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Welcome to GNS3
"How good do you want to be?" A key ingredient to being very good at something is to have excellent instruction combined with lots of practice, practice, practice. This is true in areas such as flying a plane, becoming a doctor or being one of the best network engineers in the field. In the first Nugget of this GNS3 series, Keith introduces the idea of using virtualized hardware (running inside your computer) allowing you to practice your Cisco design, configuration and troubleshooting skills. The Graphical Network Simulator (GNS3) allows you to improve your skills as you build networks running live Cisco IOS, right inside of your computer. Keith also discusses some things that you can do to get the absolute most out of this video series, including the use of protocol analysis of the networks you create within GNS3.
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00:17:20 |
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GNS3: Up and Running on Windows
"I wish I could run a full topology of routers in an emulated environment without my PC pegging 100% CPU utilization." ~Quote from a new user of GNS3. In this video Keith walks you through the installation of GNS3 for Windows, identifying the two major reasons the processor goes too high to be of use anymore, and how to correct and avoid those problems. Topics covered in this video also include moving the IOS from a router to a PC, customizing folders to organize your GNS3 work and exec-timeout parameters for the console port of the router running in GNS3.
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00:38:30 |
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GNS3: Troubleshooting on Windows
"What happened, it was working yesterday!!!" This is an all too familiar phrase especially when working with GNS3. How could a fully working, idle PC optimized project fail to even open on the following day, and if does finally open why is the CPU back at 100%? In this Nugget Keith walks you through the reasons for this, and more importantly, how to detect and correct the issues that stand in the way between you and a happy GNS3 experience. Steps to prevent that from happening for future projects are also addressed in this video.
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00:30:41 |
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GNS3: Automating Initial Configurations
Whether its delivering water, manufacturing a product or providing a custom initial configuration to our routers in GNS3, automation can save us time and effort. In this video Keith shares with you some of his preferred startup configurations and how to automate them into brand new routers as you bring them into the GNS3 topology.
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00:14:43 |
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GNS3: Adding Hosts with Virtual PC Simulator
Imagine a bus, without anyone to ride it. Kind of pointless, isn't it? The purpose of our networks is to move data from devices attached to those networks. Adding hosts to our GNS3 networks is very useful for testing/verification that the network is configured correctly and that full connectivity exists, end to end. Using Virtual PC Simulator (VPCS) is a quick, free and low memory requirement option for adding hosts to GNS3. In this video Keith walks you through the process of getting VPCS, viewing and tweaking its startup file, and integrating it into a live GNS3 network.
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00:34:30 |
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GNS3: VirtualBox Host Integration
Adding a live Windows or Linux virtual machine to an existing GNS3 topology allows us the look and feel of a live network with hosts running real applications. One popular (and free) option for adding virtual machines is to use VirtualBox. In this video Keith walks you through the configuration required on both VirtualBox and GNS3 to allow devices from one world (hosts in VirtualBox) to play on the networks of the second world (routers in GNS3/dynamips). Free VirtualBox appliances are explained and demonstrated so you can begin using these hosts immediately!
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00:39:10 |
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GNS3: Integrating DHCP and the Host PC
We can sprinkle in virtual hosts as needed in our GNS3 topology, which is not only fun to do, but it can also assist in verification of our network design and security policies. As we move hosts around multiple subnets, we can save time by allowing the network to automatically assign addresses to these hosts using DHCP. In this Nugget we review how to integrate the virtual hosts and assign them an IP address automatically from the router's pool of addresses. We will also answer the question of "Can I add the real host computer to the GNS3 landscape?" to which the answer is a resounding YES. Let's get started right now!
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00:29:08 |
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GNS3: Connecting to the Internet
One of those "Wow!" moments is when you successfully issue a ping from a GNS3 router, and get a response from a device on a live network such as the Internet. In this video, Keith explains the requirements and then walks you through the implementation, troubleshooting and successful integration between the GNS3 topology and the Internet.
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00:38:54 |
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GNS3: Protocol Analyzer
Wireshark is a popular protocol analyzer that is closely integrated into dynamips/GNS3. By understanding how this tool can be used, learners can take a first-hand look at the actual segments, packets and frames that are traveling on their GNS3 networks. In this video Keith will walk you through how to use this tool in conjunction with GNS3 to view real-time network traffic, as well as how to save captures for later viewing.
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00:23:49 |
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GNS3: Custom Terminal Emulation
When working with terminal emulation, implementing small features can save lots of time and provide a more effective GNS3 session. One of these features is tabbed terminal sessions, which provide a separate tab for each network device to easily move between the devices in your topology. In this video Keith demonstrates how this can be done with SecureCRT or the free Putty application using a custom front-end named SuperPutty. Keith also walks you through some time-saving techniques for implementing virtual machines within GNS3, using VirtualBox Guest objects.
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00:29:13 |
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GNS3: Trunk to Live Equipment
A single Ethernet trunk can carry hundreds of VLANs, which becomes very important when a GNS3 topology needs to share multiple VLANs with a live rack of equipment. In this Nugget, Keith walks you through the logic and configuration to create a trunk within Windows GNS3 that connects to live gear and allows interaction between the virtual and physical worlds where each of the topologies reside.
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00:30:18 |
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GNS3: ASA Firewall
Practicing with the Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Firewall is critical to mastering that device, and we can add them to our GNS3 topology, along with the routers. In this Nugget, Keith walks you through the configuration, files and steps needed to integrate the ASA with GNS3. You will also learn how to add the ASDM (ASA Security Device Manager) GUI functionality to the virtual ASA. Troubleshooting steps are also discussed and demonstrated in relation to the ASA in GNS3.
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00:42:39 |
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GNS3: Ubuntu and Distributed Processing
What is the best operating system to use? The answer varies, but is also linked to what is available. In this video Keith walks you through the options for installing GNS3/dynamips on a Ubuntu system, and the fundamental steps of opening consoles and running the IdlePC process, very similar to what we did on Windows. In the second half of this video, Keith shares with you how to run the front end GNS3 on one computer, and have it use an external hypervisor which is running on a second machine. This can be very useful if a desktop or server with lots of CPU/memory is available and you want to leverage that resource.
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00:28:59 |
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GNS3: AWS Cloud Hosting
Everyone seems to be "going to the cloud" due to convenience, better ROI and better services. GNS3 and/or Dynamips are a great candidates for hosted services as larger amounts of CPU and memory are needed for ginormous topologies. In this video Keith discusses with you many of the options available, and then demonstrates a local PC running GNS3 while pointing to an external hypervisor that is running on an AWS Windows server in the cloud.
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00:20:26 |
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GNS3: Mac OSX
The Mac has gained mainstream popularity over the past few years, and Mac users also want the ability to use GNS3/Dynamips. In this video Keith discusses the requirements and demonstrates a couple of options for not only getting GNS3 going, but also how to integrate virtual machines using VirtualBox and even putting the host Macintosh machine in the GNS3 topology!
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00:32:00 |
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GNS3: L2 Ethernet Switching
Who says that GNS3 can't do switching? A lot of people, actually. In this Nugget, Keith discusses the opportunities for switching inside of GNS3 using switchport modules installed in the virtual routers. You and Keith will then create a full-blown topology that uses 4 L2 switches, Virtual PCS (VPCS), 4 VLANs, Router on a Stick for Inter-VLAN routing, spanning-tree tuning, access ports, 802.1q trunk ports and then NAT to connect the entire switched and routed infrastructure to the live Internet. And they said it won't do switching. ;)
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01:00:45 |
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GNS3: Connecting Virtual to Live Gear on the Mac
In each video you are building your skills regarding GNS3, discovering new options and learning how to configure them. In this Nugget, we are going to do that again, this time regarding connecting our Mac GNS3 topology to live gear, using either single connections or 802.1q Ethernet trunking. Keith also walks you through how to use the generic switch (if desired) to terminate a trunk from a live switch going to your GNS3 network.
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00:27:54 |
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GNS3: Trunking and Tunneling to Live Gear on Linux
Trunking can be done between Virtual and Physical gear in Windows, Mac OSX and Linux. In this video, Keith walks you through the details to make it happen when Ubuntu is the host OS. In addition, we will take a deeper dive into the configuration details of the external switches, including how to perform CDP tunneling through an external switch if you want to make a GNS3 device and physical device appear as CDP neighbors, even though they are not directly connected.
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00:23:37 |
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GNS3: Ubuntu, the ASA and Qemu
The ASA emulation provided by the Quick Emulator (Qemu) is similar between GNS3 on Windows and GNS3 on Ubuntu, with one big difference: The Qemu isn't installed by default by the Ubuntu software center when GNS3 is installed. On Windows the GNS3 all-in-one installer installs the Qemu for us. On Ubuntu we need to (as of Nov. 2012) manually install and patch the Qemu to work with the ASA. In this video, Keith provides a step-by-step install checklist for a manual install of all the GNS3/dynamips/Qemu software (the checklist is available in the NuggetLab download area for this series), and also shows the settings used to make it work. The video includes a demonstration of a working topology with the ASA in Ubuntu.
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00:16:58 |
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GNS3: Creating a Frame-Relay Switch
What do you call it when a company changes from leased lines to frame relay? Answer: The frame-relay switch ;). On a more serious note, the frame relay switch function provided by a Wide Area Network (WAN) service provider can be emulated inside of GNS3 using a couple different methods. The one you choose will be based on your preference. In this video Keith provides an overview of frame relay, then shares the options available to emulate the service provider network, and walks you through implementing both types.
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00:18:13 |
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GNS3: Cisco Configuration Professional
"Out with the old, in with the new." That happens a lot, especially with Graphical User Interface (GUI) management tools. One of the older Java based GUI IOS management application was named Security Device Manager (SDM). It has been shelved in favor of its replacement: Cisco Configuration Professional (CCP). In this video Keith introduces CCP, and then walks you through creating a new GNS3 network (from the ground up) that involves the bootstrap commands required on the IOS to allow CCP to work, all the way through using CCP to configure NAT and routing to allow a virtual host on the GNS3 network to successfully connect to the live Internet.
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00:18:12 |
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GNS3: NTP and CA Servers
Having your own Certificate Authority (CA) server integrated into your GNS3 topology can be very convenient. In this video Keith walks you through how to convert an IOS router into a CA server, as well as synchronizing your entire GNS3 network time with the Internet's time servers.
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00:19:47 |
