Stage 2 Docker and ContainerLab Basics
Estimated time to complete: 15 minutes
In Stage 2, we will discuss Docker and ContainerLab basics.
We will run through some of the commands and concepts to better understand Docker and ContainerLab.
Utilizing containers to create multiple network devices in minutes.
Allows us to easily deploy and test changes prior to releasing it to production.
Here are the requirements for Stage 2
Here is a diagram of Stage 2. This shows all the technology we will be using in Stage 2.
It also defines the use cases we will be working on in Stage 2.
Here is a summary of Stage 2
Let’s fire up some switches on Server 1
We will use ContainerLab to create a 5 node spin leaf Arista environment with three Linux Clients on Server 1
These devices will all be created in Docker
Let’s check out docker from a terminal command prompt
Run the following commands:
Both of these commands perform the same tasks
docker ps
docker container lsThere should be no containers running
cloud_user@ed26757f4b1c:~/network-automation/infra$ docker ps CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS NAMES cloud_user@ed26757f4b1c:~/network-automation/infra$
We need to import the Arista switch container image into your docker repository – be patient
Run the following command:
docker import ~/network-automation/infra/cEOS-lab-4.25.10M.tar.tar ceos:4.25.10MThis will take some time. It is pulling down the Arista Lab Container Image into Docker
Run the following command after it completes:
docker image lscloud_user@ed26757f4b2c:~/network-automation/infra$ docker import network-automation/infra/cEOS-lab-4.25.10M.tar.tar ceos:4.25.10M sha256:1d338447c13d9594f6c3c99c13f24be285555595f590b57c44a54b71e2e664a7 cloud_user@ed26757f4b2c:~$ docker image ls REPOSITORY TAG IMAGE ID CREATED SIZE ceos 4.25.10M 1d338447c13d About a minute ago 1.62GB cloud_user@ed26757f4b2c:~/network-automation/infra$
Create a 5 node spin leaf Arista environment
We will use ContainerLab to create a 5 node spin leaf Arista environment with three Linux Clients
Run the following command to spin up the network and Linux clients
sudo containerlab deploy -t ~/network-automation/infra/ceos_2spine_3leaf.yaml --reconfigure --max-workers 30| Note: Depending on the Server Specs – Performance may vary. Takes about 5 to 7 minutes for the switches to complete. |
cloud_user@ed26757f4b2c:~/network-automation/infra$ sudo containerlab deploy -t ~/network-automation/infra/ceos_2spine_3leaf.yaml --reconfigure --max-workers 30 [sudo] password for cloud_user: INFO[0000] Containerlab v0.48.6 started INFO[0000] Parsing & checking topology file: ceos_2spine_3leaf.yaml INFO[0000] Creating docker network: Name="clab", IPv4Subnet="172.20.20.0/24", IPv6Subnet="2001:172:20:20::/64", MTU='ל' INFO[0000] Could not read docker config: open /root/.docker/config.json: no such file or directory INFO[0000] Pulling ghcr.io/hellt/network-multitool:latest Docker image INFO[0005] Done pulling ghcr.io/hellt/network-multitool:latest INFO[0006] Creating lab directory: /home/cloud_user/network-automation/infra/clab-Arista-2s-3l INFO[0006] Creating container: "client3" INFO[0006] Creating container: "spine2" INFO[0009] Creating container: "client1" INFO[0009] Creating container: "client2" INFO[0010] Creating container: "leaf2" INFO[0010] Creating container: "leaf1" INFO[0011] Creating link: leaf2:eth2 <--> spine2:eth2 INFO[0011] Creating link: client2:eth1 <--> leaf2:eth3 INFO[0011] Creating container: "leaf3" INFO[0011] Creating link: leaf1:eth2 <--> spine2:eth1 INFO[0011] Creating link: client1:eth1 <--> leaf1:eth3 INFO[0012] Creating container: "spine1" INFO[0012] Creating link: leaf3:eth2 <--> spine2:eth3 INFO[0012] Creating link: client3:eth1 <--> leaf3:eth3 INFO[0012] Creating link: leaf1:eth1 <--> spine1:eth1 INFO[0012] Creating link: leaf2:eth1 <--> spine1:eth2 INFO[0013] Creating link: leaf3:eth1 <--> spine1:eth3 INFO[0013] Running postdeploy actions for Arista cEOS 'leaf1' node INFO[0013] Running postdeploy actions for Arista cEOS 'spine2' node INFO[0013] Running postdeploy actions for Arista cEOS 'leaf2' node INFO[0013] Running postdeploy actions for Arista cEOS 'leaf3' node INFO[0013] Running postdeploy actions for Arista cEOS 'spine1' node INFO[0288] Adding containerlab host entries to /etc/hosts file INFO[0288] Adding ssh config for containerlab nodes +---+---------------------------+--------------+---------------------------------+-------+---------+-----------------+-----------------------+ | # | Name | Container ID | Image | Kind | State | IPv4 Address | IPv6 Address | +---+---------------------------+--------------+---------------------------------+-------+---------+-----------------+-----------------------+ | 1 | clab-Arista-2s-3l-client1 | bed4b729f4ae | ghcr.io/hellt/network-multitool | linux | running | 172.20.20.31/24 | 2001:172:20:20::31/64 | | 2 | clab-Arista-2s-3l-client2 | f524c21bf58b | ghcr.io/hellt/network-multitool | linux | running | 172.20.20.32/24 | 2001:172:20:20::32/64 | | 3 | clab-Arista-2s-3l-client3 | 44ac3410b3b1 | ghcr.io/hellt/network-multitool | linux | running | 172.20.20.33/24 | 2001:172:20:20::33/64 | | 4 | clab-Arista-2s-3l-leaf1 | 103c3bf271eb | ceos:4.25.10M | ceos | running | 172.20.20.21/24 | 2001:172:20:20::21/64 | | 5 | clab-Arista-2s-3l-leaf2 | d80dd032c45f | ceos:4.25.10M | ceos | running | 172.20.20.22/24 | 2001:172:20:20::22/64 | | 6 | clab-Arista-2s-3l-leaf3 | d4b34bf63926 | ceos:4.25.10M | ceos | running | 172.20.20.23/24 | 2001:172:20:20::23/64 | | 7 | clab-Arista-2s-3l-spine1 | 5784ac1282df | ceos:4.25.10M | ceos | running | 172.20.20.11/24 | 2001:172:20:20::11/64 | | 8 | clab-Arista-2s-3l-spine2 | 0efa144679ad | ceos:4.25.10M | ceos | running | 172.20.20.12/24 | 2001:172:20:20::12/64 | +---+---------------------------+--------------+---------------------------------+-------+---------+-----------------+-----------------------+
Login to the Spine switch
| All username are admin and passwords are admin. Notice all the configurations are default |
ssh admin@clab-Arista-2s-3l-spine1cloud_user@ed26757f4b2c:~/network-automation/infra$ ssh admin@clab-Arista-2s-3l-spine1 The authenticity of host 'clab-arista-2s-3l-spine1 (2001:172:20:20::2)' can't be established. ECDSA key fingerprint is SHA256:J9FdkpeHpi5dq94nRSVAOJyvtyCnvhapwmLMjBh7vqU. Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])? yes Warning: Permanently added 'clab-arista-2s-3l-spine1,2001:172:20:20::2' (ECDSA) to the list of known hosts. Password: spine1>en spine1#sho run ! Command: show running-config ! device: spine1 (cEOSLab, EOS-4.25.10M-29053933.42510M (engineering build)) ! no aaa root ! username admin privilege 15 role network-admin secret sha512 $6$cd2Qg0NlrcsduKJ0$4.dQJtZlHWX3lywq1wbJHzTjuLL0VsH60ehELYN3.VfSkLPnYgRpIehMC29ikbMP0kkT3HCzzCV0UQnRt/tgh/ ! transceiver qsfp default-mode 4x10G ! service routing protocols model multi-agent ! hostname spine1 ! spanning-tree mode mstp !
ContainerLab Commands
sudo containerlab -hcloud_user@ed26757f4b2c:~/network-automation/infra$ sudo containerlab -h
deploy container based lab environments with a user-defined interconnections
Usage:
containerlab [command]
Available Commands:
completion generate completion script
config configure a lab
deploy deploy a lab
destroy destroy a lab
exec execute a command on one or multiple containers
generate generate a Clos topology file, based on provided flags
graph generate a topology graph
help Help about any command
inspect inspect lab details
save save containers configuration
tools various tools your lab might need
version show containerlab version or upgrade
Flags:
-d, --debug count enable debug mode
-h, --help help for containerlab
--log-level string logging level; one of [trace, debug, info, warning, error, fatal] (default "info")
--name string lab name
-r, --runtime string container runtime
--timeout duration timeout for external API requests (e.g. container runtimes), e.g: 30s, 1m, 2m30s (default 2m0s)
-t, --topo string path to the topology file
--vars string path to the topology template variables file
Use "containerlab [command] --help" for more information about a command.
cloud_user@ed26757f4b2c:~$