Apply Citrix ADC VPX configurations at the first boot of the Citrix ADC appliance in cloud
You can apply the Citrix ADC VPX configurations during the first boot of the Citrix ADC appliance in a cloud environment. This stage is addressed as theprebootstage in this document. Therefore in certain cases like ADC pooled licensing, a specific VPX instance is brought up in much lesser time. This feature is available in Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud platform, and AWS clouds.
What is user data
When you provision a VPX instance in a cloud environment, you have the option of passing user data to the instance. The user data allows you to perform common automated configuration tasks, customize the startup behaviors of instances, and run scripts after the instance starts. At the first boot, the Citrix ADC VPX instance performs the following tasks:
- Reads the user data.
- Interprets the configuration provided in user data.
- Applies the newly added configuration as it boots up.
How to provide preboot user data in cloud instance
You can provide preboot user data to the cloud instance in XML format. Different clouds have different interfaces for providing user data.
Provide preboot user data using the AWS console
When you provision a Citrix ADC VPX instance using the AWS console, navigate toConfigure Instance Details > Advanced Details, and provide the preboot user data configuration in theUser datafield.
For detailed instructions on each of the steps, see部署一个Citrix ADC VPX实例on AWS by using the AWS web console. For more information, see AWS documentation onLaunching an instance.
Provide preboot user data using AWS CLI
Type the following command in the AWS CLI:
aws ec2 run-instances \ --image-id ami-0abcdef1234567890 \ --instance-type t2.micro \ --count 1 \ --subnet-id subnet-08fc749671b2d077c \ --key-name MyKeyPair \ --security-group-ids sg-0b0384b66d7d692f9 \ --user-data file://my_script.txt For more information, see AWS documentation onRunning instances.
For more information, see AWS documentation onUsing instance user data
Provide preboot user data using the Azure console
When you provision a Citrix ADC VPX instance using Azure console, navigate toCreate a virtual machine > Advancedtab. In theCustom datafield, provide preboot user data configuration.
Provide preboot user data using the Azure CLI
Type the following command in the Azure CLI:
az vm create \ --resource-group myResourceGroup \ --name MyVm \ --image debian \ --custom-data MyCloudInitScript.txt \ Example:
az vm create --resource-group MyResourceGroup -name MyVm --image debian --custom-data MyCloudInitScript.txt You can pass your custom data or preboot configuration as a file to “–custom-data” parameter. In this example, the file name isMyCloudInitScript.txt.
For more information, seeAzure CLI documentation.
Provide preboot user data using the GCP console
When you provision a Citrix ADC VPX instance using GCP console, fill in the properties of instance. ExpandManagement, security, disks, networking, sole tenancy. Navigate to theManagementtab. In theAutomationsection, provide preboot user data configuration in theStartup Scriptfield.
For detailed information on creating the VPX instance using GCP, see部署一个Citrix ADC VPX实例on Google Cloud Platform.
Provide preboot user data using the gcloud CLI
Type the following command in the GCP CLI:
gcloud compute instances create INSTANCE_NAMES --metadata-from-file=startup-script=LOCAL_FILE_PATH metadata-from-file- Reads the value or user data from a file stored at the
For more information, seegcloud CLI documentation
Preboot user data format
The preboot user data must be provided to the cloud instance in XML format. The Citrix ADC preboot user data that you provide through the cloud infrastructure during boot can comprise the following four sections:
- Citrix ADC configuration represented with the
- Custom bootstrapping the Citrix ADC represented with the
- Storing user-scripts in Citrix ADC represented with the
- Pooled licensing configuration represented with the
< NS-LICENSE-CONFIG>tag.
You can provide the preceding four sections in any order within the ADC preboot configuration. Ensure to strictly follow the formatting shown in the following sections while providing the preboot user data.
Note:
The entire preboot user data configuration must be enclosed in the
tag as shown in the following examples.
Example 1:
Example 2:
Use the
NOTE:
The
section must have valid ADC CLI commands. The CLIs are not verified for the syntactic errors or format.
Citrix ADC configurations
Use the
NOTE:
The
section must have valid ADC CLI commands. The CLIs are not verified for the syntactic errors or format.
Example:
In the following example, the
You can copy the configuration shown in the preceding screenshot from here:
< NS-PRE-BOOT-CONFIG > < NS-CONFIG >添加vlan 5添加nsip 5.0.0.1 255.255.255.0 bind vlan 5 -IPAddress 5.0.0.1 255.255.255.0 enable ns feature WL SP LB RESPONDER add server 5.0.0.201 5.0.0.201 add service preboot_s5_201 5.0.0.201 HTTP 80 -gslb NONE -maxClient 0 -maxReq 0 -cip DISABLED -usip NO -useproxyport YES -sp OFF -cltTimeout 180 -svrTimeout 360 -CKA NO -TCPB NO -CMP NO add lb vserver preboot_v4_101 HTTP 4.0.0.101 80 -persistenceType NONE -cltTimeout 180 The Citrix ADC VPX instance comes up with the configuration applied in the
User scripts
Use the
You can include many scripts within the
In the following snapshot, you can verify that “script-1.sh” script is saved in the “/var/” directory. The “Script-1.sh” script is run, and the output file is created appropriately.
Example 2:
In the following example, the
- 第一个脚本保存为“- 1. - sh脚本”“/var” directory. The script is populated with the specified contents, and is run with command “sh /var/script-1.sh” after packet engine boots up.
- The second script is saved as “file-2.txt” at the “/var” directory. This file is populated with the specified contents. But it is not run because the bootup execution command
You can copy the configuration shown in the preceding screenshot from here:
In the following snapshot, you can verify that script-1.sh and file-2.txt are created in the “/var/” directory. The Script-1.sh is run, and the output file is created appropriately.
Licensing
Use the< NS-LICENSE-CONFIG>tag to apply Citrix ADC pooled licensing while booting up the VPX instance. Use the< NS-LICENSE-CONFIG>section to provide the pooled license commands. These commands must be syntactically valid.
You can specify the pooled licensing details such as, license type, capacity, and license server in the
After applying the< NS-LICENSE-CONFIG>, the VPX comes up with the requested edition upon boot, and VPX tries to check out the configured licenses from the license server.
- If the license checkout is successful, the configured bandwidth is applied to VPX.
- If the license checkout fails, the license is not retrieved from license server within 10–12 minutes approximately. As a result, the system reboots and enters an unlicensed state.
Example:
In the following example, after applying the< NS-LICENSE-CONFIG>, the VPX comes up with the Premium edition upon boot, and VPX tries to check out the configured licenses from the license server (10.102.38.214).
You can copy the configuration shown in the preceding screenshot from here:
add ns licenseserver 10.102.38.214 -port 2800 set ns capacity -unit gbps -bandwidth 3 edition platinum 正如下图所示,你可以跑步n the “show license server” command, and verify that the license server (10.102.38.214) is added to the VPX.
Bootstrapping
Use the
Default bootstrap configuration
The default bootstrap configuration in Citrix ADC appliance follows these interface assignments:
- Eth0- Management interface with a certain NSIP address.
- Eth1- Client-facing interface with a certain VIP address.
- Eth2- Server-facing interface with a certain SNIP address.
Customize bootstrap configuration
You can skip the default bootstrap sequence and provide a new bootstrap sequence for the Citrix ADC VPX instance. Use the
The following table indicates the bootstrapping behavior with the different values that are allowed for
SKIP-DEFAULT-BOOTSTRAP |
NEW-BOOTSTRAP-SEQUENCE |
Bootstrap behavior |
|---|---|---|
| YES | YES | The default bootstrapping behavior is skipped, and a new custom bootstrap sequence provided in the |
| YES | NO | The default bootstrapping behavior is skipped. The bootstrap commands provided in the |
You can customize the bootstrap configuration by the following three methods:
- Provide only the interface details
- Provide the interface details along with IP addresses and subnet mask
- Provide bootstrap related commands in the
Method 1: Custom bootstrap by specifying only the interface details
You specify the management, client-facing and server-facing interfaces but not their IP addresses and subnet masks. The IP addresses and subnet masks are populated by querying the cloud infrastructure.
Custom bootstrap example for AWS
You provide the custom bootstrap sequence as shown in the following example. For more information, seeHow to provide preboot user data in cloud instance. Eth1 interface is assigned as the management interface (NSIP), Eth0 interface as the client interface (VIP), and Eth2 interface as the server interface (SNIP). The
After the VM instance is created, in the AWS portal, you can verify the network interface properties as follows:
- Navigate to theAWS Portal > EC2 instances, and select the instance that you have created by providing the custom bootstrap information.
- In theDescriptiontab, you can verify the properties of each network interface as shown in the following illustrations.
You can run theshow nsipcommand inADC CLI, and verify the network interfaces applied to the ADC VPX instance during the first boot of the ADC appliance.
Custom bootstrap example for Azure
You provide the custom bootstrap sequence as shown in the following example. For more information, seeHow to provide preboot user data in cloud instance. Eth2 interface is assigned as the management interface (NSIP), Eth1 interface as the client interface (VIP), and Eth0 interface as the server interface (SNIP). The
You can see that the Citrix ADC VPX instance is created with three network interfaces. Navigate to theAzure portal > VM instance > Networking, and verify the networking properties of the three NICs as shown in the following illustrations.
You can run the “show nsip” command in the ADC CLI, and verify that the new bootstrap sequence specified in the
Custom bootstrap examples for GCP
You provide the custom bootstrap sequence as shown in the following example. For more information, seeHow to provide preboot user data in cloud instance. Eth1 interface is assigned as the management interface (NSIP), Eth0 interface as the client interface (VIP), and Eth2 interface as the server interface (SNIP). The
After the VM instance is created in the GCP portal, you can verify the network interface properties as follows:
- Select the instance that you have created by providing the custom bootstrap information.
- Navigate to the Network interface properties and verify the NIC details as follows:
You can run theshow nsipcommand inADC CLI, and verify the network interfaces applied to the ADC VPX instance during the first boot of the ADC appliance.
Method 2: Custom bootstrap by specifying the interfaces, IP addresses, and subnet masks
You specify the management, client-facing and server-facing interfaces along with their IP addresses and subnet mask.
Custom bootstrap examples for AWS
In the following example, you skip the default bootstrap and run a new bootstrap sequence for the Citrix ADC appliance. For the new bootstrap sequence, you specify the following details:
- Management interface:Interface - Eth1, NSIP - 172.31.52.88, and subnet mask - 255.255.240.0
- Client facing interface:Interface - Eth0, VIP - 172.31.5.155, and subnet mask - 255.255.240.0.
- 服务公司er facing interface:Interface - Eth2, SNIP - 172.31.76.177, and subnet mask - 255.255.240.0.
You can run theshow nsipcommand in the ADC CLI, and verify that the new bootstrap sequence specified in the
Custom bootstrap example for Azure
In the following example, a new bootstrap sequence for ADC is mentioned and default bootstrap is skipped. You provide the interface details along with the IP addresses and subnet masks as follows:
- Management interface (eth2), NSIP (172.27.2.53), and subnet mask (255.255.255.0)
- Client facing interface (eth1), VIP (172.27.1.53), and subnet mask (255.255.255.0)
- 服务公司er facing interface (eth0), SNIP (172.27.0.53), and subnet mask (255.255.255.0)
You can see that the Citrix ADC VPX instance is created with three network interfaces. Navigate to theAzure portal > VM instance > Networking, and verify the networking properties of the three NICs as shown in the following illustrations.
You can run theshow nsipcommand in the ADC CLI, and verify that the new bootstrap sequence specified in the
Custom bootstrap example for GCP
In the following example, a new bootstrap sequence for ADC is mentioned and default bootstrap is skipped. You provide the interface details along with the IP addresses and subnet masks as follows:
- Management interface (eth2), NSIP (10.128.4.31), and subnet mask (255.255.255.0)
- Client facing interface (eth1), VIP (10.128.0.43), and subnet mask (255.255.255.0)
- 服务公司er facing interface (eth0), SNIP (10.160.0.75), and subnet mask (255.255.255.0)
After the VM instance is created in the GCP portal with the custom bootstrap, you can verify the network interface properties as follows:
- Select the instance that you have created by providing the custom bootstrap information.
- Navigate to the Network interface properties and verify the NIC details as follows.
You can run theshow nsipcommand in the ADC CLI, and verify that the new bootstrap sequence specified in the
Method 3: Custom bootstrap by providing bootstrap related commands in the
You can provide the bootstrap related commands in the
Before providing a custom bootstrap, ensure that your cloud infrastructure supports a particular interface configuration.
Custom bootstrap example for AWS
In this example, bootstrap related commands are provided in the
You can copy the configuration shown in the preceding screenshot from here:
< NS-PRE-BOOT-CONFIG > < NS-CONFIG >设置ns配置ipAddress 172.31.52.88 -netmask 255.255.240.0 add route 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 172.31.48.1 set ns config -nsvlan 10 -ifnum 1/2 -tagged NO add route 172.31.0.2 255.255.255.255 172.31.48.1 enable ns feature WL SP LB RESPONDER add server 5.0.0.201 5.0.0.201 add service preboot_s5_201 5.0.0.201 HTTP 80 -gslb NONE -maxClient 0 -maxReq 0 -cip DISABLED -usip NO - useproxyport YES -sp OFF -cltTimeout 180 -svrTimeout 360 -CKA NO -TCPB NO -CMP NO add lb vserver preboot_v4_101 HTTP 4.0.0.101 80 -persistenceType NONE -cltTimeout 180 YES NO After the VM instance is created, in the AWS portal, you can verify the network interface properties as follows:
- Navigate to theAWS Portal > EC2 instances, and select the instance that you have created by providing the custom bootstrap information.
- In theDescriptiontab, you can verify the properties of each network interface as shown in the following illustrations.
You can run theshow nsipcommand inADC CLI, and verify the network interfaces applied to the ADC VPX instance during the first boot of the ADC appliance.
Custom bootstrap example for Azure
In this example, bootstrap related commands are provided in the
Note:
For Azure cloud, Instance Metadata Server (IMDS) and DNS servers are accessible only through primary interface (Eth0). Therefore, if Eth0 interface is not used as management interface (NSIP), Eth0 interface must at least be configured as SNIP for IMDS or DNS access to work. The route to IMDS endpoint (169.254.169.254) and DNS endpoint (168.63.129.16) through Eth0’s gateway must also be added.
< NS-PRE-BOOT-CONFIG > < NS-CONFIG >设置ns配置ipAddress 172.27.2.61 -netmask 255.255.255.0 add route 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 172.27.2.1 set ns config -nsvlan 10 -ifnum 1/2 -tagged NO add ns ip 172.27.0.61 255.255.255.0 -type SNIP add route 169.254.169.254 255.255.255.255 172.27.0.1 add route 168.63.129.16 255.255.255.255 172.27.0.1 add vlan 5 bind vlan 5 -IPAddress 5.0.0.1 255.255.255.0 enable ns feature WL SP LB RESPONDER add server 5.0.0.201 5.0.0.201 add service preboot_s5_201 5.0.0.201 HTTP 80 -gslb NONE -maxClient 0 -maxReq 0 -cip DISABLED -usip NO -useproxyport YES -sp OFF -cltTimeout 180 -svrTimeout 360 -CKA NO -TCPB NO -CMP NO add lb vserver preboot_v4_101 HTTP 4.0.0.101 80 -persistenceType NONE -cltTimeout 180 YES NO You can see that the Citrix ADC VPX instance is created with three network interfaces. Navigate to theAzure portal > VM instance > Networking, and verify the networking properties of the three NICs as shown in the following illustrations.
You can run theshow nsipcommand in the ADC CLI, and verify that the new bootstrap sequence specified in the
Custom bootstrap example for GCP
In this example, bootstrap related commands are provided in the
You can copy the configuration shown in the preceding screenshot from here:
< NS-PRE-BOOT-CONFIG > < NS-CONFIG >设置ns配置ipAddress 10.128.0.2 -netmask 255.255.255.0 add route 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 10.128.0.1 set ns config -nsvlan 10 -ifnum 1/1 -tagged NO enable ns feature WL SP LB RESPONDER add server 5.0.0.201 5.0.0.201 add service preboot_s5_201 5.0.0.201 HTTP 80 -gslb NONE -maxClient 0 -maxReq 0 -cip DISABLED -usip NO -useproxyport YES -sp OFF -cltTimeout 180 -svrTimeout 360 -CKA NO -TCPB NO -CMP NO add lb vserver preboot_v4_101 HTTP 4.0.0.101 80 -persistenceType NONE -cltTimeout 180 YES NO After the VM instance is created in the GCP portal with the custom bootstrap, you can verify the network interface properties as follows:
- Select the instance that you have created by providing the custom bootstrap information.
Navigate to the Network interface properties and verify the NIC details as shown in the illustration.
You can run theshow nsipcommand inADC CLI, and verify that the configurations provided in the preceding
Impact of attaching and detaching NICs in AWS and Azure
AWS and Azure provide the option to attach a network interface to an instance, and detach a network interface from an instance. Attaching or detaching interfaces might alter interface positions. Hence, Citrix recommends you to refrain from detaching interfaces from the ADC VPX instance. If you detach or attach an interface when custom bootstrapping is configured, Citrix ADC VPX instance reassigns the primary IP of the newly available interface in the management interface’s position as NSIP. If no further interfaces are available after the one you detached, then the first interface is made the management interface for the ADC VPX instance.
For example, a Citrix ADC VPX instance is brought up with 3 interfaces: Eth0 (SNIP), Eth1 (NSIP), and Eth2 (VIP). If you detach Eth1 interface from the instance, which is a management interface, ADC configures the next available interface (Eth2) as the management interface. Thereby, the ADC VPX instance is still accessed through the primary IP of Eth2 interface. If Eth2 is also not available, then the remaining interface (Eth0) is made the management interface. Therefore, the access to ADC VPX instance continues to exist.
Let’s consider a different assignment of interfaces as follows: Eth0 (SNIP), Eth1 (VIP), and Eth2 (NSIP). If you detach Eth2 (NSIP), because no new interface is available after Eth2, the first interface (Eth0) is made the management interface.
In this article
- What is user data
- How to provide preboot user data in cloud instance
- Provide preboot user data using the AWS console
- Provide preboot user data using the Azure console
- Provide preboot user data using the GCP console
- Preboot user data format
- Citrix ADC configurations
- User scripts
- Licensing
- Bootstrapping
- Method 1: Custom bootstrap by specifying only the interface details
- Method 2: Custom bootstrap by specifying the interfaces, IP addresses, and subnet masks
- Method 3: Custom bootstrap by providing bootstrap related commands in the
section - Impact of attaching and detaching NICs in AWS and Azure