VXLAN-EVPN Lab with ContainerLab

Sources

• ContainerLab
• Virtual Data Center Network

Overview

This project provides a hands-on lab environment for understanding and experimenting with VXLAN-EVPN (Ethernet VPN) technology. Using ContainerLab, the lab sets up a VXLAN topology featuring 1 spine and 2 leaves nodes. The lab can be deployed directly on a PC with ContainerLab installed or through a DevContainer environment.

Here is a schema of the topology:

Project Structure

The project directory is structured as follows:

• hosts: Directory containing host configuration files for the lab.
• network_images/ceos-lab-4.32.0.1F.tar.xz: Container image used for the lab nodes.
• lab_vxlan.yml: YAML file describing the VXLAN lab topology.

Prerequisites

• Docker and Docker Compose (for DevContainer setup).
• ContainerLab installed either on the host or within the DevContainer.
• Basic understanding of networking and VXLAN-EVPN concepts.

Setup and Deployment

1. DevContainer Setup (Optional):
   If using DevContainer, ensure Docker and Docker Compose are installed on your machine.
   Open the project in a compatible IDE (like Visual Studio Code) and start the DevContainer environment.

2. ContainerLab Setup:

   • Direct Installation: Install ContainerLab on your host machine. Follow the official installation guide.
   • Via Terraform: Documentation available here.

3. Start the Lab:

   1. Navigate to the project directory.

   2. Add the Arista image to Docker:

      docker import network_images/cEOS64-lab-4.32.0.1F.tar.xz ceos:4.32.0.1F

   3. Deploy the lab topology:

      sudo containerlab deploy -t lab_vxlan.yml

Usage

• Once the lab is deployed, you can access the individual nodes (spines and leaves) via CLI or SSH to configure and test VXLAN-EVPN functionalities.

• Use the hosts directory to modify or apply specific configurations for end user hosts

• To list the nodes deployed via the lab_vxlan.yml:

  containerlab inspect --name vxlan-evpn-irb

• Example command to configure a VXLAN interface:

  show bgp summary

  The configurations to apply on each node are listed here.

Known Issues

To install the VLAN package on Alpine Linux hosts 1 and 2, follow these steps:

apk add vlan