EVE-NG MCP Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that gives Claude and other LLM agents programmatic access to EVE-NG network labs.

Create, configure, and manage virtual network topologies through natural language — no manual clicking required.

You: "Create a lab with two Arista switches running OSPF, connected to each other"

Claude: ✓ Created lab "OSPF Demo"
        ✓ Added vEOS-1 (Arista vEOS 4.28)
        ✓ Added vEOS-2 (Arista vEOS 4.28)
        ✓ Connected e0/0 ↔ e0/0
        ✓ Pushed OSPF configs
        ✓ Started all nodes — lab is running

Quick Start

1. Install

pip install eveng-mcp-server

2. Configure

Set your EVE-NG connection details:

export EVENG_HOST=http://your-eve-ng-server
export EVENG_USERNAME=admin
export EVENG_PASSWORD=eve

3. Add to Claude

Claude Desktop — add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "eveng": {
      "command": "eveng-mcp-server",
      "env": {
        "EVENG_HOST": "http://your-eve-ng-server",
        "EVENG_USERNAME": "admin",
        "EVENG_PASSWORD": "eve"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Code — add to .claude/settings.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "eveng": {
      "command": "eveng-mcp-server",
      "env": {
        "EVENG_HOST": "http://your-eve-ng-server",
        "EVENG_USERNAME": "admin",
        "EVENG_PASSWORD": "eve"
      }
    }
  }
}

4. Use

Ask Claude to build you a network lab. That's it.

How It Works

┌─────────────┐     MCP Protocol      ┌──────────────────┐     REST API     ┌─────────────┐
│   Claude /   │◄──────────────────────►│  EVE-NG MCP      │◄───────────────►│   EVE-NG    │
│   LLM Agent  │   (stdio transport)   │  Server           │  (HTTP + cookies)│   Server    │
└─────────────┘                        └──────────────────┘                  └─────────────┘
                                              │
                                       14 MCP Tools:
                                       create_lab, add_node,
                                       connect_nodes, push_config,
                                       start_all, etc.

The MCP server translates natural language requests from Claude into EVE-NG REST API calls. It handles authentication (session cookies), lab lifecycle, node management, configuration push, and network connectivity.

Available Tools

Lab Management

Tool	Description
list_labs	List all labs on the server
get_lab	Get lab details — nodes, networks, links, status
create_lab	Create a new empty lab
delete_lab	Delete a lab and all its resources

Node Operations

Tool	Description
list_images	Browse all installed QEMU and Docker images
add_node	Add a node to a lab — specify image, name, RAM, CPU, interface count
start_node	Start a single node
stop_node	Stop a single node
start_all	Start all nodes in a lab
stop_all	Stop all nodes in a lab
get_node_status	Get a node's current status and configuration

Configuration

Tool	Description
push_config	Push startup configuration to a node (must be stopped)
get_node_config	Retrieve a node's current startup configuration

Networking

Tool	Description
connect_nodes	Connect two node interfaces — creates a shared network and wires both endpoints

Usage Examples

Build a Multi-Vendor Lab

"Create a lab called 'Data Center Fabric' with 2 VOSS spine switches and 4 EXOS leaf switches. Connect each leaf to both spines."

Claude will use list_images to find your installed Extreme images, create the lab, add 6 nodes, and wire the spine-leaf fabric.

Push Configs Before Boot

"Push OSPF configuration to all routers in the lab, then start everything."

Claude will call push_config on each node with vendor-appropriate configuration, then start_all to boot the lab.

Inspect Lab State

"Show me what's running in the BGP lab — which nodes are up, which are still booting?"

Claude calls get_lab to retrieve the full topology with per-node status.

Tear Down and Rebuild

"Destroy the current lab and build a new one with 3 Cisco IOSv routers in a triangle topology."

Claude calls delete_lab, then create_lab, add_node x3, and connect_nodes x3.

Common Use Cases

Certification Lab Prep (CCNA/CCNP/CCIE)

"Build me a lab for practicing OSPF multi-area with 5 routers — one ABR connecting area 0 and area 1, with stub and NSSA areas."

The MCP server handles the tedious setup: creating the lab, adding nodes, wiring interfaces, and pushing base configs so you can focus on the protocol practice.

Pre-Change Validation

"I need to test adding a new VLAN to our spine-leaf fabric before doing it in production. Build a lab that mirrors our 2-spine 4-leaf topology with VOSS switches."

Build a lab topology matching production, test your change, verify traffic flow — all through conversation with Claude.

Vendor Comparison / PoC

"Create two identical 3-router triangle topologies — one with Arista vEOS and one with Cisco IOSv. Push BGP configs to both so I can compare convergence behavior."

Side-by-side vendor comparison without manually building two separate labs.

Training and Demos

"Set up a classroom lab with 5 separate student topologies, each with 2 routers and 1 switch, all pre-configured with basic connectivity."

Quickly spin up multiple isolated lab instances for training sessions.

Network Automation Development

"Create a 4-router lab and start all nodes. I need to test my Ansible playbooks against real network devices."

Use the MCP server to provision labs for testing Ansible, Nornir, Terraform, or any network automation tooling.

Troubleshooting Practice

"Build a lab with intentional misconfigurations — wrong OSPF area IDs, mismatched BGP AS numbers, or broken VLAN trunks — and don't tell me what's wrong."

AI-generated fault injection for network troubleshooting practice.

Prerequisites

• Python 3.10+
• EVE-NG server (Community or Professional) with API access enabled
  • The server must be reachable from where the MCP server runs
  • Default EVE-NG API port is 80 (HTTP) or 443 (HTTPS)
  • Default credentials: admin / eve
• MCP-compatible client — Claude Desktop, Claude Code, or any MCP client

EVE-NG Network Access

The MCP server connects to EVE-NG's REST API over HTTP. Your EVE-NG server must be reachable:

Setup	EVENG_HOST Value
Same machine	http://localhost
Local network	http://192.168.1.100
Via Tailscale	http://100.x.y.z:8080
Via SSH tunnel	http://localhost:8080 (after ssh -L 8080:192.168.122.10:80 jump-host)

Configuration Reference

Variable	Default	Description
EVENG_HOST	http://192.168.122.10	EVE-NG API base URL
EVENG_USERNAME	admin	API username
EVENG_PASSWORD	eve	API password

Troubleshooting

"Connection refused" or timeout

• Verify EVE-NG is running and the API is accessible: curl http://your-server/api/status
• Check firewall rules — EVE-NG API runs on port 80 by default
• If using a jump host, set up an SSH tunnel first

"Authentication failed"

• Default credentials are admin / eve
• EVE-NG Community Edition limits to 2 admin accounts
• Check if another session is active (EVE-NG allows one session per user)

"Image not found" when adding nodes

• Run list_images to see what's installed
• EVE-NG image folder names must follow exact naming conventions
• QEMU images go in /opt/unetlab/addons/qemu/

Node starts but no console access

• Nodes need 30-120 seconds to fully boot (vendor dependent)
• Use get_node_status to check if the node is still building (status=1) or running (status=2)

Development

# Clone and install
git clone https://github.com/axiom-works-ai/eveng-mcp-server.git
cd eveng-mcp-server
pip install -e ".[dev]"

# Run tests (69 tests, mocked — no EVE-NG server needed)
pytest

# Run with verbose output
pytest -v

# Type check
mypy src/eveng_mcp_server/ --ignore-missing-imports

EVE-NG API Notes

• Uses session cookies for authentication (not bearer tokens)
• Lab paths are URL-encoded filesystem paths (e.g., /api/labs/My%20Lab.unl)
• Node status codes: 0 = stopped, 1 = building/booting, 2 = running
• Push startup configs while nodes are stopped — they apply at next boot
• connect_nodes is a compound operation: creates a network, then attaches both interfaces

License

Apache-2.0

Author

Built by Axiom Works AI — AI-powered tools for network engineers.