Installing iperf3 on a Cisco 9K
Overview
Running a custom built iperf3 Docker image on the Cisco Catalyst 9300 series platform.
Reference guide: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/ios-xml/ios/prog/configuration/171/b_171_programmability_cg/application_hosting.html
Create the Docker image
Create the Dockerfile:
FROM alpine:latest
MAINTAINER Jason Murray
# build intial apk binary cache and install iperf3
RUN apk add --no-cache iperf3 \
&& adduser -S iperf
USER iperf
# Expose the default iperf3 server ports
EXPOSE 5201/tcp 5201/udp
# entrypoint allows you to pass your arguments to the container at runtime
# very similar to a binary you would run. For example, in the following
# docker run -it <IMAGE> --help' is like running 'iperf --help'
ENTRYPOINT ["iperf3"]
# iperf3 -s = run in Server mode
CMD ["-s"]
Create the Docker image:
jemurray@home-server:~/iperf3-docker$ sudo docker build --tag iperf3 .
[sudo] password for jemurray:
Sending build context to Docker daemon 2.048kB
Step 1/7 : FROM alpine:latest
---> 2f41f701ab2c
Step 2/7 : MAINTAINER Jason Murray
---> Running in 1d76a0e63c25
Removing intermediate container 1d76a0e63c25
---> 3fe72b960a85
Step 3/7 : RUN apk add --no-cache iperf3 && adduser -S iperf
---> Running in 815ed6d5a3d9
fetch http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.12/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
fetch http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.12/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
(1/1) Installing iperf3 (3.7-r2)
Executing busybox-1.31.1-r16.trigger
OK: 53 MiB in 25 packages
Removing intermediate container 815ed6d5a3d9
---> 1e0d4e7eced8
Step 4/7 : USER iperf
---> Running in 888cd03dc0de
Removing intermediate container 888cd03dc0de
---> 0dc068860223
Step 5/7 : EXPOSE 5201/tcp 5201/udp
---> Running in 735799ac98b1
Removing intermediate container 735799ac98b1
---> 56dc5022ddc5
Step 6/7 : ENTRYPOINT ["iperf3"]
---> Running in c44a9d5d54b0
Removing intermediate container c44a9d5d54b0
---> 0416933990d1
Step 7/7 : CMD ["-s"]
---> Running in 945d74959f5d
Removing intermediate container 945d74959f5d
---> 829735b1082f
Successfully built 829735b1082f
Successfully tagged iperf3:latest
Validate image creation:
jemurray@home-server:~/iperf3-docker$ sudo docker images
REPOSITORY TAG IMAGE ID CREATED SIZE
iperf3 latest 829735b1082f About a minute ago 51.1MB
Test Docker image server:
jemurray@home-server:~/iperf3-docker$ sudo docker run -p 5201:5201/tcp -it iperf3 '-s'
-----------------------------------------------------------
Server listening on 5201
-----------------------------------------------------------
Validate a client can connect:
jemurray@mbp-2019:~ $ iperf3 -c 192.168.86.5
Connecting to host 192.168.86.5, port 5201
[ 5] local 192.168.86.33 port 62445 connected to 192.168.86.5 port 5201
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate
[ 5] 0.00-1.00 sec 10.5 MBytes 88.0 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 1.00-2.00 sec 11.2 MBytes 94.0 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 2.00-3.00 sec 8.30 MBytes 69.6 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 3.00-4.00 sec 9.66 MBytes 81.1 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 4.00-5.00 sec 13.7 MBytes 115 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 5.00-6.00 sec 12.0 MBytes 101 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 6.00-7.00 sec 14.3 MBytes 119 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 7.00-8.00 sec 14.6 MBytes 123 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 8.00-9.00 sec 11.2 MBytes 94.1 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 9.00-10.00 sec 13.7 MBytes 115 Mbits/sec
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate
[ 5] 0.00-10.00 sec 119 MBytes 100 Mbits/sec sender
[ 5] 0.00-10.06 sec 118 MBytes 98.4 Mbits/sec receiver
iperf Done.
Save (export) the Docker image into a tar file:
jemurray@home-server:~/iperf3-docker$ sudo docker save iperf3 > iperf3.tar
Validate the exported file:
jemurray@home-server:~/iperf3-docker$ ls -al iperf3.tar
-rw-rw-r-- 1 jemurray jemurray 53521920 Oct 22 08:23 iperf3.tar
Configure the 9k switch
IMPORTANT: App Containers will NOT work without the Cisco 128G SSD drive. You can NOT use any other type of USB storage.
Attempting to install apps without the drive results in the following error:
*Oct 22 16:31:40.823: %IM-6-INSTALL_MSG: Switch 1 R0/0: ioxman: app-hosting: Install failed: Installing apps on system flash is not allowed.
Insert the 128G drive:
*Nov 3 01:30:10.381: %IOSD_INFRA-6-IFS_DEVICE_OIR: Device usbflash1 added
*Nov 3 01:30:10.361: %IOSXE-0-PLATFORM: Switch 1 R0/0: udev: usb1: has been inserted
Validate the drive exists:
9300-1#dir usbflash1:
Directory of usbflash1:/
11 drwx 16384 Nov 3 2020 01:30:07 +00:00 lost+found
118014062592 bytes total (111933124608 bytes free)
Validate the filesystem is ext4:
9300-1#show usbflash1: filesys
Filesystem: usbflash1
Filesystem Path: /vol/usb1
Filesystem Type: ext4
Mounted: Read/Write
Enable IOx service:
9300-1(config)#iox
Validate IOx is running (wait until they all say Running):
9300-1#show iox-service
IOx Infrastructure Summary:
---------------------------
IOx service (CAF) 1.8.0.3 : Running
IOx service (HA) : Running
IOx service (IOxman) : Running
Libvirtd 1.3.4 : Running
Dockerd 18.03.0 : Running
Note: In this lab, the management interface is used for the Docker container. The front ports or VLAN bridges could be used if desired:
interface GigabitEthernet0/0
vrf forwarding Mgmt-vrf
ip address dhcp
negotiation auto
Configure the app-hosting interface and Docker options:
9300-1(config)#app-hosting appid iperf3
9300-1(config-app-hosting)#app-vnic management guest-interface 0
9300-1(config-app-hosting)#start
9300-1(config-app-hosting)#app-resource docker
9300-1(config-app-hosting-docker)#run-opts 1 "--restart=unless-stopped -p 5201:5201/tcp -p 5201:5201/udp"
Copy the Docker container to the 9K flash: file system:
jemurray@home-server:~/iperf3-docker$ scp iperf3.tar 192.168.86.44:iperf3.tar
Password:
iperf3.tar 100% 51MB 1.4MB/s 00:35
Install the iperf3 Docker image:
9300-1#app-hosting install appid iperf3 package flash:iperf3.tar
Installing package 'flash:iperf3.tar' for 'iperf3'. Use 'show app-hosting list' for progress.
Check the progress:
9300-1#show app-hosting list
App id State
---------------------------------------------------------
iperf3 RUNNING
If show app-hosting list fails, check for this error on console. Validate the proper Cisco SSD drive is installed in the rear USB port:
*Oct 22 16:38:24.474: %IM-6-INSTALL_MSG: Switch 1 R0/0: ioxman: app-hosting: Install failed: Installing apps on system flash is not allowed.
Connect to the Docker image console and retrieve the current IP address:
Note: In a real production environment, static addressing or VLAN bridging would be the desired setup.
9300-1#app-hosting connect appid iperf3 session /bin/sh
/ $ ifconfig
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 52:54:DD:AC:8E:1C
inet addr:192.168.86.220 Bcast:192.168.86.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::5054:ddff:feac:8e1c/64 Scope:Link
inet6 addr: 2600:1700:1391:411f:5054:ddff:feac:8e1c/64 Scope:Global
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:246 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:14 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:62326 (60.8 KiB) TX bytes:1876 (1.8 KiB)
Connect to the iperf3 running on the 9K Docker image from a remote host:
jemurray@home-server:~$ iperf3 -c 192.168.86.220
Connecting to host 192.168.86.220, port 5201
[ 4] local 192.168.86.5 port 60078 connected to 192.168.86.220 port 5201
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth Retr Cwnd
[ 4] 0.00-1.00 sec 114 MBytes 959 Mbits/sec 0 411 KBytes
[ 4] 1.00-2.00 sec 113 MBytes 946 Mbits/sec 0 501 KBytes
[ 4] 2.00-3.00 sec 112 MBytes 942 Mbits/sec 0 501 KBytes
[ 4] 3.00-4.00 sec 112 MBytes 943 Mbits/sec 0 523 KBytes
[ 4] 4.00-5.00 sec 112 MBytes 941 Mbits/sec 0 523 KBytes
[ 4] 5.00-6.00 sec 112 MBytes 941 Mbits/sec 0 523 KBytes
[ 4] 6.00-7.00 sec 112 MBytes 941 Mbits/sec 0 523 KBytes
[ 4] 7.00-8.00 sec 112 MBytes 942 Mbits/sec 0 523 KBytes
[ 4] 8.00-9.00 sec 112 MBytes 941 Mbits/sec 0 523 KBytes
[ 4] 9.00-10.00 sec 112 MBytes 936 Mbits/sec 80 424 KBytes
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth Retr
[ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 1.10 GBytes 943 Mbits/sec 80 sender
[ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 1.10 GBytes 941 Mbits/sec receiver
iperf Done.