Issues Running Lab on Mac M1/M2 – Alternative Solution & Suggestion for Future Classmates

[yuranranran]

Hi, I ran into major compatibility issues trying to complete Lab 1 Part 1 on my personal computer, a Mac M1/M2 machine. Even after following the recommended UTM setup, I encountered several problems as listed below here.

Problems I Encountered on Mac M1/M2

1. Containerlab Fails to Start Properly

   • Containers keep restarting with exec format error, likely due to architecture mismatch between the x86_64 Docker images and ARM hardware. I try to work around it but keep seeing at least 2 out of 4 containers keep restarting.

2. Docker Issues

   • Running containerlab deploy often resulted in no such file or directory errors when setting up network namespaces (Statfs "/proc/0/ns/net": no such file or directory).
   • The lab uses x86_64 Docker images, which fail to execute properly on ARM.

3. Vagrant/VirtualBox Is Not Supported on M1/M2

   • Since VirtualBox does not work on Mac M1/M2, I tried using Multipass instead, but it still ran into architecture issues.
   • The alternative method using QEMU for x86_64 emulation did not work either.

4. UTM Was Difficult to Use

   • The UTM interface made it difficult to copy/paste commands. Typos in url and others some times really frustrated me.
   • Performance was very slow, and the system was unstable when trying to emulate x86_64.

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How I Eventually Solved It

Since all my searches on Mac solutions failed, I switched to a Windows PC and was able to complete the lab without any issues.

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Maybe Some Suggestion for Future Classmates

Since Mac M1/M2 users face significant compatibility challenges (for me a very new student first time learning Linux), I suggest:

1. Recommending Cloud-Based Solutions

   • Instead of local emulation, maybe consider some suggestion like a cloud-based x86_64 Ubuntu VM (AWS/GCP/Azure) where students can SSH in and run the lab. Or we can set it up ourself? I notice there is free tier for student in AWS.

2. Providing Prebuilt x86_64 VM Images

   • If possible, an x86_64 VM image (ready to use on cloud platforms) would save people who want do configure to bypass from emulation struggles.

3. Clarifying That UTM May Not Work Reliably

   • While UTM is listed as a workaround, at least me myself still faced severe issues that I don't quite understand.
   • If others report similar problems, it may be worth reconsidering UTM as the primary alternative. Or maybe it is just me. But still I think letting others know is important so they don't struggle on setting thing up like me for hours and end up founding this lab is not that time consuming if using a windows machine and we can focus on learning.

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Final Thoughts

I appreciate the effort in providing alternative solutions for Mac users, but due to the architecture differences, running these labs reliably is a challenge. I hope this feedback helps improve the experience for future students!

Thanks!
Amy Yuran Liu

[beatcent]

+1

[eric-keller]

Thanks for the feedback. I think your suggestions are all really good and I will look into incorporating into the course for a future session.