Windows Installation
Yaser Rahmati | یاسر رحمتی
1. SUPPORTED OPERATING SYSTEMS
Windows 7 SP1 (64 bit)
Windows 8 (64 bit)
Windows 10 (64 bit)
Windows Server 2012 (64 bit)
Windows Server 2016 (64 bit)
2. REQUIREMENTS
| ITEM | MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS | RECOMMENDED REQUIREMENTS | OPTIMAL REQUIREMENTS |
|---|---|---|---|
Operating System | Windows 7 (64 bit) or later | Windows 7 (64 bit) or later | Windows 7 (64 bit) or later |
Processor | 2 or more Logical cores | 4 or more Logical cores - AMD-V / RVI Series or Intel VT-X / EPT | i7 CPU |
Virtualization | Virtualization extensions required. You may need to enable this via your computer's BIOS. | Virtualization extensions required. You may need to enable this via your computer's BIOS. | Virtualization extensions required. You may need to enable this via your computer's BIOS. |
Memory | 4 GB RAM | 8 GB RAM | 16 GB RAM |
Storage | 1GB available space (Windows Installation is < 200MB). | Solid-state Drive (SDD) , 35 GB available space | Solid-state Drive (SDD) , 35 GB available space |
Additional Notes | You may need additional storage for your operating system and device images. | Virtualizing devices is processor and memory intensive. More is better but properly configured device trumps RAM and Processing power. | Virtualizing devices is processor and memory intensive. More is better but properly configured device trumps RAM and Processing power. |
3. DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL GNS3
Follow these steps to download GNS3 on a local Windows PC.
Using a web browser, browse to https://gns3.com and click the Free Download link:
If you have not already registered on the GNS3 site, create an account and then click Create Account & Continue :
Or, if you already have an account, click Login, fill in the your details and then click Login & Continue:
After login, you will be prompted to select the version of GNS3 to download. In this guide, we will select the Windows installation. Click the Download button to download the GNS3-all-in-one package:
The GNS3-all-in-one package will automatically be downloaded to your PC:
Navigate in Windows Explorer to your Downloads folder and then double click the GNS3-1.5.0-all-in-one.exe file:
If displayed, click the Run button to start the GNS3 installation:
GNS3 comes bundled with various prerequisite and optional software. By default most software is selected for installation, but you can decide to only install specific software.
| Item | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
WinPCAP | Required | Required to connect GNS3 to your computer network. If you don’t install this devices in GNS3 will not be able to communicate with the real world. |
Dynamips | Required | Required to run a local installation of GNS3 with Cisco routers. Only unselect if you are going to exclusively use the GNS3 VM. |
QEMU 2.4.0 and 0.11.0 | Required | A computer emulator used to emulate a full computer which could for example be Linux. The older Qemu version 0.11.0 is installed in order to support old ASA devices. |
GNS3 | Required | The core GNS3 software. This is always required. |
Cpulimit | Required | Used to avoid QEMU using 100% of your CPU (when it is running). |
Wireshark | Recommended | Allows you to capture and view network traffic sent between devices. |
VPCS | Recommended | A very light PC emulator that supports basic commands like ping. |
TightVNC Viewer | Recommended | A VNC client used to connect to appliance graphical user interfaces. |
Npcap | Optional | Modern replacement to WinPCAP know to fix issues with Win10 but less tested than WinPCAP. |
SolarWinds Response Time Viewer | Optional | Optional software for viewing captured traffic in an easy to read format. |
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