Learning path

Troubleshoot like an operator

For: Something is broken and you want a method, not guesses

Find where packets die with Linux tools and tcpdump, read a VyOS router's state, and set up the logs, counters and flows you'll want next time.

1. Building a network lab on an Apple Silicon MacBeginner · 45 min

   Run real network labs on an M-series Mac: native FRR and Linux containers, x86-only images through Rosetta, and full x86 VyOS VMs under QEMU in Docker, with the pitfalls that stop most people and a starter lab that mixes all three.

2. Linux Network ConnectivityBeginner · 80 min

   Find out why a Linux machine can't reach something, layer by layer: interfaces and addresses, routes and ip route get, ARP and the neighbour table, ping and traceroute, DNS, and listening sockets — with real output from a three-host lab.

3. Packets That Never Come BackIntermediate · 75 min

   Advanced packet capture with tcpdump, and how to find where packets die on a VyOS network: missing NAT and return routes, asymmetric routing through a stateful firewall, and MTU black holes, all diagnosed on a real VyOS router.

4. Debugging BGP: every session state, reproducedIntermediate · 60 min

   Break a working BGP lab a dozen ways and learn to read each failure: Idle, Connect, Active and OpenSent, max-prefix, firewalls, wrong AS, TTL, hold timers, missing policy and unreachable next hops, all with real FRR output and packet captures.

5. Operating VyOS: monitoring, backups and automationIntermediate · 50 min

   Everything after it works: remote syslog, SNMP counters, NetFlow, config archives, commit-confirm and Ansible, all on one VyOS router and an ops server, including three places where this VyOS build differs from older guides.