This article shows you how to configure GNS3 VM on macOS 12 Monterey on an Apple Mac computer.
You can use more specific Cisco Router and Switch IOS images on your computer using the GNS3 VM or GNS3 Server virtual machine.
The GNS3 VM can be integrated with the GNS3 program or used as an external platform. A GNS3 VM is recommended to get more performance from Cisco devices.
You can follow this video tutorial or the steps below to configure GNS3 VM on your Mac.
Step 1: Install GNS3 and VMware Fusion on your macOS system from the links below before installation.
GNS3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lb7trVp39P0
Fusion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPBCEtvDJ2g
Step 2: To download the GNS3 VM, visit GNS3’s website. Next, download the GNS3 VM for the VMware Workstation and Fusion platform.
⇒ https://www.gns3.com/software/download-vm
Step 3: The GNS3 VM virtual machine will be downloaded to your Mac as a zip. Double-click the zip file in the Downloads location and extract it to the folder.
Step 4: Open VMware Fusion and click File / Import.
Step 5: Click Choose File to add the GNS3 VM.ovf file on the Choose an existing virtual machine screen.
Step 6: View the contents of the GNS3 VM folder in the Downloads location and select the ovf file.
Step 7: Click Continue and wait to import the virtual machine listed in Fusion.
Step 8: After importing the GNS3 server, open its settings and disable Side Channel Mitigations under Advanced. Also, change the value of Troubleshooting to None to increase server performance a bit more.
Step 9: Open the Processor and Memory settings and set a suitable value according to the capacity of your computer.
Step 10: Run the GNS3 Server virtual machine. After running the server, open the GNS3 software.
Step 11: Click Help / Setup Wizard to connect GNS3 and GNS3 VM.
Step 12: Check the Run appliances in a virtual machine option in the Setup Wizard window and then leave the local server configuration values as they are.
Step 13: In the GNS3 VM configuration, select VMware as the virtualization platform and choose the server from the VM Name. After configuring vCPU Cores and RAM settings, GNS3 and GNS3 VM will automatically connect.
Step 14: To add Cisco Router IOS to the GNS3 VM, open Preferences and click IOS Routers under Dynamips. When the New IOS Router Template opens, select “Run this IOS Router on the GNS3 VM” in the Server Type section and add the IOS image.
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