Reading: None.
In this lab, you will download and install Cisco's Packet Tracer. You will also create a simple network model and configure the devices in the model according to "lab-standard" basic settings.
Packet Tracer is sensitive to its version number. In particular, you won't be able to open a file written by a newer version of Packet Tracer with any older version. Thus, to ensure that we can share files effectively, we should all use exactly the same version of the tool. For this semester, we will standardize on version 8.1.2. Do the following steps:
Download the Packet Tracer installer for your operating system from the class home page. If you download the installer from elsewhere, be certain you are downloading the 8.1.2 installer and not some other newer (or older) version.
Run the installer as appropriate for your system.
Open Packet Tracer and log into it. You will need to use your Cisco Networking Academy credentials. If you do not have (or don't know) your Networking Academy credentials, contact your instructor.
You could also create a free account on Cisco's Skills for All website and use those credentials to log into Packet Tracer. However, you will need to access the Networking Academy for this course in any case, so you'll still need Cisco Networking Academy credentials (which are different) eventually.
You cannot use Packet Tracer without logging into it.
In this part, you will use Packet Tracer to put together a model of a simple network. This will give you an opportunity to explore how to use the tool to build simulated networks. Start by constructing the following network model:
Take note of the following:
Be sure to use the same components as shown above. Although many Cisco devices behave similarly, there are differences. Your experience with these labs will be smoother if you use exactly the same components recommended here.
Although not shown in the diagram, connect the router to the FastEthernet0/1 ports on the switches, and the PCs to the FastEthernet0/2 ports. Although it won't matter for this lab, in some labs it does matter, so it's good to get used to attending to these details.
Also, not shown in the diagram, connect the left-hand switch to the FastEthernet0/0 port on the router and the right-hand switch to the FastEthernet0/1 port on the router. If you swap these connections, the configuration commands below would need to be adjusted. However, that will make it more difficult for me to evaluate your work and may cause you to lose points on the lab.
Be sure to include the labels in your model as shown in the diagram above. The labels have no significance on the behavior of the model. They are purely for the purpose of documentation. However, using labels can make it much easier to understand the configuration of your simulated network.
Finally, click on the names of each device in your model and change those names. Use R1 for the router, S1 for the left-hand switch, S2 for the right-hand switch, PC-A for the left-hand PC and PC-B for the right-hand PC.
Click on the router in your model. In the window that appears, click on the "CLI" (command line interface) tab. You may see a prompt that looks like:
Would you like to enter the initial configuration dialog? [yes/no]:
Answer "no" to this prompt. Packet Tracer is trying to simulate the behavior of a real device. In this case, you are dealing with a "new" device that you just took out of the box. However, we will always manually configure our devices in this class, so you should never run the initial configuration dialog.
You should see a prompt that says:
Press RETURN to get started!
Press the return (or enter) key to get the router's console prompt:
Router>
The router is running some version of Cisco's IOS (Internet Operating System... it has nothing to do with Apple). Configuring the router entails typing commands at this prompt as appropriate. In this class whenever I show IOS commands, I will show the prompt as well for context. In fact, the IOS command line has many "modes" and the prompt changes to reflect the mode you are currently in, so it is important to pay close attention to the prompt.
Start by executing certain commands to configure the router in a "basic" way. In the document linked here, run through the commands in the "Global Settings" and "Console Access" section. Ignore the rest of the document for now. These commands will be a lab-standard for us. They put the router into a more user-friendly state. Considering running these commands on all routers in all future labs as part of the set-up for those labs. Don't worry if you don't understand these commands fully yet.
IMPORTANT! When you have the router configured as you like, execute the command:
R1# copy running-config startup-config
This copies the configuration you've created to non-volatile storage. If you forget to do this and reboot the (simulated) router, you will lose your configuration!
You do not need to do any configuration of the switches at this time.
At this point, it would be a good idea to save your Packet Tracer model to a file before continuing. That way if you corrupt your model, you can easily return to this point. Note that saving a model and then reloading it into Packet Tracer does not imply that the devices are rebooted. Packet Tracer saves your model with the devices powered on and picks up exactly where you left off when you reload your saved model. You should still execute the command above, however, because sometimes you will want to explicitly reboot your devices in the simulation.
In this part, you will assign IP addresses to the two router interfaces and bring those interfaces up. The router's interfaces are off by default, which is why you see red triangles on the lines connected to the routers.
Open the router's console CLI again (if it is not already open). You may have to type RETURN and then enter the router's console password ("hamburger") to gain access. When you enable privilege mode, you will also need to provide the enable secret ("hotdog"). Use the following commands:
R1> enable R1# configure terminal R1(config)# interface FastEthernet0/0 R1(config-if)# ip address 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.0 R1(config-if)# no shutdown R1(config-if)# exit R1(config)# interface FastEthernet0/1 R1(config-if)# ip address 192.168.2.1 255.255.255.0 R1(config-if)# no shutdown R1(config-if)# exit R1(config)# exit R1# copy running-config startup-config
This sets the IP address of each interface, with its netmask, and turns the interfaces on. Finally, these commands save the configuration in non-volatile storage. You should see the red triangles on the lines connected to the router turn green as the interfaces come up.
This might be another good time to ask Packet Tracer to save the model.
Do the following steps:
Close the router console window if it is still open.
Click on PC-A, and then click on the "Config" tab in the window that appears. On the main page enter a "Default Gateway" address of 192.168.1.1. This is the address of the router interface connected to the PC's link.
On the left side of the window, click on the "FastEthernet0/0" tab to configure the PC's network interface. Use a static IPv4 address of 192.168.1.2. The subnet mask should fill in automatically (but if it doesn't use 255.255.255.0).
Configure PC-B similarly except use 192.168.2.1 as the default gateway address and 192.168.2.2 as the PC's network interface address.
This completes the configuration of the simulated network model. Save the model as before.
Click on PC-A again, except this time click on the "Desktop" tab. Click on the "Command Prompt" tile. Execute the following command on the simulated PC:
C:\> ping 192.168.2.2
This command attempts to ping the other PC across the simulated network. It should succeed. Don't be alarmed if there is a delay for the first attempt. That is normal. However, it takes longer than a few seconds to start working, something is wrong.
TODO: Write some troubleshooting tips!
Submit your saved Packet Tracer file to canvas as your submission for this lab.
Last Revised: 2023-12-06
© Copyright 2023 by Peter Chapin <peter.chapin@vermontstate.edu>