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Lab Management Scripts

Located in scripts/clab/, these Containerlab scripts provide a text-based interface to ensure safer and more convenient user experience. They handle automatic topology discovery and status checking.

Interactive Controller: menu.sh

Role: The controller for all topology operations. Input: Project root directory. Behavior: Presents options to deploy, destroy, or display topologies and calls the corresponding script based on user input. Command: 

./menu.sh /path/to/project/dir/virtual-network-threat-detection

Core Operations

Topology Deployment (deploy.sh)

Role: Deploys a network topology. Input: Project lab/ directory. Workflow: 1. Scanning: Looks for *.clab.yml files in the labs/ directory. 2. Status Check: Warns if other topologies are currently running to prevent excessive resource consumption. 3. Selection: Prompts the user to select a lab from a numbered list. 4. Execution: Invokes clab deploy --topo <selected_file>. Command: 

./deploy.sh /path/to/project/dir/virtual-network-threat-detection/labs

Environment Destruction (destroy.sh)

Role: Destroys a running topology. Input: Project lab/ directory. Workflow: 1. Status Check: Uses clab inspect to verify if any labs are active and, if not, stops the process. 2. Scanning: Looks for *.clab.yml files in the labs/ directory. 3. Selection: Prompts the user to select a lab from a numbered list. 3. Execution: Invokes clab destroy -t <selected_file>. This stops containers and removes virtual bridges. Command: 

./destroy.sh /path/to/project/dir/virtual-network-threat-detection/labs

Visibility and Inspection (display.sh)

Role: Provides environment state visibility. Input: Project lab/ directory. Behavior: Lists all *.clab.yml files found in the labs/ folder and displays all active topologies with their respective nodes. Command: 

./display.sh /path/to/project/dir/virtual-network-threat-detection/labs

Persistence Practise

Avoid storing permanent configuration files inside the clab-<name> directories generated during deployment. Use the project's config/ directory and binds instead.

Technical Summary

Function Command Path Target Directory
Deploy scripts/clab/deploy.sh lab/
Destroy scripts/clab/destroy.sh lab/
Display scripts/clab/display.sh lab/

Free Resources

After using the environment, stop it to ensure no unnecessary resources are consumed.