Questions & Answers

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Simulating Networks Using Cisco Modeling Labs

TechWiseTV Workshop: October 7, 2015

Q. What is the difference between Virtual Internet Routing Lab (VIRL) and Cisco® Modeling Labs 1.1? A. VIRL is not expandable and does not have Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) support. VIRL is the

personal version, and Cisco Modeling Labs is the corporate version. Cisco Modeling Labs is an on-premises installation with no call-home requirement. VIRL has a call-home feature requiring Internet access for licensing check. It also sends back data about the product use. Q. Is there a trial version of Cisco Modeling Labs? A. You can request a 30-day demo at cml-info@cisco.com.

Q. How do I get a copy of Cisco Modeling Labs? Can I download it? A. Cisco Modeling Labs is available for purchase on Cisco Commerce Workspace (CCW). You can request a 30-

day demo at cml-info@cisco.com. Q. Does this presentation explain the differences between Cisco Modeling Labs, GNS, UNL, and IOU? A. Cisco Modeling Labs is compared to VIRL Personal Edition (PE) throughout the course of this presentation.

Q. Are VIRL and Cisco Modeling Labs developed and maintained by the same people? Are they updated at the same time? Do they have the same code base? Is VIRL basically Cisco Modeling Labs limited to 15 nodes and no support? A. Cisco Modeling Labs and VIRL are created by different Cisco business units. Cisco Modeling Labs is an on-

premises installation with no call-home requirement. VIRL has a call-home feature requiring Internet access for licensing check. It also sends back data about the product use. VIRL is limited to 15 nodes with no support. VIRL is the personal edition for individual users, whereas Cisco Modeling Labs is expandable to an unlimited number of users. Although VIRL and Cisco Modeling Labs are released through different business units, portions of them have a common code base, so the development of those core components is done by the same group. Q. How does Cisco Modeling Labs compare with OPNET? A. A complete analysis of OPNET has not been done. Once this has been done, it will be posted on the Cisco

Modeling Labs internal page. Q. We have 2 Cisco Nexus® switches, 4 Cisco Catalyst® 3850 Series Switches, and 10 Cisco Catalyst 2960 Series Switches at three sites with 3 Cisco Adaptive Security Appliances. How much will Cisco Modeling Labs cost us? A. For pricing, contact your account manager or Cisco partner.

Q. How can I find the version number of my current Cisco Modeling Labs environment through the UWM ADMIN web interface? A. Once you login to the UWM interface, take a look at the lower left corner to see the back-end version. However,

to see all bundled component versions, you need to launch Cisco Modeling Labs and choose File > Preferences > Web Services and click More. This will give you the respective version numbers. Q. Do you support the Cisco ASA operating system or the Cisco FirePOWER™ module? A. Cisco Modeling Labs version 1.1 supports the Cisco Adaptive Security Virtual Appliance (ASAv).

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Q. Can my entire team share the Cisco Modeling Labs instance to manage the networks we’ve built? A. Cisco Modeling Labs is a multiuser client server system. A distinct virtual sandbox can be created for each user.

This is limited to the number of nodes licensed. Q. Will Cisco Modeling Labs support NX-OS? A. The NX-OS demo image will work with Cisco Modeling Labs, but it is not supported by Cisco TAC, as NX-OS is

not a released product. Q. What about traffic generation? A. Virtualized servers may be provisioned within a simulated topology. These allow source/sink traffic participants.

vPagent is also available. Q. Will the Cisco Nexus 9000v be added to Cisco Modeling Labs? Also will real Layer 2 support for Cisco Nexus, such as vPC, be added? In VIRL, Titanium and NX-OSv are extremely limited. A. When the 9000 Series image is available, we will add it to Cisco Modeling Labs. The existing Titanium image is

experimental and not released. That is why it is limited. Q. What kind of resources (CPU and memory) are required to run traffic through these systems? A. A resource sizing tool is available to properly configure the server to the anticipated usage.

Q. I do not see any software packages in Cisco.com for Cisco IOSv Software, only Cisco Cloud Services Router (CSR) 1000v and Cisco ASAv. Is Cisco IOSv support removed from newer versions? A. Cisco IOSv is bundled with Cisco Modeling Labs. With version 1.1, Cisco IOSv, IOS XRv, and CSR 1000v are

bundled. Q. Do we need dedicated hardware to install Cisco Modeling Labs? A. Cisco Modeling Labs can be run as a virtual machine within VMware by deploying an OVA file or installed as a

dedicated server using a Cisco IOS install image. Q. Can we use a different Cisco IOS version in Cisco Modeling Labs? A. Yes, within the range of Cisco IOS versions supported.

Q. How are external vendors integrated? A. Cisco Modeling Labs is run on top of OpenStack. External vendor devices can be run but will not have TAC

support. Q. For licenses, if I am running a scenario with 15 nodes, can a co-worker be running a different scenario at the same time? If they also have 15 nodes running, does that require 15 licenses total, or 30? If 5 nodes are off, do they still need a license? A. The number of licensed nodes dictates the total sum of active node instances. If a Cisco Modeling Labs server

is licensed for 15 nodes, and one user is running a 15-node simulation, engineer B would need to wait until engineer A stopped their simulation. Q. Are there any technical differences between VIRL and Cisco Modeling Labs, or is it just licensing and node counts? A. VIRL is the personal version, which is for a single user, whereas Cisco Modeling Labs is the corporate version

and can be used by multiple users. Cisco Modeling Labs is an on-premises installation with no call-home requirement. VIRL has a call-home feature requiring Internet access for licensing check. It also sends back data about the product use. Q. Is Cisco the OEM for Cisco Modeling Labs, or is it rebranded Riverbed/OPNET software? A. Cisco Modeling Labs is developed by Cisco.

Q. To run Cisco Modeling Labs, do you get a data center hardware set running with VMware and then load the Cisco OVA for Cisco Modeling Labs? A. Yes, this is one option.

Q. Can the Cisco Modeling Labs environment interact with multiple “domains”? A. Cisco Modeling Labs has two FLAT (Layer 2) interfaces for external connectivity plus one Layer 3 connection

using a static Network Address Translation (SNAT) interface.

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Q. Is vPagent part of the ISO/OVA or downloaded separately? A. It is downloaded and installed separately.

Q. Is VIRL adequate for practice labs for Cisco certification practice? A. It depends. If you want to build your own topologies without any practice labs, it is useful for certifications with

XR-based requirements. If you want to study routing and switching, however, you should consider looking at options such as Cisco CCIE® Lab Builder. Q. What’s the base cost and cost per node? A. Contacting your account manager for pricing information.

Q. Can Cisco Modeling Labs be installed on a few ESXi hosts and interact with each other? A. Yes.

Q. Can we find out if known bugs or issues exist on software releases? A. You can find known bugs or issues in the release notes.

Q. For the throughput/latency values, should I refer to the router/switch ASIC throughput or the physical wire speed? A. It’s latency between nodes, so you would refer to the physical wire speed.

Q. Does Cisco Modeling Labs support Cisco IOS® XR? A. It supports Cisco IOS XRv.

Q. VIRL comes with a Titanium/NX-OS image, but Cisco Modeling Labs does not? A. NX-OS is not packaged in Cisco Modeling Labs, but we will supply it separately on request. It is a demo version

of NX-OS, the same one that is in VIRL PE. Q. How do I obtain vPagent? A. Email cml-info@cisco.com.

Q. Do I need to use templates, or can I configure Cisco Modeling Labs completely manually? A. Configuration can be done manually.

Q. Does the new VIRL PE support creation of vPC on NX-OS? A. No. vPC is not supported. VIRL is from a different business unit. Please direct questions to virl@cisco.com.

Q. I'm currently running version 1.0. With an upgrade to 1.1, are the virtual switching platforms native, or do they have to be added separately from the upgrade? A. If you are a current customer, you can upgrade at no cost by visiting

https://tools.cisco.com/gct/Upgrade/order.do. Cisco Modeling Labs 1.1 comes packaged with Cisco IOSv Layer 2, IOS XRv, CSR 1000v, IOSv, and server. Q. With Cisco CSR 1000v, is overlay transport virtualization (OTV) supported? A. Cisco Modeling Labs does not support specific node types. It does support Cisco IOS XR.

Q. What about support for Cisco Aggregation Services Routers (ASR) and Catalyst switches such as the 6000, 4000, 3850, or 3000 Series? A. Cisco Modeling Labs’ devices are abstracted models and have no underlying awareness of hardware attributes

or installed modules. Q. Can we set up a lab connecting Cisco Modeling Labs to ESXi hosts with window servers? A. Yes, through FLAT support you can connect Cisco Modeling Labs to ESXi-based VMs.

Q. Is Cisco Modeling Labs free for Cisco partners? A. Cisco Modeling Labs is not a free product.

Q. Is there a list available of the products and features that Cisco Modeling Labs 1.1. supports? A. See the Cisco Modeling Labs 1.1 data sheet at http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/cloud-systems-

management/modeling-labs/datasheet-c78-731575.pdf

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Q. Is there an additional cost for the images, or are they included in the Cisco Modeling Labs license costs? A. Cisco Modeling Labs 1.1 comes with Cisco IOSv, Ubuntu Server image, and Cisco IOSv Layer 2 image. The

Cisco CSR 1000v and IOS XRv images require additional licensing. Cisco Modeling Labs 1.1 comes with bundled demo CSR 1000v and IOS XRv images. If you add NX-OS separately, it is a demo image and there is no cost. Q. Can we upgrade from Cisco Modeling Labs 1.0 to version 1.1, or do we need a clean install? A. You would need a clean install. Current customers can find Cisco Modeling Labs 1.1 at the following link. You

will need your contract number. https://tools.cisco.com/gct/Upgrade/order.do. Q. What are the hardware requirements for memory and CPU? A. There is a sizing tool to help with this. Generally 512 MB per Cisco IOSv device and 3 GB for Cisco IOS XE or

XR devices. A minimum of two vCPU cores and 4 GB of memory must be dedicated to the Cisco Modeling Labs machine. Using four vCPUs and 8 GB of memory or more is highly recommended. Additional resources will allow for larger simulations. Q. What is the maximum number of nodes that can be licensed under Cisco Modeling Labs? A. It's unlimited. The only requirement is to have the required license and resources.

Q. Is the Spanning Tree simulation supported? A. The Cisco IOS Layer 2 device supports Spanning Tree Protocol.

Q. I see ANK listed in multiple places. What does that stand for? A. AutoNet Kit. It generates the initial configuration for each node.

Q. What Cisco IOSv versions are included in Cisco Modeling Labs 1.0 and 1.1? A. Cisco Modeling Labs version 1.0 has Cisco IOSv 15.4.2T; version 1.1 has 15.5.3M.

Q. Is NX-OS also supported in VIRL? A. NX-OSv is available in VIRL. VIRL PE does not come with support.

Q. Does the Cisco IOSv Layer 2 support extend to VIRL as well? A. Yes, VIRL supports Cisco IOSv Layer 2.

Q. Is the additional charge for Cisco IOS XE and XR a one-time cost for unlimited nodes? Or is that per-node cost above and beyond? For instance, if I need 10 CSR 1000v nodes, do we need 10 Cisco Modeling Labs and 10 CSR 1000v licenses? A. Cisco Modeling Labs 1.1 comes with a bundled CSR 1000v demo image. However, if you would like a licensed

version, you would need to take a separate license for CSR 1000v. Q. How do we get a copy of the experimental release of NX-OSv? A. If you are a current Cisco Modeling Labs customer, please contact cml-info@cisco.com. We will put you in touch

with the right area. Q. Can VM resources be adjusted after deployment? A. Yes, the resources can be adjusted after deployment. Nodes may be configured using the AutoNet Kit to create

the initial configuration, or it may be disabled, upon which the node will start up like a brand new node (out of the box) and invoke the setup. Or you may paste a configuration into the node configuration panel. Q. Is Cisco Modeling Labs the same as Dynamips (also known as GNS)? A. No, GNS is an emulation-based product, and the processing overhead limits its capacity. Cisco Modeling Labs

uses virtualization technology and scales much larger. Cisco Modeling Labs is a licensed product supporting official and Cisco VMs and the switching image Cisco IOSv Layer 2. It supports ANK configuration generation. Cisco TAC support is also available. GNS3 started as an open-source initiative using hardware emulators called Dynamips. It would emulate the machine instructions expected by Cisco IOS and therefore emulated specific hardware types. It also required users to acquire a version of Cisco IOS.

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Q. How can we get VIRL? A. Visit the DevNet site: virl.cisco.com

Q. Can we run Cisco Modeling Labs on Windows 10? A. The client can run on Windows 10. The simulation engine portion runs on a dedicated server in either bare

metal or on top of VMware. Q. Is the Cisco IOS demo limited with respect to bandwidth or features? A. The demo versions of the images are not feature limited, but they are bandwidth limited.

Q. Can I simulate Dynamic Multipoint VPN (DMVPN) with 175 nodes? A. DMVPN is not supported in the current release of Cisco CSR 1000v.

Q. What are the advantages or benefits of purchasing Cisco Modeling Labs when we can get free third-party software such as GNS?? A. Cisco Modeling Labs allows the use of current Cisco IOS versions and is properly licensed.

Q. Are there any plans to move away from a thick client and have it configured and modeled via an HTML5 interface? A. That is being considered as part of the roadmap to allow us to remove dependencies such as Java.

Q. Can you import configurations into Cisco Modeling Labs to simulate customer network adds and changes? A. Yes, but with caveats. As Cisco Modeling Labs employs abstracted node instances with no knowledge of

underlying hardware, the pasted configuration would first need normalizing to match Cisco Modeling Labs’ view of a vNode. It depends upon the XML definition of configuration file. Currently we support importing VIRL files from the previous Cisco Modeling Labs release. We also support Cariden MATE import and Visio vsdx files. Q. I have a Macbook Pro with Retina display and am studying for the Cisco CCNP® ROUTE exam. I want to be able to simulate and test different scenarios of my work network environment. What is the product that would be best to meet my needs? VIRL, Cisco Modeling Labs, or Cisco CCIE Lab Builder? A. You have two different use cases here. For the Cisco CCNP ROUTE exam, we would recommend CCIE Lab

Builder, as the virtual devices there match up to the blueprint and still allow for features such as serial interfaces. If you want to model your work network and you use more than just Cisco IOS Software, or you want to include servers in your model, consider Cisco Modeling Labs or VIRL, depending on your needs. Q. I do not currently have an “unmanaged” switch. How do I add that to the server? Do I need an image? Also, how do I have the client automatically fetch node types from the server? A. Cisco Modeling Labs 1.0 had a multipoint segment, which has been replaced by an unmanaged switch in the

Cisco Modeling Labs 1.1 client in the palette under the Nodes section. You just need to click it and place it on the topology editor along with the other node subtypes. It doesn’t require any image. Q. We have Cisco Modeling Labs 1.0. We purchased only the Cisco IOS XRv 10-device license. Can we upgrade to 1.1? A. Yes you can upgrade your Cisco Modeling Labs 1.0 to version 1.1. Remember that you need to do a new install

for Cisco Modeling Labs 1.1. Inline upgrades from version 1.0 to 1.1 are not supported. Q. Can I import my present configuration and build from it? A. When you say present configuration, are you already using Cisco Modeling Labs 1.0? If so, you can import the

old configuration into Cisco Modeling Labs 1.1. Q. Where can I download the demo? A. You can request a 30-day demo at cml-info@cisco.com.

Q. Is Ethernet the only interface type? A. Yes.

Q. Can WAN links between routers simulate latency? A. Not really.

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Q. It’s my understanding that you currently don´t support Layer 2 Ethernet switching (the Cisco Catalyst feature set). If that´s correct, are you considering development in this area for future CML versions? A. The Cisco IOS Layer 2 feature (using a distinct Layer 2 device) is supported in Cisco Modeling Labs version 1.1.

Q. What does Visio support mean in Cisco Modeling Labs? A. It means that we allow Microsoft Visio vsdx files to be imported.

Q. I am not using Cisco Modeling Labs. I was wondering if I can import the present network configurations and build from them? A. Yes, you can import the Cariden MATE file to Cisco Modeling Labs.

Q. I have some Juniper Secure Services Gateways at our edge sites. Can I represent it in Cisco Modeling Labs? Also, we're deploying a Cisco Unified Communications voice over IP (VoIP) system. Will we be able to duplicate its components as well? A. Cisco Modeling Labs runs on top of OpenStack and can run external source vNodes (without TAC support). A

Juniper routing node exists and can be run within the topology. Q. Are the Cisco IOS feature sets and versions fixed, or can we choose the ones we want? A. We support specific Cisco IOS versions. For example, Cisco Modeling Labs 1.1 supports Cisco IOSv 15.5.3 M.

Q. How do you generate traffic? A. It depends on the type of traffic you want to generate. You could load Ubuntu cloud server into the topology and

use it as a traffic source, for example. Q. Why only Ethernet interfaces and no serial ones? A. Cisco Modeling Labs uses virtualization technology that uses the eth driver stack. A serial interface would

require a state-engine/emulation shim that would severely affect performance. Q. Why does Cisco Modeling Labs simulate only the control plane and not the data plane? A. How do we represent hardware in the virtual environment? This can be done by emulating the hardware, but it is

not on the roadmap. Q. Where can we get all supported versions of Cisco IOS Software? A. Visit www.cisco.com/go/cml.

Q. Can I connect using an external terminal client, such as SecureCRT, or do I have to view in the window inside of Cisco Modeling Labs? A. Yes, you can connect using an external client (iSecure CRT, PuTTY, etc.).

Q. Does this product deliver a configuration of the network to an Excel, Word, or PDF document, which would be useful for documentation after the fact? A. You can extract the configuration from a running simulation, but not as an Excel or PDF file. It will be a cfg file,

which can be opened in any text editor and can be reused later for topology launch. Q. Is there support for authentication, authorization and accounting (AAA) or RADIUS login to the server or client? A. Not currently. The target for Cisco Modeling Labs is the lab, and as such there are no plans for these login

capabilities. Q. Is Switched Port Analyzer (SPAN) supported? For example, if I run Wireshark on the cloud Ubuntu? A. No, SPAN is not supported.

Q. One of the presentation slides said that routing is not supported, but I see that the Open Shortest Path First and Border Gateway Protocols are running. A. You can telnet/SSH to VMs once the simulation is launched and run router commands, such as OSPF, etc.

Q. Do the node licenses have to be renewed yearly? A. You can purchase a multiyear option. For more information, visit www.cisco.com/go/cml.

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Q. Can you upgrade licenses from a base of 15 to a larger number of nodes, say 50? A. Yes, you can.

Q. How can I find a good document on Cisco Modeling Labs, such as how to implement and design and a description of all the features? A. Complete documentation is available with Cisco Modeling Labs 1.1. There is a Cisco Modeling Labs support

community, videos, and documentation. For more information, visit https://supportforums.cisco.com/community/12269101/cisco-modeling-labs. Q. Are there any plans to emulate Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)? A. Not on the current roadmap.

Q. Can we model Cisco ISE or Cisco Secure Access Control System (ACS)? A. Cisco Modeling Labs’ virtualized nodes are abstracted models and have no underlying awareness of specific

models or modules. Q. Is there a cost difference when going directly to, say, 50 nodes? Can I spread my cost in growth? A. The packages usually have better pricing—5 to 15 percent savings, depending.

Q. We have a Cisco Modeling Labs license for Cisco IOS. Do we need an extra license for Cisco ASA, which is new in version 1.1? A. No license is necessary for ASA.

Q. Can we map a Cisco Modeling Labs router/switch interface to the hypervisor networking interfaces? I’d like to connect a VM/test host to one of the virtual routers/switches to generate traffic. A. Yes you can, using the FLAT feature.

Q. Can you do packet captures from the simulated links? A. No packet capture is possible as of now. That is on the roadmap.

Q. What is the plan for additional Layer 2 Ethernet switching features (such as the Cisco Catalyst feature set)? A. The next platform will be the Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Switches.

Q. Do we need one Cisco IOS XR license for each Cisco IOS XR node? A. No, you need just one for the site.

Q. Which business unit created Cisco Modeling Labs? A. Cisco Modeling Labs was brought to market by LCBU.

Q. We are currently using Cisco Modeling Labs with 50 Cisco IOS nodes. Are any other licenses required? A. For Cisco Modeling Labs 1.1, you don't really need any other licenses unless you require licensed versions of

the Cisco IOS XRv or CSR 1000v images. Please note that demo versions come bundled with Cisco Modeling Labs 1.1, whereas in version 1.0 you needed separate licenses for VMs using Cisco IOS XRv, CSR 1000v, etc. Cisco IOSv was bundled in both releases.