This guide outlines the steps to download the vmxbundle-17.1R1.8.tgz file from the Juniper Networks support site and prepare it for use in a virtualization environment (such as VMware ESXi, Workstation, or VirtualBox).
virsh console my-vmx-vcp
# Default login: root / (no password) or root / Juniper
Since you downloaded the .tgz bundle, you typically cannot just "run" it. You must deploy it into your virtualization platform.
Option A: Using VMware ESXi / Workstation download juniper vmxbundle 171r18tgz work top
Option B: Using the Juniper vMX Trial (If applicable) If you are testing this on a laptop/workstation ("work top") without a server, Juniper offers a pre-packaged trial using Vagrant or KVM.
To make this bundle work top (i.e., run at peak efficiency), choose your platform wisely. This guide outlines the steps to download the vmxbundle-17
md5sum vMX-bundle-17.1R1.8.tgz
sha256sum vMX-bundle-17.1R1.8.tgz
Compare against the checksums on the download page.
Once configured, save a snapshot:
./vmx.sh --snapshot baseline
This allows you to revert after crashes.
No – and this is critical. Juniper 17.1R1.8 is End-of-Life (EOL) since 2019. Do not use this in production networks. It contains known CVEs (e.g., CVE-2018-0044). However, for "work top" lab environments, CCIE/JNCIE prep, or feature testing, it remains a lightweight champion. Since you downloaded the
Best "work top" performance: Native KVM on Ubuntu 20.04 or CentOS 7.
# Extract the bundle
tar -xzvf juniper-vmx-bundle-17.1R1.8.tgz
cd vmx-bundle-17.1R1.8
# Run the installation script
./vmx.sh --install