Changes in Release 26.10

New Functionality

  • Static routes can use lists of IPv4/IPv6 prefixes, generic prefixes, nodes, or address pools. A static-route entry can also include a comment.

  • The SRv6 module can advertise SRv6 SIDs over EBGP and use SRv6 next hops for global IPv4 BGP routes over EBGP.

  • Large containerlab topologies can start containers in batches, and the clab.start_after node parameter can define explicit startup dependencies.

  • The new netlab install netmiko script installs Netmiko and a compatible Paramiko release, making it easier to use Netmiko-based configuration.

Minor improvements

  • Containerlab readiness checks can wait for the health state of vrnetlab containers and can use a provider-wide minimum SSH timeout.

New Device Features

Junos:

  • SRv6 locators, SRv6 over IS-IS, global BGP services, and L3VPN services

  • RFC 8950 IPv4 routes with IPv6 next hops

Nokia SR Linux:

  • SRv6 micro-SIDs, uN SIDs, SRv6 over IS-IS, and global BGP services

FRR and Cisco IOS XR:

  • EBGP propagation of SRv6 SIDs for global IPv4 BGP routes

Cisco ASAv:

  • Non-broadcast OSPFv2 point-to-point links

Fixes in Configuration Templates

Cisco IOS XR:

  • Static-route comments can be copied into the generated configuration.

Nokia SR Linux:

  • SR Linux BGP peer groups use per-neighbor policy chains only when necessary.

  • DNS configurations with static host mappings require SR Linux release 26.7 or later.

Bug Fixes

  • netlab install netmiko and netlab install ansible install Paramiko 4.x to retain Cisco IOSv compatibility (#3924).

  • Netmiko-based deployments display the correct deployment method and report Paramiko key-exchange errors without a traceback (#3920, #3922).

  • Container cleanup checks whether containers are still running before trying to remove them (#3919).

  • External-command failures preserve the original error and diagnostic output (#3916, #3917).

  • Containerlab traffic shaping uses usable, sanitized interface names (#3901, #3903).

  • The SR Linux template does not activate the EVPN address family on BGP peer groups (#3898).

  • The BGP neighbor lookup supports selecting all neighbor types (#3894).

  • Use Python 3.14 with a newer Debian version for devcontainers

  • Update the devcontainer build procedure to put the vscode user in the clab_admins group

  • The VPP container image description label has valid formatting (#3890).

  • Installation procedures can include Python hooks before and after their shell scripts.

Documentation Fixes

  • Updated the installation documentation, including WSL guidance and a containerlab-first workflow.

  • Documented enabling external tools through environment variables.

  • Updated the SRv6 documentation and corrected the vJunos-router device name (#3891, #3905).