Graphite Topology Output Module¶

graphite output module creates a JSON file that can be used to display the netlab lab topology within Graphite.

By default, the output is created as graphite-default.json file, which can be used directly from the Graphite container. When using the graphite:webssh2 container, you can open SSH sessions with lab devices running in libvirt environment directly from the browser, making your lab accessible from an external IP network without routing or port-mapping tricks.

After creating the lab topology with netlab create -o graphite, launch the Graphite container with:

docker run -d \
 -v "$(pwd)/graphite-default.json":/htdocs/default/default.json \
 -p 8080:80 \
 --name graphite \
 netreplica/graphite

After the Docker container has been launched, you can access the Graphite WebGUI from: http://<LOCAL_IP>:8080/graphite/.

SSH Access to Lab Devices¶

graphite:webssh2 container includes web-based SSH access to lab devices. The web devices have to be reachable from within the Docker container, and must have unique IP addresses.

In this release, SSH access to lab devices works only with libvirt-based labs:

Vagrant uses different TCP ports on localhost to access lab devices in VirtualBox labs. Graphite does not support custom SSH ports.
Containerlab uses a Docker management network (clab) that cannot be accessed by containers connected to the bridge network. You could fix Docker network settings, but it’s easier to use sudo containerlab graph -t clab.yml to run graphite within containerlab.

Modifying Graph Attributes¶

The following attributes are recognized by the graphite output module:

graphite.icon: Node Icon used in the graph – specified for individual nodes, as part of node_data in groups, or as device default (defaults.devices.device.graphite.icon). You can use these icon types (from Cisco DevNet NeXT UI API doc):
- switch
- router
- wlc
- unknown
- server
- phone
- nexus5000
- ipphone
- host
- camera
- accesspoint
- groups
- cloud
- firewall
- hostgroup
- wirelesshost
graphite.level: Node Level within the graph. Can be specified for individual nodes or as part of node_data in groups; default value is 1.

Topology Example¶

module: [ bgp, ospf ]
bgp.as: 65000

nodes:
  a:
  b:
  c:
  d:
  rr:
    bgp.rr: True
    id: 1
    graphite.icon: server
  y:
    bgp.as: 65100
    module: [ bgp ]
    graphite.level: 2
  linux1:
    module: []
    device: linux
    graphite.icon: host
    graphite.level: 3
  linux2:
    module: []
    device: linux
    graphite.level: 3
  linux3:
    module: []
    device: linux
    graphite.level: 3

links:
- a-b
- a-c
- b-d
- c-d
- b-rr
- d-rr
- c-y
- d-y
- y-linux1
- y:
  linux2:
  linux3:
- y: