# Changes in Release 26.11

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(release-26.11)=
## New Functionality

* New devices: [IP Infusion OcNOS](caveats-ocnos) (*vrnetlab* container) and [Extreme VOSS](caveats-voss)
* The new **[netlab node](netlab-node)** command can start, stop, restart, pause, or unpause individual *containerlab* nodes without touching the rest of the lab. **netlab status** lists stopped nodes as *Exited*.
* **netlab validate** can [print the validation results as a JSON document](netlab-validate-json)
* The **[netlab config](netlab-config)** command uses the device configuration mode (for example, *netmiko*) instead of always running an Ansible playbook
* *[Netmiko](platform-config-mode)* is the default configuration deployment method for Cisco IOS XR and Cisco Nexus OS
* **[netlab collect](netlab-collect)** uses *netmiko* to collect configurations from Arista EOS, Cisco IOS, Cisco IOS XR, and Cisco Nexus OS devices, and runs an Ansible playbook only when needed
* The device readiness checks use *netmiko* to check the SSH server and **netlab connect** (instead of Ansible task lists) to check interface readiness
* New external tool: [network-xray](extool-network_xray)

**Minor improvements**

* _netlab_ [waits for *vrnetlab* containers to become healthy](vrnetlab-wait) by default
* The **netlab install containerlab** script defines the Docker repository in the deb822 format and limits the Docker repository key to that repository
* Commands executed on lab devices (for example, readiness checks) can have a timeout
* The *netmiko* parameters are defined as device features, and the *netmiko* configuration error patterns capture the whole error message

(release-26.11-device-features)=
## New Device Features

Cisco ASAv:
* Loopback interface
* Static routes
* IBGP
* OSPFv3
* BGP and OSPF route import (redistribution)

IP Infusion OcNOS:
* OSPFv2, OSPFv3, IS-IS, and BGP
* BFD, static routes, VLANs, VRFs, and STP
* OSPF and IS-IS BFD configured on individual interfaces
* VRF OSPF instances support the same features as the global OSPF process
* MTU on VLAN interfaces

Extreme VOSS:
* Initial configuration, VLANs, and static routes

ArubaOS-CX and Extreme EXOS:
* Transparent management IP address in *containerlab* (*vrnetlab*) containers

(release-26.11-device-fixes)=
## Fixes in Configuration Templates

Cisco Nexus OS:
* *vrnetlab* Nexus OS containers boot as a layer-2 switch. _netlab_ shuts down all interfaces before configuring them, and enables an interface only after it is fully configured.
* The *netmiko* error pattern recognizes configuration error messages without the leading `%` sign

Cisco IOS XR:
* _netlab_ waits before starting the *netmiko* configuration process to avoid "another config session is active" errors

(release-26.11-breaking)=
## Breaking Changes

* The minimum supported *containerlab* version is 0.80.0
* Older *vrnetlab* containers might fail to become healthy when running with the *containerlab* version 0.80.0. If you experience this, rebuild those containers using the latest *vrnetlab* code.
* _netlab_ uses *netmiko* to configure Cisco IOS XR and Cisco Nexus OS devices. If you used **netlab install ansible** to install Ansible, you already have netmiko installed. Otherwise, install it with **netlab install netmiko**, or set the **netlab_config_mode** device group variable (or node parameter) to an empty value to keep using Ansible playbooks.
* The **netmiko_*** device group variables were replaced with **netmiko.*** device features. Move any customized **netmiko_*** group variables (for example, **netmiko_device_type**) into the device features.
* _netlab_ waits for *vrnetlab* containers to become healthy. Set the **defaults.providers.clab.healthy_timeout** parameter to zero to disable that check.

(bug-fixes-26.11)=
## Bug Fixes

* Captured command output is thread-safe, so parallel readiness checks do not see each other's output (#3990)
* Updated the **netlab collect** section headers to match other multi-step commands (#3981)
* **netlab collect** collects configurations only from nodes that support configuration collection (#3980), including OcNOS
* Consistent handling of the **--limit**/node CLI parameter (#3979)
* Created a package from the **netlab collect** CLI module (#3978)
* Validation tests executed with **docker exec** see both stdout and stderr (#3977)
* FRR **bgp_prefix** validation works with **best=False** (#3968)
* Corrected the error message reported when a device does not support VRFs (#3967)
* Use correct names for MPLS kernel modules (#3963)

(doc-fixes-26.11)=
## Documentation Fixes

* New developer documentation: [device readiness checks](dev-ready) (#3994) and [netmiko configuration deployment](dev-config-netmiko) (#3961)
* The VRF documentation uses feature tables (#3976)
* Feature tables are built faster because the device data is merged only once (#3975)