> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://jncia-workbook.gitbook.io/workbook/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://jncia-workbook.gitbook.io/workbook/intro/setup.md).
# Setup
These labs utilize containerlab. You will need a Linux server that has containerlab installed, and the proper images loaded into your local docker repo. This page walks you through that process.
I found containerlab to be preferential over EVE-NG or GNS3 for many reasons:
* Direct support for containers.
* Topology files and config files can be shared and version-controlled via github.
* Native SSH access is used to access the nodes, instead of console connections. This allows for scripting via SSH, which I use to transfer all startup configs to the nodes.
* Virtual hard drives of the nodes are not saved, so a single lab can take up literally KBs of storage.
Once you spend \~30 minutes setting this up, spinning up and loading labs from this workbook will be a breeze and you will have no friction while studying. This can save hours of manual work involved with creating new topologies, IP address configuration, etc.
## Host Requirements
You can install containerlab on a VM or bare-metal server. I prefer to use Ubuntu as the OS, but any Linux distro should work.
I recommend to have 12+ vCPU, 16GB+ memory, and 50-100GB of storage. The storage is mostly for the node images, so storage requirements are quite low.
If you are using bare-metal, ensure that CPU virtualization is enabled in BIOS on your server.
If using a VM, ensure that Hardware virtualization is enabled.
You may also choose to run containerlab directly on your PC. See here for details about running containerlab on Windows:
## Installing Containerlab
Once the OS is installed, containerlab installation is as simple as running this single command:
```
curl -sL https://containerlab.dev/setup | sudo -E bash -s "all"
```
* Source:
Clone the git repo for this workbook:
```
cd ~
git clone https://github.com/andrewohanian/jncia-junos-labs
```
Install required python packages:
```
sudo apt install python3-pip
cd jncia-junos-labs/
pip install -r requirements.txt
```
The management network is 10.200.255.0/24 for these labs. All you need to do is create a route in your router pointing 10.200.255.0/24 via the IP address of your containerlab server. For example, if your containerlab server has an IP address of 192.168.1.253:
```
ip route 10.200.255.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.253
```
If your containerlab server is on the same subnet as your computer, you could instead create a route on your local machine for 10.200.255.0/24 via \:
```
Windows example:
route -p add 10.200.255.0 mask 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.253
```
## Images
Finally, you will need the correct images loaded into your docker container repo in order to run the topologies.
These lab utilize the vJunos-Router and vJunos-Switch. You must use vrnetlab to convert these into containers. The process is very straightforward.
First, clone the vrnetlab project:
```
cd ~
git clone https://github.com/hellt/vrnetlab.git
```
Next, download the two qcow2 images from these links. The images are 100% free, with no account required. Make sure to select version 25.4. If you want to use a different version, you will need to edit the containerlab topology files with the version you are using.
* Make sure to select **OS: vJunos-Router**
When you click the qcow2 download button, you will need to accept a license agreement. Once you agree and proceed, copy the URL you are given. Change to the proper directory in vrnetlab, and download the image.
For the vJunosRouter:
```
cd vrnetlab/juniper/vjunosrouter/
! Download the file. Make sure to include the quotes.
wget -P . ""
! Fix the filename, removing all trailing URL characters after .qcow2
mv
! Example:
mv vJunos-router-25.4R1.12.qcow2\?SM_USER\=anon\&__gda__\=1783450214_ed6c7ljdf2532 vJunos-router-25.4R1.12.qcow2
! Build the container
make
```
For the vJunosSwitch:
```
cd vrnetlab/juniper/vjunosswitch/
! Download the file. Make sure to include the quotes.
wget -P . ""
! Fix the filename, removing all trailing URL characters after .qcow2
mv
! Example:
mv vJunos-switch-25.4R1.12.qcow2\?SM_USER\=anon\&__gda__\=1783450214_ed6c7ljdf2532 vJunos-switch-25.4R1.12.qcow2
! Build the container
make
```
The process will take a few minutes for each image. You can verify that it worked by using the command **docker image ls**:
```
clab@clab:~$ docker image ls
REPOSITORY TAG IMAGE ID CREATED SIZE
vrnetlab/juniper_vjunos-switch 25.4R1.12 3b39604ccd70 21 hours ago 5.46GB
vrnetlab/juniper_vjunos-router 25.4R1.12 acb445c19722 2 weeks ago 4.83GB
```