freeRtr-containerlab

RARE/freeRtr for Containerlab Network Operating System networks simulator

This is an early version of RARE/freeRtr for containerlab network simulator.

1. [TL;DR] Quick start (5s)

We are cheating a bit here ! :-)

5s assumes:

• that you already built the image or you are using an image from external container repository
• that containerlab is already installed

git clone https://github.com/rare-freertr/freeRtr-containerlab.git
cd freeRtr-containerlab
containerlab deploy --topo rtr000.clab.yml 

2. Build container

If you want to build RARE/freeRtr container

docker build --no-cache -t freertr-containerlab:latest .

We are working on providing a rolling release of RARE/freeRtr image using popular repository such as Dockerhub ... Please be patient and stay tuned !

3. Lab example

• Lab diagram

The lab definition file is rtr000.clab.yml

rtr1 <--eth1--> rtr2

• Artefact folder for each node will be created during lab initialisation (e.g rtr1 and rtr2)

Which format is clab-lab-name/node-name/run

This is where you'll find RARE/freeRtr hardware (rtr-hw.txt) and software (rtr-sw.txt) router configuration.

cd freeRtr-containerlab
# ls clab-rtr000/rtr1/run/
conf  logs  mrt  ntfw  pcap
# ls clab-rtr000/rtr2/run/
conf  logs  mrt  ntfw  pcap

• Run containerlab with the generated image and containerlab lab example

containerlab deploy --topo rtr000.clab.yml 

4. Lab configuration

As a Hello-world example, we will configure the interconnectivity between rtr1 and rtr2

Containerlab should display the output below:

~/# containerlab deploy --topo rtr000.clab.yml
INFO[0000] Containerlab v0.37.0 started
INFO[0000] Parsing & checking topology file: rtr000.clab.yml
INFO[0000] Creating lab directory: /root/clab-test/clab-rtr000
INFO[0000] Creating docker network: Name="clab", IPv4Subnet="172.20.20.0/24", IPv6Subnet="2001:172:20:20::/64", MTU="1500"
INFO[0000] Creating container: "rtr2"
INFO[0000] Creating container: "rtr1"
INFO[0001] Creating virtual wire: rtr1:eth1 <--> rtr2:eth1
INFO[0002] Adding containerlab host entries to /etc/hosts file
+---+-----------------+--------------+--------------+-------+---------+----------------+----------------------+
| # |      Name       | Container ID |    Image     | Kind  |  State  |  IPv4 Address  |     IPv6 Address     |
+---+-----------------+--------------+--------------+-------+---------+----------------+----------------------+
| 1 | clab-rtr000-rtr1 | 244d9da2dcb6 | freertr:clab | linux | running | 172.20.20.3/24 | 2001:172:20:20::3/64 |
| 2 | clab-rtr000-rtr2 | c178a80f65b3 | freertr:clab | linux | running | 172.20.20.2/24 | 2001:172:20:20::2/64 |
+---+-----------------+--------------+--------------+-------+---------+----------------+----------------------+

• Access rtr1
  • Default login/password is rare/rare
  • Using Docker

~# docker exec -it clab-rtr000-rtr1 /bin/bash
root@rtr1:~# telnet localhost 2323

Trying ::1...
Connection failed: Connection refused
Trying 127.0.0.1...
Connected to localhost.
Escape character is '^]'.
welcome
username:rare
password:
line ready
rtr1#

• Using ContainerLab OOB management

OOBM IPv4 address

~# telnet 172.20.20.3
Trying 172.20.20.3...
Connected to 172.20.20.3.
Escape character is '^]'.
welcome
username:rare
password:
line ready
rtr1#

OOBM IPv6 address

~# telnet 2001:172:20:20::3
Trying 2001:172:20:20::3...
Connected to 2001:172:20:20::3.
Escape character is '^]'.
welcome
username:rare
password:
line ready
rtr1#

• Configure hostname to rtr1, VRF CORE and rtr1@eth1 with LLDP assign IPv4 and IPv6

rtr1#conf t
rtr1(cfg)#vrf definition CORE
rtr1(cfg-vrf)#exit
rtr1(cfg)#interface ethernet1
rtr1(cfg-if)#vrf forwarding CORE
rtr1(cfg-if)#ipv4 address 10.1.2.0 /31
rtr1(cfg-if)#ipv6 address fd00::1:2:0 /127
rtr1(cfg-if)#lldp enable
rtr1(cfg-if)#end
rtr1#wr
% saving configuration
% success
rtr1#

For the sake of simplicity, we will repeat the steps above for rtr2 (sorry for nerdy power-user 😆)

• Access rtr2
  • Default login/password is rare/rare
  • Using Docker

~# docker exec -it clab-rtr000-rtr2 /bin/bash
root@rtr2:~# telnet localhost 2323
Trying ::1...
Connection failed: Connection refused
Trying 127.0.0.1...
Connected to localhost.
Escape character is '^]'.
welcome
username:rare
password:
line ready
rtr2#

• Using ContainerLab OOB management

OOBM IPv4 address

~# telnet 172.20.20.2
Trying 172.20.20.2...
Connected to 172.20.20.2.
Escape character is '^]'.
welcome
username:rare
password:
line ready
rtr2#

OOBM IPv6 address

~# telnet 2001:172:20:20::2
Trying 2001:172:20:20::2...
Connected to 2001:172:20:20::2.
Escape character is '^]'.
welcome
username:rare
password:
line ready
rtr2#

• Configure hostname to rtr2, VRF CORE and rtr2@eth1 with LLDP assign IPv4 and IPv6

rtr2#conf t
rtr2(cfg)#vrf definition CORE
rtr2(cfg-vrf)#exit
rtr2(cfg)#interface ethernet1
rtr2(cfg-if)#vrf forwarding CORE
rtr2(cfg-if)#ipv4 address 10.1.2.1 /31
rtr2(cfg-if)#ipv6 address fd00::1:2:1 /127
rtr2(cfg-if)#lldp enable
rtr2(cfg-if)#end
rtr2#wr
% saving configuration
% success
rtr2#

5. Verification

• From rtr1

rtr1#show lldp neighbor
interface  hostname  iface      ipv4      ipv6
ethernet1  rtr2      ethernet1  10.1.2.1  fd00::1:2:1

rtr1#ping 10.1.2.1 vrf CORE source ethernet1
pinging 10.1.2.1, src=10.1.2.0, vrf=CORE, cnt=5, len=64, df=false, tim=1000, gap=0, ttl=255, tos=0, sgt=0, flow=0, fill=0, alrt=-1, sweep=false, multi=false
!!!!!
result=100.0%, recv/sent/lost/err=5/5/0/0, took 22, min/avg/max/dev rtt=1/1.4/2/0.2, ttl 255/255/255/0.0, tos 0/0.0/0/0.0
rtr1#ping fd00::1:2:1 vrf CORE source ethernet1
pinging fd00::1:2:1, src=fd00::1:2:0, vrf=CORE, cnt=5, len=64, df=false, tim=1000, gap=0, ttl=255, tos=0, sgt=0, flow=0, fill=0, alrt=-1, sweep=false, multi=false
!!!!!
result=100.0%, recv/sent/lost/err=5/5/0/0, took 5, min/avg/max/dev rtt=1/1.0/1/0.0, ttl 255/255/255/0.0, tos 0/0.0/0/0.0
rtr1#

• From rtr2

rtr2#show lldp neighbor
interface  hostname  iface      ipv4      ipv6
ethernet1  rtr1      ethernet1  10.1.2.0  fd00::1:2:0

rtr2#ping 10.1.2.0 vrf CORE source ethernet1
pinging 10.1.2.0, src=10.1.2.1, vrf=CORE, cnt=5, len=64, df=false, tim=1000, gap=0, ttl=255, tos=0, sgt=0, flow=0, fill=0, alrt=-1, sweep=false, multi=false
!!!!!
result=100.0%, recv/sent/lost/err=5/5/0/0, took 21, min/avg/max/dev rtt=1/1.4/2/0.2, ttl 255/255/255/0.0, tos 0/0.0/0/0.0
rtr2#ping fd00::1:2:0 vrf CORE source ethernet1
pinging fd00::1:2:0, src=fd00::1:2:1, vrf=CORE, cnt=5, len=64, df=false, tim=1000, gap=0, ttl=255, tos=0, sgt=0, flow=0, fill=0, alrt=-1, sweep=false, multi=false
!!!!!
result=100.0%, recv/sent/lost/err=5/5/0/0, took 6, min/avg/max/dev rtt=1/1.0/1/0.0, ttl 255/255/255/0.0, tos 0/0.0/0/0.0
rtr2#

Congratulation ! You have just run your first RARE/freeRtr within containerlab !

In this example, we have showed a simple lab with 2 RARE/freeRtr, but nothing prevents you to create any architecture mixing any other nodes from different vendor flavor. We have our own CI/CD for interoperability tests and we are 100% compatible with any other NOS. (Cisco IOS-XE, Cisco IOS-XR, Cisco NX-OS, Junos, Arista OS, Nokia SR-OS, FRR, SONIC, <you name it ...> )

If you find an interoperability issue with RARE/freeRtr, please do contact us so we can adjust our software !

6. Final words

freeRtr-containerlab is a continuous work-in-progress and EXCITING project.

freeRtr containerlab image is nightly updated using reflecting latest greates freeRtr/main branch.

Feel free to join us if you feel ready to dive into the code and gets your hand dirty.

Enjoy your RARE/freeRtr experience with containerlab !

7. Acknowledgement

Special thanks to:

• containerlab

Particularly Roman DODIN for his warm welcome and super blazingly fast answer in containerlab Discord server

• freeRtr

Particularly Csaba MATE for his almost 😇 bug free code !