Getting the Training Topology via VM Image (Simple)

Overview

RtBrick provides a Virtual Machine image for users who wish to download and run the virtual RBFS Tour in their local environment. This setup allows users to create the necessary topology to complete the exercises outlined in the RBFS Tour documentation.

The intent of providing the "RBFS VM images" currently is to enable running the virtual RBFS tour on local hardware and not to spawn arbitrary topologies.

The diagram below illustrates the process of requesting, downloading, and starting the RBFS Tour VM image.

vm image overview
Figure 1. RBFS Tour VM Images Overview

Requesting the RBFS Tour VM Image

To access the RBFS Tour, users must request a VM image compatible with either Proxmox or VirtualBox hypervisors, as RtBrick only provides VM images for these hypervisors. After submitting the request, RtBrick will send a download link via email.

Prerequisites:

  • A Hypervisor: Choose either Proxmox or VirtualBox, both of which are widely used open-source virtualization platforms.

  • Host Operating System: The selected hypervisor (Proxmox or VirtualBox) must support a compatible host operating system.

    • Proxmox: Must be installed as a bare-metal hypervisor directly on x86-64 hardware.

    • VirtualBox: Requires a host operating system of either Debian 13 (Trixie) or Microsoft Windows 11.

  • System Requirements: Recommended resource settings for the Virtual Machine:

    • CPU: 8 Cores

    • RAM: 16 GB

    • Disk: 20 GB

    • Network: 1 interface in the local network for SSH access to the VM

Downloading the VM Image

You can download the VM image directly to your computer using the link provided in the email from RtBrick.

Alternatively, you can download the VM image on a Linux target machine by executing the following command:

wget "<IMAGE_FILE_URL>" -O <FILE_NAME>

Replace <IMAGE_FILE_URL> within double quotes with the download link of the VM image that was provided in the email.

Replace <FILE_NAME> with appropriate file name with extension.

  • Example of Proxmox image file name: vzdump-qemu-rbfs-tour-vm.vma.zst

  • Example of VirtualBox image file name: rbfs-tour-vm.vdi.zst

Starting the VM

Starting the VM in Proxmox

It is recommended to use Proxmox version 9.1, which operates directly on x86-64 hardware as a bare-metal hypervisor.

To start the RBFS Tour VM in Proxmox, follow these steps:

  1. If you have downloaded the image on another machine, you need to copy the downloaded VM image to the Proxmox local storage (/var/lib/vz/dump/).

  2. Ensure the file name starts with the prefix “vzdump-qemu-”. Add the prefix if needed.

    Use the following command to copy the file to the Proxmox server, replacing <proxmox_host_ip> with the actual IP address of your Proxmox server.

    scp vzdump-qemu-rbfs-tour-vm.vma.zst root@<proxmox_host_ip>:/var/lib/vz/dump/

    Alternatively, you can directly download the VM image using wget as described in previous section.

  1. Log in to the Proxmox web interface and navigate to the local storage where the VM image was copied.

    The VM image file will be visible under the Backups section of the local storage.
    proxmox backups
    Figure 2. Backup Section of Proxmox Local Storage

  2. Select the VM image file and click the Restore button.

    proxmox backup restore
    Figure 3. Restore VM Image in Proxmox

  3. Click Restore to confirm.

    proxmox backup restore output
    Figure 4. Confirmation of VM Image Restore

  4. Start the VM by clicking the Start button.

    proxmox rbfs tour vm summary
    Figure 5. VM Summary in Proxmox

  5. After starting the VM, click the Console button.

    proxmox rbfs tour vm console
    Figure 6. VM Console in Proxmox

  6. Log in to the VM via the console using the following credentials:

    User: supervisor
    Password: supervisor

    proxmox vm login
    Figure 7. VM Login in Proxmox

    • Verify the network interface using the ip address command. If no IP address is assigned, execute sudo dhclient <interface> to obtain an IP address from DHCP.

    • Use the assigned IP address to log in to the VM via SSH, then start the RBFS Tour topology.

Starting the VM in VirtualBox

It is recommended to use VirtualBox 7.2, which runs on either Debian 13 (Trixie) or Microsoft Windows 11 host operating system.

To start a VM in VirtualBox, follow these steps:

  1. Decompress the downloaded VM image file using the following command.

    On Debian, use the following command:

    unzstd rbfs-tour-vm.vdi.zst

    On Microsoft Windows 11, right-click the file and select Extract Here.

  2. Open VirtualBox and navigate to File > Preferences. Select the Expert tab and click OK.

    virtualbox preferences
    Figure 8. Preference Settings in VirtualBox
    If the preference is already set to Expert, you can skip this step.

  3. Choose File > Tools > Media, then under Hard disks, click Add and select the decompressed image rbfs-tour-vm.vdi.

    virtualbox media manager
    Figure 9. Media Manager in VirtualBox

  4. Create a Host-only Network by navigating to File > Tools > Network and clicking Create.

    virtualbox host only network
    Figure 10. Host-only Network in VirtualBox
    If the host-only network is already created, you can skip this step.

  5. Create a new virtual machine by clicking Machine > New, and follow the prompts to set up the VM with the following specifications:

    • VM Name: rbfs-tour-vm

    • OS: Linux

    • OS Distribution: Debian

    • OS Version: Debian (64-bit)

      virtualbox new vm
      Figure 11. New Virtual Machine in VirtualBox

  6. Under Specify virtual hardware, Assign the recommended resources to the VM:

    • Base Memory: Approx. 16 GB

    • Number of CPUs: 8 CPUs

      virtualbox vm resources
      Figure 12. Virtual Machine Resources in VirtualBox

  7. Under Specify virtual hard disk, select Use an Existing Virtual Hard Disk File, and choose rbfs-tour-vm.vdi, and click Finish.

    virtualbox vm storage
    Figure 13. Virtual Machine Storage in VirtualBox

  8. Under Machines, select the VM, click Settings, and select Host-only Adapter under Network, then click OK.

    virtualbox vm settings
    Figure 14. Virtual Machine Settings in VirtualBox
    virtualbox vm network
    Figure 15. Network Settings in VirtualBox

  9. On Debian, open a terminal and run the following commands (replace rbfs-tour-vm with your actual VM name):

    VBoxManage setextradata rbfs-tour-vm "VBoxInternal/Devices/pcbios/0/Config/DmiExposeProcInf" "1"
VBoxManage setextradata rbfs-tour-vm "VBoxInternal/Devices/pcbios/0/Config/DmiExposeMemoryTable" "1"

    On Microsoft Windows 11, open Command Prompt and run the same commands after navigating to the VirtualBox installation directory, assuming that VirtualBox is installed in the default directory.

    cd "C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox"
VBoxManage setextradata rbfs-tour-vm "VBoxInternal/Devices/pcbios/0/Config/DmiExposeProcInf" "1"
VBoxManage setextradata rbfs-tour-vm "VBoxInternal/Devices/pcbios/0/Config/DmiExposeMemoryTable" "1"
    This step configures VirtualBox to expose Process and Memory information to the VM, which is necessary for the RtBrick resmond process to function correctly.

  10. Start the VM by selecting it and clicking Start.

    virtualbox start vm
    Figure 16. Starting the VM in VirtualBox

  11. Log in to the VM via the console using the following credentials:

    User: supervisor
    Password: supervisor

    virtualbox vm login
    Figure 17. VM Login in VirtualBox

    • Verify the network interface using the ip address command. If no IP address is assigned, execute sudo dhclient <interface> to obtain an IP address from DHCP.

    • Use the assigned IP address to log in to the VM via SSH, then start the RBFS Tour topology.

Logging into the VM via SSH

Use the following credentials to log in to the VM via SSH:

  • User: supervisor

  • Password: supervisor

ssh login
Figure 18. Logging into the VM via SSH

Starting the RBFS Tour Topology

To start the virtual topology, run the following commands in the VM. This process might take a few minutes to complete.

$ cd ~/trainings_resources/infra
$ rtb-ansible full-setup

The following topology with 4 Multiservice Edge Routing containers and 1 Service Node container will be ready once the script execution is completed.

topology lab
Figure 19. RBFS Tour Topology

Running the Exercises

Each module comes along with two robot files: a setup file and a check file. Before you start a module, you should execute the corresponding setup file to prepare your lab environment, e.g., for the first BGP module

~/trainings_resources/robot$ robot bgp_ebgp/bgp_ebgp_setup.robot

It is not necessary to have knowledge of the Robot Framework in order to use it. For those who are interested, we have put together a small introduction under Robot Framework.

The nodes R2, R3, and R4 are loaded with the full configuration at the beginning of each module, while node R1, which is your device under test (DUT), is loaded with some initial configuration in order to avoid configuring all steps that have already been done in previous modules.

You can login to R1 to perform your configuration exercises using either ssh or rtb-ssh:

~/trainings_resources$ rtb-ssh R1

After you have completed the module, you can execute the check file to see if everything was done correctly, e.g., for the first BGP module

~/trainings_resources/robot$ robot bgp_ebgp/bgp_ebgp_verify.robot