GNS3 is a network simulation software that allows users to design, test, and implement virtual networks without requiring physical networking hardware. It runs on Windows, Linux, and MacOS and supports all major networking vendor platforms. The document provides installation instructions for GNS3 on different operating systems. It is recommended that Windows users install GNS3 within a virtual machine for better performance and compatibility. The setup wizard helps configure GNS3 and guides users to set up the GNS3 virtual machine for use.

1. THE SOFTWARE THAT EMPOWERS
PROFESSIONALS

2. What is GNS3?
 GNS3 is a network simulator that provides the ability to visualize, plan, test,
and troubleshoot network environments across any vendor platform at
scale – without the need to directly interact with network hardware.
 Users can seamlessly connect all types of virtual interfaces to compose a
real representation of networks.
 GNS3 runs on Windows, Linux, and MacOS X using traditional PC
hardware.
 GNS3 is FREE

3. Minimum Requirements
OS Windows 7 (64 bit) and later, Mavericks (10.9) and later, Any Linux Distro
- Debian/Ubuntu are provided and supported
Processor 2 or more Logical cores - AMD-V / RVI Series or Intel VT-X / EPT -
virtualization extensions present and enabled in the BIOS. More resources
allows for larger simulation
Memory 4 GB RAM
Storage 1 GB available space (Windows Installation is < 200MB
Additional
Notes
More storage is needed for OS and Device Images.

4. Recommended Requirements
OS Windows 7 (64 bit) and later, Mavericks (10.9) and later, Any Linux Distro
- Debian/Ubuntu are provided and supported
Processor 4 or more Logical cores - AMD-V / RVI Series or Intel VT-X / EPT -
virtualization extensions present and enabled in the BIOS. More resources
allows for larger simulation
Memory 8 GB RAM
Storage SSD - 35 GB available space
Additional
Notes
Additional RAM up to 16 gigs and i7 or equivalent for optimal usage.
Virtualizing devices is processor and memory intensive. More is better
but properly configured device trumps RAM and Processing power.

5. Installation
 Create a FREE account on GNS3 at https://gns3.com/
 Click the “Sign Up” link in the upper left corner
 Fill in the required information

6. Installation
 GNS3 depends on several other programs to operate.
 Those software dependencies include
 WinPcap
 Dynamips
 Qemu to name a few
 These main components along with GNS3 are all chosen by default for installation. The
default location to install GNS3 is also chosen by default
 Note that if needed, WinPcap Setup Wizard will be launched for you to install. This
dependency is required for GNS3 to communicate with real networks through a physical
network internal controller. Make sure that the "Automatically start the WinPcap driver
at boot time" check box is ticked.

7. Installation on MacOS X
 The Mac installer is quite painless simple and can be downloaded from the
download section.
 Step 1: Open the DMG file
 Step 2: Open the finder
 Step 3: Drag the GNS3 application to your Application directory
 Once the GNS3 application is available in your Application Folder, you can
drag that icon to your Dock for ease of launching GNS3.

8. Installation on Linux
 Go to https://www.gns3.com/support/docs/linux-installation to find the
instructions for various Linux distributions
 For Ubuntu 64 bit run the following commands in a terminal:
 sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gns3/ppa
 sudo apt-get update
 sudo apt-get install gns3-gui
 For IOU support:
 sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
 sudo apt-get update
 sudo apt-get install gns3-iou

9. Installation on Windows
 Selecting the “Download” button will download the “all-in-one” installer.
 Once the installation completed, click the Start button, All Programs, GNS3, and
then choose GNS3 out of the list of applications installed. The GNS3 graphical
interface will start.

10. Not required, but HIGHLY
Recommended for Windows
 Download the GNS3 VM from https://github.com/GNS3/gns3-gui/releases
 The VM is distributed in three different flavors:*
• VMware Workstation to be used with Workstation Pro/Player and Fusion (Recommended)
• VMware ESXi (For experts only)
• VirtualBox (No nested virtualization support)
 We highly recommend VMware because VirtualBox doesn't support nested
virtualization, this means any VM running inside the GNS3 VM will be slow because the
guest VM cannot access to your CPU virtualization instructions (VT-x or AMD-V).
 Please note that VMware Workstation Player is free and you can get 20% off VMware
Workstation Pro and VMware Fusion thanks to our deal with VMware.
* https://www.gns3.com/support/docs/download-the-gns3-vm

11. Why use the GNS3 VM?*
 For Linux users, some dependencies are hard to install, like the requirements for IOU (you need specific
libraries and 32-bit support).
 Using VMware, you can use KVM acceleration for Qemu allowing to run Qemu based appliances with
excellent performances on Windows and Mac.
 Dynamips and Qemu tend to work a lot better on Linux (less random issues with ASA for example).
 Full IOU support (you just need the license file + IOU images).
 Future version of the VM will include full Docker support.
 No antivirus getting in the way or firewall inside the VM blocking network traffic.
 The VM is isolated from your computer and a lot less likely to break something important.
 A virtual machine that GNS3 can use to upload images to and control CPU and memory usage by confining
the running image in a single virtual machine instance.
 It’s intended for Windows users who want to use more IOS and IOU images that cannot be supported
natively in a Windows environment.
*https://www.gns3.com/support/docs/-what-is-the-gns3-vm

12. Installation Summary
 Simply follow the installation prompts!
 GNS3 installs itself.
 Note for Windows users:
 GNS3 was originally developed in Linux
 Windows development was an after-thought
 To save future grief with Windows updates and incompatibility issues:
USE the GNS3 Virtual Machine(VM)!

13. The setup Wizard
 https://www.gns3.com/support/docs/the-new-setup-wizard-for-gns3--4
 Note: You can use the traditional local GNS3 server orthe GNS3 VM server,
not both the setup Wizard.
 To locate the Setup Wizard at any time, go to Help → Setup Wizard

14. The setup Wizard
 Use the GNS3 VM

15. The setup Wizard
 Use VMWare
 Notice the default vCPU cores for this image.
 It is recommended to run a minimum of 2 virtual CPU cores, but more is better.
 The default value of RAM is half of the available physical memory rounded to a multiple of 4,
be careful not to set too much RAM.

16. The setup Wizard
 Can use this screen to add images or use Edit | Preferences from the GUI

17. Demonstration