Your First Lab

Lesson 1 of 35 in Coddy's LAN Labs course.

A LAN (local area network) is a group of devices close enough to share one network: the machines in an office, the gadgets in a home. Instead of real cables and boxes, this course gives you netlab, a command-line lab where you build networks and watch exactly why they work or fail.

Three commands start every lab. netlab init creates the lab file (netlab.json) in your folder. netlab add host NAME adds a device such as a PC or a server. netlab show lists what you have.

Everything you build is saved in that one file, so you can inspect it with cat at any time.

Challenge

Beginner

Create a lab, add two hosts named pc1 and pc2, and show the result.

Expected output:

Lab created: netlab.json
Added host pc1
Added host pc2
NODE  TYPE  LINKS
pc1   host  -
pc2   host  -

Try it yourself

Terminal

All lessons in LAN Labs

1Meet the Lab

Your First LabCables Wires Are Not Enough Recap - Build a Lab

4Routers and Gateways

Two Networks The Default Gateway Both Sides Need a Way Back Routing Tables Recap - Connect the Floors

7Growing the Office

The Plan Sales Comes Online Engineering Joins Gateways Everywhere Recap - The Printer

2Addresses on the LAN

Giving a Host an Address The First Ping What ARP Learned The Switch Learns Too Recap - First Conversation

5Troubleshooting I

The Unplugged Host The Missing Gateway The Typo in the Mask Recap - Two Faults

8Capstone - Fix the Branch

Survey the Damage Fix the Address Clash Masks and Gateways Recap - Prove It Works

3Masks Matter

Wrong Mask, No Reply Same Switch, Other Subnet Let check Do the Looking Recap - Diagnose the Pair

6Troubleshooting II

Two Devices, One Address The Network Address Trap Gateway on the Wrong Subnet Recap - The Silent Router

Practice on your own: Terminal playground