L2 VFI

L2 Virtual Forwarding Instance (VFI) provides VPLS (Virtual Private LAN Service) capabilities for creating Layer 2 VPN services over MPLS networks. VFI creates a virtual bridge domain that allows multiple geographically distributed sites to appear as if they are on the same LAN, enabling transparent Layer 2 connectivity across WAN infrastructure. This technology supports manual neighbor configuration, autodiscovery for dynamic peer relationships, and point-to-point connections, providing flexibility for various network topologies. VFI with VPLS is commonly used for data center interconnect, transparent LAN extension across sites, and delivering Ethernet services for multi-site enterprise deployments.

Diagram

Classes

configuration (iosxe.devices)

Name	Type	Constraint	Mandatory	Default Value
l2_vfi	Class	[l2_vfi]	No

l2_vfi (iosxe.devices.configuration)

Name	Type	Constraint	Mandatory	Default Value
name	String		Yes
mode	Choice	autodiscovery, manual, point-to-point	No
vpn_id	Integer	min: 1, max: 4294967295	No
neighbors	List	[neighbors]	No

neighbors (iosxe.devices.configuration.l2_vfi)

Name	Type	Constraint	Mandatory	Default Value
ip_address	IP		Yes
encapsulation	Choice	l2tpv3, mpls	No

Examples

iosxe:
  devices:
    - name: Device1
      configuration:
        l2_vfi:
          name: TENANT-A
          mode: manual
          vpn_id: 20001
          neighbors:
            - ip_address: 172.16.255.2
              encapsulation: mpls

Real-World L2 VFI Example

iosxe:
  devices:
    - name: CoreRouter
      configuration:
        l2_vfi:
          # Primary site VFI for multi-site VPLS
          name: CORPORATE-LAN
          mode: manual
          vpn_id: 10001
          neighbors:
            - ip_address: 10.1.1.1
              encapsulation: mpls
            - ip_address: 10.1.1.2
              encapsulation: mpls
            - ip_address: 10.1.1.3
              encapsulation: mpls

Using Variables

iosxe:
  global:
    variables:
      vfi_name: TENANT-A
      vpn_id: 20001
      neighbor_ip: 172.16.255.2
  devices:
    - name: Device1
      configuration:
        l2_vfi:
          name: ${vfi_name}
          mode: manual
          vpn_id: ${vpn_id}
          neighbors:
            - ip_address: ${neighbor_ip}
              encapsulation: mpls