The new ExtremeXOS VM versions found on Github

[Deadpool]

The new VMs posted on Github mention that they are for VMware and Virtualbox. Is there any method I need to use, to convert those to KVM compatible VMs? The older 15.3 exosvm.vmdk used to work with Qemu and KVM just fine. The newer files are all in .iso, .xos, and -ssh.xmod formats now.

Also, is there a change log of the differences between 15.3, and 15.7/16.1.1/16.1.2 ? Thanks!

[Deadpool]

Hi again, Drew! I sent the link to this thread to the two GNS3 devs (Jeremy and Julien), but they're pretty busy guys, so I don't know how long it'll be before they jump into the discussion.

I don't know if you've ever checked out GNS3 (here's the link to the site), but as a little backstory, it originally started out as an easy way to use the DynaMIPS emulator to allow users with legally obtained IOS images for old Cisco routers that use MIPS CPUs, to practice for CCNA/CCNP exams. GNS3 has since evolved into the the "glue" that allows users to integrate DynaMIPS, Qemu, Virtualbox, and VMware VMs together, to allow uses the chance to practice non-Cisco devices in their topologies. If the users have a valid VIRL subscription with Cisco, they can even export the images, so they can practice with them offlline. Pretty cool!

I think the new site will soon offer up blogs, so various vendors could make blog posts about their specific offerings, as well as any information they want the GNS3 users to be aware of.

The .qcow2 file I was asking about would just need to be a version of exos that will run as a regular Qemu VM. The devs released their GNS3-VM appliance to allow Windows/OSX users the ability to upload image locally to it, so they can take advantage of Qemu/KVM VMs (it's a non-issue for use Linux users) They created .gns3a templates, to allow users to easily integrate VMs into GNS3, so they can quickly get up and running, without having to manually upload and configure everything.

Hope this explains this better! My initial post was kinda scatter shot, since I threw several options out there, to see if any would stick.

The reason I brought up legality, was because the developers only want to let users use the template files to obtain legally available VM appliances. They rightly refuse to allow users to use any template to get VMs that the software owners don't legally make available. As long as Extreme lets you upload the .qcow2 file for anyone to use to test EXOS images, that would be a non-issue. Certain vendors like Arista and Juniper offer trial versions of their software for download, but they insist that users register free accounts, in order to download the trials, so the GNS3 team can't use the templates to just download those files automatically. The user would have to already have gone thru the registration process and obtained then images on their own, and then have the files stored locally, before the template would allow import.

Also, could y'all upload the lastest EXOS User Manual, and the command list .PDFs to the site? I have a valid Extreme Network accounts, and found those documents to be incredibly valuable to help me learn how to use EXOS.

Thank you again! If you have any other questions, feel free to ask me. I'll keep nagging the developers to join in the discuss here. 😉

Andrew.

[Drew_C]

<content-quote data-username="Deadpool">Hi again, Drew! I sent the link to this thread to the two GNS3 devs (Jeremy and Julien), but they're pretty busy guys, so I don't know how long it'll be before they jump into the discussion.

I don't know if you've ever checked out GNS3 (here's the link to the site), but as a little backstory, it originally started out as an easy way to use the DynaMIPS emulator to allow users with legally obtained IOS images for old Cisco routers that use MIPS CPUs, to practice for CCNA/CCNP exams. GNS3 has since evolved into the the "glue" that allows users to integrate DynaMIPS, Qemu, Virtualbox, and VMware VMs together, to allow uses the chance to practice non-Cisco devices in their topologies. If the users have a valid VIRL subscription with Cisco, they can even export the images, so they can practice with them offlline. Pretty cool!

I think the new site will soon offer up blogs, so various vendors could make blog posts about their specific offerings, as well as any information they want the GNS3 users to be aware of.

The .qcow2 file I was asking about would just need to be a version of exos that will run as a regular Qemu VM. The devs released their GNS3-VM appliance to allow Windows/OSX users the ability to upload image locally to it, so they can take advantage of Qemu/KVM VMs (it's a non-issue for use Linux users) They created .gns3a templates, to allow users to easily integrate VMs into GNS3, so they can quickly get up and running, without having to manually upload and configure everything.

Hope this explains this better! My initial post was kinda scatter shot, since I threw several options out there, to see if any would stick.

The reason I brought up legality, was because the developers only want to let users use the template files to obtain legally available VM appliances. They rightly refuse to allow users to use any template to get VMs that the software owners don't legally make available. As long as Extreme lets you upload the .qcow2 file for anyone to use to test EXOS images, that would be a non-issue. Certain vendors like Arista and Juniper offer trial versions of their software for download, but they insist that users register free accounts, in order to download the trials, so the GNS3 team can't use the templates to just download those files automatically. The user would have to already have gone thru the registration process and obtained then images on their own, and then have the files stored locally, before the template would allow import.

Also, could y'all upload the lastest EXOS User Manual, and the command list .PDFs to the site? I have a valid Extreme Network accounts, and found those documents to be incredibly valuable to help me learn how to use EXOS.

Thank you again! If you have any other questions, feel free to ask me. I'll keep nagging the developers to join in the discuss here. 😉

Andrew.
</content-quote>Creating a new thread for better tracking of discussion. Please reference the new conversation here: Adding GNS3 options for using EXOS-VM

[Deadpool]

Sorry to resurrect this zombie thread, but I have another question. I've able to use the exos VM I created with the help from here, as a Qemu VM for GNS3. Recently, the GNS3 team made some changes, to make it easier for users to install and integrate various Qemu/Virtualbox/Vmware VMs. They've currently got template files that will allow users to download and install open-source VMs. Some of the questions I was asked by the team were:

1) Would the Extreme Networks team mind if they use the template to automatically have the users machine download the latest exos .iso file from the git repo, that would then automatically installs it to a blank .qcow2 file on their local machine?

2) Would the Extreme Github team consider uploading pre-made .qcow2 image files, like they do with the .iso, .xos, and .ssh files? It would make things a lot easier to get new users introduced to using exos in GNS3.

3) If the github team doesn't want to make a pre-made .qcow2 image themselves, would they mind if the GNS3 team created those images, and then hosted them on sourceforge?

I've written a procedure to "roll your own" exos Qemu image by using the instructions found here, but the GNS3 team would love to have legal approval to be able to provide a pre-made appliance for the users, for practice labs. A lot of users run into setup issues, since they don't want to read the documentation, or deal with the hassle of manually getting everything up and running.

Thank you for your time!

[Deadpool]

Cool! Thank you for the answers! The GNS3 developers told me that a .qcow2 on your Github would be the best solution for them, since they can use their appliance template file to let users automatically download said file, and then upload it to their new GNS3-VM. It's an Ubuntu based Virtualbox/Vmware VM, so Windows/OSX users can leverage KVM, instead of just Linux users. I'll point them to this thread, so they can hopefully be able to explain it better than I can. I'm just a volunteer user, after all. I just hope it can happen, since I *love* using EXOS in GNS3, and I'd love it if more users could get to give it a spin. 🙂