The July VIRL webinar did three main things for us.

1 – It gave us a detailed look at how you can bring third party Virtual Machines into the product.

2 – It provided release date and detailed information about the latest upcoming release.

3 – It gave us a sneak peek at upcoming features that WILL NOT make the next release.

If my notes should excite you for viewing this Webinar, or sections of it, it will be posted soon to the VIRL YouTube channel found here – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC41WuzXlJCGY5qLsuZ8aHkQ

Third Party VMs

Did you know that you can get non-Cisco VMs functioning in VIRL? Sure – things like Arista Alcatel, Palo Alto – etc! There are currently about 12 to 13 different non-Cisco VMs functioning out there and there certainly will be more on the way.

The Upcoming Release

The new release of VIRL is just two weeks away or so. Some of the exciting new features for us:

• New images with new features in them! Also the new IOS and IOvL2 images are improved upon to reduce the CPU load they using them will cause. The most exciting new image release sounds like it will be the NX-OS. This next image will be much more “full featured” it sounds like.
• New features will be available in the product including a simple interface for importing topologies from GitHub, a new simulation launch interface, and the ability to import or export to or from GNS3.

Future Versions

For me, the most exciting thing about the future versions we will see of Cisco VIRL is the new interface enhancements. The product will feature an “Active Canvas” that allows you to see what is happening with your simulation, and control the simulation, from the same canvas that you were using to create the simulation in the first place. This will make for a much more intuitive and useful view of the product.