Cisco Modeling Labs (CML) has lengthy been the go-to platform for community engineers, college students, and builders to design, simulate, and check community topologies in a digital atmosphere. With the discharge of Cisco Modeling Labs model 2.9, we’re excited to introduce some new options that improve its capabilities, providing flexibility, scalability, and ease of use.
Containers: A game-changer for community simulation
One of the vital compelling new options in CML 2.9 is the flexibility to combine Docker containers. Beforehand, CML was restricted to digital machines (VMs), akin to IOS-XE and Catalyst 9000. Now you’ll be able to add light-weight, optimized node varieties that devour fewer sources, so you’ll be able to construct bigger and extra numerous labs.
CML 2.9 ships with 10 pre-built container photographs, together with:
- Browsers: Chrome and Firefox for in-lab internet entry.
- Routing: Free-Vary Routing (FRR), a light-weight, open-source routing gadget supporting OSPF and different protocols.
- Community Providers: Dnsmasq, Syslog, Netflow, Nginx, Radius, and TACACS+ for important community features.
- Utilities: Web-tools (filled with 20+ community instruments like T-shark and Nmap) and a ThousandEyes agent for monitoring.
This opens up a complete new world of potentialities, permitting you to simulate advanced situations with specialised instruments and providers immediately inside your CML topology. As a result of containers are light-weight and resource-efficient, you’ll be able to run extra providers with no heavy impression on system efficiency. Plus, you might have the pliability to create and combine your personal customized container photographs from DockerHub or different sources.
Containers in CML combine seamlessly with VM nodes, permitting you to attach them inside the identical community topology and allow full bidirectional communication. As a result of containers use considerably much less CPU, reminiscence, and disk than VMs, they begin quicker and allow you to run extra nodes on the identical {hardware}. For big CML labs, use containers and clustering for optimum efficiency. Containers are light-weight, making it attainable to scale labs effectively by operating providers or routing features that don’t require a full VM.
How can I share labs with different customers?
For groups and academic environments, CML 2.9 introduces a extra fine-grained permission system. As a lab proprietor or system admin, now you can share labs with different customers, giving collaborators entry to work on shared tasks or studying actions. This characteristic allows you to transfer past the fundamental learn/write entry out there in earlier variations. The brand new permission ranges embody:
- View: Permits customers to see the lab however prevents any state adjustments or edits
- Exec: Grants permission to view and work together with the lab; for example, you can begin and cease nodes
- Edit: Allows customers to switch the lab, akin to shifting, including, or deleting nodes and altering configurations
- Admin: Offers you full entry to the lab, in addition to means that you can share the lab with different customers
This enhanced management streamlines collaboration, making certain customers have precisely the suitable degree of entry for his or her duties.
→ See product documentation for particulars on setup and use.
How does node disk picture cloning work?
Uninterested in repeatedly configuring customized nodes on your labs? Node disk picture cloning in CML 2.9 resolves this subject. In the event you’ve personalized a node’s configuration or made particular edits, now you can clone that node’s disk picture and put it aside as a brand new picture kind. This implies quicker lab setup for continuously used units and configurations, saving you worthwhile time.
Node disk picture cloning is great for saving time in lab setup if you’ve modified a node, akin to Ubuntu, so as to add extra instruments and need to create a brand new node kind that has those self same instruments put in.
How do I handle labs utilizing the exterior labs repository and Git integration?
CML 2.9 introduces Git integration, permitting you to immediately tie your CML occasion to an exterior Git repository. This characteristic adjustments the way you entry and handle pattern labs. As an alternative of manually downloading and importing particular person lab recordsdata, now you can present a repository URL, and CML will sync the content material, making it out there beneath the Pattern Labs menu.
Cisco supplies a group of pattern labs on the CML Neighborhood GitHub on the Cisco DevNet website, together with certification-aligned labs (akin to CCNA), which will be imported with a single click on.
This characteristic additionally means that you can add Git repositories (akin to GitLab and Bitbucket), empowering you to handle your personal lab content material seamlessly.
CML helps any Git-based repo, however authentication for personal repos will not be supported. We’ve added some CCNA labs, and we’re working to combine extra superior certification content material, akin to CCNP, into the pattern labs repositories. Offline customers will get a pre-synced snapshot at set up.
What are different new CML 2.9 enhancements?
Past the numerous new options, CML 2.9 contains these enhancements:
- Elevated scalability: The restrict of concurrently operating nodes has risen from 320 to 520.
- Net framework substitute (FastAPI): The product now makes use of FastAPI as its new API internet framework, leading to improved supportability, quicker API efficiency, enhanced documentation, and improved validation.
- API help for bulk operations: Simplify your automation efforts with new API capabilities that enable for bulk operations, akin to fence-selecting and deleting teams of nodes with a single API name.
- Allow all node definitions by default: This quality-of-life enchancment means that you can import all labs by default, no matter whether or not a specific node and picture definition can be found in your system.
- Customized font for terminal home windows: Now you can configure customized fonts on your console terminal home windows to match your most well-liked CLI expertise.
- IP deal with visibility: Now you can view the assigned IP addresses for interfaces linked to an exterior NAT connector.
Discover the ability of CML 2.9
CML 2.9 underscores our dedication to delivering a state-of-the-art community simulation platform. As we develop its capabilities and discover additional container orchestration, superior lab automation, and new API developments, we encourage our group to contribute to the rising library of pattern labs on our DevNet GitHub repository. And we’re working to make including new node varieties even simpler sooner or later.
Able to discover the ability of CML 2.9? Obtain it now to check out these new options right now.
Depart a remark beneath and tell us what you suppose!
📣 Cisco Modeling Labs 2.9 is now out there!
Stand up to hurry on the most recent adjustments: https://t.co/kW2gpvVmaP#CML
— Cisco Modeling Labs (@CiscoVIRL) July 21, 2025
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