CSR and multi-NIC interfaces

#Goal

Wire Cisco CSR1000v / Catalyst 8000v style guests so management and data ports are not confused.

#Why this matters

On CSR-family IOS-XE in VEX-NX:

Putting OSPF, BGP, or student lab addressing on Gi1 is a common mistake - that port is OOB, not the lab data plane.

#GUI tutorial

#Step 1 - Place two CSR-family nodes

1. Design -> add two CSR / C8000v templates
2. Confirm each node has at least two interfaces

#Step 2 - Wire Gi2 to Gi2 (data)

1. Connect canvas iface index 1 on R1 to index 1 on R2 (Gi2-Gi2)
2. Leave index 0 (Gi1) for management only

#Step 3 - Confirm in inspector / CLI

1. Click a node -> Interfaces tab
2. After Start, console show ip interface brief - see Operate and consoles

#Recipe: two-router data link

1. Add two CSR (or C8000v) nodes in Design
2. Connect index 1 to index 1 (Gi2 to Gi2) for the student data subnet
3. Leave Gi1 unaddressed or for management only
4. Put OSPF / addressing on Gi2 in ScriptPad or live config

Example: 10.0.12.0/24 on Gi2 between R1 and R2; Loopbacks for router-ids; Gi1 admin-down or unused.

#Expected result

• Guest show ip interface brief shows Gi1 and Gi2
• OSPF neighbors form on Gi2
• Ping across the data subnet succeeds

#If it fails

• Only Gi1 appears -> confirm the node has at least two interfaces in Design and the lab was started after links were drawn
• OSPF stuck while addressing Gi1 -> move the config to Gi2 and redraw the link on iface index 1
• Nested QEMU labs need adequate RAM/CPU on the appliance (Sizing)

#Related

• Design mode
• Operate and consoles
• Networks and clouds