Citrix NetScaler VPX

Discussions about using non Windows and Linux guests such as FreeBSD, DOS, OS/2, OpenBSD, etc.
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AshlandSG
Posts: 3
Joined: 29. Dec 2015, 21:54

Citrix NetScaler VPX

Post by AshlandSG »

VB 5.0.12 R104815 win.amd64
Guest OS FreeBSD 64-bit, 2GB RAM, 1 NIC
VHD containing Citrix NetScaler (NS) VPX v11
Runs fine on Hyper-V

Issue: NS can't find NIC
Tried all 6 types of NIC that VB offers

Error in NS is:

nssetup: _network(): cannot find a NetScaler interface to configure NSIP: trying 0/1
nssetup: _network(): failed to set NetScaler IP/netmask with ‘/sbin/ifconfig 0/1 inet 192.168.99.200 netmask 255.255.255.0 >/dev/nul 2>&1’
NetScaler: nspe_init failed at ns_bsd_init(), code 1
nsnetsvc: ns_start(): The NSAPI_INITPE command failed
nsnetsvc: ns_start: NSAPI_INITPE failed: 345
nsnetsvc: boot_netscaler: ns_start returned an error
nsnetsvc: BOOT FAILURE: One or more packet engines failed to start
Abort trap (core dumped)
kernel: pid 1083 (nsnetsvc), uid 0: exited on signal 6 (core dumped)

Has anyone ever gotten NetScaler VPX to run within VB? Please share your success story. Thanks!
phixenl
Posts: 3
Joined: 18. Feb 2016, 23:15

Re: Citrix NetScaler VPX

Post by phixenl »

Hi AshlandSG,

I've Netscaler VPX 11.0 running on VirtualBox 5 verison (linux mint 64 bit)
I downloaded the latest 11 vmware version and imported it into virtual box (ovf).
When starting up I got the same messages as you described..
So the big tric is to let the VM think its running on VMware (instead of virtualbox), you can do this by changing the BIOS settings of the VM.

For me the following settings worked.

VBoxManage setextradata NSVPX-ESX "VBoxInternal/Devices/pcbios/0/Config/DmiBIOSVendor" "Phoenix Technologies LTD"
VBoxManage setextradata NSVPX-ESX "VBoxInternal/Devices/pcbios/0/Config/DmiBIOSVersion" "6.00"
VBoxManage setextradata NSVPX-ESX "VBoxInternal/Devices/pcbios/0/Config/DmiBIOSReleaseDate" "07/31/2013"
VBoxManage setextradata NSVPX-ESX "VBoxInternal/Devices/pcbios/0/Config/DmiBIOSReleaseMajor" 6
VBoxManage setextradata NSVPX-ESX "VBoxInternal/Devices/pcbios/0/Config/DmiBIOSReleaseMinor" 0
VBoxManage setextradata NSVPX-ESX "VBoxInternal/Devices/pcbios/0/Config/DmiBIOSFirmwareMajor" 6
VBoxManage setextradata NSVPX-ESX "VBoxInternal/Devices/pcbios/0/Config/DmiBIOSFirmwareMinor" 0
VBoxManage setextradata NSVPX-ESX "VBoxInternal/Devices/pcbios/0/Config/DmiSystemVendor" "VMware, Inc."
VBoxManage setextradata NSVPX-ESX "VBoxInternal/Devices/pcbios/0/Config/DmiSystemProduct" "VMware Virtual Platform"

PS:
Remember that NetScaler is not supported on VirtualBox.
Devon Dieffenbach
Posts: 1
Joined: 26. Feb 2016, 17:34

Re: Citrix NetScaler VPX

Post by Devon Dieffenbach »

Phixenl,
Your modifications worked perfectly in my case. When I read the forum post, I was so certain this was going to be the classic case of XKCD 979

I can't believe this was posted just 8 days ago.
It works. It works!

Thanks again.
AshlandSG
Posts: 3
Joined: 29. Dec 2015, 21:54

Re: Citrix NetScaler VPX

Post by AshlandSG »

Not sure why I didn't get an alert that someone posted an answer to my question but the setextradata works. I see you specified VMware but is there a Microsoft Hyper-V setting I can use? I tried to replace DmiSystemVendor with Microsoft and DmiSystemProduct with Hyper-V but that didn't work. Guess it doesn't really matter. It booted the Hyper-V VHD just fine with the VMware settings. :shock:

Regards,

John Babbitt
Systems Administrator
Ashland Support Group
phixenl
Posts: 3
Joined: 18. Feb 2016, 23:15

Re: Citrix NetScaler VPX

Post by phixenl »

Hi John,

While troubleshooting the issue I used VMware to detect differences, one of the differences where the BIOS settings.
So I used setextradata to create an virtualbox vm which looks like a vmware vm (from virtual OS perspective)
I guess the same could be done with Microsoft Hyper-V settings but I do not have Hyper-V so i Can't check ;)
AshlandSG
Posts: 3
Joined: 29. Dec 2015, 21:54

Re: Citrix NetScaler VPX

Post by AshlandSG »

So, how did you come up with those values? I see that you inspected it on the VMware side but where do you look for it? I have Hyper-V and I could look it up if I knew where to look. I'd be happy to post my findings for all. Thanks!

Regards,

John Babbitt
Systems Administrator
Ashland Support Group
phixenl
Posts: 3
Joined: 18. Feb 2016, 23:15

Re: Citrix NetScaler VPX

Post by phixenl »

Hi John,

Boot the VPX and after a few seconds you get the message "Press [Ctrl-C] for command prompt....".
At that moment press [Ctrl-C]
At command prompt, execute 'show' and examine the bios settings ;)
jeucken
Posts: 2
Joined: 10. Feb 2009, 13:32

Re: Citrix NetScaler VPX

Post by jeucken »

Any updates on this? The solution of changing the BIOS to match the VMware settings doesn't work for me.
When I use CTRL+C at the start of the VPX and use the 'show' command it still shows the Oracle VirtualBox settings.
So I see the settings added to .vbox file but they don't seem to have any effect.

Another strange thing is that after shutting down the VPX all the customizations to the BIOS are gone.
(VBoxManage getextradata NSVPX-ESX enumerate)

I hope someone can help me with this.

The commands I use are:

Code: Select all

VBoxManage setextradata NSVPX-ESX "VBoxInternal/Devices/pcbios/0/Config/DmiBIOSVendor" "Phoenix Technologies LTD"
VBoxManage setextradata NSVPX-ESX "VBoxInternal/Devices/pcbios/0/Config/DmiBIOSVersion" "6.00"
VBoxManage setextradata NSVPX-ESX "VBoxInternal/Devices/pcbios/0/Config/DmiBIOSReleaseDate" "07/31/2013"
VBoxManage setextradata NSVPX-ESX "VBoxInternal/Devices/pcbios/0/Config/DmiBIOSReleaseMajor" 6
VBoxManage setextradata NSVPX-ESX "VBoxInternal/Devices/pcbios/0/Config/DmiBIOSReleaseMinor" 0
VBoxManage setextradata NSVPX-ESX "VBoxInternal/Devices/pcbios/0/Config/DmiBIOSFirmwareMajor" 6
VBoxManage setextradata NSVPX-ESX "VBoxInternal/Devices/pcbios/0/Config/DmiBIOSFirmwareMinor" 0
VBoxManage setextradata NSVPX-ESX "VBoxInternal/Devices/pcbios/0/Config/DmiSystemVendor" "VMware, Inc."
VBoxManage setextradata NSVPX-ESX "VBoxInternal/Devices/pcbios/0/Config/DmiSystemProduct" "VMware Virtual Platform"
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