(33 votes, average: 4.27 out of 5)
Loading ...Sun 16 Dec 2007
Throughout this year, I have posted several tutorials on dynamips and dynagen. I have never really had a reason to try anything different, basically because dynagen just works. However, because of a request a few weeks ago, I branched out and tried GNS3.
GNS3 stands for Graphical Network Simulator. It is developed by a team of individuals from all over the world. I have to say, I was very impressed with my first run. Unlike other dynamips graphical front-ends, GNS3 just makes sense and it is strongly linked with dynagen. Anything you have learned about dynagen can be used with GNS3. Note: You will need your own IOS image to run GNS3.
Anyways, I will stop yapping and get to the video. Enjoy!
December 17th, 2007 at 8:25 pm
I love it… Thanks… I would love to see more advanced tutorials using GNS3… it’s just simply so much more convenient… I really like all your past tutorials as well… I wish there was a way to use Dynagen’s .net files in GNS3… that would be perfect…
January 7th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Hi,
Can you please let us know the process of installing the GNS3 on linux (ubuntu)?
January 18th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
This is great stuff !!!!!1
I was really searching for this.
Many many thanks !
One query: Is there any way to reload a router using “reload” command ?
January 21st, 2008 at 9:23 pm
I am really glad this tutorial has helped.
Salmon,
You’re welcome. You can see similarities if you look at the dynagen config files but I agree, it would be nice if they could be imported.
Dev,
GNS3 for Linux is one of the next tutorials on the list.
Dulan,
I have not tried to reload a virtual router in GNS3, but if it is like dynagen, the reload command just takes the virtual router down. I don’t think it actually brings it up again.
January 31st, 2008 at 1:51 am
Great staff more espicially for people using windods. Is it possible to update it to work with vista as it is not working will with this ver. of windows?
February 1st, 2008 at 5:13 am
This is the one that made my GNS3 installation worked. Thanks for making this video tutorial. Now I’m simulating my network for CCNA reviews.
February 4th, 2008 at 1:04 am
[...] GNS3 Graphical router emulation software [...]
February 5th, 2008 at 8:19 am
Utterly fantastic!
Bravo Zulu
February 6th, 2008 at 1:42 am
thanx admin guy,
really a cool stuff , it save my time and effort and u guys helped me a lot towards my ccnp
March 5th, 2008 at 5:49 am
Hi,
When i am trying to install it it will install but I am not able to find the IOS image file. Please help
March 5th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Ranjit,
I did not make this clear. You will need to obtain your own IOS image. Some people have reported good luck finding images on bit-torrent sites. Others have been using IOSHunter software. Most probably get an image from the company they work for or a client that purchased the image for one of their routers.
Josh
March 6th, 2008 at 2:02 am
Thank you very much! It helps me to prepare for Cisco exam. Really appreciate your work.
March 10th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
great work man!!!! this is very helpful to us all aspiring CCNA and CCNP dudes. Thanks very much!
March 11th, 2008 at 12:42 am
Thanks guys. I am excited to hear that the site has helped you further your education and get your certs.
March 14th, 2008 at 8:38 am
its really a good tool for my CCNP, however when even i configure a network of routers and want to same it. It get saved, but when i load it back all the configuration i did is missing and i get some wierd uni error for the same. Moreover i cant load the sample labs in it. can some one help me on this.
March 28th, 2008 at 9:33 am
Not sure if I am doing this correctly, but when I try to start the console session it opens the telnet window but just sits there. I can not do anything, hitting enter doesn’t work. Not sure if I was supposed to change something on the console port or not. Could someone help me out, please. Thanks, Brandon
March 28th, 2008 at 9:40 am
Here is what the Telnet localhost window has in it……
Connected to Dynamips VM “R2″ (ID 1, type c2600) - Console port
nothing… I can’t seem to get the console to work properly. Could someone please help. Thanks, Brandon
April 1st, 2008 at 4:17 pm
hello,
I have installed the last version of GNS, when I drag the Router. it informs me: Please test the path to dynamips in Preferences. Could someone please help me.
Thanks
April 1st, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Hi Mamri;
I think you need to click Edit> IOS Images and Hypervisors to add an IOS Image to GNS3.
Then select the IOS image you want. If you look the Tutorial it explains clearly.
Regards
Ali
April 16th, 2008 at 4:34 am
Really, really cool stuff! Tried GNS3 on my Vista OS. Had some issues initially but took a little time to figure it out and had it running eventually. My experience is to disable User Account Control and now I can even access my routers from CMD prompt. Thanks a lot GNS3 team. I must admit my experience with Dynamips/Dynagen really helps, but with GNS3, it makes a lot easier to set things up in no time.
April 16th, 2008 at 9:39 am
Same problem as 17. It seems GNS3 chooses IOS feature set. Those IP PLUS works well but advance services doesn’t work. I’m stuck on the console.
April 18th, 2008 at 6:20 am
Thanks so much for doing this!
April 19th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
I’ve tried using GNS3 but have had no success running it. I’ve spent the past two hours trying to get it to work with no success. Please help me!
Here is what I did:
1. I installed GNS3
2. I launched the Dynamips Server command prompt file
3. I went into GNS3 and added my Cisco 2600’s IOS
4. I dragged the Cisco 2600 router into the white background and I right-clicked the router and clicked start. The light of the router turned green so it turned on.
5. I right-clicked the router and clicked console, but then it says “file not found”.
What am I doing wrong? If anyone knows please help. Thank you.
April 20th, 2008 at 1:21 am
@CM, I am not sure what the problem is. Just from what you explained here, it sounds like the software used to access the router’s console cannot be found.
Try the following tutorial to use putty for console access.
http://www.blindhog.net/gns3-how-to-use-putty-for-console-access/
Josh
April 21st, 2008 at 3:03 am
very nice job, GNS3 team, but i have a little problem similar to 23.
iwent tru d following steps:
. I installed GNS3
2. I launched the Dynamips Server command prompt file
3. I went into GNS3 and added my Cisco 7200’s IOS
4. I dragged the Cisco 7200 router into the white background and I right-clicked the router and clicked start. The light of the router turned green so it turned on.
5. I right-clicked the router and clicked console, but then it says “windows cannot find telnet.make sure you typed the name correctly and try again”.
somebody please help me out,its really urgent and important..thank you guys.
April 21st, 2008 at 6:08 am
@Ty - look at the comment above. I have another tutorial for using putty instead. - Josh
April 21st, 2008 at 10:52 am
Hello Josh,
I tried what you said with the Putty tutorial but it doesn’t work! It still brings up the same message. Could Windows Vista be the problem? I have firewall disabled.
April 21st, 2008 at 11:28 pm
@Ty and @CM,
If either of you are willing to setup a logmein or webex session, I will take a look at this problem with you. If not, you might check the forums at http://7200emu.hacki.at
Josh
April 21st, 2008 at 11:42 pm
video
April 21st, 2008 at 11:43 pm
very good application
April 23rd, 2008 at 4:09 pm
Telnet is not installed by default in Windows Vista. I used Putty instead.
Telnet can be installed using the control panel. Click on “Programs” then on “Turn Windows features on or off”. Find Telnet in the list and install it.
Putty does the trick for me though…
April 27th, 2008 at 2:05 am
Dear Brandon & Denn were you able to resolve the issue you were facing..please help me because im also facing the same issue
“Connected to Dynamips VM “R2″ (ID 1, type c2600) - Console port”
but nothing is happening after that
please help me
April 28th, 2008 at 8:52 am
i just download some tutoriel
April 28th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Dear Anand ,Brandon & Denn were you able to resolve the issue you were facing..please help me because im also facing the same issue
“Connected to Dynamips VM “R2″ (ID 1, type c7200) - Console port”
but nothing is happening after that
please help me
April 28th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Anand, Brandon, Denn & usman,
You might take a look at this link … I haven’t experienced the issue.
http://7200emu.hacki.at/viewtopic.php?t=5872&highlight=connected+dynamips++%E2%80%9Cr2%E2%80%B3
Josh
April 29th, 2008 at 8:29 am
I just realized that there is no need to turn off User Account Control in Vista since I was accessing my routers from DOS prompt. Just run GNS3 as administrator and you are all set. My bad! I’m looking at my simple MPLS topology and I’m very satisfied.
May 2nd, 2008 at 6:19 am
I watched Cisco - GNS3 Graphical router emulation software tutorial after installing DNS3-0.5-win32-all-in-one.exe on XP Pro pc. The tutorial is concise and fantastic but I could not get my GNS3 to work.
First I started my Dynamips Server (dos windows stayed open until I closed). I then start my GNS3 and went on to add c3640-js-mz.122-8.T.bin and other things stated in the tutorial. I tried to create the same as the tutorial but I noticed that I did not have Emulation Mode buttion on my toolbar menu. So, I could not do this step. I tried to start the router but no success.
Please help me because I need this to work so I can practice for my CCNA exam in two weeks. Does anyone has any suggestions?
Thanks in advance,
Frank.
May 2nd, 2008 at 10:19 pm
thxxxxxxxxx in advance
May 8th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
I am experiencing the same issue as others who attempted to run GNS3-0.5-win32-all-in-one.exe on Vista. It starts okay but I don’t get the emulation button so I get an error message stating “file not found”. Please help!
May 10th, 2008 at 1:06 am
@Reggie,
The problem is that telnet.exe cannot be found. Follow this tutorial to use putty for console access instead of telnet.
May 16th, 2008 at 3:20 am
Thanks a LOT!!!
May 17th, 2008 at 5:53 am
I have aproblem in turning or working with the Switch, any one knows how to work with Switch in GNS3
May 19th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Where do you get putty from and there is no emulation mode in the gns3 that I downloaded from. Also cannot get a idelpac to work, says it cannot find it. Yes have spent almost 2 hours getting things set up and still doesn’t work properly. Big factor is emulation mode does not appear on upper bar. Dont know what to do. Even when I click on R1 or R2 cannot right click on routers to get console mode or start mode. Configuration arrow will not go away, no matter what I do. I am getting the idea that the software on the tutorial and that which is downloaded are not the same. Features are different.
May 19th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
@Steve,
Putty Can be downloaded here: http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/
Starting with version 0.4 of GNS3, emulation mode is a thing of the past. Design and emulation mode have been combined into one mode.
You should be able to right-click on the routers to select ’start’ though.
May 27th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
Hi There,
I’ve an identical problem as 34.
I’m running GNS3 on Vista, followed the steps and even installed the telnet client under Vista but I couldn’t access the console of the router.
First I launched the Dynamips server which its DOS window stayed open, then I started GNS3 and I tried to drag a 2600 router to get this error message: “A hypervisor is already running on port 7200, it will not be shutdown after you quit GNS3″ so i clicked on OK and then I dragged the 2600 once again, right clicked it and started it, everything looks normal but when I try to console to it, I get the DOS window with single line written: “Connected to Dynamips VM “R1″ (ID 0, type c2600) - Console port” and I can’t get anywhere from there.
Does GNS3 has any compatibility issues with Vista?
Ps: my Putty field is configured the right way in the preferences window. and I was able to access the router by using the old method using a batch file (dynamips-wxp -X -M std -t -npe-100 -p:0:C2600.. etc.)
May 28th, 2008 at 6:40 am
I suggest that if you want a network simulator, then you use packetracer by cisco, as it allows you to do most of what you want except telnet, and maybe the new packet tracer will allow you to do that. Semisim also has a network simulator, but I have not tried that. There is so much to study for any of the certifications that trying to get this one to work , is becomming a waste of time. To those who get it to work, congrats, to those who are having problems, like me, you might try the other two sources. Just a suggestion. I find it rather tiresome to have to go to 2-3 websites to get downloads for a program to work. Just my 2 cents.
May 28th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
@Steve-Even I was on the verge of giving up when things didn’t go right. But, I later found that the problem with me was, I hadn’t installed PuTTy. The video tutorial helped me.
@Others-I suggest you uninstall the old version. Clear any remaining bits of GNS3 using a cleaning software like CCleaner. Then, download and install the latest version. Go through ALL the videos and follow the instructions carefully.
Few told that once you start the console, nothing happens. Sometimes, that happens to me too. Next time you hit enter on the console when you start, take a look, if you can see an open curly brace ‘{’ If you do, remove that using the backspace key and try hitting enter again. It should work.
Though everything works, I’ve got trouble saving the router configuration. The GUI shows up with the right connections of the routers which is saved in the .net file. I saw on the 7200hacki forum to export the configuration. Where do I enter that command? The console doesn’t seem to accept the export command
May 30th, 2008 at 9:43 am
The solution to the problem with the console opening and just siting there dead is to turn DOWN the amount of RAM allocated to the router instance. It was for me at least. I tried to setup a 3640 with 512M of ram. The gree light would show up telling me the router was running but the console port would just sit there like a black hole. Go back in, set the router up to use 256M of ram - voila, console port shows the router’s config wizard.
rough edges or not, this beats the hell out of tying together multiple hypervisors manually.
May 31st, 2008 at 7:35 am
sunny
Thanks for the info. I did download putty so I will try again. My main beef with this whole network simulator is there are too many missing pieces that are not totally described in all the sites I have been on and when you watch the tutorial, you have to go thru the whole process to find out that things have changed and there is not one bit of paper on the changes. It borders on a waste of time . Without this exchange, you would never know about the emulation change or needing putty, let alone where to find it. I find that disturbing when people are trying to pass certifications to get into the profession and are trying to learn how networks run and can’t because no one has bothered to combine everything into a website that makes sense. Everything is too scattered, and people get frustrated . I wont go any farther. Thanks for your instructions and help. Good luck to all those posting here on using this simulator and in your studies.
June 3rd, 2008 at 9:26 am
to steve: I’ve used packettracer, utterly disappointing. All of the routing protocols have limited functions… single area OSPF for instance… isn’t really useful for anyone that’s going beyond CCNA.
June 9th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Hi:
I am not able to save routers config with GNS3. every time I open the saved file, the routers boot with out saved configuration. Any one can please help with this, as I am wasting a lot of time, and I am not able to advance and work on the advanced lab. I am stuck in configuring frame relay and ATM over and over.
Regards
June 16th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
hi folks,
I need help. I tried configured 2 router (3600) by video tutorial, but if i tried to connect to the router via cmd i can`t.
I receive this msg:
The system cannot find the file specifiled.
P
ls, can u help me?
Thank a lot
Best regards
June 16th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
ok issue resolved.
June 19th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
Hi,
I having problem looking for the emulation mode. I have already followed the procedures in the video tutorial but still in vain. I am using vista.
Please let me know how can I start working using GNS3.
June 24th, 2008 at 8:35 am
@alk1000 & @jun,
I do not use Vista, so I can’t speak from experience. However, the posts I have read on forums seem suggest that you need to run GNS3, Dynamips and the ‘Network device list’ shortcut as administrator.
Sorry I don’t have more information. Here is a link that may be helpful: http://www.sadikhov.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=107269
Josh
July 5th, 2008 at 8:54 am
My experience with GNS3 is one day but I am pleasantly surprised of what it can offer. I used to be very skeptical of any software simulation of Cisco hardware. I have my own small lab - 2651XM, PIX515, C1841, etc. My personal opinion on GNS3 is that it would be a good supplement of actual lab gears. Install GNS3 on a laptop and you can practise anywhere.
Strongly advise to use it on machine running XP Pro, unless you know the difference between XP and Vista well, like no default telnet install, admin user rights, etc. It would reduce your stress level. Lastly spend time to read the fantastic manual - ‘RTFM’. ‘Google’ is your friend.
Thank you Josh for your videos. It opens a door for me to experiment something new.