VMware Player or Workstation (Use player 5.

02 or
later, Workstation 10 or later)
1.
2.

Check BIOS settings to ensure virtualization extensions are enabled.

Download the package: virl.vTxxx.pc.ova
The files are LARGE - the OVA and .ISO images are 4GB - The torrent download function is
also available which we encourage you to take advantage of - look at using QBittorrent
(available from http://www.qbittorrent.org/) . Please click and open necessary torrent file for
the image you want to download.
If you are using HTTP-based download, use of a download manager such as iGetter or
DownThemAll is strongly recommended. Typical problem encountered with using a regular
web-browser to download, is that the download halts/times-out part way through the
download.
Please check the md5 checksum of your downloaded file against the values in the hashes file
that accompanies the release.

3.
4.

Open your VMWare Player or Workstation application and 'Import' the Virtual Appliance file.
This will open the OVA and create a new VIRL VM instance for you.
You now need to set up the required networks to map to the three network interfaces on the
VIRL VM. Please read the article at http://www.doublecloud.org/2013/03/how-to-use-themissing-virtual-network-editor-in-vmware-player/ for the required steps.
Once youve made the changes, in Player, under 'Edit virtual machine settings', ensure that the
Network Adapters are mapped as follows:
Network Adapter (1) - NAT
Network Adapter (2) - vmnet2
Network Adapter (3) - vmnet3

5.
6.
7.
8.

Under Processors and Memory verify the amount of memory and CPU cores you're making
available to the VM. The minimum recommended setting is 4Gb and 2 CPUs
Ensure that Virtualize Intel VT-x/EPT is selected THIS IS CRITICAL
Launch the VM
Logging in to the VIRL VM
When the VM boots, log in as username 'virl', password 'VIRL' - yes, its case-sensitive.

9.

Obtain the ip address of your vm by clicking on the 'ip-address' icon

ifconfig eth0

10. Download the VM Maestro client from http://<ip of your VIRL>/download (Windows, Mac
and Linux clients are available from this location)
11. Start up VM Maestro and select the 'Web Services' option in the File/Preferences menu. Select
'credentials' and set as per below:
Username = guest
password = guest
Create a 'profile' and set 'http://<ip of your VIRL>:8080' - this will then be set in the various
dialog boxes below.
12. SYSTEM CONFIGURATION AND HOSTNAME CHANGES -

If you have confirmed that you need to apply a static IP address to the VIRL VM, need to
change the hostname, or any other configuration change, do the following:
Open the ESXi console for the VIRL VM and log in (username 'virl'/password 'VIRL')
1. Double-click edit settings.ini - make the necessary changes and press save
2. Double-click virl-install networking and reboot
3. Double-click virl-install changes and reboot again before use
YOU MUST REBOOT BETWEEN STEP 2 AND STEP 3 AND AFTER STEP 3
When editing settings.ini, verifying at least the following fields: (when you edit don't forget to
remove the '#' sign from start of line. If no change is required you can leave the lines alone)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

location region (US or EU, note - APAC is not yet operational)

hostname (DO NOT CHANGE LEAVE AS virl)
using dhcp on the public port (set to 'False')
public_port
Static IP
public network
public netmask
public gateway
user list (in the format user:password,user1:password1, etc)

Save the changes!

NOTE THAT IF YOU ARE DEPLOYED BEHIND A PROXY, THE SYSTEM MUST
HAVE A PROXY DEFINED, PROXY SET TO TRUE AND AN NTP CLOCK SOURCE
MUST BE REACHABLE!
ENSURE THAT THE CORRECT IP ADDRESS IS PRESENT WHEN IT RELOADS ifconfig eth0
When the server boots, log in and wait for at least 120 seconds. Check that the output of the
command 'date' provides a result which is valid. You may see that the server reports as being
in in GMT timezone, this is not important - it is key the time value is accurate. If this is NOT
accurate, force an NTP update using the commands:
sudo service ntp stop
sudo ntpdate ntp.esl.cisco.com
sudo service ntp start

VMware Fusion Pro (Use version 5.02 or later)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Download the file: setup.fusion.networks

Ensure that you have shut Fusion down
Open a terminal window and navigate to the directory where you have saved the file
'setup.fusion.networks'
Ensure that the file permissions are set 'chmod 755 ./setup.fusion.networks'
run the command 'sudo ./setup.fusion.networks' - you will be prompted to enter your password
in order for the script to execute.
Download the package: virl.vTxxx.pc.ova
The files are LARGE - the OVA and .ISO images are 4GB - The torrent download function is
also available which we encourage you to take advantage of - look at using QBittorrent
(available from http://www.qbittorrent.org/) . Please click and open necessary torrent file for
the image you want to download.
If you are using HTTP-based download, use of a download manager such as iGetter or
DownThemAll is strongly recommended. Typical problem encountered with using a regular
web-browser to download, is that the download halts/times-out part way through the
download.
Please check the md5 checksum of your downloaded file against the values in the hashes file

that accompanies the release.

7.
8.

Open VMWare Fusion and 'Import' the Virtual Appliance file. This will open the OVA and
create a new VIRL VM instance for you.
Under 'System settings', ensure that the Network Adapters are mapped as follows:
Network Adapter (1) - Share with my PC
Network Adapter (2) - vmnet2
Network Adapter (3) - vmnet3

9.

Under Processors and Memory verify the amount of memory and CPU cores you're making
available to the VM. The minimum recommended setting is 4Gb and 2 CPUs
10. Under Processors and Memory/Advanced options ensure that Enable hypervisor
applications is selected THIS IS CRITICAL
11. Launch the VM
12. Logging in to the VIRL VM
When the VM boots, log in as username 'virl', password 'VIRL' - yes, its case-sensitive.
13. Obtain the ip address of your vm by clicking on the 'ip-address' icon
ifconfig eth0
14. Download the VM Maestro client from http://<ip of your VIRL>/download (Windows, Mac
and Linux clients are available from this location)
15. Start up VM Maestro and select the 'Web Services' option in the File/Preferences menu. Select
'credentials' and set as per below:
Username = guest
password = guest
Create a 'profile' and set 'http://<ip of your VIRL>:8080' - this will then be set in the various
dialog boxes below.
16. SYSTEM CONFIGURATION AND HOSTNAME CHANGES If you have confirmed that you need to apply a static IP address to the VIRL VM, need to
change the hostname, or any other configuration change, do the following:
Open the ESXi console for the VIRL VM and log in (username 'virl'/password 'VIRL')
1. Double-click edit settings.ini - make the necessary changes and press save
2. Double-click virl-install networking and reboot
3. Double-click virl-install changes and reboot again before use
YOU MUST REBOOT BETWEEN STEP 2 AND STEP 3 AND AFTER STEP 3
When editing settings.ini, verifying at least the following fields: (when you edit don't forget to
remove the '#' sign from start of line. If no change is required you can leave the lines alone)
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.

location region (US or EU, note - APAC is not yet operational)

hostname (DO NOT CHANGE LEAVE AS virl)
using dhcp on the public port (set to 'False')
public_port
Static IP
public network
public netmask
public gateway
user list (in the format user:password,user1:password1, etc)

Save the changes!

NOTE THAT IF YOU ARE DEPLOYED BEHIND A PROXY, THE SYSTEM MUST
HAVE A PROXY DEFINED, PROXY SET TO TRUE AND AN NTP CLOCK SOURCE
MUST BE REACHABLE!
ENSURE THAT THE CORRECT IP ADDRESS IS PRESENT WHEN IT RELOADS ifconfig eth0
When the server boots, log in and wait for at least 120 seconds. Check that the output of the
command 'date' provides a result which is valid. You may see that the server reports as being
in in GMT timezone, this is not important - it is key the time value is accurate. If this is NOT
accurate, force an NTP update using the commands:
sudo service ntp stop
sudo ntpdate ntp.esl.cisco.com
sudo service ntp start