Network and Interfaces Setup

On this page it is explained how the interfaces of a single TR7 device on Azure are installed and managed. Three interface roles are used as an example layout:

Management The management access

It is used for the access to the TR7 management interface. It is the single interface created while the VM is being deployed; its IP is assigned once during the deployment and is not changed afterwards.

External The client direction

It looks at the clients/the internet; it hosts the service IPs of the vServices. In the scenarios open to the internet the Public IP is bound to the Azure NIC of this interface.

Internal The Backend Service direction

It looks at the Backend Services; it is the network that TR7 uses in the access to the servers at the back end.

INFO

TR7 does not require three interfaces. This is only an example configuration; everything can also be done with a single interface by adding more than one IP to a single interface. As few or as many interfaces as the design requires are used; the procedure below (adding the IP both to the Azure and to the TR7 side) is the same independently of the number of the interfaces.

The basic rule: every IP must be defined on both sides

Every IP that a TR7 interface uses must be located in two places: on the Azure NIC (in the IP configuration) and on the TR7 interface itself. An IP added only to TR7 is not routed by Azure; and an IP that is located only on the Azure NIC is not used unless it is added to TR7 either. For this reason every IP is always added to both sides together.

The Management Interface (Management)

The management interface is created while the TR7 VM is being deployed (see Deployment Guide). It is the single interface that the VM has at the beginning and the logins are made over this interface. Its IP is the Azure private IP address of the relevant NIC; it is assigned once during the deployment, appears automatically in TR7 under Network → Interfaces and is not changed afterwards. It does not need to be added by hand.

The Installation Steps

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Step 1 Add the additional interfaces on Azure

The TR7 VM is stopped (deallocated); for a network interface to be added, the VM must be stopped. Then the new network interfaces (NIC) needed are added on the Azure portal; for example one for the External and one for the Internal role. Every NIC must be in its own subnet; separate from the management subnet and from each other.

The VM is started again and a login is made. The interfaces added on Azure appear automatically in TR7 under Network → Interfaces. At this stage no IP appears on them; this is the expected state. The IPs are added in the following steps.

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Step 2 Match the interfaces with the MAC address

Before the configuration, which TR7 interface corresponds to which Azure NIC is verified so that the right interface is configured.

Every network interface (NIC) is opened on the Azure portal and the MAC address under Settings → Properties is noted. In TR7, on the Network → Interfaces screen the details of an interface (including the MAC address) are displayed by left clicking on it. By matching the MAC addresses it is determined which Azure NIC (and therefore which role) every TR7 interface corresponds to.

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Step 3 Create a route table for the interface

TR7 works with the route table structure. Every interface that is on a different network (that is, the additional interfaces added) needs its own route table. The default gateway of the route table is entered later, in the last step; the order is important (it is explained in the last step).

In TR7, a new route table is created for the interface by clicking the Add button on the Network → Route Tables screen.

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Step 4 Assign the route table to the interface

On the Network → Interfaces screen the relevant interface (the one matched with the MAC) is right clicked and Edit Interface is selected. In the Route table field the route table created just before is selected and it is saved.

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Step 5 Add an IP to the interface

The IP must be added both to the Azure and to the TR7 side. On a single device the IP is added not as a VIP but with the Interface IP type, since there is no failover.

The relevant network interface is gone to on the Azure portal and it is made sure that the IP is located in the IP configuration list. This can be the primary IP assigned while the NIC is being created or a secondary IP added afterwards; the IP must be in the own subnet of that NIC.

In TR7, on the Network → Interfaces screen the interface that matches is right clicked and Add IP is selected. The IP type field is made Interface IP and the same IP on Azure is entered. While the IP is being added, the correct CIDR (the subnet mask, e.g. /24) must be selected; it has to match the subnet of the IP. Then it is saved.

This step is repeated for every IP needed on the interface. As many Interface IPs as are needed can be added, as long as every one of them is defined on the Azure NIC that matches as well.

WARNING

The IP must not be added only to TR7. Every IP must be located on both sides: in the IP configuration of the Azure NIC and on the TR7 interface. An IP that is located only on one side does not work; Azure routes only the IPs registered on the NIC.

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Step 6 Set the default gateway in the route table

This step is made last, after the interface has taken its IPs. TR7 checks that the IPs of the interface and the default gateway are on the same network; if the gateway is entered before the IPs, this check fails. This is the reason why the gateway is entered at the very end.

It is returned to the Network → Route Tables screen, the pencil (editing) icon next to the relevant route table is clicked and the default gateway is entered.

INFO

The Azure default gateway

In every Azure subnet the default gateway is the first host address of the subnet: the network address + 1 (.1). For example, for the 10.1.0.0/24 subnet the gateway is 10.1.0.1. (Azure reserves the first four and the last address of every subnet; .1 is always the gateway and cannot be changed.)