Understand the switch.
Then operate it.
Eighteen concise lessons connect configuration, services, and databases to L2/L3 forwarding, routing integration, and source-level investigation.
The bounded curriculum is complete as learning material. All configuration, traffic, fault, and recovery examples remain illustrative. Website validation does not establish live SONiC or physical ASIC behavior.
Foundations
Introduction to SONiC
Core operator lesson with original illustration, evidence, takeaways, and quiz.
Architecture and Services
Core operator lesson with original illustration, evidence, takeaways, and quiz.
Databases and the Configuration-to-Forwarding Path
Core operator lesson with original illustration, evidence, takeaways, and quiz.
Configuration & Management
Configuration and Operational State
Core operator lesson with original illustration, evidence, takeaways, and quiz.
Inspecting Interfaces and Routes
Core operator lesson with original illustration, evidence, takeaways, and quiz.
Persistence, Changes, and Recovery
Core operator lesson with original illustration, evidence, takeaways, and quiz.
L2 forwarding
VLAN Membership and MAC Learning
Core operator lesson with original illustration, evidence, takeaways, and quiz.
Tagged VLAN Links
Extend one VLAN across an explicit tagged link and verify both ends of the membership contract.
Links and neighbors
Routed Interfaces and Neighbor Resolution
Core operator lesson with original illustration, evidence, takeaways, and quiz.
IPv6 Neighbor Discovery
Inspect a directly connected IPv6 adjacency, distinguish DAD from reachability, and diagnose an absent peer address.
LAGs and Link Validation
Build a two-member routed PortChannel and separate carrier, LACP selection, and logical-interface health.
L3 forwarding
Static Routes and Forwarding
Core operator lesson with original illustration, evidence, takeaways, and quiz.
ECMP and Next-Hop Groups
Represent two eligible next hops, inspect their dependencies, and avoid turning route multiplicity into a distribution claim.
Routing services
BGP Integration and Operations
Follow an existing BGP neighbor from configuration intent through selected routes to packet evidence.
OSPF Integration and Image Support
Establish the image and management-mode prerequisite before diagnosing an OSPF-derived route.
Inside the switch
Packet Path and SAI Evidence
Trace one routed destination across software boundaries without confusing object state with hardware readback.
Virtual Tests and Fault Isolation
Turn a small scenario into a reproducible acceptance test and a useful fault report, without overstating virtual evidence.
Implementation workflow
Development and Test Workflow
Translate an operator symptom into a bounded source change, a regression test, and a reviewable validation plan.
From intent to forwarding
SONiC combines Linux, containerized services, shared databases, and a hardware abstraction boundary. Use this map to connect each topic to its place in the system.
Complete lesson inventory
Read core lessons 01–09 first, then use the five practical groups and implementation workflow. The established numbering is retained so earlier links remain stable.
| Lesson | Title | Group |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Introduction to SONiC | Foundations |
| 02 | Architecture and Services | Foundations |
| 03 | Databases and the Configuration-to-Forwarding Path | Foundations |
| 04 | Configuration and Operational State | Configuration & Management |
| 05 | Inspecting Interfaces and Routes | Configuration & Management |
| 06 | Persistence, Changes, and Recovery | Configuration & Management |
| 07 | VLAN Membership and MAC Learning | L2 forwarding |
| 08 | Routed Interfaces and Neighbor Resolution | Links and neighbors |
| 09 | Static Routes and Forwarding | L3 forwarding |
| 10 | Tagged VLAN Links | L2 forwarding |
| 11 | IPv6 Neighbor Discovery | Links and neighbors |
| 12 | LAGs and Link Validation | Links and neighbors |
| 13 | ECMP and Next-Hop Groups | L3 forwarding |
| 14 | BGP Integration and Operations | Routing services |
| 15 | OSPF Integration and Image Support | Routing services |
| 16 | Packet Path and SAI Evidence | Inside the switch |
| 17 | Virtual Tests and Fault Isolation | Inside the switch |
| 18 | Development and Test Workflow | Implementation workflow |
Practice and evidence boundaries
Lesson17 specifies a reproducible virtual acceptance test, one controlled fault, and a restoration predicate. A separate lab must select a compatible image/harness, allocate resources, and protect management access before execution. Individual lessons specify their starting state and scope.
Virtual tests cannot establish optics support, physical port behavior, ASIC scale, buffer/QoS timing, or line-rate performance. Physical platform validation remains separate. BGP/OSPF lessons focus on SONiC integration and operations; OSPF includes an explicit image/management-mode capability gate.
Review and validation
All eighteen lesson pages are available, with original diagrams, takeaways, and six-question modal quizzes. Each lesson includes focused explanations, operational examples and a short quiz.
The scope excludes deployment, a running lab, hardware certification, and automatic source builds. The implementation lesson explains how to plan a bounded patch and its tests without changing the reference checkout.
Official source baseline
Community release-source snapshots and separate Windows source inspections are recorded per lesson. Branches were resolved to commits; version-specific behavior and external FRR semantics are identified explicitly.