Lab Topology Reference¶
The lab topology is described in a YAML file using a dictionary format. The three major components that should be present in every topology file are:
nodes – lab devices (nodes)
links – links between the lab devices
defaults – topology-wide defaults like default device type
Other topology elements include:
provider – virtualization provider (default: libvirt)
groups – optional groups of nodes
module – default list of modules used by this network topology. You can use device-level module attribute to override this setting for individual nodes.
addressing – IPv4 and IPv6 pools used to address management, loopback, LAN, P2P and stub interfaces
name – topology name (used in bridge names)
plugin – list of plugins used by this topology.
message – a help message to display after successful netlab initial or netlab up commands. You can use that message to tell the end-user how to use the lab (example: VLAN integration test cases).
Notes:
All elements apart from nodes are optional – missing links element indicates a topology without inter-node links (just the management interfaces)
Default values of defaults and addressing elements are taken from default settings.
List of modules is used to specify additional initial configuration elements (example: OSPF routing)
Default topology name is the directory name.
You’ll find sample topology files in the tutorials.