9/12/2016

DocumentationUsingtheGNS3VMGNS3

UsingtheGNS3VM
WhatistheGNS3VM?
TheGNS3VMisaVirtualMachinethat
runsUbuntuLinuxandcomeswithall
installeddependenciesinordertorun
GNS3labs.TheVMisprovidedstarting
withversion1.4ofGNS3.

WhyusetheGNS3VM?
SowhyuseVMinsteadofrunningstuff
locallyonmycomputer?
ForLinuxusers,some
dependenciesarehardto
install,liketherequirementsfor
IOU(youneedspecificlibraries
and32bitsupport).
UsingVMware,youcan
useKVMaccelerationfor
QemuallowingtorunQemu
basedapplianceswith
excellentperformanceson
WindowsandMac.
DynamipsandQemutendto
workalotbetteronLinux(less
randomissueswithASAfor
example).
FullIOUsupport(youjustneed
thelicensefile+IOUimages).
FutureversionoftheVMwill
includefullDockersupport.
Noantivirusgettingintheway
orfirewallinsidetheVM
blockingnetworktraffic.
TheVMisisolatedfromyour
computerandalotlesslikelyto
breaksomethingimportant.
AvirtualmachinethatGNS3
canusetouploadimagesto
andcontrolCPUandmemory
https://www.gns3.com/support/docs/whatisthegns3vm

ovftoolallowAllExtraConfigdm=thinds=datastore1~/Downloads

Nestedvirtualizationshouldbeenabledif
youplanonrunningQemubased
appliancesandhavethemleverage
KVM(whichrecommended)forgood
performances.Todosoyoumusteither
edityourVMs.vmxfile,adding
"vhv.enable=TRUE"viayourVMware
administrationinterfaceorgloballyon
theESXihostbytypingthefollowing
command:echovhv.allow=true>>
/etc/vmware/config

FinallyiftheVMshowsyouanerror
aboutnoipforeth0youmustmanually
configurenetworkingsettings.Gotothe
menuandhitenterontheNetworking
options:

Thiswillopentheinterfacesconfiguration
fileinnano.Whenyoureditingis
doneexittheeditorandtheVMwill
restart.

ChecktheVMcanrunKVM
VMwaresupportsnestedvirtualization.
ThismeantheVMsrunninginsideGNS3
VMcanaccesstoyourprocessor
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usagebyconfiningtherunning
imageinasinglevirtual
machineinstance.
ItsintendedforWindowsusers
whowanttousemoreIOSand
IOUimagesthatcannotbe
supportednativelyina
Windowsenvironment.

virtualizationinstructionsprovidingmuch
betterperformances.KVMisthe
technologyusedbyQemutoaccessthe
processorvirtualizationinstructions,you
cancheckifKVMaccelerationcanbe
usedbylookingatthewelcomescreen.

Installation
Download
BothVMWareandVirtualboxGNS3VMs
canbedownloadfromGitHub.Download
onethatmatchtheversionofGNS3you
haveinstalled.
Import
Openthe.ovafilecontainedinthe
archiveyouhavedownloadedwith
VMwareorVirtualBox.

Postinstallation
Werecommendyoutochangethedefault
passwordoftheVM.Forthat,opena
shellviathemenuandtype:passwd

Thingsaremorecomplicatedfor
VMwareESXi(expertsonly):
Importthe.ovaviayourVMware
administrationinterfaceor
manuallyusingtheovftoolclitool,it
shouldlooklikethethis:

UsingtheVM
ForESXIyoumustconfiguretheVMas
remoteserver.Forothersupported
virtualizationsoftware,youcanconfigure
theVMintheinitialsetupwizardorvia
theEdit>Preferences

https://www.gns3.com/support/docs/whatisthegns3vm

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UpgradingtheVM
WhenyouupdateyourlocalGNS3
version(onyourHOSTmachine),you
mustupgradetheGNS3VMaswell.It
canbedonedirectlyfromtheVMmenu.
ThiswillupgradetheGNS3serveritself
butalsoallpackagesinstalledintheVM.

AfterthatwhenyouusetheVMwizard
youcanselecttheGNS3VM(orRemote
forESXI).

ConnectingviaSSH
YoucanaccesstotheVMviaSSH.The
necessaryinformationisavailableonthe
welcomescreen

ConnecttheVMtoyour
lannetwork(advanced
users)
InVMwareorVirtualBoxyoucanadd
anadditionalnetworkinterfacebridged
tothenetwork.TheVMwillseeitas
eth2.

BuildyourownVM
https://www.gns3.com/support/docs/whatisthegns3vm

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(advancedusers)
YoucancreateyourVMfromscratchif
youwant.TheVMisbuildusingPacker.
Youcanfindalltheinstructionson
ourGitHubrepository.
Becarefultochangethelocationof
theupgradescriptsotherwiseour
updatescanoverwriteyourchanges.

https://www.gns3.com/support/docs/whatisthegns3vm

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