field, enter the route target range.

  5. In the Route Distinguisher field, enter the number for route distinguisher.

Hover over an overlay network and click on to edit an overlay network. To delete the overlay network click on .

  1. Click Next. The Stub Tunnels to Gateway section is displayed.

Step 4: Creating Static Tunnels from Stub VTEPs to a Gateway Cluster

To create a static tunnel from Stub VTEP to a Gateway cluster, complete the following steps:

  1. Click Skip if you don't want to add a Stub VTEP to a Gateway cluster.

  2. In the Tunnels table, click the + icon.

    The list of Switches and Gateway IP addresses is displayed.

    Figure 5  Stub Tunnels to Gateways Section

  3. Select a Switch from the Switch drop-down list.

  4. In the Gateway IP List field, enter the IP address of the ArubaOS 10 Gateway, which will be the tunnel termination point for the static VXLAN tunnel.

    To input multiple values in the Gateway IP List parameter, use commas between the IP addresses. For example, 10.1.1.2, 10.1.1.3.

  5. Click Next to continue.

Step 5: Creating Static Tunnels from Stub VTEP to an Extended Edge Switch

To create a static tunnel from Stub VTEP to an Extended Edge Switch, complete the following steps:

  1. Click Skip if you don't want to add a Stub VTEP to an Extended Edge Switch

  2. In the Tunnels table, click the + icon.

    The list of Switches and Host name of the extended edge switches is displayed.

    Figure 6  Stub Tunnels to Extended Edge

  3. Select a Switch from the Switch drop-down list.

  4. In the Extended Edge Device Name field, enter the name of the device which will be the tunnel termination point for the static VXLAN tunnel.

  5. Click Next to continue.

Step 6: View Fabric Summary

To view the fabric summary, complete the following steps:

  1. In the Stub Tunnels to Gateway page, click Next. The Summary section is displayed.

    Figure 7  Create a New Fabric Section

  2. In the Summary page, view the fabric summary and check the following:

    • Device personas are assigned correctly.

    • Overlay networks are created properly.

    • Stub tunnels to the Gateways are configured properly,

    • Vlan Client Presence Detect is enabled or not.

    • FIB Optimization is enabled or not.

  3. Click Save.

The following animation shows how to set up the overlay fabric for the AOS-CX Switches.