Quick Start

This quick start provides the basics so that you can get started with the NVIDIA Air network simulation platform.

Supported Browsers

The following browsers are fully supported:

• Google Chrome 120 or later
• Mozilla Firefox 121 or later

The following browsers are supported on a best-effort basis:

• Microsoft Edge
• Safari

Login

A valid business email address is required to access NVIDIA Air. To log in, go to air.nvidia.com. Enter your business email address, then click Get Started:

The page redirects you to the NVIDIA login page. Either click the Create account link to sign up or enter your password to log in with an existing account:

Landing Page

After you log in, the NVIDIA Air landing page opens:

• The Sidebar provides links to create simulations, configure organizations and settings, and view documentation.

• The Search simulations field lets you filter your simulations based on a text match, if you have more than one simulation.

• The Search filter lets you filter your list of simulations based on organization, if you belong to multiple organizations.

• The Build a Simulation button lets you build a new simulation. This button appears only if you have no simulations. NVIDIA Air provides Pre-built Demos to help you get started.

  When you select Build a Simulation, a new window opens displaying different ways to create a simulation.

  

Import a Topology

Network topologies describe which nodes a data center is comprised of, how they are configured and which other nodes they are connected to. A format is a way to structure and represent such topologies. Air is able to create simulations out of network topologies structured using a supported format.

{
    "nodes": {
        "node-1": {
            "os": "generic/ubuntu2204"
        },
        "node-2": {
            "os": "generic/ubuntu2204"
        }
    },
    "links": [
        [{"node": "node-1", "interface": "eth1"}, {"node": "node-2", "interface": "eth1"}]
    ]
}

{
    "oob": false,
    "nodes": {
        "node-1": {
            "os": "generic/ubuntu2204",
            "cpu": 2,
            "memory": 2048
        },
        "node-2": {
            "os": "defb3ffc-e29b-4d3a-a5fb-41ed1974f938",
            "memory": 2048,
            "storage": 25
        }
    },
    "links": [
        [{"node": "node-1", "interface": "eth1"}, {"node": "node-2", "interface": "eth1"}],
        [{"node": "node-1", "interface": "eth2", "mac": "02:00:00:00:00:07"}, "exit"]
    ]
}

A more detailed schema for this format can be viewed by visiting the API documentation.

from air_sdk.v2 import AirApi

air = AirApi(
    authenticate=True,
    username='<username>',
    password='<password-or-token>',
)
simulation = air.simulations.create_from(
    title='<simulation-name>',
    format='JSON',
    content=<topology-content>,
    organization=<optional-organization>
)

simulation = air.simulations.create_from(
    'my-simulation',
    'JSON',
    {
        'nodes': {
            'node-1': {
                'os': 'generic/ubuntu2204',
            },
            'node-2': {
                'os': 'generic/ubuntu2204',
            },
        },
        'links': [
            [{'node': 'node-1', 'interface': 'eth1'}, {'node': 'node-2', 'interface': 'eth1'}]
        ]
    },
)

simulation = air.simulations.create_from(
    'my-simulation',
    'JSON',
    '{"nodes": {"node-1": {"os": "generic/ubuntu2204"}, "node-2": {"os": "generic/ubuntu2204"}}, "links": [[{"node": "node-1", "interface": "eth1"}, {"node": "node-2", "interface": "eth1"}]]}'
)

import pathlib
simulation = air.simulations.create_from(
    'my-simulation',
    'JSON',
    pathlib.Path('/path/to/topology.json')
)

import pathlib
with pathlib.Path('/path/to/topology.json').open('r') as topology_file:
    simulation = air.simulations.create_from(
        'my-simulation',
        'JSON',
        topology_file
    )

Export a Topology

Existing simulations can be exported into a format representation. More information about this process can be found by visiting the API documentation.

from air_sdk.v2 import AirApi

air = AirApi(
    authenticate=True,
    username='<username>',
    password='<password-or-token>',
)
topology = air.simulations.export(
    simulation='<simulation-instance-or-id>',
    format='JSON',
    image_ids=True,  # defaults to False
)

Simulation Views

Every simulation has a basic view and an advanced view.

Basic View

The basic view of the simulation provides a graphical view of the topology.

Select a node in the topology to open a console and connect to that node:

Advanced View

The advanced view has four different panes:

• Guided Tour provides a detailed description of the simulation, complete with step-by-step instructions on running the demo infrastructure.
• Console provides console connection to the simulation.
• Nodes lists the nodes in the topology; see Nodes below.
• Services provides optional services, such as SSH; see Services below.

Nodes

Use the Nodes pane in the advanced view to see the status, number of CPUs, and amount of memory for each node. Click the Actions dropdown for a node and select:

• Rebuild to restore the node to its default configuration.
• Reset to issue a hard reset to the node.
• View Console to connect to the node from a console.

Services

Use the Services pane in the advanced view to create an external connection into the simulation. You can access the simulation environment using your local preferred SSH client, run Grafana on the oob-mgmt-server and access the Grafana GUI externally, or set up SNMP polling from your local laptop into the simulation environment.

• Enable SSH populates the services panel with an SSH session, which provides a shortcut to enable inbound SSH to the oob-mgmt-server. Use this shortcut to leverage your preferred local SSH client. SSH password authentication is disabled on the oob-mgmt-server by default. To use SSH password authentication, you must upload SSH keys to your user profile; see User Settings below.

• Add Service opens the Create Service dialog so you can add a service:

  
  1. In the Service Name field, enter the name of the service.
  2. From the Interface dropdown, select the name of the interface in the simulation where the connection terminates. This is typically the eth0 interface on the oob-mgmt-server.
  3. From the Service Type dropdown, select the type of service you want to create. If you select SSH, HTTP or HTTPS, NVIDIA Air creates a hyperlink to the URL automatically in the Services panel. If you select Other, you can select any port, but there is no hyperlink. The hyperlink provides a quick way to copy and paste the service.
  4. In the Service Port field, specify the internal port where the service terminates.
  5. Click Submit to create the service.

The example below shows a service for TCP port 1022. The external port is 24886. Connecting to this service requires connecting to worker06.air.nvidia.com on TCP port 24886, which forwards and redirects to the oob-mgmt-server on TCP port 1022.

Log in to Virtual Machines

To log in to your virtual machines, use the operating system default credentials. Some operating systems require you to change your password after the first successful login.

Manage a Simulation

From the NVIDIA Air landing page, you can manage your simulations.

Each public simulation has three options:

• Power On or Off wakes the simulation up or puts it to sleep.
• Edit lets you change the simulation name and organization.
• Delete removes the simulation.

User Settings

The Settings menu in the sidebar provides options to generate API tokens and upload SSH keys.

API Tokens

From the Settings section, select API Tokens to generate an authentication token which allows you to execute authenticated activities using the NVIDIA Air API or SDK.

In the API Tokens window, provide a name and expiration date (optional) for the token, then click Create.

NVIDIA Air generates a token that you can use to access the API and SDK.

SSH Keys

From the Settings section, select SSH Keys to upload your public SSH key. Creating a simulation and enabling SSH allows for passwordless authentication.

In the SSH keys window, provide a name and enter your public key, then click Add.

The SSH keys upload automatically to the oob-mgmt-server.

Resource Budgets

The number of simulation resources a user can consume is limited for each user’s account. For an account using a valid business email, a user is granted the following limits:

• 60 vCPUs
• 90GB memory
• 650GB storage
• 4 running simulations

NVIDIA users are granted the following limits:

• 100 vCPUs
• 100GB memory
• 1TB storage
• 5 running simulations

Individual user account resources are great for running demos and smaller simulations but to run larger simulations it is best to use Organizations. Organizations have a much higher resource budget than an individual user account. The default resource budget for an organization is:

• 300 vCPUs
• 300GB memory
• 3TB storage
• 10GB Image Storage
• 15 running simulations

The budgets for organizations can be adjusted based on the needs of that organization. If a resource budget for an organization needs to be expanded, contact the Air Support team via the option to “Report An Issue” from air.nvidia.com.

Other Notes

• Using Cumulus Linux in a Virtual Environment