Ultimate Guide to Downloading and Installing EVE-NG Images EVE-NG (Emulated Virtual Environment Next Generation) is a premier network emulation platform for DevOps, security, and network engineers. To build meaningful topologies, you need access to the virtual machine disk images running the actual network operating systems. This comprehensive guide covers everything you need to know about safely sourcing, preparing, and installing EVE-NG images. 1. Legal and Regulatory Compliance Notice
Tools like LabHub can automatically pull valid images from central repositories, eliminating manual downloads and uploads entirely.
Most networking vendors provide free 60–90 day trial images for their virtual routers.
Once you have downloaded your images, follow this step‑by‑step import process.
A Cisco IOSv image must be stored in a directory named vios-adventerprisek9-m.vms.spa.156-2.T or similar, based on EVE-NG's official naming documentation. Steps to Import Images: Download the Image: Get your .qcow2 file from your vendor.
Every image folder must start with the exact prefix assigned by EVE-NG, followed by a hyphen and your custom version description. Vendor/Device Required Folder Prefix Example Folder Name violos- violos-adventerprisek9-m.vmdk.SPA.159-3.M3 Cisco IOSv Switch viosl2- viosl2-adventerprisek9-m.ssa.high_iron_20200929 Cisco ASAv asav- asav-9-16-1 Arista vEOS veos- veos-4.26.1F Fortinet FortiGate fortinet- fortinet-FGT-v7.0.5 Palo Alto Firewall paloalto- paloalto-10.1.3 4. Step-by-Step Guide to Importing a QEMU Image
| Device | Image Name | Use Case | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | | vios-adventerprisek9-m-16.09.01.qcow2 | Routing, BGP, MPLS | | Cisco Switch | vios_l2-adventerprisek9-m-15.2.qcow2 | Spanning Tree, VLANs, Etherchannel | | Linux Host | TinyCore-latest.qcow2 | Tiny 50MB Linux for ping/traceroute | | FortiGate | fortinet-FGT-v7.4.qcow2 | Firewall policies, SSL VPN | | Windows Server | Windows-Server-2019.qcow2 | DHCP, DNS, Active Directory (requires KVM) |
Downloading images for EVE-NG involves sourcing them from official vendors or authorized repositories, as the EVE-NG software itself does provide copyrighted vendor images for download. Official Sources for Images
EVE-NG interacts with virtual images through three primary virtualization technologies. Understanding these formats dictates how you upload and configure your lab nodes. QEMU/KVM ( .qcow2 )
flowchart TD A[User clicks 'Download & Install'] --> BStorage space sufficient? B -->|No| C[Error: Free up space] B -->|Yes| D[Background download starts] D --> E[Show progress bar] E --> F[Auto-verify SHA256 checksum] F -->|Mismatch| G[Retry or report corrupt] F -->|Match| H[Auto-extract to /opt/unetlab/addons/] H --> I[Run 'fix-permissions' automatically] I --> J[Image ready in 'Add Node' list]
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APM Integrated Experience Ultimate Guide to Downloading and Installing EVE-NG Images
Ultimate Guide to Downloading and Installing EVE-NG Images EVE-NG (Emulated Virtual Environment Next Generation) is a premier network emulation platform for DevOps, security, and network engineers. To build meaningful topologies, you need access to the virtual machine disk images running the actual network operating systems. This comprehensive guide covers everything you need to know about safely sourcing, preparing, and installing EVE-NG images. 1. Legal and Regulatory Compliance Notice
Tools like LabHub can automatically pull valid images from central repositories, eliminating manual downloads and uploads entirely.
Most networking vendors provide free 60–90 day trial images for their virtual routers.
Once you have downloaded your images, follow this step‑by‑step import process.
A Cisco IOSv image must be stored in a directory named vios-adventerprisek9-m.vms.spa.156-2.T or similar, based on EVE-NG's official naming documentation. Steps to Import Images: Download the Image: Get your .qcow2 file from your vendor.
Every image folder must start with the exact prefix assigned by EVE-NG, followed by a hyphen and your custom version description. Vendor/Device Required Folder Prefix Example Folder Name violos- violos-adventerprisek9-m.vmdk.SPA.159-3.M3 Cisco IOSv Switch viosl2- viosl2-adventerprisek9-m.ssa.high_iron_20200929 Cisco ASAv asav- asav-9-16-1 Arista vEOS veos- veos-4.26.1F Fortinet FortiGate fortinet- fortinet-FGT-v7.0.5 Palo Alto Firewall paloalto- paloalto-10.1.3 4. Step-by-Step Guide to Importing a QEMU Image
| Device | Image Name | Use Case | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | | vios-adventerprisek9-m-16.09.01.qcow2 | Routing, BGP, MPLS | | Cisco Switch | vios_l2-adventerprisek9-m-15.2.qcow2 | Spanning Tree, VLANs, Etherchannel | | Linux Host | TinyCore-latest.qcow2 | Tiny 50MB Linux for ping/traceroute | | FortiGate | fortinet-FGT-v7.4.qcow2 | Firewall policies, SSL VPN | | Windows Server | Windows-Server-2019.qcow2 | DHCP, DNS, Active Directory (requires KVM) |
Downloading images for EVE-NG involves sourcing them from official vendors or authorized repositories, as the EVE-NG software itself does provide copyrighted vendor images for download. Official Sources for Images
EVE-NG interacts with virtual images through three primary virtualization technologies. Understanding these formats dictates how you upload and configure your lab nodes. QEMU/KVM ( .qcow2 )
flowchart TD A[User clicks 'Download & Install'] --> BStorage space sufficient? B -->|No| C[Error: Free up space] B -->|Yes| D[Background download starts] D --> E[Show progress bar] E --> F[Auto-verify SHA256 checksum] F -->|Mismatch| G[Retry or report corrupt] F -->|Match| H[Auto-extract to /opt/unetlab/addons/] H --> I[Run 'fix-permissions' automatically] I --> J[Image ready in 'Add Node' list]
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