Assume you have a Ubuntu 22.04 host with libvirt installed.
Nexus 9Kv requires an initial admin password injected via serial console.
sudo virt-customize -a nxosv9k-7.0.3.i7.4.qcow2 --run-command "echo 'admin:mysecretpass' | chpasswd"
Release 7.0(3)I7(4) introduced mature support for: nxosv9k-7.0.3.i7.4.qcow2
Setting up a leaf-spine VXLAN fabric with four virtual Nexus 9ks requires about 24 GB of RAM. Newer 10.x images would demand 40+ GB, making this image the only viable option for laptop users.
Unlike physical Nexus 9000 (which uses the Cloud Scale ASIC), the virtual version is a pure software switch. Assume you have a Ubuntu 22
| Metric | Physical N9K-C93180YC-FX | nxosv9k-7.0.3.i7.4.qcow2 | |--------|---------------------------|---------------------------| | Switching capacity | 2.4 Tbps | ~2 Gbps (host CPU bound) | | Latency (P99) | < 1 µs | 50–200 µs | | BGP converge (1k routes) | < 1 sec | 8–15 sec | | VXLAN tunnels | 8000+ | ~100 (limited by CPU) |
Conclusion: Use for config parity and protocol behavior – not for throughput benchmarking. Release 7
| Resource | Minimum | |----------|---------| | RAM | 6–8 GB per instance | | CPU cores | 2–4 vCPUs | | Disk space | ~4 GB (compressed) / ~8 GB expanded | | Hypervisor | QEMU/KVM, VMware (with qemu-img conversion) |
Network engineers testing Ansible's nxos_* modules or NAPALM prefer this image because its CLI response times are predictable, and the NETCONF agent (default port 830) functions without the bugs found in earlier 6.x releases.
EVE-NG requires proper ownership:
/opt/unetlab/wrappers/unl_wrapper -a fixpermissions