generate command#
Description#
The generate command generates the topology definition file based on the user input provided via CLI flags.
With this command it is possible to generate definition file for a CLOS fabric by just providing the number of nodes on each tier. The generated topology can be saved in a file or immediately scheduled for deployment.
It is assumed, that the interconnection between the tiers is done in a full-mesh fashion. Such as tier1 nodes are fully meshed with tier2, tier2 is meshed with tier3 and so on.
Usage#
containerlab [global-flags] generate [local-flags]
aliases: gen
Flags#
name#
With the global --name | -n flag a user sets the name of the lab that will be generated.
nodes#
The user configures the CLOS fabric topology by using the --nodes flag. The flag value is a comma separated list of CLOS tiers where each tier is defined by the number of nodes, its kind and type. Multiple --node flags can be specified.
For example, the following flag value will define a 2-tier CLOS fabric with tier1 (leafs) consists of 4x SR Linux containers of IXR-D3 type and the 2x Arista cEOS spines:
Note, that the default kind is srl, so you can omit the kind for SR Linux node. The same nodes value can be expressed like that: 4:ixrd3,2:ceos
kind#
With --kind flag it is possible to set the default kind that will be set for the nodes which do not have a kind specified in the --nodes flag.
For example the following value will generate a 3-tier CLOS fabric of cEOS nodes:
# cEOS fabric
containerlab gen -n 3tier --kind ceos --nodes 4,2,1
# since SR Linux kind is assumed by default
# SRL fabric command is even shorter
containerlab gen -n 3tier --nodes 4,2,1
image#
Use --image flag to specify the container image that should be used by a given kind.
The value of this flag follows the kind=image pattern. For example, to set the container image ceos:4.21.F for the ceos kind the flag will be: --image ceos=ceos:4.21.F.
To set images for multiple kinds repeat the flag: --image srl=srlinux:latest --image ceos=ceos:4.21.F or use the comma separated form: --image srl=srlinux:latest,ceos=ceos:latest
If the kind information is not provided in the image flag, the kind value will be taken from the --kind flag.
license#
With --license flag it is possible to set the license path that should be used by a given kind.
The value of this flag follows the kind=path pattern. For example, to set the license path for the srl kind: --license srl=/tmp/license.key.
To set license for multiple kinds repeat the flag: --license <kind1>=/path1 --image <kind2>=/path2 or use the comma separated form: --license <kind1>=/path1,<kind2>=/path2
deploy#
When --deploy flag is present, the lab deployment process starts using the generated topology definition file.
The generated definition file is first saved by the path set with --file or, if file path is not set, by the default path of <lab-name>.clab.yml. Then the equivalent of the deploy -t <file> --reconfigure command is executed.
max-workers#
With --max-workers flag it is possible to limit the amout of concurrent workers that create containers or wire virtual links. By default the number of workers equals the number of nodes/links to create.
If during the deployment of a large scaled lab you see errors about max number of opened files reached, limit the max workers with this flag.
file#
With --file flag it's possible to save the generated topology definition in a file by a given path.
node-prefix#
With --node-prefix flag a user sets the name prefix of every node in a lab.
Nodes will be named by the following template: <node-prefix>-<tier>-<node-number>. So a node named node1-3 means this is the third node in a first tier of a topology.
Default prefix: node.
group-prefix#
With --group-prefix it is possible to change the Group value of a node. Group information is used in the topology graph rendering.
network#
With --network flag a user sets the name of the management network that will be created by container orchestration system such as docker.
Default: clab.
ipv4-subnet | ipv6-subnet#
With --ipv4-subnet and ipv6-subnet it's possible to change the address ranges of the management network. Nodes will receive IP addresses from these ranges if they are configured with DHCP.
Examples#
Generate topology for a 3-tier CLOS network#
Generate and deploy a lab topology for 3-tier CLOS network with 8 leafs, 4 spines and 2 superspines. All using Nokia SR Linux nodes with license and image provided.
Note
The srl kind in the image and license flags can be omitted, as it is implied by default