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EVPN/VXLAN lab notes — practice only, no underlay

Done: The note names underlay, overlay, control, and gateways, the sketch stays labeled practice, and no fabric picture was invented.

Requirements

This page is notes. It does not install a switch OS and it does not stand up a fabric. No scrubbed diagram, no switch screenshot, and no underlay addressing were filed with this article.

• Hardware — none for this page. A later lab note needs two VTEPs and a host behind each leaf.
• OS — none for this page
• Hostname rule — public placeholders only: leaf-01, leaf-02, vlan-N, vni-N. Change them in your private note. Do not paste real VTEP names here.
• DNS / addresses — underlay addresses stay in the lab note, not on this site
• Packages — none. This procedure files a note, not a package.

Procedure

Step 1 — Separate the claims

The projects card and the older seed are two claims. Mixing them makes the note look like a production fabric write-up.

1. Open a private lab note. Do not edit this public page as the note.

2. Create a working file. Change the path if you keep notes elsewhere.

   mkdir -p "$HOME/lab-notes"
   cat > "$HOME/lab-notes/evpn-vxlan.txt" <<'EOF'
   lab note — practice only, not a production EVPN claim
   
   claim A: virtualized VxLAN fabric for switching tests on owned gear.
            Diagrams and practice notes only.
   
   claim B: EVPN/VXLAN lab designs and change checklists.
            Older content seed. Not the same claim as A.
   EOF

3. Read the file back. The two claims must be separate lines.

   cat "$HOME/lab-notes/evpn-vxlan.txt"

   Expected: the header practice only, then claim A, then claim B.

Step 2 — File the four planes

A note that names the four planes can be checked later. This page does not draw a fabric to stand in for that note.

1. Append four headings to the private note. Use the placeholders leaf-01, leaf-02, vlan-N, and vni-N in any text that might be copied public.

   cat >> "$HOME/lab-notes/evpn-vxlan.txt" <<'EOF'
   
   Underlay:
     How leaf-01 and leaf-02 reach each other.
     Addresses stay in this lab note, not on the public page.
   
   Overlay:
     VNI vni-N. VLAN vlan-N maps to it.
   
   Control:
     EVPN, or a static flood list. Write the one you configured.
     Leave blank until you have configured it.
   
   Gateways:
     Anycast, or not. Say so. Leave blank until you have built one.
   EOF

2. Confirm the four headings exist.

   grep -E '^(Underlay|Overlay|Control|Gateways):' "$HOME/lab-notes/evpn-vxlan.txt"

   Expected:

   Underlay:
   Overlay:
   Control:
   Gateways:

3. Stop. Do not fill this public page with a running fabric’s numbers. Do not draw a switch UI or a topology diagram. No scrubbed fabric picture was filed.

Step 3 — Keep the sketch labeled

A sketch without a practice label reads as a capture of a running fabric. Keep the header.

1. Copy the sketch below into the private note, header included.

   cat >> "$HOME/lab-notes/evpn-vxlan.txt" <<'EOF'
   
   practice sketch only — not a capture of the lab fabric
   
     [leaf-01] ---- underlay ---- [leaf-02]
         |                           |
         +-------- VXLAN VNI -------+
                    |
              host in vlan-N
   EOF

2. Confirm the header is still there.

   grep -F 'practice sketch only' "$HOME/lab-notes/evpn-vxlan.txt"

   Expected:

   practice sketch only — not a capture of the lab fabric

3. Do not retitle the sketch as a capture. If a measured diagram exists later, replace this sketch then. Until then, leave it labeled.

practice sketch only — not a capture of the lab fabric

  [leaf-01] ---- underlay ---- [leaf-02]
      |                           |
      +-------- VXLAN VNI -------+
                 |
           host in vlan-N

Step 4 — Record what you measured

The note is done when three facts are true. It is not done when the sketch looks finished. This article did not log into a switch to collect those facts.

1. Append the three checks to the private note. Leave the answers blank until you have measured them. Do not invent switch output here.

   cat >> "$HOME/lab-notes/evpn-vxlan.txt" <<'EOF'
   
   Measured (fill only after you have two VTEPs and a host behind each leaf):
     [ ] two VTEPs have underlay reachability
     [ ] a host behind leaf-01 reaches a host behind leaf-02 in the same VNI
     [ ] that path was EVPN, or a static flood list, because I configured it
   EOF

2. Confirm the three lines exist. They stay unchecked on this article’s disk.

   grep -E 'VTEPs|same VNI|EVPN' "$HOME/lab-notes/evpn-vxlan.txt"

   Expected: the three measured lines, still unchecked.

3. Do not paste switch CLI onto this page as if it had been run. Addresses stay in the private note.

Verification

Read the note you filed. Expected:

planes named: underlay, overlay, control, gateways
placeholders only: leaf-01, leaf-02, vlan-N, vni-N
sketch header: practice sketch only — not a capture of the lab fabric
diagram: none filed (shot missing; no fake UI)
switch CLI: not run for this article

There is no installer log. Nothing was installed.

Next

When a scrubbed diagram exists, replace the practice sketch and caption it with what was measured. Until then, leave the sketch labeled and keep underlay addressing in the lab note.

Lab only · notes · Voice: OWNER-VOICE.md · GUIDE-DESIGN-LAW recut 2026-10-04 · figure: shot missing (no scrubbed diagram filed)