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SRv6 Lab with GNS3

GNS3 allows you to emulate real vendor router images, making it ideal for testing SRv6 on Cisco IOS-XR, Juniper vMX, and other commercial platforms.

Prerequisites

  • GNS3 installed (server + client)
  • Vendor router images (IOS-XRv, vMX, etc.)
  • Sufficient RAM (8GB+ recommended)

Topology Design

A minimal SRv6 lab requires at least 3 routers:

graph LR
    PE1[PE1<br/>IOS-XRv] --- P1[P1<br/>IOS-XRv]
    P1 --- PE2[PE2<br/>IOS-XRv]
    PE1 --- PE2

Tips

Resource optimization

  • Use IOS-XRv 9000 for the lightest IOS-XR experience
  • Assign only 3-4 GB RAM per XRv node
  • Use GNS3 VM on a separate host for better performance

Further Reading

References

  1. GNS3 Documentation - Official GNS3 getting started guide and reference documentation
  2. Cisco IOS XRv 9000 - GNS3 Marketplace - GNS3 appliance page for downloading and configuring IOS XRv 9000 images
  3. Cisco IOS XRv - GNS3 Marketplace - GNS3 appliance page for the standard IOS XRv image
  4. Install an Appliance from the GNS3 Marketplace - Step-by-step guide for importing vendor appliances into GNS3