Cisco Modeling Labs v2.8
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Cisco Modeling Labs - Free

The CML-Free is a no-cost, single-user offering of Cisco Modeling Labs. With CML-Free, you get the latest CML product features for individual learners. This offering does not require a license subscription, and there's nothing to buy.

This page collects information specific to CML-Free in one place. If you have any question when using CML-Free, check the information on this page first.

If you have not done so already, visit the CML-Free Sign-up Page to register for access to CML-Free.

CML-Free Features and Limitations

CML-Free includes all of the latest features and functionality of the other single-user CML offerings, such as CML-Personal. This section explains the product features or limitations in CML-Free compared to other CML products. Your CML-Free instance should behave the same as a CML-Personal instance, as described in the rest of the CML documentation, except for the specific limitations documented in this section.

Reference Platforms

All CML products include access to a collection of VM images (also called reference platforms) for the devices in your network simulations in CML. CML-Free provides the set of VM images most useful for users just getting started with network simulation and CML. The refplat ISO image for CML-Free includes images for IOLv, IOLvL2, and ASAv. It also includes a variety of host VM images, including Ubuntu Linux, Alpine Linux, and a Desktop image with a graphical image.

Attention: The Cisco VM images that are provided for download with Cisco Modeling Labs or as part of the CML refplat ISO file are only licensed for use within Cisco Modeling Labs. Downloading these VM images and using them outside Cisco Modeling Labs without a proper license is prohibited.

Node Count

A CML-Free instance can run up to 5 nodes simultaneously. Unmanaged Switch nodes and External Connector nodes are not counted against the node count limit. All other nodes are counted against the node count limit in CML-Free. That is, you can start any 5 nodes plus an unlimited number of Unmanaged Switches and/or External Connectors. You may import or create labs in CML that have more nodes than your node limit, but if the number of nodes in your lab exceeds the node limit, you will only be able to run a subset of your lab at any one time.

Telemetry Collection

CML Telemetry sends anonymized usage data from your CML-Free instance to Cisco Systems, Inc. We aggregate the usage data to gain a better understanding of which features our CML customers are using. The collected user data never includes personally identifiable information. No user names, passwords, device configurations, simulation traffic, or CLI usage is collected. Your labs are not transmitted other than simple lists of features used and aggregate counts of simulation elements, including nodes, node types, interfaces, and links.

When you're running a CML-Free instance, the usage data collection is always enabled. We appreciate your collaboration and allowing us to collect anonymized usage data to help us understand our users better and improve the product.

Disabling telemetry is not possible when running CML-Free. Once you apply a license for any active CML subscription, you can disable CML telemetry collection from the Tools > System Administration pages.

Downloading CML-Free

Download the files for CML-Free from Cisco's Software Central (SWC) site. You do not need to download all of the files from a CML-Free release. CML-Free supports multiple installation options, and some of the files are only for specific installation options. There is more information in the next section and in the installation guide about which files you need to download based on your selected deployment option. Once you know which files you need to download for the CML-Free release, return to this section for important information on accessing those files.

Before you can download any files, you must have an active account on Cisco.com. If you do not have a Cisco.com account yet, you can create one at https://id.cisco.com/. Your Cisco ID is often referred to as your CCO (Cisco Connect Online) ID or CCO profile. Follow these guidelines when creating your account on Cisco.com.

  • Ensure that there are no blank fields in your CCO profile.
  • Even if you do not work for a company, you must enter Your Company Details.
  • Because of U.S. Export Controls, you must enter your company address in your CCO profile.
  • If you do not work for a company:
    • you may enter Self for the Company field.
    • enter your home address for the company address.
  • Ensure that the company address is a valid address and that the street address includes a zip code or post code. Otherwise, SWC may report that your CCO profile is incomplete.
  • The e-mail address in your CCO profile must use an existing and recognizable domain.
    • If you work for a company and provide your company e-mail address, the domain name should be valid, publicly-recognizable domain.
    • If you do not work for company, then enter a personal e-mail address. If you still have trouble with the download, ensure that the e-mail address that you provide uses one of the popular e-mail domains, such as gmail.com or yahoo.com.

Once your CCO profile is complete, you may download the file for your selected deployment type from the CML-Free page. The SWC site sometimes holds onto stale information. If you still encounter download errors from SWC after creating a valid CCO profile, try these workarounds.

  • Clear your web browser cache and then refresh the SWC page.
  • Try using a different web browser than the one you used to create the CCO profile.
  • Try using your web browser's private browsing or incognito mode to visit the SWC site.

Installing CML-Free

You will use the same installation instructions for CML-Free as for any other CML offering. Because CML supports a variety of installation options, you only need to follow the instructions for your selected type of installation. For simplicity, the relevant pages for installing CML-Free are listed here:

CML-Free Licensing

With CML-Free, there's no license to apply. You do not need a Cisco Smart Licensing account to run CML-Free. When you install CML-Free, you can skip the Licensing steps in the CML Installation Guide.

While running CML-Free, the status bar will indicate OK (FREE-TIER). The Tools > Licensing page will show:

  • Registration Status: Unregistered
  • License Authorization State: Evaluation Mode or Evaluation Expired

When the authorization state indicates Evaluation Mode, it will also show a number of "days remaining." You can ignore the countdown of remaining days in evaluation mode. Your CML-Free instance has no time limit, and it will continue to operate the same after the days remaining reaches 0 and the authorization state changes to Evaluation Expired.

CML Training

New CML users may be interested in the Introduction to Network Simulations with CML, a free learning path on Cisco U. With this introductory learning path, you will learn the foundational skills needed to build and interact with network simulations by learning to add nodes to a topology in CML and link their interfaces together. You will learn how to start, stop, and manage the lifecycle of the simulations while you configure routers, switches, and hosts using the many options CML includes. You will also learn how to share your simulations with others and leverage community resources in your own simulations.

Support for CML-Free

CML-Free is a community-supported offering. If you are using CML-Free, please post any questions on the CLN Community Forum for CML.

You can register to be notified about upcoming Cisco Modeling Labs (CML) releases, webinars, and other announcements, and learn the latest tips and tricks for CML users. Visit https://mkto.cisco.com/cml-opt-in.html and submit the form to register to receive e-mail communications about the Cisco Modeling Labs product.

Converting CML-Free to CML-Personal

Your CML-Free instance is running the same software as CML-Personal users. If you like the functionality of CML-Free and want access to additional VM images and a higher node limit, you can purchase CML-Personal or CML-Personal Plus. Since the software is the same for all CML offerings, migration from CML-Free to CML-Personal, for example, is simple. Just follow the Licensing instructions to select the CML-Personal product configuration and register your existing CML-Free instance as a CML-Personal instance. In a few minutes, your existing CML instance will register with the Cisco Smart Licensing back end and authorize your license. Your existing CML instance will now operate as a CML-Personal instance. All of your existing labs and node state will be preserved after the license change, and the node limit will be updated according to the new license configuration.

When you purchase CML-Personal, you will also gain access to additional types of nodes and VM images for running those nodes. To add those additional node and image definitions to your CML instance, first download the refplat ISO file for CML-Personal. Note that the download location for CML-Personal is different from the page where you downloaded CML-Free. Once you have the refplat ISO file on your local machine where you run CML, make the ISO available to CML as a CD/DVD drive. If you deployed CML to VMware, power down the CML VM, edit the CML VM to attach the ISO file as a CD/DVD drive, and restart the CML VM. If you have a bare metal CML deployment, you can burn the refplat ISO to a DVD disc and insert it in your CML server's drive. (Alternatively, if you have sufficient disk space on your CML server, you may scp the refplat ISO file itself to the CML server.) Finally, follow the Copy Refplat ISO to Disk instructions to copy the contents of the refplat ISO to your CML server.

CML-Free is simply the mode that CML uses when you have not registered the CML instance with Smart Licensing. To return a licensed CML instance to CML-Free mode, an administrator must use the Deregister action on the Tools > Licensing page in the CML UI.

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