WHAT TO EXPECT
In this section, users will learn the prerequisites that a VM must meet in order to install the xNIC adaptor.
A cloudSwxtch must exist to install an xNIC adaptor. The installer will be downloaded from there. See cloudSwXtch System Requirements for more information. See what is a xNIC.
xNIC software
The xNIC software must be run on each virtual agent that is to be part of the IP multicast network, and not a cloudSwXtch or a swXtchBridge. This software can be installed on hosts that meet the following requirements:
Supported Operating Systems
The following list shows the OS versions where xNIC is supported.
Linux | Windows |
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CPU Architecture
Currently, the xNIC can only be installed when the CPU is x86_x64.
Network Connectivity
The agent VM can have 1 NIC, or 2 NICs for higher performance (one for each subnet: ctrl-subnet and data-subnet).
NOTE
An xNIC instance may have 1 or 2 NICs, depending on the subnet configuration of the cloudSwXtch.
If a cloudSwXtch has 2 NICs connected to the same subnet, then the agent VM needs only 1 NIC to operate the xNIC, although it can have more NICs for other purposes. This cloudSwXtch-related NIC will share the same single subnet for control and data plane communications as the cloudSwXtch.
For high performance, a cloudSwXtch should have 2 NICs using 2 different subnets. Then the agent VM will need 2 NICs connected to separate subnets:
A subnet for control plane traffic (referred to as the ctrl-subnet from here on).
A subnet for data plane traffic (referred to as the data-subnet from here on).
The process requires a simple command that downloads the xNIC installation script from the cloudSwXtch and then executes it. The install typically takes less than a minute per host. See the installation sections for more details.
NOTE
If the VM is in OCI and has a secondary adapter, chances are that the adaptar is not configured by default, without a proper IP. If that’s the case, users can refer to the How to configure a second NIC on OCI page.