Traceflow is a troubleshooting tool used to check connectivity between two NSX entities.

Traceflow in Federation is supported starting with NSX 3.2.1. The Global Manager (GM) serves as a single point to trigger traceflow all the sites. The GM gets VM inventory information from each of the sites. Only VMs (and their IP addresses that are known to the Global Manager are supported, VMs attached to ports not known to the GM are not supported. Segment ports on segments that are stretched are supported on GM. Only such ports can be sources/destination in Federation traceflow.

Procedure

  1. From your browser, log in with admin privileges to the active Global Manager at https://<global-manager-ip-address>.
  2. Select Plan &Troubleshoot > Traceflow.
  3. In the Packet Information box perform the following tasks:
    1. Select an IPv4 or IPv6 address type.
    2. Select a traffic type. For IPv4 addresses the traffic type choices are: Unicast, Multicast, and Broadcast. For IPv6 address the traffic type choices are: Unicast or Multicast.
    3. Select a Protocol Type, and provide related information.
      Protocol Parameters
      DHCP Select a DHCP OP code: Boot Request or Boot Reply.
      DHCPv6 (IPv6 only) Select a DHCP message type: Solicit, Advertise, Request, or Reply.
      DNS Specify an address and select a message type: Query or Response.
      ICMP Specify an ICMP ID and a sequence.
      ICMPv6 (IPv6 only) Specify an ICMP ID and a sequence.
      TCP Specify a source port, a destination port, and TCP flags.
      • The default flag is SYN.
      • SYN cannot be combined with RST or FIN.
      • If SYN is not selected, you must select ACK or RST.
      • ACK cannot be combined with FIN, PSH, or URG.
      UDP Specify a source port and a destination port.
      ARP Select an ARP OP Code: ARP Request or ARP Reply .
      NDP (IPv6 only) For Unicast traffic, specify the Destination IP address.

      For Multicast traffic, specify the Destination IP and Destination MAC address.
  4. Specify the source and destination information according to the traffic type.
    Traffic Type Source Destination
    Unicast Select a VM or a logical port/interface. For a VM:
    • Select a VM from the drop-down list.
    • Select a virtual interface.
    • The IP address and MAC address are displayed if VMtools is installed in the VM, or if the VM is deployed using OpenStack plug-in (address bindings will be used in this case). If the VM has more than one IP address, select one from the drop-down list.
    • If the IP address and MAC address are not displayed, enter the IP address and MAC address in the text boxes.
    For a logical port/interface:
    • Select an attachment type: VIF, DHCP, Edge Uplink, or Edge Centralized Service.
    • Select a port.
    		Select a VM, a logical port/interface, or IP-MAC. For a VM:
    • Select a VM from the drop-down list.
    • Select a virtual interface.
    • The IP address and MAC address are displayed if VMtools is installed in the VM or if the VM is deployed using OpenStack plug-in (address bindings will be used in this case). If the VM has more than one IP address, select one from the drop-down list.
    • If the IP address and MAC address are not displayed, enter the IP address and MAC address in the text boxes.
    For a logical port/interface:
    • Select an attachment type: VIF, DHCP, Edge Uplink, or Edge Centralized Service.
    • Select a port.
    For IP-MAC:
    • Select the trace type (layer 2 or layer 3). For layer 2, enter an IP address and a MAC address. For layer 3, enter an IP address.
    Multicast Same as above. Enter an IP Address. It must be a multicast address from 224.0.0.0 - 239.255.255.255.
    Broadcast Same as above. Enter a subnet prefix length.
  5. (Optional) Click Advanced Settings to see the advanced options.
    Enter the desired values or input for the following fields, and click Save:
    Option Description
    Hop Limit This value should be between 2-255.
    Next Header This value should be between 2-255.
    Ethertype The default is 2048.
    Timeout The default is 30 seconds, and the range is 15-60 seconds.
    Frame Size The default is 128.
    Payload Type Select Base64, Hex, Plaintext, Binary, or Decimal.
    Payload Data Payload formatted based on selected type.
  6. Click Trace.

    The output includes a graphical map of the topology and a table listing the observed packets. The first packet listed has the observation type Injected and shows the packet that is injected at the injection point.

    You can apply a filter (All, Delivered, Dropped) on the observations that are displayed. If there are dropped observations, the Dropped filter is applied by default. Otherwise, the All filter is applied.

    The graphical map shows the backplane and router links. Note that bridging information is not displayed.