AsterNOS-VPP VMware ESXi Quick Start Guide

Transform your x86 server into a high-performance virtual router with line-rate L2/L3 Forwarding and NAT services. Unlike standard virtual machine deployments, this guide leverages PCI Passthrough technology to bypass the virtualization layer, unlocking the full performance potential of the hardware. This guide provides a step-by-step tutorial for deploying the AsterNOS-VPP virtual gateway on a VMware ESXi environment.

What You’ll Build
By the end of this guide, you’ll have:
✅ AsterNOS-VPP VM running on VMware ESXi with PCI passthrough
✅ Wire-speed VLAN switching (950+ Mbps)
✅ Inter-VLAN routing at line rate
✅ NAT gateway with internet access for internal networks

Prerequisites

Knowledge Requirements
Familiarity with VMware ESXi web client
Basic understanding of IP addressing, VLANs, and routing

Hardware Requirements
x86 server with Intel VT-d enabled in BIOS
Supported network card (e.g., Intel i350)
Minimum: 4 CPU cores, 8GB RAM

Software & Tools
VMware ESXi 7.0 or later
AsterNOS-VPP image (Download)
qemu-img (for image conversion)
iperf3 (for performance testing)

Network Topology

Interface Planning

Device / Interface	Physical Mapping	IP Address / Subnet	Notes / Connection Point
Ethernet1	Host Machine	/	Management InterfaceConnected to ESXi vSwitch0
Ethernet2	vmnic1(Passthrough)	192.168.200.166/24	WAN InterfaceConnects to Upstream Gateway
Ethernet3	vmnic2(Passthrough)	N/A (L2 Port)	Member of VLAN 100Connects to PC 1
Ethernet4	vmnic3(Passthrough)	N/A (L2 Port)	Member of VLAN 200Connects to PC 2
Interface Vlan 100	(Logical)	10.1.1.1/24	Gateway for LAN1
Interface Vlan 200	(Logical)	10.1.2.1/24	Gateway for LAN2

Step 1: Prepare the Image

Convert QCOW2 to VMDK

Software Download: Click To Download SONiC-VPP.img
Conversion Tool: qemu-img (Required for converting qcow2 to vmdk on a local PC before uploading).
Testing Tools: iperf3 (Must be installed on both Client PCs for throughput testing).
AsterNOS ships in QCOW2 format. VMware ESXi requires VMDK.
On your local machine (Windows/Linux/Mac), convert the image:

qemu-img convert -f qcow2 -O vmdk sonic-vpp.img asternos-vpp.vmdk

Upload to ESXi

1. Log in to ESXi web client
2. Navigate to Storage → Datastore browser
3. Create a new folder: asternos
4. Upload asternos-vpp.vmdk to this folder

Step 2: Enable PCI Passthrough

PCI passthrough allows the VM to directly access physical NICs, bypassing the virtual switch for maximum performance.

Configure Passthrough Devices

1. Navigate to Manage → Hardware → PCI Devices
2. Locate your network adapter
3. Select the ports for data traffic (do not select ESXi management port)
4. Click Toggle passthrough
5. Verify status changes to Active
6. Reboot ESXi host to apply changes

⚠️ Critical: Do NOT select the port used for the ESXi Management Network.

Step 3: Create the Virtual Machine

VM Creation Wizard

1. Click Create/Register VM
2. Select Create a new virtual machine

VM Configuration

General Settings:

• Name: AsterNOS-VPP
• Guest OS Family: Linux
• Guest OS Version: Debian GNU/Linux 11 (64-bit)

Hardware:

Component	Setting	Notes
CPU	4 vCPUs	Minimum requirement
Memory	8 GB	Must reserve all memory
Hard Disk	Delete default → Add existing → Browse to asternos-vpp.vmdk	Use IDE controller
Network Adapter 1	VM Network (vSwitch0)	Maps to ethernet1 (management)
PCI Device 1	Add passthrough port #1	Maps to ethernet2 (WAN)
PCI Device 2	Add passthrough port #2	Maps to ethernet3 (LAN)
PCI Device 3	Add passthrough port #3	Maps to ethernet4 (LAN)

Critical Memory Setting

Expand Memory settings and check:

• ☑️ “Reserve all guest memory (All locked)”

⚠️ Without this setting, PCI passthrough devices will fail to start.

Finish & Power On

1. Review settings
2. Click Finish
3. Power on the VM
4. Open console

Step 4: Initial Network Configuration

Access the VM

Console Login:

• Username: admin
• Password: asteros

Enter CLI:

admin@sonic:~$ sonic-cli
sonic#

Enter Configuration Mode

sonic# configure terminal
sonic(config)#

Step 5: Configure WAN Interface

Set up internet connectivity via ethernet2.

# Configure WAN interface
sonic(config)# interface ethernet 2
sonic(config-if-ethernet2)# ip address 192.168.200.166/24
sonic(config-if-ethernet2)# nat zone 1
sonic(config-if-ethernet2)# no shutdown
sonic(config-if-ethernet2)# exit

# Configure default route
sonic(config)# ip route 0.0.0.0/0 192.168.200.1

Verify connectivity:

sonic# ping 8.8.8.8

Step 6: Configure VLANs & Gateways

# Create VLANs
sonic(config)# vlan 100
sonic(config-vlan-100)# exit

sonic(config)# vlan 200
sonic(config-vlan-200)# exit

# Configure VLAN 100 gateway
sonic(config)# interface vlan 100
sonic(config-vlanif-vlan100)# ip address 10.1.1.1/24
sonic(config-vlanif-vlan100)# exit

# Configure VLAN 200 gateway
sonic(config)# interface vlan 200
sonic(config-vlanif-vlan200)# ip address 10.1.2.1/24
sonic(config-vlanif-vlan200)# exit

Step 7: Configure NAT

Enable Source NAT to provide internet access for internal clients.

# Enable NAT
sonic(config)# nat enable

# Create NAT pool
sonic(config)# nat pool lan-pool 192.168.200.166

# Bind NAT
sonic(config)# nat binding lan-binding lan-pool

Step 8: Configure LAN Interfaces

Initial Setup (Both ports in VLAN 100 for Layer 2 test)

# Configure ethernet3
sonic(config)# interface ethernet 3
sonic(config-if-ethernet3)# no router interface
sonic(config-if-ethernet3)# switchport access vlan 100
sonic(config-if-ethernet3)# no shutdown
sonic(config-if-ethernet3)# exit

# Configure ethernet4 (initially in VLAN 100)
sonic(config)# interface ethernet 4
sonic(config-if-ethernet4)# no router interface
sonic(config-if-ethernet4)# switchport access vlan 100
sonic(config-if-ethernet4)# no shutdown
sonic(config-if-ethernet4)# exit

# Save configuration
sonic(config)# exit
sonic# write

Step 9: Performance Verification

Phase 1: Layer 2 Switching Test

Test wire-speed VLAN switching between PC1 and PC2.

PC Setup:

• PC1: IP: 10.1.1.10, Mask: 255.255.255.0, Gateway: 10.1.1.1
• PC2: IP: 10.1.1.11, Mask: 255.255.255.0, Gateway: 10.1.1.1

Run iperf3:

# On PC1 (server)
iperf3 -s

# On PC2 (client)
iperf3 -c 10.1.1.10 -u -b 1000M -t 10

✅ Expected Result: ~950 Mbps throughput (line-rate 1GbE)

Phase 2: Layer 3 Routing & NAT Test

Reconfigure for inter-VLAN routing.

# Move ethernet4 to VLAN 200
sonic# configure terminal
sonic(config)# interface ethernet 4
sonic(config-if-ethernet4)# no switchport access vlan 100
sonic(config-if-ethernet4)# switchport access vlan 200
sonic(config-if-ethernet4)# exit
sonic(config)# exit
sonic# write

Update PC2 network settings:

• IP: 10.1.2.10
• Mask: 255.255.255.0
• Gateway: 10.1.2.1

Test inter-VLAN routing:

# On PC1 (server)
iperf3 -s

# On PC2 (client)
iperf3 -c 10.1.1.10 -u -b 1000M -t 10

✅ Expected Result: ~950 Mbps throughput

Test internet access:

# On PC1
ping 8.8.8.8

✅ Expected Result: Successful replies

Verify NAT translations:

sonic# show nat translations

Troubleshooting

VM Won’t Boot

• Check that all guest memory is reserved (All locked)
• Verify PCI devices are in “Active” status
• Ensure ESXi host was rebooted after enabling passthrough

No Network Connectivity

• Verify interface status: show interfaces status
• Check IP configuration: show ip interface
• Confirm default route: show ip route

Low Performance

• Verify PCI passthrough is active (not using virtual NIC)
• Check CPU allocation (minimum 4 cores)
• Ensure memory reservation is enabled

NAT Not Working

• Verify NAT is enabled: show nat config
• Check NAT bindings: show nat bindings
• Confirm zone configuration on WAN interface

Summary

✅ What You Accomplished:

• Deployed AsterNOS-VPP on VMware ESXi with hardware acceleration
• Achieved line-rate Layer 2/3 forwarding (950+ Mbps)
• Configured NAT gateway for internet access
• Validated performance with real-world testing

Performance achieved on standard x86 hardware demonstrates that AsterNOS-VPP delivers enterprise-grade routing without specialized hardware.

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