INTRODUCTION TO PACKET

TRACER NETWORK SIMULATOR

Network and Services · 2019-20 Introduction to Packet Tracer Network Simulator

Index
1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 3
2 Interface overview .............................................................................................. 3
3 Creating a simple topology ................................................................................ 4
4 Cisco devices and Packet Tracer devices ........................................................ 6
5 Accessing the CLI .............................................................................................. 6
6 Configuring network devices ............................................................................. 8
7 Creating a Network Topology .......................................................................... 10
8 Testing connectivity with PDUs ....................................................................... 12
9 Using the simulation mode .............................................................................. 12
10 Packet Tracer Cisco Commands list CLI Basic ........................................... 14
11 Bibliography .................................................................................................. 18

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1 Introduction

Packet Tracer is a cross-platform visual simulation tool designed by Cisco Systems that
allows users to create network topologies and imitate modern computer networks. The
software allows users to simulate the configuration of Cisco routers and switches using a
simulated command line interface. Packet Tracer makes use of a drag and drop user
interface, allowing users to add and remove simulated network devices as they see fit.

Packet Tracer can also be run on Linux and Microsoft Windows and also macOS.
Similar Android[3] and iOS[4] apps are also available. Packet Tracer allows users to create
simulated network topologies by dragging and dropping routers, switches and various other
types of network devices. A physical connection between devices is represented by a 'cable'
item. Packet Tracer supports an array of simulated Application Layer protocols, as well as
basic routing with RIP, OSPF, EIGRP, BGP (Wikipedia)

2 Interface overview

The layout of Packet Tracer is divided into several components similar to a photo editor.
Match the numbering in the following screenshot with the explanations given after it:

The components of the Packet Tracer interface are as follows:

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 Area 1: Menu bar – This is a common menu found in all software applications; it
is used to open, save, print, change preferences, and so on.
 Area 2: Main toolbar – This bar provides shortcut icons to menu options that are
commonly accessed, such as open, save, zoom, undo, and redo, and on the
right-hand side is an icon for entering network information for the current network.
 Area 3: Logical/Physical workspace tabs – These tabs allow you to toggle
between the Logical and Physical work areas.
 Area 4: Workspace – This is the area where topologies are created and
simulations are displayed.
 Area 5: Common tools bar – This toolbar provides controls for
manipulating topologies, such as select, move layout, place note, delete, inspect,
resize shape, and add simple/complex PDU.
 Area 6: Realtime/Simulation tabs – These tabs are used to toggle between the
real and simulation modes. Buttons are also provided to control the time, and to
capture the packets.
 Area 7: Network component box – This component contains all of the network
and end devices available with Packet Tracer, and is further divided into two
areas:

 Area 7a: Device-type selection box – This area contains device categories
 Area 7b: Device-specific selection box – When a device category is selected,
this selection box displays the different device models within that category
 Area 8: User-created packet box – Users can create highly-customized packets
to test their topology from this area, and the results are displayed as a list.

Make sure you are familiar with these names, because moving forward we will be
referring to them frequently.

3 Creating a simple topology

Now that you're familiar with the GUI of Packet Tracer, you can create your first network
topology by carrying out the following steps:

1. From the network component box, click on End Devices and drag-and-drop
a Generic PC icon and a Generic laptop icon into the Workspace.
2. Click on Connections, then click on Copper Cross-Over, then on PC0, and
select FastEthernet. After this, click on Laptop0 and select FastEthernet. The
link status LED should show up in green, indicating that the link is up.

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3. Click on the PC, go to the Desktop tab, click on IP Configuration, and enter an
IP address and subnet mask. In this topology, the default gateway and DNS
server information is not needed as there are only two end devices in the network.
4. Close the window, open the laptop, and assign an IP address to it in the same
way. Make sure that both of the IP addresses are in the same subnet.

5. Close the IP Configuration box, open the command prompt, and ping the IP
address of the device at the end to check connectivity.

Pinging Laptop0 from PC0

What is a network topology without a single network device in it? Add an Ethernet switch
to this topology so that more than two end devices can be connected, by performing the
following steps:

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1. Click on Switches from the device-type selection box and insert any switch
(except Switch-PT-Empty) into the workspace.
2. Remove the link between the PC and the laptop using the delete tool from the
common tools bar.
3. Choose the Copper Straight-Through cable and connect the PC and laptop
with the switch. At this point, the link indicators on the switch are orange in color
because the switchports are undergoing the listening and learning states
of the Spanning Tree Protocol (STP).

4. Once the link turns green, as shown in the previous screenshot, ping again to
check the connectivity.
5. To save this topology, navigate to File | Save As and choose a location. The
topology will be saved with a .pkt extension, with the devices in the same state.

4 Cisco devices and Packet Tracer devices

Selecting Switches or Routers from the device-type selection box lists both Cisco
devices and some devices labeled Generic.

5 Accessing the CLI

The Command-line Interface of a device in Packet Tracer can be accessed in two ways:

 The CLI tab

 Console port

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Although it is possible to access a device through SSH or Telnet, these are Cisco
methods and are not exclusive to Packet Tracer.

The CLI tab

This is the simplest way of accessing the Command-line Interface of a device; click on a
network device, navigate to the CLI tab, and you'll see the booting process.

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The Console port

There is no difference between what is seen and controlled in this method and the
previous one, but the Console Port can be used to make the topology look similar to the
real world.

6 Configuring network devices

In this section, you'll learn how to configure Cisco routers and switches without using a
single command! Yes, it is possible; Packet Tracer provides a Config tab that contains
GUI options for the most common configurations. What's more, as you tinker with the
GUI, its equivalent Cisco IOS command is also displayed. Take a look at the following
screenshot:

From the Config tab of the switch, we will set

the Interface option to FastEthernet0/1 and uncheck the On checkbox for Port
Status. So the Equivalent IOS Commands section displays the following command
to achieve this process:
Switch>enable
Switch#configure terminal
Switch(config)#interface FastEthernet0/1
Switch(config-if)#shutdown

Using the Config tab, the following can be configured:

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 Global settings
 Routing (on a router and a layer 3 switch)
 VLAN database (on a switch)
 Interface Settings

Let's see what options are offered under each of these sections.

GLOBAL SETTINGS
The first part of Global settings allows you to change the Display
name and Hostname of the device. The display name can also be changed by clicking
on the name below the device icon. The configuration file for the device can also be
saved, erased, or exported for later use.

The Algorithm Settings section contains settings meant for advanced users who want
to minutely tweak their device to see how it responds to certain situations. These settings
can also be globally set for all network devices by navigating to Options | Algorithm
Settings, or by using the shortcut Ctrl + Shift + M.

ROUTING
This section has options for configuring Static and dynamic routing (RIP). To configure
static routing, enter the network address, netmask, and its next hop address, and then
click on Add. Here is some sample network information:

 Network: 192.168.30.0
 Mask: 255.255.255.0
 Next Hop: 10.0.0.6

To configure Routing Information Protocol (RIP), it is enough to add only the

network IP. Please note that the GUI uses RIP Version 1, so classless routing is not
supported. Routing will be discussed in detail in Chapter 6, Configuring Routing with
the CLI. Apart from routers, routing can also be configured on the 3560-24PS switch,
as it is a layer 3 switch.

THE VLAN DATABASE

This section permit you to create and remove VLANs. Only the VLAN database can be
modified from these options; adding interfaces to these VLANs is what we'll see in the
next section.

INTERFACE SETTINGS
This section slightly differs from the switch and the router. Switches have options for
modifying the speed and duplex setting and for assigning a port to VLAN. On routers,
the VLAN section is replaced by the IP address configuration.

While changing the speed and duplex settings, if you are setting it to anything other
than auto, make sure that the settings are the same on both ends.

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For example, if you set it to 100 MBps on one end and 10 MBps on the other, the link
won't come up.

7 Creating a Network Topology

In this section we'll learn what it takes to create a network topology, its connections, and
link indications. Then we'll test the connectivity between the topologies and
a PDU (Protocol Data Unit), both simple and complex. Once we are done with that,
you'll no doubt be curious to see how data moves from one node to another. That will be
taken care of by the simulation mode of Packet Tracer. Finally, we'll clean up our
workspace a bit by using the clustering feature.

Connecting devices
Choosing the Connections icon from the device-type selection box lists several cables in
the device-specific selection box. Packet Tracer provides the following cables that can
be used to connect devices:

 Console: This is a console cable that is used to view the network device's
console from a PC/laptop. One end of the cable connects to the console port of
a network device while the other one connects to the RS-232 port on a PC/laptop.
 Copper straight-through: This is a standard Ethernet cable that is used to
connect two devices that operate in different layers of the OSI model (such as
hub to router and switch to PC). It can be used with Ethernet, Fast Ethernet and
Gigabit Ethernet port types.
 Copper cross-over: This Ethernet cable connects devices operating in the
same OSI layer (such as hub to hub, PC to PC, PC to router, and PC to printer).
This cable can also be used with Ethernet, Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet
port types.
 Fiber: This cable connects Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet ports of a fiber
port.
 Phone: This RJ11 cable connects the analog phone to a VoIP phone or a PC's
modem to a cloud. It also connects the modem interface of routers.
 Coaxial: The coaxial cable connects the cloud with a cable modem and a TV with
the cloud.
 Serial DCE and DTE: Serial cables connect routers together and connect routers
to the cloud. The DCE (Data Circuit-terminating Equipment) end has a clock
symbol on it. Clocking must be enabled on this end using the clock rate <300-
4000000> command to bring the line protocol up. If Serial DTE (Data Terminal
Equipment) is chosen, the first device connected with this cable will be the DTE
end and next device will be the DCE end. For the Serial DCE cable, this is just
the opposite.
 Octal: This cable was introduced in PT Version 6. It has a high-density connector
on one end and eight RJ45 plugs on the other.

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 Automatically choose connection type: If you are confused about the cable
to use, choosing this option automatically connects two devices with the best
cable. We say best cable because if you have two routers with serial and Fast
Ethernet interfaces on both of them and want to connect both of their Fast
Ethernet interfaces, choosing this option will connect only their serial interfaces
together. Similarly, console ports cannot be connected using this option.

Link status
After connecting devices together, you'll find a light at each end of the cable; this
indicates the state of the connection, as follows:

 Bright green: This indicates that the physical link is up, but it doesn't indicate
the status of the line protocol.
 Blinking green: This indicates link activity.
 Red: This indicates that the physical link is down. This can be caused by
incorrect cables or by a port being administratively shut down.
 Amber: This appears only on switches, and indicates that the port is running
the STP (Spanning Tree Protocol) algorithm to detect layer 2 loops.

Let us demonstrate how to connect devices in a topology containing a PC, laptop, switch,
and a router. We will be using the following topology for this demo:

After adding the devices shown in the previous topology, click on a connection type from
the device-type selection box and choose a connection. Click on a device and a context
menu will list all of the interfaces available for the device. Select the interface and repeat
the same steps on the other device to create a link between the two.

If a router is connected to any device, the link status will be red because routers have
their ports in "shutdown" status by default. If a device is connected to a switch, the link

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is initially amber in color, indicating that it is going through the states of STP.

8 Testing connectivity with PDUs

Once a topology has been created, connectivity can be tested between devices by using
either simple or complex PDUs. Although it is possible to do the same by pinging devices
from their command-line interface, using the PDU option is quicker for large topologies.

Simple PDU
The Add Simple PDU option uses only ICMP (Internet Control Message
Protocol). We will create a topology with a PC and a server to demonstrate how this
option works:

1. Add a PC and a server to the workspace and connect them using a copper
crossover cable.

2. Assign IP addresses to both of them in the same subnet. Example,

PC1: 192.168.0.1/255.255.255.0 and PC2: 192.168.0.2/255.255.255.0.
3. From the common tools bar, click on the closed envelope icon or use the shortcut

key P.
4. The pointer will change to an envelope symbol. Click on the PC first and then on
the server. Now look at the User Created Packet box. You'll see the status
as Successful and will also see the source, the destination, and the type of
packet that was sent.

9 Using the simulation mode

All of this was done while we were working in real-time mode, so the only indication of
traffic was the link status blinking green. But, using simulation mode, you can see
packets flowing from one node to another and can also click on a packet to see detailed
information categorized by OSI layers.
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Use the realtime/simulation tab to switch to the simulation mode.

Click on the Auto Capture / Play button to begin packet capture. Try a Simple PDU,
as described in the previous section, and the event list will be populated with three
entries, indicating the creation of an ICMP packet, ICMP echo sent, and ICMP reply
received:

If you click on a packet (the envelope icon), you'll be presented with the packet
information categorized according to OSI layers. The Outbound PDU Details tab lists
each layer's information in a packet format:

The simulation mode has a Play Controls section that works similar to the controls of
a media player and is as follows:

 Back: This button moves the process one step back each time it is clicked on.

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 Auto Capture / Play: Pressing this button results in all of the network traffic
(chosen under event filters) being continuously captured until this button is
pressed again.
 Capture/Forward: This is the manual mode of the previous button. This has to
be pressed each time to move the packet from one place to another.

10 Packet Tracer Cisco Commands list CLI Basic

Here is the detailed Cisco router configuration commands list, which can be
implemented with packet tracer. Packet tracer is a network simulator used for configuring
and creating the virtual cisco devices and network. There are also some other similar
software but Cisco IOS output will be same on all simulators.

Cisco Router Configuration Step By Step

To configure any device in packet tracer you are required to open or access its CLI. You
can do it by clicking any device and then navigating to CLI tab. Once you are at CLI you
can perform all Cisco Commands here.

Cisco IOS supports numerous command modes which can be practice with packet
tracer, followings are the main command modes of cisco CLI with specific commands to
navigate from one mode to other.

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Command for
How to access this
Mode Symbol leaving this
mode
mode

Default mode after booting.

User EXEC
Router > Press enter for accessing Use exit command
Mode
this.

Use enable command from

Privileged
Router # user exec mode for entering exit
EXEC mode
into this mode

Global Use configure

Exit or Ctrl+Z for
Configuration Router(config)# terminal command from
user EXEC mode
mode privileged exec mode

Use interface <interface

Use exit command
Interface Router(config- name+number> command
to return in global
Configuration if)# from global configuration
mode
mode

IOS commands are not case sensitive it means that you can use them in uppercase,
lowercase, or mixed case, but passwords are case sensitive. Therefore make sure you
type it in correctly. In any mode, you can obtain a list of commands available on that
mode by entering a question mark (?).

How to Change the Cisco Router name

You can change the cisco router name by using command hostname in global
configuration mode.

How to set the IP address to Cisco interface:

You can set the IP address to any Cisco device interface by using the
following commands:
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Router(config)#interface <interface name&number>

Router(config-if)#ip address <IP address> <subnet mask>

How to enable a port or interface

Router(config-if)#no shutdown

Example:

How to check the IP address of all interfaces:

You can use the “show ip interface brief” command in Privileged EXEC mode for
checking the IP address of all interface of Cisco device.

Verifying Commands for Network Connectivity

You can use these commands to verify network connectivity for your router

router# enable
router# ping [ip-address | hostname]

Command Example:

router# ping 192.168.3.1

(A reply response from host 192.168.3.1 will verify the connectivity)

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11 Bibliography

 Packet Tracer Network Simulator, Jenin A, Pack Publishing, 2014

 https://w7cloud.com/packet-tracer-cisco-commands-list-cli-basic/, April 2020

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