GNS3 – How to save labs with router configs
Posted by Josh on Mon 7 Jul 2008Categories: Cisco , Cisco Routers , Dynamips , GNS3 , PEMU - [70] Comments
If you have used GNS3 for any amount of time at all, you have encountered this situation. It’s late and you have been working on your lastest lab for hours. You decide to save your work. Logically, you go to File > Save. Unfortunately, the topology is saved but the router configs are gone.
Follow these steps to save your project. When the project is re-opened, router configurations will be in tact.
- Open GNS3
- Start a lab with objects (routers, pix, switches, etc)
- Click ‘File > New Project’ instead of ‘File > Save’.
- Make sure ‘Export Router Configuration Files’ and ‘Keep working directory files’ are checked.
- Click ‘Yes’ to Apply project settings to the current topology.
That’s it!
In the video below, I created a small lab with a single router. I changed the hostname and domain name just to demonstrate config changes will remain when the project is re-opened.
July 8th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
[...] GNS3 – How to save labs with router configs 1 views [...]
July 9th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
the working directory is needed to save labs? I just click the “export all startup-config” and save. When i reopen the lab all looks fine, including startup-configs.
Something is missing when gns3 dont reopen working directory? and in this case, using the same directory dont get me any trouble with other labs? I guess so, cause “automatically clean working directory” is default setting.
tks
sry for my english
July 12th, 2008 at 12:27 am
thx mate..keep posting..currently fall in love with GNS3..cheers…
July 13th, 2008 at 1:30 am
@WingChunBR – You don’t necessarily “need” the working directory to save the startup configurations for the routers, but the working directories contain the flash and nvram as well as other files.
If you clean out the working directory, the flash and nvram files are gone after you close the lab. It becomes important to keep the working directory if you are working on a lab for … say …. call manager express or sdm. Both store files in flash.
I hope this answers your question.
Josh
July 13th, 2008 at 2:05 am
Plz send the Layer 3 switch IOS
i don’t have any switch ios’s
and explain the process how to install the ios
July 13th, 2008 at 8:32 am
@akula – gns3 does not emulate a switch. The only way to do switch labs is with a 3640 or 3745 image and the nm-16esw network module.
Josh
July 14th, 2008 at 7:29 am
Hi Josh,
I was able to save the Lab following the steps you provided, however, when I tried to open the Lab (after I saved it), my server just crashed
I’ve got GNS-3 running on Ubuntu Server 7.10, and the Lab I was running was the Frame-Relay lab with 3 Routers.
The server has 1.5GB RAM and it’s a Dual Processor P3 Server.
Any ideas??
Rgrds,
Ayo
July 14th, 2008 at 7:40 am
Never mind Josh…….I restarted the server and tried to re-open the Lab. It’s working O.K this time.
Thx,
Ayo
July 14th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Hi Josh,
I’ve got another query:
I’ve saved my config and I’ve run it again successfully.
Could you please advise how I can save again once I’ve made more changes?
I tried to follow the same steps you prescribed for saving the first time, but it doesn’t seem to work.
Thanks a lot!!!
Rgrds,
Ayo
July 16th, 2008 at 9:31 am
@Ayo – After you have created a project, you can just click File > Save.
Josh
July 16th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
ah ok. I dont need flash here(ccna labs), so i can erase my workingdir.
But if u use another lab with different settings (that stored in flash) they will not overwrite each other?
thanks josh
July 17th, 2008 at 2:28 am
Love the tips and info!!! THANKS!!!
July 28th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
I followed the demo to the “T” the only thing different is that I used a different path (C:\My Networks\MPLS Development\) and for some reason it does not pull my config’s back. The project loads but the configs are still blank.
Not there is an error in my IOS when booting but not sure:
Cisco IOS Software, 3700 Software (C3745-ADVENTERPRISEK9-M), Version 12.4(19b),
RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc1)
Technical Support: http://www.cisco.com/techsupport
Copyright (c) 1986-2008 by Cisco Systems, Inc.
Compiled Fri 13-Jun-08 10:20 by prod_rel_team
BIST FAILED…
Unknown file system detected.
Use format command to format the card as DOS File System.
Or use erase command to format the card as Low End File System.
I am running 0.5 GNS3 with 12.4 IOS Code. Anyone able to help here.
Is it the spaces in the path or something else?
Andrew
July 28th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Andrew,
You might try to save to a project folder that does not have a space in it…maybe c:\My_Networks\MPLS_Development\ .
Can you post your .net configuration file?
Josh
August 5th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
Hey, thanks for this blog post. I was getting all frustrated trying to use “File >> Save” instead of New Project.
August 7th, 2008 at 12:34 am
Does any one have hints on how to bring down the utilizations of ones PC while running GNS3, or better still calculate the best idlepc values.
cheers
August 12th, 2008 at 7:15 am
[...] – bookmarked by 2 members originally found by acmul on 2008-07-20 GNS3 – How to save labs with router configs http://www.blindhog.net/gns3-how-to-save-labs-with-router-configs/ – bookmarked by 1 members [...]
August 16th, 2008 at 2:05 am
i am able to save the topology but when i drag the switch and save……..switch is not save nor its connections. that’s the problem
August 27th, 2008 at 10:42 am
thx for your videos.but i need help on GSN 3.0.5
when i try to get access a router console i get the message “the system cannot find the file speciefied”. i followed your videos but noway to it work.plz help
August 31st, 2008 at 12:44 am
napsteur,
You are probably running windows Vista. The error is telling you that GNS3 cannot find the telnet command.
I would suggest using putty for console access.
http://www.blindhog.net/gns3-how-to-use-putty-for-console-access/
Josh
August 31st, 2008 at 11:20 am
I use the export command in gns3, in the command window or whatever you call it.
export “routername” “foldername”
and you can right click on the router and type the startup-configs name. if you export stuff working then the config will be named stuff and it will be in the working directory.
anything in the working directory you can just type the name of the config file under the router option. otherwise you have to put the foldername\config name in the options.
September 3rd, 2008 at 9:14 am
I have the same problem as post 13. I can save the configs and they are stored in the right working dirs etc. When i load the project, the topology loads but the configs do not.
I also see the same error during the IOS bootload and am using the same IOS.
September 5th, 2008 at 7:31 am
hi all , i m tanveer . thankx to buddy . i tried the same . fir the first time it didnot work , but after a few tries it has strated workig for 2 routers . see what happens next when i m going for a bit big labs .
regards
tanveer
September 18th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
thx for your videos.but i need help on GSN 3.0.5
when i try to get access a router console i get the message “the system cannot find the file speciefied”. i followed your videos but noway to it work.plz help
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:30 am
I ran the GNS3 on my computer and it is running well. but when i save the any topology (as *.net file) I can’t load it again for completing the lab. It says “can’t set the working directory to E:\program files\GNS3\GNS on the server local host:7200″. I changed the working directroy inPreferences> Dynamips>working directory to any other path and nothing happens. what can i do?… know that i setup my GNS3 on the E:\program files\GNS3
September 23rd, 2008 at 8:49 pm
Greg,
Thanks for sharing your experience and another way of saving configs and projects.
Josh
September 23rd, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Mark,
Can you post your .net configuration file?
Josh
September 23rd, 2008 at 8:57 pm
Jose,
Please read comment 20.
Josh
September 23rd, 2008 at 8:58 pm
Timaz,
Try creating a folder called GNS3 at the root of your c:\ drive.
Then, save your project to c:\gns3\
Let me know if it still doesn’t work.
Josh
October 11th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
thk for your great video.
I’m using Vista. I followed all the steps in your tutoril. It worked just fine until I tried to reopen the project. I did the telnet by putty. Putty did open, but nothing happened.
I have no idea what happened.
Hope you can help me, thk in avance
October 13th, 2008 at 10:38 am
Slump,
Not sure what happened. What happens when right click on the routers and attempt to start them. Do they actually start?
Josh
October 13th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Now it works. Actually, after open .net file and start the routers, I have to wait a while before starting putty.
October 16th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
Thank you so much for the help, in the begining i had problem with vista OS, but everything is cool and thanks to you.
mna
November 11th, 2008 at 9:48 am
hello,
i have GNS3.0.5. i have created .net file nd save configurations. when i close and i reopen the lab, i cannot see the configuration from the console.
November 17th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Dbenattou,
Are you just going to ‘File > Save’ or ‘File > New Project’ ?
‘File > Save’ will not save the whole project.
Josh
December 26th, 2008 at 11:22 am
Do you have to create a new project each time you wish to save the config/working environment or after it is created as a project you are fine to just click save?
December 27th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
Martin,
Once you have created a project, you should be able to simply click ’save’ to save the project.
Josh
December 27th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
Very much thanks mate for your precious help,
but still i get the problem with 3700 series of router how to save the configuration???
can u pls help me in that it is not show the chassis when i try for save in the net file pls help
Atish
January 3rd, 2009 at 4:31 pm
There are some consistent symptoms the happen when one is unable to read back an exported config file on starting a router. Failure to do the following, I’ve found by experimentation, means the router will not boot from the exported config, the second (nth time).
1. you must set preferences to clean up the working directory (on vista)
2. the working directory configuration must point to the actual working directory
3. start then stop then start a router using dynampis – without exiting gns3/dnamips (which executes the cleanup) – seems to confuse the persisted nvram from working directory storage with the nvram created upon loading the exported config. The net result is the router ignores the loaded config file, defaulting to initial config wizard.
4. do not reload a router from CLI.
5. If you must stop and restart a router in a single GNS3/dynampips session, delete the working files of the router before re-starting.
I have not played with suspend, which I’ll now try to dominate.
This is 1 of about 20 gotchas with GNS 3.06 (on vista). They all have workarounds.
January 5th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
Thanks for this great list Peter!
March 13th, 2009 at 4:55 am
[...] GNS3 – How to save labs with router configs [...]
May 28th, 2009 at 11:09 am
Excellet Mike,
I was really indeed of this.
Thnx
June 3rd, 2009 at 8:45 pm
Hello
im new to GNS3 ,i have this proplem and plz help
my OS is vista 32 bit
im using pytty for telnet
i can creat a lap and telnet every thing is excellent put when i save it and try to open it later ,it just simply open a blank page and stop there.
i have used the way explained here with no use plz help
June 17th, 2009 at 12:14 am
Hi ,
When I save a single router config with New Project option both the router and its configuration are present. But when I connect two routers with a serial it gives an error 206 -unable to creat UDP NIO, so I hv to reconnect it again and then it works but when I save this topology which contains an attache serial link and reloads it gives the same error. “206 -unable to creat UDP NIO” . Can some on please let me know how to save topology with all its connections.
June 19th, 2009 at 4:08 am
hi
i install gns3 on my vista 32 bit os ican sucessfully run it but cannot access cosole root why
July 2nd, 2009 at 9:48 am
Issue resolved! Thanks a lot.
July 10th, 2009 at 4:10 am
Hi
I am using GNS3 0.6.1 in winXP just bought intel i7 ….
Its really great working on GNS3 but unfortunately I couldnt able to save my work.
I have set the Gns3 with default settings and I also have seen the previous video but still when I am saving my work in D:\123.net (drive d is 40gb empty) I am getting errors
Please Please Please somebody help me with this
Dynagen management console for Dynamips (adapted for GNS3)
Copyright (c) 2008 GNS3 Project
=> ———Traceback lines (saved in exception.log)———-
Traceback (most recent call last):
File “GNS3\ProjectDialog.pyo”, line 95, in accept
File “GNS3\Workspace.pyo”, line 703, in createProject
File “shutil.pyo”, line 254, in move
Error: Destination path ‘d:\123_working\c3660-telcoentk9-mz.124-13b.bin-localhost.ghost’ already exists
July 10th, 2009 at 4:15 am
Hi
I forgot to mention
I am saving using file->new project->check both boxes and save
I am using 3660 I also tried using 2691 ….
July 11th, 2009 at 9:29 am
If I do a “New Project” after creating the topology, I get the following error for each router:
vm_mmap_open_file: unable to open file ‘c3600_R0_nvram’ (No such file or directory)
If I do “New Project” before I start, then Save, it seems to work.
July 11th, 2009 at 9:30 am
Oh… and it doesn’t save the configs when I get the “vm_mmap_open_file” error”.
July 14th, 2009 at 10:11 am
I can get up and running with your instructions, however my flash is erased every time I stop the router. My startup-config is saved, but flash doesn’t. Any ideas?
Tired of downloading files from TFTP every time. I have more than enough space configured in the GNS3 environment.
Your POSTS Rock!
July 23rd, 2009 at 11:47 pm
I am facing exactly same problem that “Trying to realise ” is facing.
When I tried to save new project according to procedure in video following messages appeared.
Dynagen management console for Dynamips (adapted for GNS3)
Copyright (c) 2008 GNS3 Project
=> ———Traceback lines (saved in exception.log)———-
Traceback (most recent call last):
File “GNS3\ProjectDialog.pyo”, line 95, in accept
File “GNS3\Workspace.pyo”, line 703, in createProject
File “shutil.pyo”, line 254, in move
Error: Destination path ‘D:\MyLab1_working\c3640-p7-mz.122-4.T3.bin-localhost.ghost’ already exists
———————————————————–
and When I click on save following messages appeared.
R0: Dynamips error: 206-unable to extract config of VM ‘R0′
R1: Dynamips error: 206-unable to extract config of VM ‘R1′
I checked my configuration directory that contains no file and in *.net file there is no cfg parameter.
plz help.
August 5th, 2009 at 5:59 am
I am still unable to save my configurations as mentioned above. I do take care of Step 4. Make sure ‘Export Router Configuration Files’ and ‘Keep working directory files’ are checked
Please suggest.
Ankit
September 3rd, 2009 at 5:57 pm
I am about to give up totally. I have spent all day familiarizing myself with GNS3, I have watched all the basic tutorials both here and on YouTube. I can NOT save a config file, period. I drag a single router onto the topology, start it, invoke the console, from the CLI set the hostname. Then I “copy run start” in the CLI. Then, per every video I have watched and every tutorial I have read, I click “New Project”, make sure both check boxes are checked and save it. I exit GNS3, restart it, load the project and the config is not saved. It just can’t be this hard to save a config file can it?
September 25th, 2009 at 6:32 am
Hi Ruel
from reading your post it sounds like you are adding your router to the topology, saving the config and then clicking on file new project – which will start a new blank project. !!!!!!
Start with ‘new project’ with the tick boxes set, then drop your router on, console in and change the config, wr or copy run start. Then click on File, Save in GNS3. Works for me every time
Steve
October 6th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
This becomes common issue.I gave up trying.
Please help with this issue.
File “GNS3\ProjectDialog.pyo”, line 95, in accept
File “GNS3\Workspace.pyo”, line 703, in createProject
File “shutil.pyo”, line 254, in move
Error: Destination path ‘C:\Documents and Settings\My Documents\GNS3\BGP16\bgp16_working\c3660-js-mz.124-15.T7extracted.bin-localhost.ghost’ already exists
October 18th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
This GNS3 is a great tool…no doubt.. but man does it take EVER to get this thing up and running smoothly
I have the EXACT issue as Matt,Ather and Trying to realise but havent seen anyone reply to those msgs.
——————-
Traceback (most recent call last):
File “GNS3\ProjectDialog.pro”,line 95,in accept
File “GNS3\Workspace.pyo”, line 703,in createProject
File “shutil.pyo,line 254,in move
Error: Destination path ‘C:\labs\Lab1_working\C2600-
JK.Image-localhost.ghost’ already exists
————-
I click on File—>new project to save my work but I get the above error.
Weird thing is…..if i save a test lab(with just 1 router) …using the same procedure…it works…but if i add 2 or more routers and then save it…I get the above mentioned error.
SOS!
Sam
October 18th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
@Matt,Ather and Trying to realise
Alright…
so after spending hours and going through forums i found that we need to:
1)create project(yup! you gotta do this as your first step when that small window pops up)
2)put all your devices etc etc,do your work,
3)and once you are done …just go to File—>Save
thats it.
I tried this like several times and its working for me.
Note: When i am ready to save my work..I always quit the telnet sessions but of course leave the routers running.
October 20th, 2009 at 5:27 am
hi to all
when i start gns3 and type command sh version it is showing “ios image tftp 255.255.255.255 Unknow why it is showinglike this can anybody give me advice
thanks
December 21st, 2009 at 12:46 am
GNS3 on ATM network configure lab help me
January 21st, 2010 at 12:28 am
Hi
I would like to repeat what Diptesh said, coz thats exactly what I experienced.
When I save a single router config with New Project option both the router and its configuration are present. But when I connect two routers with a serial it gives an error 206 -unable to creat UDP NIO, so I have to reconnect it again and then it works but when I save this topology which contains an attache serial link and reloads it gives the same error. “206 -unable to creat UDP NIO” . Can some on please let me know how to save topology with all its connections.
Any help to solve this issue would be greatly appreciated.
January 24th, 2010 at 11:55 pm
Elango,
Are you running GNS3 as root?
Josh
January 26th, 2010 at 8:15 pm
Hi Josh,
Seems you understood that I am using Linux/unix OS, if my perception is right.
Please find the details below.
OS : Windows XP, SP3
CPU: – 2.39 GHz, RAM : 2GB.
GNS3 Version:- V0.6
User account that I use has Administrative rights to install and remove software.
Somewhere in this forum, i saw a suggestion that, the UDP port I am using might be used by another process/program, so change the base UDP port used by GNS3 which is 10,000 by default. I tried that suggestion but no luck. still i got the same message.
Got the following message in the console in GNS#:
***Warning: connecting LAB_ROUTER f0/0 to LAB_CLIENT f0/0 resulted in : 206-unable to create UDP NIO
***Error: errors during loading of the topology file, please correct them.
Please let me know if you need furhter information, to help you identify the problem. I thank you for the interest shown.
January 28th, 2010 at 8:28 am
The SAVE-config’s problem is simple solved:
Put your file xx.cfg in the same dir XX_working\xx.cfg with all other files together
I hope to help you
Christian Biasibetti
February 1st, 2010 at 2:48 am
Hi Josh,
Based on the solution provided in the following link, I tried to solve the issue I faced and found it be as given in the following threads. Thanks to Kaage from GNS3.net and Martinlo from sadikhov.com who provided the link.
http://www.gns3.net/…B/topic267.html
Please follow the threads below to understand the solution that helped solve my issue.
February 1st, 2010 at 2:53 am
Below are the things I tried out(with my limited knowledge) in order to explore any other way to make it work.
————————————
Opend the GNS3 gui and in Edit > Preferences > Dynamips :
1) changed the value of UDP increment to just 1 and
2) let the base UDP be the same 10,000.
Base UDP—— Generated UDP——–Increment Specfied————– Manual Incremented value( in *.net file)—————Result (saved topology)
10,000 — 10,000 — 1 — Not able to open.
10,000 — 10,000 — 100 — Not able to open.
10,000 — 10,000 — 1000 — Not able to open.
1) changed the value of UDP increment to just 1000 and
2) let the base UDP be the same 11,000
Base UDP—— Generated UDP——–Increment Specfied————– Manual Incremented value( in *.net file)—————Result (saved topology)
11,000 — 10,000 — 1 — Not able to open.
11,000 — 10,000 — 100 — Not able to open.
11,000 — 10,000 — 1000 — Not able to open.
Opened GNS3 gui and edited : Edit > IOS images and Hypervisors > IOS images > Unchecked the hypervisor manager
then selected the only available hypervisor ( 127.0.0.1:7200) and then clicked Close.
Base UDP—— Generated UDP——–Increment Specfied————– Manual Incremented value( in *.net file)—————Result (saved topology)
11,000 — 10,000 — 100 — Not able to open.
———————-
Below is the value I used to open the saved topology.
Base UDP—— Generated UDP——–Increment Specfied————– Manual Incremented value( in *.net file)—————Result (saved topology)
10,000 — 10,000 — 100 — 11,000 —– Able to open.
10,000 — 10,000 — 100 — 10,001 —– Able to open.
————————–
It seems that irrespective of what value we use for the Base UDP or UDP increments in the GNS3 menu ( Preferences or IOS images & Hypervisors ), we cannot open the saved toplogy.
Whereas if we edit and change the UDP value to distinct ones, (just below each Hypervisors found in the *.net file) , which is greater than the BASE UDP value used to save the topology, I am able to open the saved topology, provided if the destination folders, IOS images used etc are correct.
This hold true for the above scenario.
I hope to explore more in this regard and post it int the forums
February 1st, 2010 at 2:53 am
The *.net file that worked well is as follows.
I just changed the UDP value that is highlighted below
—————————————————————
autostart = False
[127.0.0.1:7200]
workingdir = D:\NT-Tools\GNS Lab\Lab-3\LAB-3_working
udp = 11000
[[3620]]
image = D:\NT-Tools\GNS3\cisco ios\ios-3620\c3620-ik2s-mz.121-27b.bin
idlepc = 0×603773c0
ghostios = True
sparsemem = True
chassis = 3620
[[ROUTER LAB_3RB]]
model = 3620
console = 2004
cnfg = D:\NT-Tools\GNS Lab\Lab-3\LAB-3_configs\LAB_3RB.cfg
slot0 = NM-1FE-TX
f0/0 = LAB_3RA f0/0
x = 138.0
y = -65.0
[[ROUTER LAB_3RA]]
model = 3620
console = 2001
cnfg = D:\NT-Tools\GNS Lab\Lab-3\LAB-3_configs\LAB_3RA.cfg
slot0 = NM-1FE-TX
f0/0 = LAB_3RB f0/0
x = -245.0
y = -67.0
[GNS3-DATA]
configs = LAB-3_configs
workdir = LAB-3_working
February 1st, 2010 at 2:57 am
Hi Josh,
Thanks for the immense help you provide for the users community.
I hope my post might help others , rather than otherwise.
Sincerely
Elango
February 3rd, 2010 at 12:53 pm
I got to save the configuration, but when I start the router after save the terminal does not load completely the router ios, and stop with “,”.
What I do?
February 8th, 2010 at 11:12 am
follow the instructions below
1. start ur gns3
2. a small dialog boz appears
3.type in any name & check marks both the options below it.
4.after creating a topology start the routers & enter some configuration in them.then in privilge exec mode type WR to save ur config.
5. once u save it , without stopping the routers go to main gns3 window.
6.click on file > save
7.then stop ur routers & play them again..that is it.
8.next time when u want to open the same topology just click on file>open & click on the file u want to load.