This article explains how to configure dedicated interfaces for hardware security module (HSM) and sideband (ASM) communication on a new NSX Advanced Load Balancer Service Engine. Dedicated HSM and sideband interfaces on NSX Advanced Load Balancer Service Engines use the following configuration parameters. For new SEs, these parameters can be provided in the day-zero YAML file.
YAML Parameters
-
HSM Parameters
ASM ParametersYAML Parameter
Description
Format
Example
avi.hsm-ip.SE
IP address of the dedicated HSM vNIC on the SE (this is NOT the IP address of the HSM device)
IP-address/subnet-mask
avi.hsm-ip.SE: 10.160.103.227/24
avi.hsm-static-routes.SE
Comma-separated, static routes to reach the HSM devices. Even /32 routes can be provided.
Note:If there is a single static route, provide the same and ensure the square brackets are matched. Also, if HSM devices are in the same subnet as the dedicated interfaces, provide the gateway as the default gateway for the subnet.
[ hsm network1/mask1 via gateway1, hsm network2/mask2 via gateway2 ] OR [ hsm network1/mask1 via gateway1 ]
avi.hsm-static-routes.SE:[ 10.128.1.0/24 via 10.160.103.1, 10.128.2.0/24 via 10.160.103.2]
avi.hsm-vnic-id.SE
ID of the dedicated HSM vNIC and is typically 3 on CSP (vNIC0 is management interface, vNIC1 is data-in interface, and vNIC2 is data-out interface)
numeric vNIC ID
avi.hsm-vnic-id.SE: '3'
YAML Parameter |
Description |
Format |
Example |
avi.asm-ip.SE |
IP address of the dedicated ASM vNIC on the SE (this is NOT the IP address of the ASM) |
IP-address/subnet-mask |
avi.asm-ip.SE: 10.160.103.227/24 |
avi.hsm-static-routes.SE |
Comma-separated, static routes to reach the ASM devices. Even /32 routes can be provided. The gateway will be the self IP of the ASM device.
Note:
If there is a single static route, provide the same and ensure the square brackets are matched. Also, if the ASM virtual service IPs are in the same subnet as the dedicated interfaces, provide the gateway as the default gateway for the subnet. |
[ asm-vip-network1/mask1 via gateway1, asm-vip-network2/mask2 via gateway2 ] or [ asm-vip-network1/mask1 via gateway1 ] |
avi.asm-static-routes.SE: [169.254.1.0/24 via 10.160.102.1, 169.254.2.0/24 via 10.160.102.2] |
avi.asm-vnic-id.SE |
ID of the dedicated ASM vNIC and is typically 3 on CSP (vNIC0 is management interface, vNIC1 is data-in interface, and vNIC2 is data-out interface) |
numeric vNIC ID |
avi.asm-vnic-id.SE: '3' |
Configuration
A sample Service Engine YAML file for the Day Zero configuration on Cisco CSP will look like as follows:
bash# cat avi_meta_data_dedicated_asm_hsm_SE.yml avi.mgmt-ip.SE: "10.128.2.18" avi.mgmt-mask.SE: "255.255.255.0" avi.default-gw.SE: "10.128.2.1" AVICNTRL: "10.10.22.50" AVICNTRL_AUTHTOKEN: “febab55d-995a-4523-8492-f798520d4515” avi.hsm-ip.SE: 10.160.103.227/24 avi.hsm-static-routes.SE:[ 10.128.1.0/24 via 10.160.103.1, 10.128.2.0/24 via 10.160.103.2] avi.hsm-vnic-id.SE: '3' avi.asm-vnic-id.SE: ‘4' avi.asm-static-routes.SE: [169.254.1.0/24 via 10.160.102.1, 169.254.2.0/24 via 10.160.102.2] avi.asm-ip.SE: 10.160.102.227/24
Once SE is created with this Day Zero configuration and appropriate virtual NIC interfaces are added to the SE service instance in CSP, verify that the dedicated vNIC configuration is applied successfully and the HSM devices and ASM virtual service IPs are reachable via the dedicated interfaces. In this sample configuration, the interface eth3 is configured as the dedicated HSM interface with IP 10.160.103.227/24 and the interface eth4 is configured as the sideband ASM interface with IP 10.160.102.227/24.
NSX Advanced Load Balancer Service Engine requires five interfaces for this configuration.
vNIC0: Management interface
vNIC1: Data in interface
vNIC2: Data out interface
vNIC3: Dedicated HSM interface
vNIC4: Dedicated sideband interface
To verify configuration of both the dedicated interfaces, ssh to NSX Advanced Load Balancer SE IP, run ip route command, and perform a ping test.
bash# ssh [email protected] bash# ifconfig eth3 eth3 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 02:6a:80:02:11:05 inet addr:10.160.103.227 Bcast:10.160.103.255 Mask:255.255.255.0 UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1 RX packets:4454601 errors:0 dropped:1987 overruns:0 frame:0 TX packets:4510346 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0 collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 RX bytes:672683711 (672.6 MB) TX bytes:875329395 (875.3 MB)
bash# ip route default via 10.10.2.1 dev eth0 10.10.1.0/24 via 10.160.103.1 dev eth3 10.10.2.0/24 via 10.160.103.2 dev eth3 10.10.2.0/24 dev eth0 proto kernel scope link src 10.128.2.27 10.160.103.0/24 dev eth3 proto kernel scope link src 10.160.103.227 bash# ping -I eth3 <HSM-IP> ping -I eth3 10.10.1.51 PING 10.10.1.51 (10.128.1.51) from 10.160.103.227 eth3: 56(84) bytes of data. 64 bytes from 10.10.1.51: icmp_seq=1 ttl=62 time=0.229 ms
