Netflow or sFlow Flow Exports from 3rd Party Devices are not seen in VCF Operations for Networks

Products

• VCF Operations for Networks

Issue/Introduction

• No flows are populating in VCF Operations for Networks GUI.
• Third party devices like Cisco USSM, Cisco Nexus 9K switches, Arista switches, etc, added as data sources in the GUI.
• Netflow and/or sflow configured to export to the Collector.

• In Settings > Data Sources and Accounts you don't see any errors and you see that the Last Metric Collection and Last Configuration Collection has a time listed in minutes (e.g. 5 min, 6 min, 9 min, 11 min, etc.) but in the Flows column "--" displays as in the screenshot below:

Environment

VCF Operations for Networks

Cause

This is expected behavior.

• Third party device flows (NetFlow, sFlow) are not collected by the data source configured for metrics and configuration data.
• Instead non-VMware (i.e. not vCenter or NSX) flows must be configured as a Physical Flow Collector (Netflow, sFlow) data source that is configured with a Collector VM appliance that is dedicated for flows from non-VMware / 3rd Party (often referred to as "Physical") devices. 

Resolution

To receive Netflow or sFlow from a third party "physical" device, you must have three elements:

1. Deploy a dedicated Collector appliance OVA into vCenter.
2. Add a Physical Flow Collector (Netflow, sFlow) data source in GUI and associate it with the dedicated Collector (step 1).
3. Configure your device to export flows to the dedicated Collector (step 1).

Use the following steps to complete the three elements listed above:

1. Login to VCF Operations for Networks GUI using username admin@local
2. From the left navigation pane, go to Settings > Accounts and Data Sources.
3. Click Add Source.
4. Under Flows, select Physical Flow Collector (Netflow, sFlow)
   
   Note: Netflows and sFlows are accepted only on a dedicated Physical Flow Collector data source and appliance.
   
   
5. On Add a new Physical Account or Source page, click Add Collector VM button.
6. The Add a new Operations for Networks Data Collector virtual appliance window is displayed.
   Click Copy button to copy the shared secret needed to import the collector service ova in your VMware vCenter
   
   Follow the instructions in Deployment Using vSphere Web Client to deploy a new Collector VM and provide the Shared Secret copied in this step.
   
   Click Close button.
   
   
7. Click Done.
8. In the Nickname text box, enter a nickname.
9. In the Notes text box, add a note if necessary.
10. Click Submit.
    
    
11. Once the Data Source is configured, enable Netflow or sFlow export on your third party device (e.g. the Cisco Nexus 9K switch) and point it to the newly deployed dedicated physical flow collector's IP address. 
    
    

Note: You may need to wait for a couple of hours (at max 2-3 hours) for each device for the flow number information to be seen in VCF Operations for Networks.

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Additional Information

Reference technical documentation for more details:

• Add a Physical Flow Collector for NetFlow and sFlow
• Collector Deployment Using vSphere Web Client
• Configure a NetFlow Collector in a Physical Device