A vQFX requires two separate virtual machines to function. You have the RE (Control Plane), but you also need the vPFE (Packet Forwarding Engine) image.
sudo brctl addbr switch-br sudo ip link set switch-br up Vqfx-20.2r1.10-re-qemu.qcow2
Upload your .qcow2 files to this directory using WinSCP, FileZilla, or the scp command from your computer. A vQFX requires two separate virtual machines to function
| Feature | This (vQFX 20.2R1) | vJunos-EVO (24.x) | cRPD (Container) | | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Data Plane | Separate PFE VM | Integrated | None (route server) | | EVPN-VXLAN | Basic | Full, with multi-homing | Routing only | | Resource Usage | 4 GB RAM + 2 vCPU | 8-16 GB RAM + 4 vCPU | 1 GB RAM | | Startup Time | 5-7 min (RE+PFE) | 2 min | 10 sec | | Recommendation | Legacy labs | New labs, production | Route reflectors | sudo brctl addbr switch-br sudo ip link set switch-br up
qemu-system-x86_64 -machine pc -cpu host -smp 2 -m 4096 \
-drive file=Vqfx-20.2r1.10-re-qemu.qcow2,if=ide,index=0,media=disk \
-serial telnet:127.0.0.1:5000,server,nowait -nographic
Juniper typically provides these images via the official Juniper Download site (requires a support contract) or a Juniper vLabs trial. If you have access, search for "vQFX 20.2R1.10."
This denotes Virtual QFX. The QFX series is Juniper’s line of high-performance data center switches (e.g., QFX5100, QFX5110, QFX10000). The "v" indicates it is the virtualized version of this switching platform. Unlike a virtual MX (vMX) which acts as a router, the vQFX is designed to simulate a top-of-rack (ToR) data center switch.