External Connector - Bridge Mode
Bridge mode provides an unrestricted layer-2 connection to networks outside of the CML virtual environment. Standard networking rules apply. You must provide the required networking configuration on all simulation nodes that have been connected to the external network.
Caution |
It is possible for you to cause disruption on your real network or to trigger a loss of access to the CML server when you simulate a lab that uses bridge mode on an external connector. For example, ports on IOSv-L2 nodes are L2 by default with PVST STP and auto-negotiation for trunking enabled. If your topology has such an L2 device configured in switch-mode and if one of the switch ports is in the same broadcast domain as the external connector's port, when the L2 port comes up, it will transmit BPDUs that can trigger either an err-disable on an upstream switchport or a spanning tree event that can cause wider network disruption. |
In this example, out-of-band (OOB) management connectivity is provided to multiple
nodes using a single ext-conn
node and leveraging an Unmanaged
Switch.
Use Case | Provide layer-2 access to the simulation from the external network OOB (out of band) management of simulated devices. |
---|---|
Topology | IOSv router connecting an IOSv-L2 switch |
Required Nodes |
External Connector (×1) Unmanaged Switch (×1) IOSv (×1) IOSvL2(×1) |
Procedure
Step 1 |
Create a new lab in the Lab Manager. |
Step 2 |
Optional: Give the new lab a name. Example: bridge_connector. |
Step 3 |
Click the bridge_connector lab tile to open the Workbench. |
Step 4 |
Drag-and-drop the required nodes onto the topology canvas. |
Step 5 |
Connect |
Step 6 |
Connect the |
Step 7 |
Select the |
Step 8 |
Click the Edit Config tab in the bottom pane. |
Step 9 |
Click Bridge in the Edit Config pane to select bridge mode. |
Step 10 |
Press the |
Step 11 |
Optional: Click the Design tab in the bottom pane. |
Step 12 |
Optional: Click Build Initial Bootstrap Configurations in the Design pane. This action provides a basic configuration and a system-assigned username and
password of |
Step 13 |
Click the Simulate tab in the bottom pane. |
Step 14 |
Click Start in the Simulate pane. |
Step 15 |
Wait for all nodes to finish booting. Once all nodes have booted, you still need to configure each node for OOB
management. This example will show how to configure basic connectivity using
a VRF for management and routing on interface |
Step 16 |
Select the IOSv node. |
Step 17 |
Click the Console tab in the bottom pane. |
Step 18 |
Click the Open Console button in the Console pane. |
Step 19 |
Log in. Username: cisco |
Step 20 |
Add a VRF config to the node. Sample VRF config: enable conf t vrf definition Mgmt-intf address-family ipv4 int gi0/0 ip address n.n.n.n m.m.m.m (IP address and subnet mask) exit ip route vrf Mgmt-intf 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 g.g.g.g (source destination gateway) |
Step 21 |
For each node that requires OOB management to the bridged network, add a VRF configuration by repeating the steps from Step 16 to Step 20. |