Nokia SR Linux and SONiC
| Description | A Nokia SR Linux connected back-to-back with SONiC-VS |
| Components | Nokia SR Linux, SONiC |
| Resource requirements1 | 2 2 GB |
| Topology file | sonic01.clab.yml |
| Name | sonic01 |
| Version information2 | containerlab:0.75.0, srlinux:25.10.2, docker-sonic-vs:202511, docker-ce:29.4 |
Description#
A lab consists of an SR Linux node connected with Opensource SONiC via a point-to-point ethernet link. Both nodes are also connected with their management interfaces to the containerlab docker network.
Use cases#
This lab allows users to launch basic interoperability scenarios between Nokia SR Linux and SONiC operating systems.
BGP#
This lab demonstrates a simple iBGP peering scenario between Nokia SR Linux and SONiC. Both nodes exchange NLRI with their loopback prefix making it reachable.
Configuration#
Once the lab is deployed with containerlab, use the following configuration instructions to make interfaces configuration and enable BGP on both nodes.
Get into SR Linux CLI with docker exec -it clab-sonic01-srl sr_cli and start configuration
# enter candidate datastore
enter candidate
# configure loopback and data interfaces
set / interface ethernet-1/1 admin-state enable
set / interface ethernet-1/1 subinterface 0 admin-state enable
set / interface ethernet-1/1 subinterface 0 ipv4 admin-state enable
set / interface ethernet-1/1 subinterface 0 ipv4 address 192.168.1.1/24
set / interface lo0 admin-state enable
set / interface lo0 subinterface 0 admin-state enable
set / interface lo0 subinterface 0 ipv4 admin-state enable
set / interface lo0 subinterface 0 ipv4 address 10.10.10.1/32
set / network-instance default interface ethernet-1/1.0
set / network-instance default interface lo0.0
# configure BGP
set / network-instance default protocols bgp admin-state enable
set / network-instance default protocols bgp autonomous-system 65001
set / network-instance default protocols bgp router-id 10.10.10.1
set / network-instance default protocols bgp afi-safi ipv4-unicast admin-state enable
set / network-instance default protocols bgp group ibgp afi-safi ipv4-unicast admin-state enable
set / network-instance default protocols bgp group ibgp afi-safi ipv4-unicast export-policy [ export-lo ]
set / network-instance default protocols bgp neighbor 192.168.1.2 admin-state enable
set / network-instance default protocols bgp neighbor 192.168.1.2 peer-as 65001
set / network-instance default protocols bgp neighbor 192.168.1.2 peer-group ibgp
# create export policy
set / routing-policy prefix-set internal-loopbacks prefix 10.10.10.1/32 mask-length-range exact
set / routing-policy policy export-lo statement 10 match prefix prefix-set internal-loopbacks
set / routing-policy policy export-lo statement 10 action policy-result accept
# commit config
commit now
Get into sonic container shell with docker exec -it clab-sonic01-sonic bash and configure the so-called front-panel ports.
Since we defined only one data interface for our sonic/srl nodes, we need to configure a single port and a loopback interface:
config interface ip add Ethernet0 192.168.1.2/24
config interface startup Ethernet0
config loopback add Loopback0
config interface ip add Loopback0 10.10.10.2/32
config interface startup Loopback0
Now when data interface has been configured, check to make sure in /etc/frr/daemons that bgpd=yes. Restart the frr service if required and verify that bgpd is running.
root@sonic:/# service frr restart
[ ok ] Stopped watchfrr.
[ ok . Stopped staticd[....] Stopped zebra[....] Stopped bgpd
.
.
[ ok ] Started watchfrr.
root@sonic:/# service frr status
[ ok ] Status of watchfrr: running.
[ ok ] Status of zebra: running.
[ ok ] Status of bgpd: running.
[ ok ] Status of staticd: running.
Then enter in the FRR shell to configure BGP by typing vtysh command inside the sonic container.
Verification#
Once BGP peering is established, the routes can be seen in GRT of both nodes:
A:admin@srl# / show network-instance default route-table ipv4-unicast summary | grep bgp
| 10.10.10.2/32 | 0 | bgp | bgp_mgr | True | default | 0 | 170 | 192.168.1.0/24 | ethernet-1/1.0 |
A:admin@srl# show network-instance default protocols bgp routes ipv4 prefix 10.10.10.2/32
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Show report for the BGP routes to network "10.10.10.2/32" network-instance "default"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Network: 10.10.10.2/32
Received Paths: 1
Path 1: <Best,Valid,Used,>
Route source : neighbor 192.168.1.2
Route Preference: MED is -, LocalPref is 100
BGP next-hop : 192.168.1.2
Path : i
Communities : None
Path 1 was advertised to:
[ ]
sonic# sh ip route
Codes: K - kernel route, C - connected, S - static, R - RIP,
O - OSPF, I - IS-IS, B - BGP, E - EIGRP, N - NHRP,
T - Table, v - VNC, V - VNC-Direct, A - Babel, D - SHARP,
F - PBR, f - OpenFabric,
> - selected route, * - FIB route, q - queued route, r - rejected route
K>* 0.0.0.0/0 [0/0] via 172.20.20.1, eth0, 00:20:55
B>* 10.10.10.1/32 [200/0] via 192.168.1.1, Ethernet0, 00:01:51
C>* 10.10.10.2/32 is directly connected, Loopback0, 00:00:53
C>* 172.20.20.0/24 is directly connected, eth0, 00:20:55
B 192.168.1.0/24 [200/0] via 192.168.1.0 inactive, 00:01:51
C>* 192.168.1.0/24 is directly connected, Ethernet0, 00:03:50
sonic# show ip bgp 10.10.10.1/32
BGP routing table entry for 10.10.10.1/32, version 2
Paths: (1 available, best #1, table default)
Not advertised to any peer
Local
192.168.1.1 from 192.168.1.1 (10.10.10.1)
Origin IGP, localpref 100, valid, internal, best (First path received)
Last update: Sun May 3 08:01:36 2026
Data plane confirms that routes have been programmed to FIB:
sonic# ping 10.10.10.1
PING 10.10.10.1 (10.10.10.1) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=2.28 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=2.84 ms
A:admin@srl# ping 10.10.10.2 network-instance default -c 3
Using network instance default
PING 10.10.10.2 (10.10.10.2) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 10.10.10.2: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=3.19 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.2: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=2.96 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.2: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=2.81 ms
--- 10.10.10.2 ping statistics ---
3 packets transmitted, 3 received, 0% packet loss, time 2002ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 2.806/2.985/3.186/0.155 ms