Running VLAB
Make sure to follow the prerequisites and check system requirements in the VLAB Overview section before running VLAB.
Initialize VLAB
First, initialize Fabricator by running hhfab init --dev. This command creates the fab.yaml file, which is the main configuration file for the fabric. This command supports several customization options that are listed in the output of hhfab init --help.
ubuntu@docs:~$ hhfab init --dev
11:26:52 INF Hedgehog Fabricator version=v0.30.0
11:26:52 INF Generated initial config
11:26:52 INF Adjust configs (incl. credentials, modes, subnets, etc.) file=fab.yaml
11:26:52 INF Include wiring files (.yaml) or adjust imported ones dir=include
VLAB Topology
By default, hhfab init creates 2 spines, 2 MCLAG leaves and 1 non-MCLAG leaf with 2 fabric connections (between each spine and leaf), 2 MCLAG peer links and 2 MCLAG session links as well as 2 loopbacks per leaf for implementing VPC loopback workaround. To generate the preceding topology, hhfab vlab gen. You can also configure the number of spines, leafs, connections, and so on. For example, flags --spines-count and --mclag-leafs-count allow you to set the number of spines and MCLAG leaves, respectively. For complete options, hhfab vlab gen -h.
ubuntu@docs:~$ hhfab vlab gen
21:27:16 INF Hedgehog Fabricator version=v0.30.0
21:27:16 INF Building VLAB wiring diagram fabricMode=spine-leaf
21:27:16 INF >>> spinesCount=2 fabricLinksCount=2
21:27:16 INF >>> eslagLeafGroups=2
21:27:16 INF >>> mclagLeafsCount=2 mclagSessionLinks=2 mclagPeerLinks=2
21:27:16 INF >>> orphanLeafsCount=1 vpcLoopbacks=2
21:27:16 INF >>> mclagServers=2 eslagServers=2 unbundledServers=1 bundledServers=1
21:27:16 INF Generated wiring file name=vlab.generated.yaml
Collapsed Core
If a Collapsed Core topology is desired, after the hhfab init --dev step, edit the resulting fab.yaml file and change the mode: spine-leaf to mode: collapsed-core:
ubuntu@docs:~$ hhfab vlab gen
11:39:02 INF Hedgehog Fabricator version=v0.30.0
11:39:02 INF Building VLAB wiring diagram fabricMode=collapsed-core
11:39:02 INF >>> mclagLeafsCount=2 mclagSessionLinks=2 mclagPeerLinks=2
11:39:02 INF >>> orphanLeafsCount=0 vpcLoopbacks=2
11:39:02 INF >>> mclagServers=2 eslagServers=2 unbundledServers=1 bundledServers=1
11:39:02 INF Generated wiring file name=vlab.generated.yaml
Custom Spine Leaf
Or you can run custom topology with 2 spines, 4 MCLAG leaves and 2 non-MCLAG leaves using flags:
ubuntu@docs:~$ hhfab vlab gen --mclag-leafs-count 4 --orphan-leafs-count 2
11:41:06 INF Hedgehog Fabricator version=v0.30.0
11:41:06 INF Building VLAB wiring diagram fabricMode=spine-leaf
11:41:06 INF >>> spinesCount=2 fabricLinksCount=2
11:41:06 INF >>> eslagLeafGroups=""
11:41:06 INF >>> mclagLeafsCount=4 mclagSessionLinks=2 mclagPeerLinks=2
11:41:06 INF >>> orphanLeafsCount=2 vpcLoopbacks=2
11:41:06 INF >>> mclagServers=2 eslagServers=2 unbundledServers=1 bundledServers=1
11:41:06 INF Generated wiring file name=vlab.generated.yaml
Additionally, you can pass extra Fabric configuration items using flags on init command or by passing a configuration
file. For more information, refer to the Fabric Configuration section.
Once you have initialized the VLAB, download the artifacts and build the installer using hhfab build. This command
automatically downloads all required artifacts from the OCI registry and builds the installer and all other
prerequisites for running the VLAB.
Build the Installer and Start VLAB
To build and start the virtual machines, use hhfab vlab up. For successive runs, use the --kill-stale flag to ensure that any virtual machines from a previous run are gone. hhfab vlab up runs in the foreground and does not return, which allows you to stop all VLAB VMs by simply pressing Ctrl + C.
ubuntu@docs:~$ hhfab vlab up
11:48:22 INF Hedgehog Fabricator version=v0.30.0
11:48:22 INF Wiring hydrated successfully mode=if-not-present
11:48:22 INF VLAB config created file=vlab/config.yaml
11:48:22 INF Downloader cache=/home/ubuntu/.hhfab-cache/v1 repo=ghcr.io prefix=githedgehog
11:48:22 INF Building installer control=control-1
11:48:22 INF Adding recipe bin to installer control=control-1
11:48:24 INF Adding k3s and tools to installer control=control-1
11:48:25 INF Adding zot to installer control=control-1
11:48:25 INF Adding cert-manager to installer control=control-1
11:48:26 INF Adding config and included wiring to installer control=control-1
11:48:26 INF Adding airgap artifacts to installer control=control-1
11:48:36 INF Archiving installer path=/home/ubuntu/result/control-1-install.tgz control=control-1
11:48:45 INF Creating ignition path=/home/ubuntu/result/control-1-install.ign control=control-1
11:48:46 INF Taps and bridge are ready count=8
11:48:46 INF Downloader cache=/home/ubuntu/.hhfab-cache/v1 repo=ghcr.io prefix=githedgehog
11:48:46 INF Preparing new vm=control-1 type=control
11:48:51 INF Preparing new vm=server-01 type=server
11:48:52 INF Preparing new vm=server-02 type=server
11:48:54 INF Preparing new vm=server-03 type=server
11:48:55 INF Preparing new vm=server-04 type=server
11:48:57 INF Preparing new vm=server-05 type=server
11:48:58 INF Preparing new vm=server-06 type=server
11:49:00 INF Preparing new vm=server-07 type=server
11:49:01 INF Preparing new vm=server-08 type=server
11:49:03 INF Preparing new vm=server-09 type=server
11:49:04 INF Preparing new vm=server-10 type=server
11:49:05 INF Preparing new vm=leaf-01 type=switch
11:49:06 INF Preparing new vm=leaf-02 type=switch
11:49:06 INF Preparing new vm=leaf-03 type=switch
11:49:06 INF Preparing new vm=leaf-04 type=switch
11:49:06 INF Preparing new vm=leaf-05 type=switch
11:49:06 INF Preparing new vm=spine-01 type=switch
11:49:06 INF Preparing new vm=spine-02 type=switch
11:49:06 INF Starting VMs count=18 cpu="54 vCPUs" ram="49664 MB" disk="550 GB"
11:49:59 INF Uploading control install vm=control-1 type=control
11:53:39 INF Running control install vm=control-1 type=control
11:53:40 INF control-install: 01:53:39 INF Hedgehog Fabricator Recipe version=v0.30.0 vm=control-1
11:53:40 INF control-install: 01:53:39 INF Running control node installation vm=control-1
12:00:32 INF control-install: 02:00:31 INF Control node installation complete vm=control-1
12:00:32 INF Control node is ready vm=control-1 type=control
12:00:32 INF All VMs are ready
INF Control node is ready vm=control-1 type=control from the installer's output means that the installer has finished. After this line
has been displayed, you can get into the control node and other VMs to watch the Fabric coming up and switches getting
provisioned. See Accessing the VLAB.
Enable Outside connectivity from VLAB VMs
By default, all test server VMs are isolated and have no connectivity to the host or the Internet. You can configure
enable connectivity using hhfab vlab up --restrict-servers=false to allow the test servers to access the Internet and
the host. When you enable connectivity, VMs get a default route pointing to the host, which means that in case of the
VPC peering you need to configure test server VMs to use the VPC attachment as a default route (or just some specific
subnets).
Accessing the VLAB
The hhfab vlab command provides ssh and serial subcommands to access the VMs. You can use ssh to get into the
control node and test servers after the VMs are started. You can use serial to get into the switch VMs while they are
provisioning and installing the software. After switches are installed you can use ssh to get into them.
You can select device you want to access or pass the name using the --vm flag.
ubuntu@docs:~$ hhfab vlab ssh
Use the arrow keys to navigate: ↓ ↑ → ← and / toggles search
SSH to VM:
🦔 control-1
server-01
server-02
server-03
server-04
server-05
server-06
leaf-01
leaf-02
leaf-03
spine-01
spine-02
----------- VM Details ------------
ID: 0
Name: control-1
Ready: true
Basedir: .hhfab/vlab-vms/control-1
Default credentials
Fabricator creates default users and keys for you to login into the control node and test servers as well as for the SONiC Virtual Switches.
The default user with password-less sudo for the control node and test servers is core with password HHFab.Admin!.
The admin user with full access and password-less sudo for the switches is admin with password HHFab.Admin!.
The read-only, non-sudo user with access to the switch CLI is op with password HHFab.Op!.
Use Kubectl to Interact with the Fabric
On the control node you have access to kubectl, Fabric CLI, and k9s to manage the Fabric. To view information
about the switches run kubectl get agents -o wide. After the control node is available it usually takes about 10-15 minutes for the
switches to get installed.
After the switches are provisioned, the command returns something like this:
core@control-1 ~ $ kubectl get agents -o wide
NAME ROLE DESCR HWSKU ASIC HEARTBEAT APPLIED APPLIEDG CURRENTG VERSION SOFTWARE ATTEMPT ATTEMPTG AGE
leaf-01 server-leaf VS-01 MCLAG 1 DellEMC-S5248f-P-25G-DPB vs 30s 5m5s 4 4 v0.23.0 4.1.1-Enterprise_Base 5m5s 4 10m
leaf-02 server-leaf VS-02 MCLAG 1 DellEMC-S5248f-P-25G-DPB vs 27s 3m30s 3 3 v0.23.0 4.1.1-Enterprise_Base 3m30s 3 10m
leaf-03 server-leaf VS-03 DellEMC-S5248f-P-25G-DPB vs 18s 3m52s 4 4 v0.23.0 4.1.1-Enterprise_Base 3m52s 4 10m
spine-01 spine VS-04 DellEMC-S5248f-P-25G-DPB vs 26s 3m59s 3 3 v0.23.0 4.1.1-Enterprise_Base 3m59s 3 10m
spine-02 spine VS-05 DellEMC-S5248f-P-25G-DPB vs 19s 3m53s 4 4 v0.23.0 4.1.1-Enterprise_Base 3m53s 4 10m
The Heartbeat column shows how long ago the switch has sent the heartbeat to the control node. The Applied column
shows how long ago the switch has applied the configuration. AppliedG shows the generation of the configuration
applied. CurrentG shows the generation of the configuration the switch is supposed to run. Different values for
AppliedG and CurrentG mean that the switch is in the process of applying the configuration.
At that point Fabric is ready and you can use kubectl and kubectl fabric to manage the Fabric. You can find more
about managing the Fabric in the Running Demo and User Guide sections.
Getting main Fabric objects
You can list the main Fabric objects by running kubectl get on the control node. You can find more details about
using the Fabric in the User Guide, Fabric API and
Fabric CLI sections.
For example, to get the list of switches, run:
core@control-1 ~ $ kubectl get switch
NAME ROLE DESCR GROUPS LOCATIONUUID AGE
leaf-01 server-leaf VS-01 MCLAG 1 5e2ae08a-8ba9-599a-ae0f-58c17cbbac67 6h10m
leaf-02 server-leaf VS-02 MCLAG 1 5a310b84-153e-5e1c-ae99-dff9bf1bfc91 6h10m
leaf-03 server-leaf VS-03 5f5f4ad5-c300-5ae3-9e47-f7898a087969 6h10m
spine-01 spine VS-04 3e2c4992-a2e4-594b-bbd1-f8b2fd9c13da 6h10m
spine-02 spine VS-05 96fbd4eb-53b5-5a4c-8d6a-bbc27d883030 6h10m
Similarly, to get the list of servers, run:
core@control-1 ~ $ kubectl get server
NAME TYPE DESCR AGE
control-1 control Control node 6h10m
server-01 S-01 MCLAG leaf-01 leaf-02 6h10m
server-02 S-02 MCLAG leaf-01 leaf-02 6h10m
server-03 S-03 Unbundled leaf-01 6h10m
server-04 S-04 Bundled leaf-02 6h10m
server-05 S-05 Unbundled leaf-03 6h10m
server-06 S-06 Bundled leaf-03 6h10m
For connections, use:
core@control-1 ~ $ kubectl get connection
NAME TYPE AGE
leaf-01--mclag-domain--leaf-02 mclag-domain 6h11m
leaf-01--vpc-loopback vpc-loopback 6h11m
leaf-02--vpc-loopback vpc-loopback 6h11m
leaf-03--vpc-loopback vpc-loopback 6h11m
server-01--mclag--leaf-01--leaf-02 mclag 6h11m
server-02--mclag--leaf-01--leaf-02 mclag 6h11m
server-03--unbundled--leaf-01 unbundled 6h11m
server-04--bundled--leaf-02 bundled 6h11m
server-05--unbundled--leaf-03 unbundled 6h11m
server-06--bundled--leaf-03 bundled 6h11m
spine-01--fabric--leaf-01 fabric 6h11m
spine-01--fabric--leaf-02 fabric 6h11m
spine-01--fabric--leaf-03 fabric 6h11m
spine-02--fabric--leaf-01 fabric 6h11m
spine-02--fabric--leaf-02 fabric 6h11m
spine-02--fabric--leaf-03 fabric 6h11m
For IPv4 and VLAN namespaces, use:
core@control-1 ~ $ kubectl get ipns
NAME SUBNETS AGE
default ["10.0.0.0/16"] 6h12m
core@control-1 ~ $ kubectl get vlanns
NAME AGE
default 6h12m
Reset VLAB
If VLAB is currently running, press Ctrl + C to stop it. To reset VLAB and start over run hhfab init -f. This option forces the process to overwrite your existing configuration in fab.yaml.
Next steps
Created: December 22, 2023