Packet Tracer Labs Dr Benabderrezak
Cisco Packet Tracer is a powerful network simulation tool widely used for network design, learning, and
testing configurations before deploying them on actual devices
Here’s a guide on how to get started with Packet Tracer in Linux and move into some advanced topics :
Installing Cisco Packet Tracer on Linux
Step 1 : Register and Download
- Go to the Cisco NetAcad website : https://www.netacad.com/
- Register for a free account if you don’t have one.
- Once registered, navigate to the Downloads section and select the version compatible with your
Linux distribution (usually a .deb package for Debian-based systems like Ubuntu).
Step 2: Install Dependencies
- Packet Tracer requires certain libraries and dependencies to run smoothly.
- Install these with the following command:
● sudo apt update
● sudo apt install libgl1-mesa-glx libxrandr2 libxrender1 libxi6 libfontconfig1
- if have you issues when installing libgl1-mesa-glx
● sudo add-apt-repository ppa:opencpn/opencpn
● sudo apt-get update
● sudo apt-get install opencpn
Step 3: Install Packet Tracer
- Navigate to the directory where you downloaded the Packet Tracer .deb file
1
Packet Tracer Labs Dr Benabderrezak
- Use the following command to install it:
● sudo dpkg -i PacketTracer-*.deb
- If you encounter any dependency issues, fix them with:
● sudo apt --fix-broken install
Step 4: Launch Packet Tracer
- Once installed, you can start Packet Tracer by typing:
● packettracer
- To make it easier, create a desktop shortcut or use your system’s app launcher to find and open
Packet Tracer
Start Using Packet Tracer
Step 1 : Add a PC
2
Packet Tracer Labs Dr Benabderrezak
- Drag and drop the device with the desktop view into the workspace in the right section
- After adding a PC, you can open the corresponding hardware settings window by double-clicking
on it.
- In this window, you can add modules to the PC from the area on the left, as in the image below.
- You can also turn the PC on or off from the section shown in the illustration
3
Packet Tracer Labs Dr Benabderrezak
Step 2: How to Assign IP Addresses to Computers
- You must assign IP addresses, subnet masks, and default gateway addresses to the PCs you add.
- For example, click to configure the TCP/IP settings of PC0, click the Desktop tab in the window
that opens, and then click IP Configuration
- In the IP Configuration window, if you have a DHCP Server in your network topology, enable the
DHCP option.
- If you do not have a server, you must select Static to manually assign an IP address and configure
the IP settings as follows.
- Configure the IP address settings for PC0 as follows.
4
Packet Tracer Labs Dr Benabderrezak
You do not need to save your settings because as soon as you click the X button, your
settings will be saved
5
Packet Tracer Labs Dr Benabderrezak
Now, from the PC0 properties, click on Command Prompt :
When you execute the ipconfig command on the CMD, you can see the IP settings of PC0
6
Packet Tracer Labs Dr Benabderrezak
Step 3 : Add a switch
To add a Cisco Switch to the workspace, click (Network Devices) and click Switches from the options
listed
Under Network Devices, click Switches :
7
Packet Tracer Labs Dr Benabderrezak
- After clicking the switches, the device models will be listed in the middle pane
- Drag and drop the relevant Switch model from the workspace to your network
Once you have added the key to the workspace, click once to open its properties.
8
Packet Tracer Labs Dr Benabderrezak
You can examine the physical appearance of the Switch in the Properties window.
After clicking the Config in the Switch0 properties, you will see some settings related to the device
9
Packet Tracer Labs Dr Benabderrezak
- From here, you can change the name and hostname of the Switch in the workspace.
- In addition, you can delete, save, and export Startup-Config and Running-Config files.
- If you want to configure the Switch using commands, you can use the IOS Command Interface
10
Packet Tracer Labs Dr Benabderrezak
Step 4 : How to Wire Network Devices
- After adding a PC and Switch to the workspace, you must connect these devices with a network
cable.
- To cabling network devices in Packet Tracer, list the cable types that the program supports by
clicking 1 and then 2 as shown in the image below.
- From the network cable types, select the straight-through cable type and click PC0
11
Packet Tracer Labs Dr Benabderrezak
- Select the FastEthernet0 network card on PC0
- Now click Switch0 to connect the PC to the Switch and select any of the free ports listed :
12
Packet Tracer Labs Dr Benabderrezak
- After connecting the network cable, the port status color between the PC and the Switch will be
green, as in the following image.
- If the port is green, it means that the cable type is correct and working
- Add one Laptop to the network topology and click the wiring option in the same way to connect it
to the Switch.
- Then, plug the network cable into the FastEthernet0 interface of the Laptop
13
Packet Tracer Labs Dr Benabderrezak
- Also, plug the other end of the cable into an empty port on the Switch.
14
Packet Tracer Labs Dr Benabderrezak
- Configure the IP settings of Laptop0 as Static as follows :
15
Packet Tracer Labs Dr Benabderrezak
Step 5 : How to Test Ping Between Computers
- To use ping in PT, you must open the properties of the client device and run the command prompt.
- Now, to ping from Laptop0 to PC0, execute the ping 192.168.10.10 command on the CMD.
- Pinging from Laptop0 to PC0 will be successful as follows.
16
Packet Tracer Labs Dr Benabderrezak
- When you ping from PC0 to Laptop0, ping will also be successful.
- You can also use Realtime to Ping in the PT.
- Open Realtime by clicking the left arrow, as you can see below.
17
Packet Tracer Labs Dr Benabderrezak
- Then click Add Simple PDU in the right pane :
- After clicking ADD Simple PDU, you will see an envelope shape.
- Using this shape, you must select the source and destination client that you want to ping.
- Click on PC0 once and then click on Laptop0 to start the Ping process by identifying the source and
destination devices.
18
Packet Tracer Labs Dr Benabderrezak
As soon as you leave the envelope on Laptop0, you will see a message on the Realtime tab that Ping is
successful.
19
Packet Tracer Labs Dr Benabderrezak
Step 6 : add a wireless router
- In Packet Tracer, you must click Wireless Devices to add a Wireless Router to the workspace.
- From the listed wireless devices, click the WRT300N wireless modem.
- When the Wireless Router is active, click the empty area to add it to the workspace :
20
Packet Tracer Labs Dr Benabderrezak
- Once the WRT300N Router has been added to the workspace, click once :
- To connect the wireless modem to Switch0 : first click on the cabling tool at the bottom and then
connect it to the GigabitEthernet0/1 interface.
21
Packet Tracer Labs Dr Benabderrezak
- Then, select the Ethernet1 port by clicking on the wireless modem.
After you have done the wiring between the wireless modem and Switch0, click the GUI tab of the
device’s properties.
22
Packet Tracer Labs Dr Benabderrezak
To configure the LAN settings of the Wireless Router, enter the local network IP address from the
Network Setup option in the GUI interface and enable DHCP.
- After configuring the device, do not press X and slide the GUI interface down.
23
Packet Tracer Labs Dr Benabderrezak
- Save your settings by clicking the Save Settings button.
- Check that the connection is OK when you ping the wireless modem from PC0 :
24
Packet Tracer Labs Dr Benabderrezak
To add one SmartPhone to the topology, follow the path shown in the illustration. After listing the devices,
click the Smart Device Phone.
After selecting the smartphone, click where you want to add it.
25
Packet Tracer Labs Dr Benabderrezak
- As soon as the smartphone is added to the workspace, it will connect to the wireless modem.
- This is because the DHCP service is enabled on the wireless modem.
- Click on the Desktop tab of the smartphone properties.
26
Packet Tracer Labs Dr Benabderrezak
After clicking the IP configuration, you can see that the phone receives TCP/IP information from the
DHCP server.
- Pinging from the smartphone to the wireless modem is successful :
27
Packet Tracer Labs Dr Benabderrezak
Step 7 : How to Add Comments/Notes to the Workspace
- When using the CPT, you can add comments/notes to the workspace to provide a more detailed
network design.
- For example, you can note the IP address of each PC or specify the segments connected to the
Router.
- To add a description, click (Place Note) as below and then click on the workspace.
28
Packet Tracer Labs Dr Benabderrezak
- After clicking the workspace, the text box will appear.
- You can add comments to network devices, as in the image below :
29
Packet Tracer Labs Dr Benabderrezak
Step 8 : add shapes
- The use of shapes in the PT makes the topology created more descriptive.
- To work with shapes, you can select the shape you want to draw from the pop-up window by
clicking the down arrow next to the red circle on the right of the program
- Once you have clicked on the red circle, the Palette Dialog window will open.
- In this window, select the shape you want to draw and then color the shape with the Color buttons.
1. No Fill : This option does not fill the color in the drawn shape
2. Fill Color : This option applies the selected color to the shape
30
Packet Tracer Labs Dr Benabderrezak
- For example, select a circle shape as in the image below :
31
Packet Tracer Labs Dr Benabderrezak
- Now, draw the shape on the workspace :
- As another example, you can add a colorless rectangle and group the comments :
32
Packet Tracer Labs Dr Benabderrezak
Step 9 : Size a shape
Once you have created the shapes, you can use the Resize Shape feature on the right if you want to resize
it
- After clicking Resize Shape, a red dot will appear on the edges of the shapes.
- You can resize shapes by holding down the red dots
33
Packet Tracer Labs Dr Benabderrezak
- After resizing the shapes, press the Select tool or the ESC key.
- The shape was resized after pressing ESC :
34
Packet Tracer Labs Dr Benabderrezak
Step 10 : delete objects in workspace
Click on the X tool from the tools on the right to delete all the devices and shapes you added to your
project.
Then, point to the device or figure you want to delete and click once with the left mouse button.
35
Packet Tracer Labs Dr Benabderrezak
The rectangular shape in the workspace has been deleted. Do the same for the circle shape :
Remove the smartphone connected to the wireless modem from the workspace :
36
Packet Tracer Labs Dr Benabderrezak
The smartphone has also been successfully deleted from the workspace!
References :
https://www.sysnettechsolutions.com/en/use-cisco-packet-tracer-step-by-step
37
