vMX100 Azure Cloud

[bholmes12]

Is there a time frame on getting vMX100 available in the Azure cloud? 

[BHC_RESORTS]

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@bholmes12 wrote:

Is there a time frame on getting vMX100 available in the Azure cloud? 

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Sooner than you'd think....

[Brandon_Fox_CSG]

I got word it was released... but i can't find it in the marketplace....where can i find this unicorn?

[BHC_RESORTS]

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@Brandon_Fox_CSG wrote:

I got word it was released... but i can't find it in the marketplace....where can i find this unicorn?

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It hasn't been released yet. Soon.

[Brandon_Fox_CSG]

Oh... my rep told me it was... ah well.

[jvdp]

- Expanding Meraki vMX100: now available for Microsoft Azure, extending Meraki Auto-VPN and SD-WAN functionality to the public cloud

This was in an email for a webinar  I got today.

Do I assume this is released now or next week along with the webinar announcements?

Will it be available to test in MSDN subscriptions?

[MRCUR]

Official launch is coming in October: https://meraki.cisco.com/products/appliances/vmx100

[Brandon_Fox_CSG]

I like how the they changed the wording to include Azure but the link still takes you to AWS... sneaky...

[KarbonX1]

It's in beta now. I'm running it, but the S2S functionality isn't fully working yet so I can't truly test it until the MX team gets the fix done in Azure. They are a managed appliance, so you can't do anything to them except deploy as is.

[Brandon_Fox_CSG]

Well, hopefully they fix the S2S because that's the whole reason I need this. 

[KarbonX1]

Yeah, I'm working with the engineering team to get the IP forwarding issue worked out.

[HaloTech]

Waiting for this as well!

[Shanec]

Still no sign on the azure marketplace. or has a more solid date than october.

[apilbeam]

The official line is "mid to late October"

[MJPAGAN]

May I ask what size VM that you are running it on? I haven't been able to get an answer when I've asked Meraki reps.

[KarbonX1]

Standard D2 v2 (2 vcpus, 7 GB memory)

Its a managed virtual appliance, so there is no control over the sizing or any config at all. So there is some planning that has to go into deployment such as:

- You cannot change DNS settings on NIC config, so has to use whatever vnet is set to.

- Cannot shutdown from within azure

- Can only delete entire resource group if you have to redelploy

I am sure there was more, but those are what I can remember at the moment.

[KarbonX1]

As an update for anyone wondering, we got the IP forwarding issue figured out and I am using the vMX successfully for the last few weeks now. Works just as expected.

[Shanec]

Meraki are good at not giving firm dates!

[AnythingHosted]

It's getting fairly close to the end of October and still no sign on Azure Marketplace 

[BBagley]

I got tired of not seeing this in the Marketplace, so, just for the heck of it, I pulled up powershell and started looking for it.  Using EastUS as the location, I see the offer and VMimage are there, but the versioning makes me think what's there are the beta ones (0.0.1 and 0.0.2)

Get-AzureRmVMImage -Location $loc -PublisherName "cisco" -Offer "cisco-meraki-vmx100" -Skus "vmx100"

[BklynITGuy]

Hi there,

Was anyone able to deploy this in the EastUS Region successfully? We're having issues trying to deploy it, it continues to fail. Within new vnet, or existing, within new resource group, or existing, etc... We were able to search and see the VMX in the marketplace. It shows up as Cisco Meraki vMX100 (Staged)

Would deploying via PowerShell make a difference? Thanks in advance

Error:

{"code":"DeploymentFailed","message":"At least one resource deployment operation failed. Please list deployment operations for details.

Please see https://aka.ms/arm-debug for usage details.","details":[{"code":"BadRequest","message":"{\r\n  \"error\": {\r\n    \"code\": \"InvalidResourceReference\",\r\n    \"message\": \"Resource /subscriptions/d364e0bc-1d6a-4e8d-87fc-de2382680e4b/resourceGroups/lohvmxldfp6wjz6ubkg/providers/Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks/LXX_Main/subnets/LXX_Production referenced by resource /subscriptions/d364e0bc-1d6a-4e8d-87fc-de2382680e4b/resourceGroups/lohvmxldfp6wjz6ubkg/providers/Microsoft.Network/networkInterfaces/lxxvmxNic was not found. Please make sure that the referenced resource exists, and that both resources are in the same region.\",\r\n    \"details\": []\r\n  }\r\n}"}]}

[MRCUR]

@BklynITGuy I don't actually see it listed. I'd suggest trying it again next week though, perhaps sometime after Tuesday. 

[BklynITGuy]

Thanks @MRCUR. We apparently are still using a beta, initially it was only available in the West Central region. We got an email from a Meraki Rep that it was available world wide on the 24th, with instructions on how to deploy it.

Just confusion I guess, the hope was once we got that email, we'd be able to move forward. Below is the email we got on Tuesday:

As you already know, we started the vMX beta program in West Central US only. I am happy to announce that vMX is now available worldwide.

Please follow the steps in the setup guide to deploy vMX and let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you for all your help during the beta program!

[MRCUR]

@BklynITGuy That's not a public setup guide... 

[BklynITGuy]

It's not public in that you can't search for it yet on their site, but they definitely sent to those who participated in the beta. So the guide itself will probably be public Monday or whenever. It just seemed odd that I'd get that email and still encounter issues that we're having.

[techmoc]

Following link name on draft for the official and where AWS guide is published... denied!

https://documentation.meraki.com/MX-Z/Installation_Guides/vMX100_Setup_Guide_for_Microsoft_Azure

Late October is turning into November

[Reinout]

No luck in West-europe...

Oops!

Could not create the marketplace item

This marketplace item is not available.

... And all we wanted is to build a route based (dynamic) VPN with the MX84... Since this could be done (Meraki does not support that), we waiting for the vMX100 to bypass the limitations of a policy based (static) VPN in azure... a bit disappointed  

[MRCUR]

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@techmoc wrote:
Late October is turning into November

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Tuesday is still October... 

[Reinout]

That is true, however I meaned that I hoped the pricing would be comparable with the vgateway in azure. Meraki sales rep told the price would be the same as on aws. Maybe the price of the vmx is comparable with the ms vgateway (vpngw1) but now we also need to pay the extra vm in azure, so pricing is higher. Maybe my ignorance but I expected the appliance came including a vm os. The vmx probably has more options, but we only use it to configure multiple s2s and a bounce of p2s VPN, like we could do in the VPN sku vpngw1 of Ms.

[MRCUR]

@Reinout I'm a bit confused by your post. The vMX license is one price - it doesn't matter if you run it on AWS or Azure. But the costs to running on AWS or Azure are of course different as they aren't set by Meraki. Meraki is just setting the type of VM hardware you need to supply for the vMX as it's a managed appliance on each service. 

[MJPAGAN]

FWIW, I just checked the Azure marketplace for the vMX100 and it's still not available. It's officially not late for it's October release but it's really cutting it close...

-Mike

[CiscoKid78]

I just tried today October 31, 2017 and still not available on Azure Marketplace.  This to me sounds like end of October is out and no word on a push into November 2017 timeframe.  This sounds like something is missing or wrong with the beta program to have delayed a release as advertised in multiple announcements to include Cisco and Microsoft announcements.  Maybe there's not enough feedback or active participation within the beta user community or maybe Cisco Meraki could use more Azure user community to have a more complete QA process before launch.  Count me in here as I am not trolling just to ask if/when is the vMX100 ready but I am ready to help with validation on my Azure subscriptions and Meraki Networks.

[techmoc]

Just checked and Official Setup Guide is Live https://documentation.meraki.com/MX-Z/Installation_Guides/vMX100_Setup_Guide_for_Microsoft_Azure

Also checked Azure Marketplace and image is available, although the link on the guide still points incorrectly to the preview image

[CiscoKid78]

BklynITGuy, I have been working extensively with this particular issue with a client and have formulated two possible paths for them to try. The first is to use the AzureRM PowerShell commands to review VMImage repository for their EastUS region for the availability for their subscription ID access and what they can see publicly. I tried the same AzureRM PowerShell commands with my subscription and although I can see 2 templates they fail to deploy because my Azure subscription hasn't been authorized for the beta program that can only be authorized by a Cisco Meraki representative. The other option I have formulated for the client was to use a Template that I have written and imported on my Azure subscription but again...it fails because I am not authorized to participate in the beta program as per Cisco Meraki.

The sad thing is after developing these two possible avenues for this client I am not longer able to get a hold of them to try either of these two approaches. We have tried just about everything for this client to even procure a few MX64 appliances and ask for a trial vMX100 to simulate this clients environment. We went as far as even trying to work different channels to see if we could be late participants to the beta for Cisco Meraki and Azure and they said unfortunately it was closed due to the release date being so close. Anyway, I think your best bet being you do have access to the beta program from Cisco Meraki is to try the AzureRM PowerShell method if you haven't already resolved the issue by other means.

[CiscoKid78]

Wow, literally within in seconds of my posting and it's now available on the Azure Marketplace.  Thanks, this is confirmation of +1 for it's AVAILABLE!!!

[MRCUR]

Man you guys must be really excited for this launch. I was going to say it's only early afternoon at Meraki's HQ. They must've finished up lunch and clicked the right buttons to make it live. 

[techmoc]

 vMX100 Image location:

https://gallery.azure.com/artifact/20151001/cisco.meraki-vmxmeraki-vmx100.1.0.0/Artifacts

Deploying... 

[Brandon_Fox_CSG]

Where is everyone getting their authorization keys from?

All i see is: There are no Meraki devices in this network. If you add one we can help you configure it.
Alternatively, if you would like to add a vMX to your network, please add a vMX license to your org and visit this page again.

[AnythingHosted]

I can't seem to add to an existing resource group. 

I was hoping to add to an existing subnet where I have existing virtual machines. 

Does it need to be added to new RG?

[KarbonX1]

Needs a new resource group or one without any resources in it. Also, needs to be deployed in a subnet that is different than the VMs due to the way IP forwarding works so that all data passes through a layer 3 boundary and can be routed properly using the route table.

[KarbonX1]

Brandon_Fox, you need the license to add the vMX. Then you can get the Auth keys.

[techmoc]

@Brandon_Fox_CSG you need to claim an order for a vMX license/trial on the Org first. After you can add the new device to the new networks and generate the auth token for Azure/AWS.

I am testing with a 14 day trial at the moment

I got it up an running on the following:

- MPN IUR Azure Sub (setup guide says it cant be deployed on trial or Azure CSP sub yet)

- D2v3 VM on USWest2

- S2S Spoke to one of my existing MX hubs

- Status and routes updated correctly on MX and vMX

- Ping running and responding each way

I am currently adding VM to do additional tests and also will test adding routes to created route table to existing subnets in Azure

[KarbonX1]

**FYI to everyone**

Do not upgrade the vMX to any 12.x or 13.x firmware. Apparently it is actually running a 14.x firmware, and so the upgrade will kill it. I had to redeploy mine to resolve.

[techmoc]

Thanks for the info! I have the vMX running on 12.26 after deployment. Only have the option to upgrade to 13.xx and higher if I enable the Beta Firmware option on the network.

[Uberseehandel]

Doesn't appear to be in Europe/UK, yet.
Probably best to leave it until the new year to settle down before doing any production trialling.

[MRCUR]

@KarbonX1 Definitely submit a case about that. It shouldn't actually try to run the lower firmware than is required, even if you configure it on the network. It should just say it's up to date on the version you configure but continue running its minimum version silently. 

[Manabu]

I envy you all...

I have been participating the beta program since the beginning of October. However, I have not succeeded to deploy the vMX100 on Azure yet.

During the deployment, Azure console says "The publisher does not offer this product in the billing region of your subscription. Please choose another subscription.", and it failed.

Is there any person who has encountered the same problem?

[techmoc]

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@techmoc wrote:

@Brandon_Fox_CSG you need to claim an order for a vMX license/trial on the Org first. After you can add the new device to the new networks and generate the auth token for Azure/AWS.

I am testing with a 14 day trial at the moment

I got it up an running on the following:

- MPN IUR Azure Sub (setup guide says it cant be deployed on trial or Azure CSP sub yet)

- D2v3 VM on USWest2

- S2S Spoke to one of my existing MX hubs

- Status and routes updated correctly on MX and vMX

- Ping running and responding each way

I am currently adding VM to do additional tests and also will test adding routes to created route table to existing subnets in Azure

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Update:

- added new resource group/vnet/subnet

- added new Win VM to run on new subnet

- added route to route table for vnet

- added subnet to S2S config on vMX

- added peerings and corresponding features to both vnets 

- RDP/ping running correctly to/from a VM behind a local MX Spoke to a VM running on new vnet/subnet thru MX-vMX tunnel

Looks good 

[4zap]

I am facing the same problem.... i was too late to participate in the beta but since yesterday the xMX100 is visible in the Azure Marketplace. I could claim my license in the meraki dashboard but wasnt able to deploy the vMX100 in Azure. It tells that my subscription is not able to deploy it, on the other side it tells me that it is not available for my region. 😞 no glue what the real issue is. I created a ticket in Azure... i need this vMX in WestEU and Asia East and cant deploy it at this locations, it does not make any sense to deploy it in West. Hope i get a solution from MS today!

[Granville]

Getting the same issue here, deploying to North Europe.

Have raised with Support, account manager and our technical lead.