Juniper vLabs User Guide
v1.4
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Juniper vLabs User Guide
Copyright © 2018 Juniper Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Juniper vLabs User Guide
Table of Contents
Table of Contents 2
Juniper vLabs Overview 3
Introduction 3
Prerequisites 3
Starting a Session 3
Launch a Topology 3
Verify your Time Zone 4
Reserve a Session 5
Verify the Sandbox is Ready to Use 6
Access The Sandbox 6
Accessing Resources (Devices) in a Sandbox 6
Accessing a Device Using a Web Browser 6
Accessing a Device Using Local SSH/RDP Tools 7
Accessing a Device Through its Console Port 9
Managing Active Sandbox Reservations 11
Extending a Sandbox Reservation 11
Ending a Sandbox Reservation 12
Monitoring/Troubleshooting Sandbox Resources 13
Monitoring Resource Health 13
Restarting a Single Resource 13
Usage Notes 15
Restarting a Sandbox 15
Support 15
Juniper vLabs User Guide
Juniper vLabs Overview
Introduction
Juniper vLabs is a web-based platform that provides a place to test drive use cases and features at any
time and at no risk to production environments. Leveraging the vMX, vQFX, and vSRX product lines,
vLabs provides a variety of pre-configured topologies in routing, switching, and security. Reservable both
in advance and on-demand, vLabs sessions are free and open to everyone with a Juniper account.
vLabs topologies were created by assembling resources (virtual devices, etc.) into blueprints. When you
in which
reserve and start up a blueprint topology, it becomes an active topology—or sandbox—
resources can be accessed, configured, send traffic, etc. The automated setup procedure typically takes
15-30 minutes.
Prerequisites
The Juniper vLabs environment has the following prerequisites:
● A Juniper account
● A Web browser. Juniper vLabs was tested using Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome, but should
generally work with any web browser. There is no need for any plug-ins, etc.
● Local SSH, VNC, and RDP clients. You can use these tools to access sandbox resources directly
(when enabled)
Starting a Session
This section describes the steps to start a sandbox session.
Launch a Topology
On the Topology catalog page, browse the list and click Launch for the desired topology.
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You should now see the topology in the vLabs UI as a blueprint.
Verify your Time Zone
By default, your time zone is set to UTC. Change time zone by clicking your username at the upper
right of the vLabs UI.
Once you select your timezone, any reservations you make will be based on this timezone.
NOTE: If you clear your browser cache, this setting will be reset to UTC.
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Reserve a Session
In the vLabs UI, you start a session by making a reservation. Click the RESERVE button at the upper
right of the UI.
In the Reserve window that appears, only the first section—SCHEDULE—requires your attention. By
default, the session will start immediately and run for three hours. If you wish to change the start date,
start time, or session length, alter them as needed. Then click Reserve at the bottom of the window.
NOTE: Do not change any fields related to a device’s software version. While these are text-editable
fields, changing them will cause the devices to have issues on startup.
The sandbox setup process then begins. There are several indicators to confirm that your sandbox is
being setup:
● A status icon in the upper right corner of the interface indicates the status as Setup. Roll your
mouse over this icon to receive the estimated amount of time needed to complete the setup
process.
● The Sandbox header changes to a striped pattern.
● The resources in the sandbox have a moving circle around them.
● You receive an email indicating the setup process has started.
Verify the Sandbox is Ready to Use
There are several indicators to confirm that your sandbox is setup and ready to use:
● The status icon in the top right corner changes from Setup to Active.
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● You receive an email indicating the sandbox is ready for use.
● The resources have a small green circle at their bottom-right corner.
Access The Sandbox
If you are currently in the sandbox page, you are all set! If not, you can access the sandbox/topology
through the email you receive when the sandbox is ready to use.
Accessing Resources (Devices) in a Sandbox
Accessing a Device Using a Web Browser
You can access the devices in your vLab sandbox (once it is active) through a Web browser.
To access a resource through a browser:
1. Mouse over the icon for the resource. Multiple icons appear.
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2. Click the down arrow icon.
3. In most cases, select SSH from the menu. A new browser tab opens using an SSH connection to
the out-of-band management interface.
If the device has a graphical interface, you may want to select RDP or HTTPS.
Accessing a Device Using Local SSH/RDP Tools
You can also access devices in your vLab sandbox directly, using a local SSH or RDP tool. To use this
option, you must adjust the sandbox’s firewall rules to allow your machine to connect directly to the
devices.
To enable direct access:
1. Open a new browser tab and do a Google search for “what is my ip”. Copy the displayed IP
address.
2. In the vLabs graphical interface, click on COMMANDS in the toolbar.
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3. Find the Add Allowed Network Prefixes option and click the >.
4. Enter your IP address in the List_of_Prefixes field.
5. Click the Run button.
6. The interface will show Running while the script is doing its work.
7. When the script is complete, the interface shows Completed. You will also receive a confirmation
email.
You can now access the devices:
1. In the vLabs graphical interface, choose a device and hover your mouse over the green circle.
Copy down the SSH (or RDP) IP address and port information for the next step.
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2. In your local SSH (or RDP) tool, add a new connection to this address/port.
3. Open a connection and enter the device login credentials. You should gain access to the device.
4. Repeat these steps for each device in the sandbox.
Accessing a Device Through its Console Port
While not typically needed, you can enable console port access to a device. This option can be especially
useful if you accidentally delete or overwrite a device’s management interface configuration.
In the vLabs environment, a token is needed to enable console access; if you try to log in to a VM console
before generating this token, a new browser tab will open with a message indicating your login attempt is
invalid.
To create VM console access to a resource:
1. Mouse over a resource to select it.
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2. Click the Right arrow Commands button. The Resource Commands box appears on the right side
of the vLabs UI.
3. Click the run button next to Generate VM Console Access and embed in URL.
4. Wait a few seconds to ensure the token is generated, then access the VM console login by
selecting VM Console f rom the resource’s drop-down menu.
5. In the new browser tab that opens, press the Enter key once or twice to get a device login
prompt.
Login credentials are the same as used for SSH access.
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Managing Active Sandbox Reservations
Extending a Sandbox Reservation
To extend a sandbox reservation:
1. Select Extend from the SANDBOX drop-down menu at the upper left of the interface. Or..
2. Click the Extend icon in the upper right corner of the interface.
3. In the window that appears, click the blue text fields and select the amount of time that you wish
to extend the reservation and click Extend. Note that the maximum session time is currently six
hours.
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Ending a Sandbox Reservation
A sandbox session will automatically shut down at the reservation end time, or you can manually end it.
To manually end a sandbox reservation:
1. Select End from the SANDBOX drop-down menu at the upper left of the interface. Or..
2. Click the End icon in the upper right corner of the interface.
3. In the window that appears, click OK.
The following elements confirm the teardown procedure is in progress:
● The sandbox ending process has started message is visible in the middle of the interface.
● The status icon in the top right corner indicates Teardown.
● You receive an email indicating the sandbox session is ending.
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NOTE: You can close the browser after confirming the teardown procedure has started; you do not need
to wait for the process to finish.
Monitoring/Troubleshooting Sandbox Resources
Monitoring Resource Health
The health status of each individual resource in any sandbox can be monitored using the health status
icon. The health status icon is in the bottom right corner of every resource in a sandbox.
The colors of the health status icon include:
● Green: resource is up and running normally
● Partial green: resource is up, but not all access ports (SSH, HTTPS, etc.) are enabled
● Red or grey: resource has a problem
Restarting a Single Resource
On occasion, a sandbox resource may not start up properly. While the fix is typically to end and restart
the entire sandbox, for sandboxes with a single device (and therefore no starting configs), sometimes
restarting just the device can solve the problem.
Resources in a sandbox can be power cycled using the power management commands. A resource can
be re-initialized—completely torn down and restarted as a new resource—using a resource management
resource command.
The power management and resource management commands can be accessed by hovering your
mouse over the resource and clicking the right arrow (Commands) button.
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In the Commands section, select the appropriate Run button to power on, power down, power cycle, or
re-initialize a resource.
Usage Notes
● Restarting a device will not reload any starting configs, therefore this option is most appropriate
for use with the standalone topologies. You are welcome to use this option with multi-device
topologies, however you will need to build that device’s configuration yourself.
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● Do not click Run for a device you have already configured. The Run action will start immediately,
and will destroy any existing setup or configuration on the device.
Restarting a Sandbox
As noted above, on occasion a sandbox may not start up properly. For sandboxes with multiple devices
and starting configs, restarting the affected device does not fully resolve the problem as the restart will not
include loading the device’s proper starting configuration for the topology.
For multi-device topologies that have an issue on start-up, typically the fix is to simply end the current
session and reserve a new session.
Support
Juniper vLabs is intended as a self-serve offering, therefore we do not offer real-time support.
If you are having issues, feel free to contact us:
● By email, at [email protected]
● By replying to any of the ‘vLabs Support’ emails you receive as part of the sandbox setup and
teardown process.
Note that we are generally not able to support active back-and-forth communication with users, however
we do read every email that comes in.
To help us resolve your issue, please as include as much information as possible, including:
● Description of the problem
● Sandbox URL
● Frequency - single occurrence or persistent issue
● Screenshots, if appropriate
● Any other information that could help troubleshoot the problem
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