How to get started with vThunder Free trial ?

gokulpokurigokulpokuri Member, Administrator admin
edited April 2022 in Tips

In this article, we will look into how you can sign-up & quickly set up your vThunder free trial in 30 minutes. This trial allows you to explore and test the benefits of A10 application service capabilities Convergent Firewall (CFW), Application Delivery Controller (ADC), Carrier Grade Networking (CGN), and SSL Insight (SSLi) firsthand in your choice of environment, VMware ESXi, KVM or Hyper-V.

Note: You can use the same trial license for your vThunder trial in public clouds.

Follow these five steps to sign-up for the trial and quickly get your vThunder up and running.

  1. Sign-up 
  2. Activate Your GLM Account
  3. Download & Install the ACOS Image for Your vThunder Virtual Machine
  4. Set up Your vThunder
  5. Activate Your vThunder License

Step 1: Sign-up

Access the webpage https://www.a10networks.com/products/vthunder-trial/ and fill out the trial form with the required details and click on Submit button.

Step 2: Activate Your GLM Account

After sign-up, you will receive an email on the GLM account activation

GLM Account activation

An account will be created for you on the A10 Global License Manager (GLM). The GLM is the primary portal to use to obtain a license token for A10 Networks.

Click on the activation link in the email and follow the prompts to activate your GLM account. After login into the GLM account, you can find the license entitlement token under the Info tab.

Step 3: Download & Install the ACOS image for Your vThunder Virtual Machine

You can download the ACOS (Advanced Core Operating System) image in OVA, QCOW, VHD, or ISO format by clicking on the downloads page. For instructions on how to install this image, review the installation steps from the respective virtual environment guides on the downloads page.

The recommended virtual machine settings and specifications for vThunder are as follows:

  • Guest OS version: Other 2.6.x Linux (64-bit)
  • CPU: 4
  • RAM: 8 GB
  • Disk: 20 GB
  • NIC: 3 (Management Network, Client Network, Server Network)
  • CD/DVD: vThunder-installation-media.iso (Note: This is only needed when performing a fresh ISO install)
  • Guest OS family: Linux

In this article, the ISO example is shown below.

Installing using ISO image

Follow the installation steps below if you are installing vThunder using the ISO image. Upon booting up the vThunder ISO image, connect via its virtual machine console. Then, do the following:

Type install at the localhost login: prompt

Type password at Password: prompt

Type YesS at the continue [No/YesS] prompt

localhost login:install
Password:password
This will delete all paritions in your harddrive - type YesS to continue Caution:Installing netXTM application - continue [No/YesS]:YesS

Step 4: Set up Your vThunder

ACOS offers three configuration approaches: virtual machine console, CLI over SSH, and web-based GUI. You must set up a management interface IP address before accessing VM from the SSH CLI or web GUI.

1. Login to VM console: Once the installation is complete, login via the virtual machine console to set up the management interface. The first time you set up the vThunder, use username admin and password a10 for login. Run command enable and <Enter> then config to enter configuration mode.

vThunder login:admin
Password:a10
vThunder(NOLICENSE)>enable
Password:<Enter>
vThunder(NOLICENSE)#config

2.  Configure Management IP:  You can either configure the IP address through DHCP or assign a static IP.

Below is an example of setting an IP address using DHCP on the management interface and displaying the acquired IP address. In the example, 192.168.50.107 is the management interface IP.

vThunder(config)(NOLICENSE)#interface management
vThunder(config-if:management)(NOLICENSE)#ip address dhcp
vThunder(config-if:management)(NOLICENSE)#exit
vThunder(config)(NOLICENSE)#show interfaces brief

Port Link Dupl Speed Trunk Vlan MAC             IP Address
  --------------------------------------------------------------------
  mgmt Up   Full 1000  N/A   N/A  000c.299a.1a61  192.168.50.107/24
  1    Disb None None  none  1    000c.299a.1a6b  0.0.0.0/0
  2    Disb None None  none  1    000c.299a.1a75  0.0.0.0/0
 
  Global Throughput:0 bits/sec (0 bytes/sec)
  Throughput:0 bits/sec (0 bytes/sec)

3.  Configure Data Interface IP: Configure the data plane interface IP address using the command interface ethernet x. Data plane interfaces must be enabled via enable command to make them administratively active.

vThunder(config)(NOLICENSE)#interface ethernet 1
vThunder(config-if:ethernet:1)(NOLICENSE)#ip address 10.1.1.19 /24
vThunder(config-if:ethernet:1)(NOLICENSE)#ip default-gateway 10.1.1.1
vThunder(config-if:ethernet:1)(NOLICENSE)#enable

Step 5: Activate Your vThunder License

 vThunder license can be activated online (via the internet) or offline.

Online Licensing

An internet connection is required for your vThunder device to reach the GLM. After logging in via SSH, follow the steps below to activate the vThunder Trial 5 Mbps license.

1. Specify your DNS server (e.g., 8.8.8.8 or an in-house DNS server).

vThunder(config)(NOLICENSE)#ip dns primary 8.8.8.8

2. By default, your vThunder will send requests over the data plane. You can enable the management plane for these requests by running the command below.

vThunder(config)(NOLICENSE)#glm use-mgmt-port

3. Enter the License Entitlement Token below that is specific to your license and enable requests to GLM. This will automatically send a license request to the GLM. Then save the configuration. 

vThunder(config)(NOLICENSE)#glm token <token>
vThunder(config)#glm enable-requests                
vThunder(config)#write memory
Building configuration...
  Write configuration to default primary startup-config
  [OK]

4. Run show license-info command to verify the license information.

vThunder(config)#show license-info 
 Host ID       : F08B1941AAD4B12A2DD950216D9954A288BF963B
 USB ID        : Not Available
 Billing Serials: vTha10abc0000
 Token         : vTha101abc
 Product       : CFW
 Platform      : vThunder
 GLM Ping Interval In Hours : 24
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Enabled Licenses         Expiry Date (UTC)               Notes
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 SLB                      None
 CGN                      None
 GSLB                     None
 RC                       None
 DAF                      None
 WAF                      None
 AAM                      None
 FP                       None
 WEBROOT                  N/A             Requires an additional Webroot license.
 THREATSTOP               N/A             Requires an additional ThreatSTOP license.
 QOSMOS                   N/A             Requires an additional QOSMOS license.
 WEBROOT_TI               N/A             Requires an additional Webroot Threat Intel license.
 5 Mbps Bandwidth         05-March-2022

You can also view the record of your license activation on the GLM account under the Activations Tab.

For offline licensing, refer section “Activating your Appliance To Obtain Activation Key License” from the GLM User guide

Your vThunder Free Trial is now active and ready to use. You can also schedule a demo with an A10 specialist at any time. For anything related to consultation, guidance, and trial extension., contact A10 Sales

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