Automating Visibility with Gigamon Fabric Manager API (GAVFM) - Lab Topology

The course will include hands-on labs that provide students with practical experience in using the Gigamon Fabric Manager API. The labs are designed to reinforce the concepts covered in each module and provide practical application of the Gigamon Fabric Manager API.

Days 1-3: Core API and GigaSMART Fundamentals

Lab 1: Setting up the API Environment:

Objective: Configure a virtual lab environment with GigaVUE-FM and a simulated network. Install necessary software (e.g., Python, Postman) and libraries.

Tasks:

• Install and configure Python and the requests library.
• Install and configure Postman or a similar API client.

Lab 2: API Authentication and Exploration:

Objective: Authenticate to the GigaVUE-FM API and explore its basic functionality.

Tasks:

• API Authentication for GigaVUE-FM.
• Use the API to retrieve a list of devices in the Visibility Fabric.
• Examine the JSON responses from the API.
• Practice using different HTTP methods (GET, POST).

Lab 3: Device and Port Configuration:

Objective: Automate device and port configuration using the API.

Tasks:

• Use the API to retrieve device inventory information.
• Configure port properties (e.g., network, tool) via the API.
• Create and manage MAPS using the API.
• Verify the configurations using the GigaVUE-FM GUI and API.

Lab 4: Basic Traffic Filtering with the API:

Objective: Implement basic traffic filtering rules using the API.

Tasks:

• Define traffic filtering rules based on IP addresses, ports, and protocols.
• Apply filtering rules to specific ports using the API.
• Verify that the filtering rules are working as expected by analysing traffic.

Lab 5: Deploying and Chaining GigaSMART Applications:

Objective: Deploy and chain GigaSMART applications using the API to process network traffic.

Tasks:

• Use the API to enable and configure GigaSMART applications (e.g., slicing, header stripping).
• Chain multiple GigaSMART applications together to perform complex traffic transformations.
• Verify the output of the GigaSMART applications.

Lab 6: Monitoring with the API:

Objective: Use the API to monitor network traffic and GigaSMART performance.

Tasks:

• Retrieve port statistics (e.g., bytes in/out, errors) using the API.
• Monitor the health and performance of GigaSMART applications.
• Set up automated monitoring scripts using the API.

Lab 7: Troubleshooting with the API:

Objective: Utilize the API to troubleshoot network and GigaVUE-FM issues.

Tasks:

• Retrieve system logs from GigaVUE-FM devices using the API.
• Run diagnostic tests using the API.
• Analyze API error responses to identify and resolve problems.

Days 4-5: Advanced GigaSMART API Labs

Lab 8: GigaSMART API - Deduplication:

Objective: Configure and verify traffic deduplication using the GigaSMART API.

Tasks:

• Use the API to configure deduplication on a GigaSMART node.
• Generate configuration and observe the deduplication process.
• Retrieve deduplication statistics (e.g., packets dropped) via the API.
• Analyze the effectiveness of deduplication.

Lab 9: GigaSMART API - Header Stripping:

Objective: Implement header stripping to optimize traffic forwarding using the GigaSMART API.

Tasks:

• Use the API to define header stripping profiles (e.g., remove TCP options, remove Ethernet headers).
• Apply header stripping to specific traffic flows.
• Capture and analyse traffic to verify that headers are being stripped as configured.

Lab 10: GigaSMART API - Masking:

Objective: Configure data masking to protect sensitive information using the GigaSMART API.

Tasks:

• Use the API to define masking rules for specific packet fields (e.g., IP addresses, payload).
• Apply masking to traffic containing sensitive data.
• Verify that the sensitive data is properly masked in the output traffic.

Lab 11: GigaSMART API - Slicing

Objective: Implement packet slicing to reduce traffic volume using the GigaSMART API.

Tasks:

• Use the API to configure packet slicing with different slice lengths and offsets.
• Analyse the impact of packet slicing on network traffic.
• Compare the performance of tools with and without packet slicing.

Lab 12: GigaSMART API - Advanced Packet Filtering:

Objective: Implement advanced filtering techniques to select specific traffic flows using the GigaSMART API.

Tasks:

• Use the API to create complex filtering rules with multiple criteria (e.g., nested conditions, regular expressions).
• Filter traffic based on application-layer protocols or specific data patterns.
• Verify the accuracy and efficiency of the advanced filtering rules.

Lab 13: GigaSMART API - GMIP Tunneling:

Objective: Configure GMIP tunneling to transport metadata along with network traffic using the GigaSMART API.

Tasks:

• Use the API to configure GMIP tunneling between GigaVUE-FM devices.
• Analyze the encapsulated traffic and extract the metadata at the receiving end.