Get Started

Everything in NetForge Labs runs in lightweight containers on your own laptop or on a cloud virtual machine. No dedicated hardware is needed, and you have complete control over your lab environments.

Choose your host setup below, then explore how containerlab orchestrates real network fabrics.

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🛠️ Step 1 · Choose Your Host Environment

• 1A · Lab setup on macOS   Local Laptop

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  Run 100% locally on Apple Silicon (M-series) or Intel Mac using OrbStack, Docker, containerlab, and Arista cEOS under Rosetta. About 15 minutes, zero cloud cost.

  Set up on macOS →

• 1B · Lab setup on GCP   Cloud VM

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  Run on a dedicated Google Cloud Compute Engine VM (Ubuntu 24.04). Ideal if your laptop has limited RAM/CPU, or you need a 24/7 cloud lab accessible anywhere.

  Set up on GCP →

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⚡ Step 2 · Master the Platform & Engineering Mechanics

• 2 · Docker & Containerlab CLI

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  Understand the anatomy of topology files (topology.clab.yml), and master essential commands for deploying, inspecting, graphing, and destroying labs.

  Read CLI Guide →

• 3 · How the lab works

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  Deep dive into Linux network namespaces and virtual ethernet (veth) pairs that power containerlab topologies under the hood.

  Read Architecture →

• 4 · Hybrid execution model

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  How to combine automated ./run.sh step runners with line-by-line CLI copy-pasting, state diffing, and clean container teardowns.

  Read Quickstart →

• 5 · Lab Troubleshooting

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  Why cEOS behaves as it does: resolving parallel boot races (--max-workers 1), namespace lifecycles, and interface naming rules.

  Read Troubleshooting →

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Complete your host setup first

Choose either macOS setup or GCP setup. Once your host is ready, jump directly into any phase in Courses: - Phase 4 · VXLAN-EVPN Datacenter Fabrics - Phase 3.5 · Segment Routing & Ti-LFA - Phase 5 · Network Automation & CI/CD Pipelines