As seen, 6.1.3 sits in the "sweet spot" for resource efficiency vs. feature depth.
D. OSPF adjacency (area 0)
The iosxrv-k9-demo-6.1.3.qcow2 is a nostalgic, lightweight teacher . It is perfect for learning IOS XR CLI, playing with OSPF/IS-IS, or testing simple Python automation via NETCONF. However, do not rely on it for performance testing or long-running labs.
Upon first bootup via the serial console, you will be prompted to create a root username and password. Once authenticated, access the configuration terminal to set up remote management. Basic Interfaces and Management Setup Iosxrv-k9-demo-6.1.3.qcow2
: Verify SSH is enabled. Default XR config requires:
Engineers use version 6.1.3 to practice and validate core service provider features:
Label Distribution Protocol (LDP), RSVP-TE traffic engineering, and segment routing basics. As seen, 6
One popular method was to use the vagrant-libvirt plugin along with a conversion script to turn the qcow2 image into a reusable Vagrant box. This allowed engineers to spin up and tear down IOS XRv routers with a simple vagrant up , making lab environments completely reproducible and scriptable.
Supports the XML interface, SNMP, and an enhanced CLI for automation testing.
Vagrant.configure("2") do |config| config.vm.provider :libvirt do |libvirt| libvirt.driver = "kvm" libvirt.memory = 4096 libvirt.cpus = 2 libvirt.storage :file, :device => :cdrom, :path => 'xrconfig.iso' libvirt.storage :file, :device => :disk, :path => 'iosxrv-k9-demo-6.1.3.qcow2', :type => 'qcow2', :bus => 'ide' end end OSPF adjacency (area 0) The iosxrv-k9-demo-6
Use the qemu-img utility (available via MacPorts, Homebrew, or your Linux package manager).
Whether you found this file in an older lab repository or are trying to understand the evolution of Cisco virtualization, this post covers everything you need to know about this specific image, its architecture, and how it fits into modern network simulation.