Bare-metal and Virtualization

To get flexiWAN up and running, the following steps are required, these are explained in the following sections:

  • Add flexiWAN repository and install flexiEdge software
  • Run system checker to verify that your hardware is supported and to resolve software related issues

flexiWAN software was tested on many hardware configurations and with multiple hypervisors. Make sure to install flexiWAN on supported hardware as described on the system requirements page. In case you’re having troubles or questions, visit our Users Forum or contact us for assistance at yourfriends@flexiwan.com.

Software Installation

Note

When using VMware we highly recommend vmxnet3 adapter or PCI Passthrough / SR-IOV interfaces. flexiWAN supports virtio-net interfaces, PCI Passthrough and SR-IOV Virtual Functions.

Execute the following commands as root on your Ubuntu 18.04 shell. flexiWAN currently supports Ubuntu 18.04.5 LTS.

  1. curl -sL https://deb.flexiwan.com/setup | bash -
  2. apt-get install -y flexiwan-router

The first command will add the flexiWAN key to the apt-key local database and flexiWAN repository to the apt-get. Second command installs the flexiWAN software itself, turning your device to flexiEdge device.

Repo added
Install complete

Upon completing these two simple steps, flexiWAN is installed and flexiEdge is running. Please check the post-installation output, verify that the device passes all hard configuration points. Next step is to run fwsystem_checker utility to fix software configuration issues and prepare the system for flexiEdge operation.

Note

The device can connect to flexiManage only after your organization token is installed in:

/etc/flexiwan/agent/token.txt

Refer to the Management section. section to learn how to connect a device to the management system.

Check your system configuration

We offer a post-installation system check utility. Run the fwsystem_checker tool to pass system requirements and fix software configuration errors.

After installing the flexiEdge software, execute the following as root:

fwsystem_checker

The system checker utility will analyze your system hardware, host OS software configuration and output the results. For flexiEdge software to work properly, it’s important to pass all hardware related checkes, while most of soft-fail checks are fixed easily.

System checker

After running system checker there will likely be a few soft configuration fails, which can be fixed in automated or interactive way. System checker offers an automated way to fix all soft fails and prepare the system for flexiWAN operation. It also offers an interactive mode where each setting can be manually configured by the user.

Running system checker with default settings

To fix software configuration issues silently and automatically using defaults, run the fwsystem_checker utility and select the following options:

  • 2. Configure system silently - to configure system without interaction using defaults
  • 1. Check system configuration - to verify issues are resolved
  • 0. Quit and use fixed parameters - to save the settings and exit utility.

Running system checker interactively

An interactive system configuration is also available, chosing this option will allow detailed configuration and enable advanced features such as multi-core support (experimental) and CPU power saving. If your device has multiple WAN interfaces and gateways, selecting this option will allow choosing the default gateway, among other options.

To fix software configuration manually and interactively, choose the following:

  • 3. Configure system interactively follow the wizard to configure every step manually.
System checker 2

Last option in system checker, under number 4 is - “Restore system checker settings to default”. Use this option if you wish to remove all configuration made with silent or interactive steps. Reboot is required after restoring system to factory defaults.

System checker 3

After passing all hard and soft checkes, proceed to Device Maangement section, starting with token creation and installation steps as described in the following flexiManage section. In order to access flexiManage, please create an account.