Containerlab with newer FRRouting versions

It's a long time since I added anything to this blog but I just figured something out that I think will be useful to document for others. 

Aim

I want to use Containerlab (a system for orchestrating container based networking labs: https://containerlab.dev) to setup test environments using various versions of FRR (FRRouting, an open source IP routing suite: https://frrouting.org). I use FRR in my job and need a way of learning more about it and trying out newer versions without breaking important things.

Problem

There's a great guide on getting going with FRR in Containerlab here: https://brianlinkletter.com/2021/05/use-containerlab-to-emulate-open-source-routers/

I followed it and it works great.....BUT.....the dockerhub repo for FRR in unmaintained and the newest FRR version in there is 8.4.1 which is ancient. Even worse, the repo says it'll be deleted in April (I can only assume they mean 2025). So following the guide as-is will only get FRR 8.4.1, I need newer versions.

Solution

An FRR docker repo is maintained on quay.io (part of Red Hat) (https://quay.io/repository/frrouting/frr) which is up to date with the current 10.2.1 release, so we can use this.

Following the same guide on Brian Linkletter's website above, make the following changes/extra steps:

• First, you'll need to create a Red Hat account if you don't already have one. You can do this through the quay.io link above
• By the end of this you'll have a username for using with docker and a password
• Follow Brian's guide but when you get to the step to create the frrlab.yml yaml file, change the 3 lines like:
• image: frrouting/frr:v7.5.1
• to:
• image: quay.io/frrouting/frr:10.2.1
• note that there is no "v" in the tag!
• When you get to the step to login to docker.io, do that but also login to quay.io afterwards and before running the "clab deploy" command:
• sudo docker login quay.io
• use the username and password created during the Red Hat sign up
• Follow the rest of Brian's guide and you should have the same lab setup with the desired version of FRR.