Cisco CML labs, ready to import and graded when you're done
Ready-made Cisco Modeling Labs topologies for CCNA and CCNP. Import the .yaml, configure real Cisco IOS yourself, then upload your config and have it checked line by line.
Import, configure, grade
- 1Import the .yaml into Cisco Modeling Labs
Every lab ships a ready-made
.yamltopology. No drawing, no cabling — import and the network is standing. - 2Configure it yourself on real Cisco IOS
A written guide states the objective and the requirements. The commands are yours to work out — that is the part that teaches.
- 3Upload your config and get it graded
Your running-config is checked line by line against a withheld rubric. You get a score and the name of every check that failed — not just “wrong”.
You already have CML. You don't have a grader.
If you run CML you can draw your own topology — that part is not the bottleneck. The bottleneck is that nothing in CML tells you whether the configuration you just wrote is correct. Devices come up, pings succeed, and a trunk with the wrong native VLAN looks exactly like a trunk with the right one.
Every lab here carries a rubric that stays hidden until you submit. It reads your exported running-configs and reports which checks passed, which failed, and on which device — so “it works” and “it's right” stop being the same answer.
New to CML? The guides cover getting CML free, importing a lab, and how it compares to Packet Tracer.
Recent CML labs
Each ships a ready-made topology, a written guide, and a grading rubric.
- CCNA EtherChannel: Why Won't It Bundle?
- CCNA Foundations: Grow the Bundle & Spread the Load
- CCNA: EtherChannel Mode Matching (PAgP, LACP, Static)
- CCNA Foundations: Layer 2 EtherChannel with LACP — Two Links, One Trunk
- CCNA Foundations: Root Guard — Keep the Root Where You Put It
- CCNA Foundations: PortFast & BPDU Guard
Import a free CML lab
A complete graded lab — topology, guide and rubric — with no card. Or grade a config in the browser without installing anything.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Cisco CML lab?
A CML lab is a topology file you import into Cisco Modeling Labs, which then boots real Cisco IOS images — not a simulation of them. Because it is the genuine operating system, the commands, the output and the failure modes are the ones you meet on production gear.
Will these labs run on CML Free?
Most are built to fit the free tier's node limit, and each lab states how many nodes it needs before you download it. Larger capstones exist and say so, so you never spend time on an import that cannot start.
How do I import a lab into CML?
Every package contains an imports/lab-work.yaml file. In CML choose Import, select that file, and the topology is created with all devices and cabling in place. There is a step-by-step walkthrough in the guides if it is your first time.
How is CML different from Packet Tracer?
Packet Tracer simulates IOS behaviour; CML runs the actual software. Packet Tracer is lighter and fine for early fundamentals, but it supports a curated subset of commands and occasionally behaves differently from real gear. There is a full comparison in the guides.
What does grading add on top of the topology?
Building the topology was never the hard part — CML does that from the import. The hard part is confirming the configuration you wrote is correct. Upload your finished lab and every device config is checked against a rubric you do not get to see, returning a score and the specific checks that failed.
Working toward the CCNA specifically? CCNA labs covers the exam blueprint in order. Pricing is on the pricing page.