Lab 2 Introduction to Cisco Packet Tracer

Interface Overview
When you open Packet Tracer, by default you will be presented with the following interface:

1 Menu Bar This bar provides the File, Edit, Options, View, Tools, Extensions, Window
and Help menus. You will find basic commands such as Open, Save, Save as Pkz, Print, and
Settings and Preferences in these menus. You will also be able to access the Activity Wizard
from the Extensions menu. Window menu allows to enter/exit full screen mode, lists all top
level windows open by Packet Tracer and allows to activate them.
2 Main Tool Bar This bar provides shortcut icons to most commonly used menu
commands.
3 Common Tools Bar This bar provides access to these commonly used workspace
tools: Select, Inspect, Delete, Resize Shape, Place Note, Drawing Palette, Add Simple PDU, and
Add Complex PDU. See "Workspace Basics" for more information.
4 Logical/Physical Workspace and Navigation Bar You can toggle between the Physical
Workspace and the Logical Workspace with the tabs on this bar. In Logical Workspace, this bar
also allows you to go back to a previous level in a cluster, create a New Cluster, Move Object,
Set Tiled Background, and Viewport. In Physical Workspace, this bar allows you to navigate
through physical locations, create a New City, create a New Building, create a New Closet, Move
Object, apply a Grid to the background, Set Background, and go to the Working Closet.
Lab 2 Introduction to Cisco Packet Tracer

5 Workspace This area is where you will create your network, watch simulations, and
view many kinds of information and statistics.
6 Realtime/Simulation Bar You can toggle between Realtime Mode and Simulation
Mode with the tabs on this bar. This bar also provides buttons to Power Cycle Devices and Fast
Forward Time as well as the Play Control buttons and the Event List toggle button in Simulation
Mode. Also, it contains a clock that displays the relative Time in Realtime Mode and Simulation
Mode.
7 Network Component Box This box is where you choose devices and connections to
put into the workspace. It contains the Device-Type Selection Box and the Device-Specific
Selection Box. There's a searchable field that allows you to enter a device name to look for that
specific device quickly. Device name shows when you mouse over the device icon in the Device-
Specific Box.
8 Device-Type Selection Box This box contains the type of devices and connections
available in Packet Tracer. The Device-Specific Selection Box will change depending on which
type of device you choose.
9 Device-Specific Selection Box This box is where you choose specifically which
devices you want to put in your network and which connections to make. In this box, you'll find
devices that may have already been obsolete. You have an option to hide legacy equipment in
the Preferences window under Options.
10 User Created Packet Window* This window manages the packets you put in the
network during simulation scenarios. See the "Simulation Mode" section for more details.

Workspaces and Modes

Packet Tracer has two workspaces (Logical and Physical) and two modes (Realtime and
Simulation). Upon startup, you are in the Logical Workspace in Realtime Mode. You can build
your network and see it run in real time in this configuration. You can switch to Simulation
Mode to run controlled networking scenarios. You can also switch to the Physical Workspace to
arrange the physical aspects (such as the location) of your devices.
Lab 2 Introduction to Cisco Packet Tracer

Saving a PKZ
Packet Tracer allows you to save your topology (PKT) as well as any custom device icons and
backgrounds that you applied to on the Logical Workspace and Physical Workspace to a save
file called a PKZ. A PKZ is able to retain any external files you add in a single save file, which
allows for portability and compactness from computer to computer. To create a PKZ, go to File
> Save as Pkz. Enter a file name for the PKZ and click on Save. In the Pkz Select Files dialog, you
will be able to add and remove files that you want to save along with PKT. To add a file, click on
the Add button and browse to the file you want to add then click Open. To remove a file, select
the file from the list then click Remove. Once you are done adding and removing files, click OK
to create the PKZ file.

Important Terminology
1. ICMP ping: command consisting of an echo request message from one device to
another, and the returning echo reply.
2. IP address: 32-bit address assigned to devices as identification in the network.
3. Ethernet: one of the most common LAN standards for hardware, communication and
cabling.
4. Fast Ethernet Interface: 100 Mbps Ethernet port. In Packet Tracer, a GUI may be used to
configure such interfaces.
5. OSI model: 7-layer framework for looking at network protocols and devices, consisting
of the application, presentation, session, transport, network, data link, and physical
layers.
6. PDU: protocol data unit, a grouping of data appropriate to a given layer in the OSI
model.
Lab 2 Introduction to Cisco Packet Tracer

7. Packets: OSI Layer 3 protocol data units. Represented by envelopes in Packet Tracer
Simulation Mode.
8. Device Tables: includes ARP, switching, and routing tables. They contain information
regarding the devices and protocols in the network.
9. ARP Table: Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) table, stores pairings of IP Addresses and
Ethernet MAC addresses.
10. Scenario: one topology with a set of PDUs placed in the network to be sent at specific
times. Using different scenarios, experiment with different combinations of packets
using the same base topology.

Creating a First Network

1. Start creating a network by first selecting the End Devices. Add a Generic PC and a
Generic Server to the workspace.
2. Under Connections, select the Copper Straight-through cable (solid black line) and
connect the devices with it. The red lights on the link indicate that the connection is not
working. Now, use the Delete tool to remove the Copper Straight-through cable, and
Lab 2 Introduction to Cisco Packet Tracer

use a Copper Cross-over cable (dashed line) instead. The lights should turn green at this
point. If the mouse pointer is held over either devices, the link status will be shown as
“Up.” The network should look similar to this:

3. Click on the PC, Open the PC configuration window and change the settings using the
Config tab. Change the display name to Client and set the DNS server to 192.168.0.105.
Under Interface, click FastEthernet0 and set the IP address as 192.168.0.110. Packet
Tracer automatically calculates other parameters. Make sure that the Port Status box is
checked. For future reference, note that other Ethernet interface settings, such as
bandwidth, duplex, MAC address, and subnet mask can be modified using this window.

4. Open the Server configuration window and go to the Config tab. Change the display
name to Web Server. Click FastEthernet0 and set the IP address as 192.168.0.105.
Make sure that the Port Status is also on. Click on the Services Tab, then on the DNS
selection and set the domain name as www.firstlab.com. Set the IP address as
192.168.0.105 and click Add. Finally, check to make sure that the service for DNS is on.

5. You can use ctl+sft+I command to add notes to your network for description or use
following button.
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6. Click on the PC to view the configuration window.

7. Select the Desktop tab, and then click Web Browser. Type in www.firstlab.com as the
URL and click the Go button. The Packet Tracer welcome page, shown below, appears,
indicating that the web connection has been successfully established.
8. Clear the URL, type www and click Go. Since the address entered is not complete, a
“Host Name Unresolved” message appears.
9. Type 192.168.0.105 as the URL entry and click on Go. Notice that the Packet Tracer
welcome page appears again. This is because the Server IP address can also be used to
establish a web connection.
10. Close the window and try the same steps, detailed below, in Simulation Mode. In this
mode, the user controls time, so the network can be viewed running at a slower pace,
allowing observation of the paths packets take and inspection of packets in detail
(packet tracing!).
11. Enter into Simulation mode by clicking on the stopwatch tab lin the lower right corner of
the workspace. Select the PC again and go to the Web Browser in the Desktop tab. Type
www.firstlab.com as the URL again and click Go. The welcome page should not appear
yet.
12. Switch to the main interface of Packet Tracer without closing the PC configuration
window. Notice that a DNS packet is added to the event list.
13. Click Auto Capture/Play or repeatedly click the Capture/Forward button until the HTTP
packet appears on the PC. Go back to the PC configuration window. The Packet Tracer
welcome page is now shown.
14. Close the PC configuration window.

Capturing Events and Viewing Animations in Simulation Mode

15. In Realtime Mode, send a simple PDU from the PC to the Server.
Lab 2 Introduction to Cisco Packet Tracer

Drop PDU to PC and then click on server to Ping it.

Details of PDU sent can be seen on window right below of PT as shown in pic.

16. Delete and edit the PDU by clicking as shown in pic below.

17. Switch to Simulation Mode.

Lab 2 Introduction to Cisco Packet Tracer

18. Click All/None to uncheck all fields and click Edit Filters. Then click ICMP to only view
ICMP packets in the animation.
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19. Add a simple PDU from the PC to the Server. Notice that the newly created PDU is
added to the User Created PDU List. This packet has been captured as the first event in
the event list and a new packet icon (envelope) appears in the workspace. The eye icon
to the left of the event list indicates that this packet is currently displayed.
20. When you will add PDU now, you can see request message travelling from client to
server and reply of server to client. (In simulation mode packets travel in slow motion)

21. Click the Capture/Forward button once. This simulates a network sniffing program,
capturing the next event that occurs on the network. Note that after clicking
Capture/Forward, the packet in the workspace moves from one device to another (this
is the ICMP echo request message from the PC to the Server). Another event is added in
the event list – this reflects the change in the workspace. The first time through an
animation, the meaning of the Capture/Forward is capture; after resetting the
simulation, the meaning is forward.
22. Adjust the speed of the animation by dragging the Play Speed slider to the right making
it go faster. Dragging the speed slider in the opposite direction (to the left) will slow
down the animation.
23. Click the Capture/Forward button a second time. This captures the next network event
(this is the echo reply from the Server to the PC, shown as successful with a green check
mark on the envelope).
24. Click Capture/Forward button again. The Server has already sent an echo reply to the PC
therefore, there are no more ICMP events left to capture.