One of the major challenges of using netsim-tools (now renamed to netlab) was the installation process – pull the code from GitHub, install the prerequisites, set up search paths… I knew how to fix it (turn the whole thing into a Python package) but I was always too busy to open that enormous can of worms.

That omission got fixed; netlab is now available on PyPI and installed with pip3 install networklab.

I faced two major challenges when creating the package:

• Non-Python files (YAML configuration files, Ansible playbooks, task lists, Jinja2 templates…). In the end I managed to include them in the package – turns out it’s not hard once you know what you’re doing – but they get installed into some weird inconvenient place.
• A dozen Ansible playbooks and scripts that were part of the netlab distribution. I could ask pip to install them into whatever bin directory, but I hate polluting the filesystem. In the end, I decided to hide the complexity behind unified CLI (aka “one command to rule them all”).

All netlab functionality is now available through netlab command:

• netlab create creates all the configuration files you need.
• netlab initial deploys initial configuration to all lab devices.
• netlab config deploys additional configuration using your own Jinja2 templates.
• netlab connect connects to lab devices via Docker or SSH.

I also noticed some users struggled with the libvirt-based installation on Ubuntu, so I added netlab install that installs:

• Prerequisite Ubuntu software, including Python3 tools, git, sshpass and XML libraries.
• KVM, libvirt, and Vagrant
• Ansible, TextFSM, paramiko, netmiko, ntc-templates…

netlab test can also run a comprehensive test of your lab environment including:

• Creating Vagrant/containerlab and Ansible configuration files
• Starting a three node Cumulus VX¹ lab
• Configuring the network devices, including OSPF configuration
• Destroying the lab

Last but definitely not least, you’re most welcome to join the netlab Slack channel @ network2code Slack team.