This article shows you how to set up the GNS3 network simulator program on the Linux Debian 11 operating system so that you can prepare for Cisco Routing and other exams.
GNS3 software enables you to create advanced network topologies and emulate IOS images of Cisco’s Router, Switch, or Firewall devices. This way, you can design your projects using a Cisco device in a natural network environment.
You can install GNS3 on a Windows, Linux, or macOS operating system. If you have Debian distribution installed on your PC, you may need to use a terminal to install this software.
Follow this video tutorial or the steps below to install and run Cisco network software on Debian version 11 Bullseye.
Step 1: To check for new versions of installed packages on your Debian system, first, open the terminal and run the sudo apt update command.
sudo apt update
Step 2: Run the command below in the terminal to install all the necessary packages for GNS3.
sudo apt install python3-pip python3-pyqt5 python3-pyqt5.qtsvg python3-pyqt5.qtwebsockets qemu qemu-kvm qemu-utils libvirt-clients libvirt-daemon-system virtinst wireshark xtightvncviewer apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl gnupg2 software-properties-common -y
Step 3: After installing Python and other packages on your system, run the sudo pip3 install gns3-server gns3-gui command in the terminal to download and install GNS3.
sudo pip3 install gns3-server gns3-gui
Step 4: When you install GNS3, you may get the Dynamips error while adding a new IOS to the program. You must also install the Dynamips package on your system to resolve this error. Download the dynamips.deb package to your PC using the wget command.
wget http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/pool/non-free/d/dynamips/dynamips_0.2.14-1_amd64.deb
Step 5: After downloading the dynamips.deb package, run sudo dpkg -i dynamips_0.2.14-1_amd64.deb to install it.
sudo dpkg -i dynamips_0.2.14-1_amd64.deb
Step 6: After installing GNS3, you can download the IOS image of an actual Cisco device and add it to the program.
How to Add an IOS
Step 1: Run GNS3 and click File / Preferences from the menu.
Step 2: Click Dynamips / IOS Routers in Preferences and click New from the right panel.
Step 3: Click Browse to add the IOS image and specify the file’s location. After selecting IOS, confirm the decompression and continue.
Step 4: Configure the name and platform of the Router image you added and determine the virtual memory value according to the RAM size of your host PC for IOS.
Step 5: You can see that the FastEthernet interface is installed by default in the network adapter settings. You can add Serial or GigabitEthernet interfaces to the Router.
Step 6: Find the Idle-PC value for the Router to work efficiently, then close the wizard.
Step 7: Create a new project, select the Router, and drag and drop it to the workspace. After running the devices in the project, you can access the CLI by clicking on them.
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