VS Code settings¶

All settings live under containerlab.. Open them with Containerlab: Open Settings from the command palette, or the gear in the explorer title bar.

The settings tab edits User or Workspace scope and stays in sync with VS Code's own settings. Reset removes an override. Appearance changes apply right away; runtime settings tell you when a window reload is needed.

Its menu has the app's own settings under App, then each lab host under Lab hosts, then Add lab host. Settings that depend on where labs run are on the lab host's page, each in one place: see Lab host settings.

Appearance¶

Lab hosts¶

Each lab host's page in the settings tab, and Add lab host, manage these; see Work with labs on a lab host.

General¶

Editor¶

A template can hold a full node definition:

{
  "containerlab.editor.customNodes": [
    {
      "name": "SR Linux",
      "kind": "nokia_srlinux",
      "type": "ixr-d1",
      "image": "ghcr.io/nokia/srlinux:latest",
      "icon": "router",
      "baseName": "srl",
      "interfacePattern": "e1-{n}",
      "setDefault": true
    }
  ]
}

Node actions¶

{
  "containerlab.node.execCommandMapping": { "nokia_srlinux": "sr_cli", "arista_ceos": "Cli" },
  "containerlab.node.sshUserMapping": { "nokia_srlinux": "admin", "cisco_xrd": "clab" }
}

Packet capture¶

These apply to every lab host: they are about Wireshark on this computer.

Lab host settings¶

Each lab host's page has the same sections: Containerlab, Connection, Deploy defaults and Capture. A setting that does not apply to the kind of lab host is greyed out with the reason; what an API Server decides itself shows read-only, marked Set by the API Server. A value you set for one lab host shows changed for this host and Reset; the default shows in the empty field.

This computer keeps its values in these settings, as before:

A Kubernetes lab host keeps its own in its connections entry: deployTimeout (containerlab's 10m when unset), the deploy defaults exposeType, persistence, imagePullSecret and noTopologyCR (deploy without clabernetes' Topology resource), deployExtraArgs, destroyExtraArgs, captureMethod and wiresharkImage (it needs the capture pipe, CLABWIRE_CAPTURE_PIPE, of wireshark-vnc-docker). Its container runtime, socket and Edgeshark settings are greyed out: the cluster runs the nodes as pods, and clabernetes captures lab links as one stream.

An API Server keeps captureMethod in its entry, and, with Docker or Podman, Edgeshark and the capture hostname. Everything else shows as the server reports it on GET /api/v1/lab-host: its runtime and default timeout; on c9s its cluster, namespaces, deploy defaults and that labs get a Topology resource; its Wireshark VNC image and pull policy; with Docker or Podman Edgeshark's packetflix port and the names of its extra variables (never their values). Settings that do not apply to its runtime are greyed out with the reason, e.g. the Kubernetes ones on a Docker server. Signed out, the page says to sign in to see the values; a server too old to report one says so instead of showing a value.

Every place that shows a lab host names its kind and runtime the same way: API Server · c9s, API Server · Docker, Kubernetes · c9s, This computer · Podman. The settings menu shows it as a tag next to the name (only the runtime next to This computer), the explorer next to each lab host, shortened to API · c9s in a narrow pane, and the toolbar of an open lab next to its lab host's name. An API Server shows only API Server until you sign in and it tells its runtime.

Earlier versions applied deploy.extraArgs, destroy.extraArgs, capture.preferredAction and capture.wireshark.dockerImage to every lab host. The first start of this version copies the values you set into the Kubernetes lab hosts and API Servers they applied to (the image and arguments only to Kubernetes lab hosts), so your labs deploy and capture as before.

Extras¶