OSPF Multi-Vendor Lab: Cisco + Nokia + Arista

OSPF is a standard protocol — but every vendor configures it differently. This lab builds a multi-area OSPF topology across Cisco IOL, Nokia SR Linux, and Arista cEOS to practice real interoperability.

Lab Topology

    Area 0 (Backbone)           Area 1 (Stub)
   ┌─────────────────┐      ┌──────────────┐
   │  R1 (Cisco IOL) │──────│ R3 (Nokia)   │
   │  ABR             │      │              │
   └────────┬────────┘      └──────────────┘
            │
   ┌────────┴────────┐
   │  R2 (Arista)    │
   │  Backbone       │
   └─────────────────┘

R1 — Cisco IOL router, Area Border Router (Area 0 + Area 1)
R2 — Arista cEOS switch, backbone router (Area 0)
R3 — Nokia SR Linux, stub area router (Area 1)

Cisco IOL Configuration (R1)

hostname R1
!
interface GigabitEthernet0/0
 ip address 10.0.12.1 255.255.255.252
 ip ospf 1 area 0
 no shutdown
!
interface GigabitEthernet0/1
 ip address 10.0.13.1 255.255.255.252
 ip ospf 1 area 1
 no shutdown
!
interface Loopback0
 ip address 1.1.1.1 255.255.255.255
 ip ospf 1 area 0
!
router ospf 1
 router-id 1.1.1.1
 area 1 stub

Key Cisco details:

ip ospf 1 area X on each interface assigns the OSPF area
area 1 stub must be configured on the ABR and all routers in Area 1
Router ID explicitly set to avoid surprises

Arista cEOS Configuration (R2)

hostname R2
!
interface Ethernet1
 no switchport
 ip address 10.0.12.2/30
!
interface Loopback0
 ip address 2.2.2.2/32
!
router ospf 1
 router-id 2.2.2.2
 network 10.0.12.0/30 area 0.0.0.0
 network 2.2.2.2/32 area 0.0.0.0

Key Arista differences from Cisco:

no switchport required on physical interfaces (cEOS defaults to L2)
IP addresses use CIDR notation (/30 instead of 255.255.255.252)
OSPF area uses dotted notation (area 0.0.0.0) in network statements
network statement uses prefix/length instead of wildcard mask

Nokia SR Linux Configuration (R3)

Nokia SR Linux uses a completely different CLI structure:

set /interface ethernet-1/1 admin-state enable
set /interface ethernet-1/1 subinterface 0 ipv4 admin-state enable
set /interface ethernet-1/1 subinterface 0 ipv4 address 10.0.13.2/30
 
set /interface system0 admin-state enable
set /interface system0 subinterface 0 ipv4 admin-state enable
set /interface system0 subinterface 0 ipv4 address 3.3.3.3/32
 
set /network-instance default type default
set /network-instance default router-id 3.3.3.3
set /network-instance default interface ethernet-1/1.0
set /network-instance default interface system0.0
 
set /network-instance default protocols ospf instance main admin-state enable
set /network-instance default protocols ospf instance main area 0.0.0.1 area-type stub
set /network-instance default protocols ospf instance main area 0.0.0.1 interface ethernet-1/1.0
set /network-instance default protocols ospf instance main area 0.0.0.1 interface system0.0

Key Nokia differences:

Flat set-based configuration model (no hierarchical modes)
Interfaces use ethernet-1/1 naming with explicit subinterfaces
OSPF lives under /network-instance default/protocols/ospf
Area type (stub) configured inline with the area definition
Every interface and protocol must have admin-state enable

Verification Commands

Cisco IOL (R1)

R1# show ip ospf neighbor
R1# show ip ospf interface brief
R1# show ip route ospf

Arista cEOS (R2)

R2# show ip ospf neighbor
R2# show ip ospf interface brief
R2# show ip route ospf

Nokia SR Linux (R3)

A:R3# show /network-instance default protocols ospf neighbor
A:R3# show /network-instance default protocols ospf interface
A:R3# show /network-instance default route-table ipv4-unicast summary

Common Interoperability Issues

Hello/Dead timer mismatch — Default hello is 10s on all three vendors for broadcast/point-to-point. But verify — some network types differ.
MTU mismatch — Cisco checks MTU in OSPF DBD packets by default. Nokia SR Linux does not. If adjacency stalls in ExStart/Exchange, check MTU settings or disable MTU checking on Cisco: ip ospf mtu-ignore.
Area type agreement — All routers in a stub area must agree on the stub configuration. If R1 declares Area 1 as stub but R3 doesn't, adjacency won't form.
Authentication — If one vendor has OSPF authentication enabled and another doesn't, adjacency fails silently. Check both sides.

Build This Lab in 2 Minutes

Instead of manually writing these configs across three different vendor syntaxes, you can describe this lab in plain English:

"Build a 3-router OSPF lab with Cisco IOL as ABR, Arista cEOS in the backbone, and Nokia SR Linux in a stub area. Include loopbacks for router IDs."

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