This lab is part of the Bitsize series, where we will be covering OSPF Stub Areas and Virtual Links. In this lab, we will be configuring OSPF Stub Areas in a network topology, and implementing Virtual Links to connect non-backbone areas to the backbone area. We will also be verifying our OSPF configurations and testing connectivity between different areas of the network.

This guide walks you through installing and testing Ansible on WSL2 and a CML instance running on Proxmox, as well as creating a node inside a running lab. Cisco never released an official Ansible integration for CML, but the community‑built collection on Ansible Galaxy works well—and we’ll use it together with the required virl2-client library. In short, you’ll set up Ansible, the CML collection, and virl2-client so you can automate CML using both playbooks and Python scripts. It may sound like a lot, but the steps are straightforward, and I’ll guide you through everything.

A Cisco Modeling Lab exercise focused on OSPF summarization, where you will learn how to configure and verify OSPF summarization in a network environment. The lab will cover the benefits of summarization, how to implement it on a router, and how to troubleshoot any issues that may arise from its configuration.

In this lab, I focused on troubleshooting OSPF. The main issue was that routes were not being advertised between the core router (E1) and the area routers (R1, R2, R3). To make it realistic, I created an IT ticket for myself to troubleshoot the problem. I will share the steps I took to identify and resolve the issue.

This is the first post in the series of posts about my enterprise lab, this post will cover the overview of the lab, the design decisions I made, and the goals I have for this lab. I want to share my knowledge and experience with others who are interested in learning about enterprise network design and configuration, and I hope that this lab will be a valuable resource for anyone looking to enhance their networking skills. If you are a network engineer, a student, or just someone interested in learning about enterprise networks, this lab is for you.