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Cisco XRv9k#

Cisco XRv9k virtualized router is identified with vr-xrv9k or vr-cisco_xrv9k kind in the topology file. It is built using vrnetlab project and essentially is a Qemu VM packaged in a docker container format.

vr-xrv9k nodes launched with containerlab come up pre-provisioned with SSH, SNMP, NETCONF and gNMI (if available) services enabled.

Warning

XRv9k node is a resource hungry image. As of XRv9k 7.2.1 version the minimum resources should be set to 2vcpu/14GB. These are the default setting set with containerlab for this kind.
Image will take 25 minutes to fully boot, be patient. You can monitor the loading status with docker logs -f <container-name>.

Managing vr-xrv9k nodes#

Cisco XRv9k node launched with containerlab can be managed via the following interfaces:

to connect to a bash shell of a running vr-xrv9k container: 

docker exec -it <container-name/id> bash

to connect to the XRv9kCLI 

ssh clab@<container-name/id>

NETCONF server is running over port 830 

ssh clab@<container-name> -p 830 -s netconf

using the best in class gnmic gNMI client as an example: 

gnmic -a <container-name/node-mgmt-address> --insecure \
-u clab -p clab@123 \
capabilities

Info

Default user credentials: clab:clab@123

Interfaces mapping#

vr-xrv9k container can have up to 90 interfaces and uses the following mapping rules:

  • eth0 - management interface connected to the containerlab management network
  • eth1 - first data interface, mapped to first data port of XRv9k line card
  • eth2+ - second and subsequent data interface

When containerlab launches vr-xrv9k node, it will assign IPv4/6 address to the eth0 interface. These addresses can be used to reach management plane of the router.

Data interfaces eth1+ needs to be configured with IP addressing manually using CLI/management protocols.

Features and options#

Node configuration#

vr-xrv9k nodes come up with a basic configuration where only the control plane and line cards are provisioned, as well as the clab user and management interfaces such as NETCONF, SNMP, gNMI.

Lab examples#

The following labs feature vr-xrv9k node: