How to Update the Software
Updates within the same major release
To update within the same major release (e..g from R4.7.1 to R4.8.3), only the bqn package needs to be updated (e.g. bqn-R4.8.3.bpkg). The update consists of two steps: first it is installed and then it is activated. The activation involves a traffic interruption of some seconds, so it is advised to carry it out at times of low throughput.
The installation is performed in Administration->Software, clicking on the ⁝ menu icon and selecting Install… A file selector pops up to choose the package, that it is transferred to the BQN server and installed.
The activation is done in Administration->Software clicking on the ↶ arrow icon of the package to activate (highlighted in red in the picture below).
This operation forces you to log back into the BQN after a few seconds, during which time, the traffic flow is interrupted.
Updates across major releases
Contact support@bequant.com for detailed instructions before performing an upgrade to a new major release.
To migrate to a new major release (e.g. from R3 to R4), the platform packages will need updates (bqnos, kernel, bqnkernel, linux and gui), in addition to the bqn package. Platform packages require a reboot to be activated. The process is the following:
1. Install new bqnos, wait for one minute and reboot
2. Install kernel and bqnkernel (together in in this order), wait for one minute and reboot
3. Install linux, wait for one minute and reboot
4. Install gui and reboot
5. Install bqn and reload
The server must be placed out of the traffic path, as server reboots will involve service losses.
Finally, the old configuration may require migration to the new release. As a minimum, you will have to remove deprecated commands accessing the BQN server via SSH and running the commands:
How to Generate a Diagnostic
When requested by Bequant support, a diagnostic file can be generated in Administration->Diagnostic.
The file will be placed in the download folder of the browser being used.
How to Back up the Configuration
You can save the server configuration to a local file in Administration->Backup->Save.
To restore it, pick a previous backup file in option Administration->Backup->Load.
It is strongly recommended that you load the configuration always without overwriting management address and wire configuration, so the interface configuration is not lost when transferring configuration from one BQN server to another.
Monitoring with SNMP
The BQN supports the following SNMP v2c alarms (traps):
- Cpu: excessive server CPU load.
- Memory-dpdk: excessive memory usage in DPDK packet processing.
- Memory-pool: excessive memory usage in BQN general memory pool.
- Disk: file system full or almost full.
- Process: some mandatory processes down.
- Traffic-uplink: no traffic in the uplink direction.
- Traffic-downlink: no traffic in the downlink direction.
- Traffic-low: low traffic (uplink and downlink directions combined).
- Traffic-inverted: uplink throughput higher than downlink throughput (possibly because some wires are inverted, with access port connected to the Internet and vice versa).
- Wire: no wires configured or some wires down.
- License-available: no license defined or license invalid.
- License-expiration: license has expired.
- License-usage: server throughput is above the license capacity.
- Time: no NTP server configured or not reachable.
- Bqnmgr: BQN remote management system not reachable.
These alarms are related to the dashboard shown in BQN homepage. See the Troubleshooting section for more information.
To configure the SNMP agent, go to Administration->SNMP:
The BQN SNMP also exports some system statistics. To get the BQN MIB files, contact Bequant support.
Traffic Captures
To capture traffic passing through a network interface, connect to the system shell using ssh and invoke the system interface capture command.
Packet capture functionality can impact the performance of the system. Use it in a targeted fashion, knowing the traffic you are looking for and when generating captures to disk, make sure you define a small size limit that does not compromise the system.
The following example captures three packets from interface en0p0s8:
If no number of packets is specified, the capture continues until you stop it pressing C. This command accepts a filter to capture only part of the traffic. The capture filter uses the PCAP filter expression syntax, which is commonly used by the tcpdump program. For example, to capture traffic involving IP address 10.10.1.2:
If there are VLAN or PPPoE, you need to specify it in the filter to apply layer-3 parameters such as host. For example ,in traffic with both VLAN and PPPoE:
This command can store the captures in a file with PCAP format. For example, to store 10 MB of traffic involving IP10.10.10.10:
The file will be generated in the user homedirectory and can be retrieved from another server using scp:
Logs
In order to help in the debugging of complex issues, the GUI displays two types of logs:
- OS log messages. Go to Administration->Logs->System.
- Kernel log messages (output of dmesg command). Go to Administration->Log->Kernel.
Software Bypass
It is possible to make some traffic to go through the BQN transparently, without being processed by BQN. Such traffic will be captured in one of the network interfaces and relayed transparently to its peer interface in the same wire. That way, the BQN software will have no impact on such traffic.
The kind of traffic that can be configured to be bypassed are:
- IP traffic v4
- IP traffic v6
- Traffic with some specific VLAN tags.
- Traffic without a VLAN tag (i.e. untagged).
To bypass some traffic, go to Configuration->Optimization Settings and enable the corresponding toggle.
Take into account that bypassed traffic will not benefit from BQN features: it will not bo ptimized, no metrics will be recorded and no policies applied.
