Steps:

1. Open the program GNS3 on your Windows computer (it21 through it28).
2. If you are shown the Setup Wizard...
   • For Server, choose the "Local server" option and click Next.
   • For Add virtual machines, uncheck the "Add an IOS router..." option, leave the other options unchecked, and click Finish.
   • You should be brought to the Preferences window.
   Otherwise, click Edit, followed by Preferences; steps III-V will take place there.
3. On the General section:
   
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   • Change the "Local paths" to the following, for the respective fields. (If the folders do not already exist, then you may need to create them.)

     C:\IT246\section_X\GNS3\projects

     C:\IT246\section_X\GNS3\images

     C:\IT246\section_X\GNS3\symbols

     C:\IT246\section_X\GNS3\configs

     Replace "X" with your section number, 1 or 3.
   • Make a note of the file path given for "Configuration file".
   • Click Apply .

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4. On the Server section:
   • For Local server, make sure that "Enable local server" is checked and that 127.0.0.1 is selected for "Host binding".
   • For GNS3 VM server, make sure that "Enable the GNS3 VM" is unchecked.
   • Click Apply .
5. On the IOS routers section under Dynamips:
   
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   1. Click New .
   2. For IOS image :
      • Choose the "New Image" option.
      • Click Browse
      • Navigate to C:\IT246\mats
      • Choose the file c3745.bin and click Open. (If the file is not already present, then let me know so that I can give instructions for downloading it.)
      • In response to the prompt "Would you like to decompress this IOS image?", click Yes
      • You will get an error message (due to the default settings), but just click OK.
      • Click Next .
   3. For Name and platform :
      • Change "Name" and "Platform" to c3745
      • Leave "Chassis" as it is.
      • Leave "This is an EtherSwitch router" unchecked.
      • Click Next.
   4. For Memory, leave the default value (probably 256 MiB) unchanged and click Next.
   5. For Network adapters, let "Slot 0" be "GT96100-FE", and click Next.
   6. Leave all fields in WIC modules alone, and click Next.
   7. For Idle-PC:
      • Click Idle-PC finder.
      • When it finishes computing an "idle-pc" value, click OK.
      • Click Finish .

   Now, you should repeat the previous steps 1-7 -- but with some slight changes...

   • At Step 2, the "Existing image" option will probably be marked, with a filename ending in .image ; this can be left as is. Click Next .
   • At Step 3, check the option "This is an EtherSwitch router" . This will change the name being assigned.
   • At Step 5, for Network adapters, "Slot 0" should still be "GT96100-FE", and "Slot 1" should be "NM-16ESW". Click Next .

   Otherwise, the steps should be similar.
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6. Open up the Windows command line utility and enter the command ipconfig and look for an entry that looks like this, with an IP address of 172.16.42.1 :

   Ethernet adapter ____________:
   
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fd99:9a7c:ee50::/48
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 172.16.42.1
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :                    
                   

   Make a note of the adapter name you see in the blank. If 172.16.42.1 does not exist either, then let me know and I will help you find the right adapter. (NOTE: Prior to Spring 2017, the "42" was "217". However, "42" should be correct now.)
7. Back in GNS3, create a new blank project.
   
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   • Supply the name it246_2x-y_lab07 -- replacing "2x" with the number for your physical machine and "y" with the number for your section -- and save.
     
     Example: it246_24-3_lab_07
   • You should now have a folder, dedicated to this new project, inside your projects folder. (Recall Step III from earlier.)
   • As you work, be sure to frequently save -- and even make backup copies of -- your project, so that you do not lose any work.

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8. Getting the "All devices" view:
   
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   Open a pane to show all devices that can go in your topology. Click View > Docks > All devices (But, see note...)

   

   You will see the following:

   
9. Here, we will start to build a topology, beginning with a server-type host:
   
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   From the All Devices pane, click on the Host icon, and drag it to the top center of your main workspace.

   

   Your topology will now feature a Host computer, with the default name "Host1", which you will change in the next step.

10. Configure the server host:
    
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    1. Right click on Host1 and select Configure:
       
    2. Recall the Ethernet interface name you recorded for Step VI. On the Ethernet tab, choose the Generic Ethernet NIO by that name:
       

       Click Add, which should incorporate the correct interface:

       
    3. On the Misc. tab, change Host1 to S1 :
       
    4. Finally, click OK, and your host should be renamed:
       

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11. Configure client hosts, PC1 and PC2
    
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    1. From the All Devices pane, click on the VPCS icon:
       
    2. Drag this to the right and middle of your main workspace:
       
       As you see, this becomes PC1
    3. To create PC2, repeat the previous, but drag to the bottom center of your main workspace:
       
       Now, we have PC2, as well.

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12. Add a router
    
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    To create the router R1, repeat the previous, but drag to the left and middle of your main workspace:
    
13. Add a switch
    
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    To create the switch SW1, repeat the previous, but drag to the very middle of your main workspace, in the center of your other four devices:
    
14. Link all your devices to the switch in the center:
    
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    • Find the icon for Link on the left-most side of the application window:

      

      Click it. A red X will appear on the icon, and your cursor will look like a crosshair: +

    • Bring your cursor over S1, click on it, and then click the red dot. These dots represent virtual Ethernet ports -- red if free or green if occupied.

      

      This is like plugging a cable into your computer's Ethernet port. When you move your cursor away from S1, you will see that it has a line coming from it. This is the "cable" waiting for you to connect the other end to something.

    • Bring your cursor over SW1, click on it, and then click any red dot (i.e., a free Ethernet port)

      

      Green dots on each end mean that the connection was successful. All that remains now is to connect the other three devices to the switch.

    • Connect PC1 to SW1:
      

    • Connect PC2 to SW1:

      
    • Connect R1 to SW1.

      NOTE:  R1 will have two Ethernet ports, FastEthernet0/0 and FastEthernet0/1 . For the sake of future labs, it is very important that you choose the latter, which is FastEthernet0/1 .
      

    Following this, you can go back to the left-side and unselect Link, now that we are done creating device connections.
15. Activate your virtual devices:
    
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    Go to the toolbar at the top of your application (just under the menu bar) and click the right-pointing green arrow, which will "Start/resume all devices":

    

    Now that they are "on", we can work with them.

16. Configure your connected devices (being sure to save your command line interaction):
    
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    • You need not worry about S1, as it is primarily a logical entity representing your physical machine itself.
    • Let us start with PC1. Right click on its icon and choose Console...
      

      ...which will give you a user interface like this:

      
    • This is similar to when you work on a remote machine, at the command line, over SSH. Try some of the following (and write about it in your admin log):
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      Type ? at the command prompt and press Enter.

      What happens when you do this?
      What is the significance of the output given?
      What can you do with this information?

      Get the current state of the ARP table for PC1.

      What are the contents of the ARP table, at this stage?
      What might be the reason for this?

      Enter the command show ip at the prompt and examine the output given.

      What happens when you do this? What is the significance of the output given?
      What information is the console providing you about PC1?
      Is any information missing or unconfigured? If so, what?
      What happens when you try to ping the IP address 172.16.42.1?

      Enter the command ip dhcp at the command prompt and examine the output given.

      What happens when you do this?
      Try the command show ip again. What has changed?
      Try to ping the IP address 172.16.42.1 once more. What happens this time?
      From the Windows command line, try to ping the IP address for PC1 -- what happens this time?

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    • Leave the console for PC1 open, and start up a separate console for PC2:
      • This part can be simpler in terms of time and write-up. We have already configured the first PC device, so this will be pretty straight-forward.
      • Set up PC2 with an IP address using the command ip dhcp, just as you did for PC1
      • Use the command show ip to find out basic information about PC2.
      • Try some pings back and forth to confirm that PC2 can interact with devices with addresses starting with 172.16.42.
    • Start a console for R1 . Because the command-line interface to the router is different, we will need more specialized steps...
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      Enter the command show ip interface brief at the command prompt and examine the output given.

      What happens when you do this?
      What is the significance of the output given?
      What can you do with this information?

      Enter these commands provided below, paying some attention to changes in the command prompt and the output given.
      configure terminal
      int fa0/1
      ip address dhcp
      no shut
      exit (Back to previous prompt)
      exit (Back to previous prompt)

      What happens when you go through these commands?

      Try the command show ip interface brief again and see what happens this time.

      What (if anything) changed, and why?
      Try some pings back and forth to confirm that R1 can interact with devices with addresses starting with 172.16.42.

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    At this point, you have four networking devices connected by a switch -- your physical machine, your two virtual PCs, and a virtual router. Each device should have an IP address starting with 172.16.42 -- which tells you that they are on a (virtual) LAN of their very own. Using the connected devices' associated network addresses (i.e., IP addresses), see if you can make them ping one another back and forth.

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17. Shut down PC1, PC2, and R1:
    
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    In the toolbar, find the RED square and click it to stop all devices:

    However, leave your consoles for PC1, PC2, and R1 open, so that I can look at them when you are done.

Upon Completion:

• Call me over, and show me your rough network topology, which should feature the required components
• • The network topology, viewable on screen in GNS3
  • Some record of your command line interaction that I can examine.
• In your Admin. Log, complete the entry for this lab, which should include questions asked during the lab steps and the following questions, along with your answers:
  1. How did the process of setting up GNS3 go?
  2. How long did it take to complete the process?
  3. What kind of network topology have we created here?
  4. Were any of the steps problematic, or did you have to redo any of them? If so, which ones and why?
  5. Which steps of the process were easiest to carry out, and why?
  6. Which steps of the process were hardest to carry out, and why?
  7. What are some of the main questions that you have about the material in this lab, moving forward?