In the world of network simulation, EVE-NG (Emulated Virtual Environment Next Generation) stands as a colossus. Whether you are prepping for a CCIE lab, testing a multi-vendor SD-WAN deployment, or simulating a cyber-attack, EVE-NG is the sandbox.

# SSH into your EVE-NG server cd /opt/unetlab/addons /opt/unetlab/wrappers/unl_wrapper -a docker | grep download # Check for community scripts Pro Tip: Use the built-in apply template for Linux boxes (Ubuntu, Alpine, Kali) which are freely available. Most modern network OSes run as QEMU images. Here is the standard checklist of what engineers actually mean by "all images":

But once you have the licenses, how do you acquire the correct files that EVE-NG understands? Here is the roadmap. While you cannot get proprietary images for free, the EVE-NG team provides a script to download dynamips (old IOS) and Linux images automatically.

However, there is a common frustration that every EVE-NG user faces on Day 1: When you first install EVE-NG (Community or Professional), the platform is a shell. It has the engine, but no fuel. That fuel is the images —the IOSv, vEOS, XRv, vSRX, and Windows ISOs that run your nodes.

/opt/unetlab/wrappers/unl_wrapper -a fixpermissions Manually downloading 20 different images from 5 different vendor portals is tedious. The community has built tools to automate this once you have the URLs .

So, how do you efficiently download and manage all these images without losing your mind? First, a hard truth: You cannot mass-download "all" images from a single, official source. EVE-NG does not host Cisco, Juniper, Arista, or Microsoft images due to copyright and licensing. You must legally obtain these images, typically via a support contract (Cisco.com, Juniper.net) or evaluation trials.

To get started with the open-source stuff:

Create a Master Images Archive on a NAS or external SSD. Store the raw .qcow2 files there. Then, symlink or copy only the specific images you need for your current lab to the EVE-NG server. Step 5: The Last Resort – "EVE-NG Cookbook" and Forums If you are missing a specific image (e.g., Nokia SR Linux or Aruba CX), go to the official EVE-NG Forums . Under the "How-to" section, users post verified MD5 hashes and conversion steps for virtually every network OS ever made.