Cloud GNS3 is a Ubuntu-based cloud/local VM deployment of GNS3 and all the tools required to run it with access through only a web browser (no need for client-side installs!). It comes in two versions: Vagrant and cloud-init.
Clone the Cloud GNS3 GitHub repository to your machine.
git clone https://github.com/robiworks/cloud-gns3.gitMake sure you are currently in the directory containing the cloned GitHub repository. Move to the vagrant directory inside the cloud-gns3 directory.
cd vagrantAt this point you can change some of the VM settings inside the Vagrantfile or stay on the default settings. Some settings you might want to take a look at are listed here.
- Allocate more CPU cores to the VM: modify the line
v.cpus = 2(default is 2 cores) - Allocate more RAM to the VM: modify the line
v.memory = 2048(default is 2048 MB) - Change the port forwarding settings: modify the line
gns3.vm.network "forwarded_port", guest: 8080, host: 15000(default is VM 8080 forwards to host 15000)
Now you can start the VM with Vagrant.
vagrant upVagrant will download the Ubuntu 20.04 LTS image (if it is not present on your machine yet) and run the provisioning scripts. The provisioning took around 7 minutes on my 2020 laptop on a ~50Mbps connection. The VM reboots automatically after provisioning finishes.
You can now access the Apache Guacamole web interface on http://localhost:15000/guacamole/. If you changed the port forwarding settings, modify the port accordingly.
Log-in credentials for Apache Guacamole:
- Username:
msi-gns3 - Password:
msi-gns3
Log-in credentials for the actual VM:
- Username:
vagrant(choose on the login screen) - Password:
vagrant
Make sure you are currently in the directory containing the cloned GitHub repository. Move to the cloud-init directory inside the cloud-gns3 directory.
cd cloud-initRun the following command to start the VM with the name mp-gns3, 2 CPU cores, 2 GB of RAM and a 10 GB disk. You can modify the parameters according to your needs. Please note that the VM requires at least 6 GB of disk space, 10 GB is recommended.
multipass launch --name mp-gns3 --cpus 2 --mem 2G --disk 10G --cloud-init cloud-config.yamlMultipass will download the latest Ubuntu LTS image (if it is not present on your machine yet) and prepare the VM for use. It will probably say this:
launch failed: The following errors occurred:
timed out waiting for initialization to complete
Don't worry, that's fine. The initialization is taking longer than Multipass expected but the VM is still being prepared. The VM reboots automatically after initialization finishes. The initialization took around 7 minutes on my 2020 laptop on a ~50Mbps connection.
To find your VM's IP address, type multipass info mp-gns3 (it should look like 10.x.x.x). You can now access the Apache Guacamole web interface on http://10.x.x.x:8080/guacamole/. Make sure to replace 10.x.x.x in the link with your VM's actual IP address.
Log-in credentials for Apache Guacamole:
- Username:
msi-gns3 - Password:
msi-gns3
Log-in credentials for the actual VM:
- Username:
gns3user(choose on the login screen) - Password:
gns3user
Use the cloud-config.yaml inside the cloud-init directory to provision your cloud VM. This will differ depending on the cloud provider that you use, refer to their documentation for instructions on how to provision your VM. In Azure, it is as simple as copy-pasting the cloud-config.yaml into a text box when creating your VM through the web interface.
Make sure to enable TCP traffic to port 8080 on your VM or else the web interface will not work! When you have done that and the VM has finished provisioning, you will be able to access the Apache Guacamole web interface on http://<your VM's IP address>:8080/guacamole/.
Log-in credentials for Apache Guacamole:
- Username:
msi-gns3 - Password:
msi-gns3
Log-in credentials for the actual VM:
- Username:
gns3user(choose on the login screen) - Password:
gns3user
After you've logged into Apache Guacamole and the VM itself, you can start using it like a normal machine with Ubuntu. The VM comes preinstalled with the XFCE4 desktop environment, GNS3, Wireshark and Firefox.
You can find GNS3 in Applications -> Education -> GNS3. You can also add it to the desktop for quicker access, just drag it to the desktop. Wireshark and Firefox are both located in Applications -> Internet.
GNS3 is preconfigured in the VM so you do not have to fiddle with the configuration files. Let's create an example project.
Copy this basic topology using only preinstalled appliances or build your own topology, it's up to you. Click on the green play button, the devices will now be simulated. Let's configure the PCs. You can configure them through their terminal or by right-clicking and selecting Edit config. For the purposes of this tutorial we will configure them like this:
- PC1:
ip 192.168.0.100/24 - PC2:
ip 192.168.0.101/24 - PC3:
ip 192.168.0.102/24 - PC4:
ip 192.168.0.103/24
Right click on the wire going from Hub1 to Switch1, select Start capture and Wireshark will start up. Open PC1's terminal and type in ping 192.168.0.102. This will send 6 ping packets (and 6 pong packets) between PC1 and PC3 and you will be able to see them in the Wireshark capture.
After you've finished work with your GNS3, you can shut down the VM through the command line (vagrant halt or multipass stop mp-gns3), you can click on gns3user (or vagrant if you're using Vagrant) in the top right corner and select Shutdown, or use your cloud provider's shutdown feature.
The VM will shut down as expected and Apache Guacamole will notify you that you have been disconnected.
The VM uses the following components for the desktop experience:
- XFCE4 desktop environment
- LightDM display manager
- GNS3 GUI, GNS3 Server and all of its dependencies (Docker ...)
- Firefox web browser
Installing the XFCE4 package on Ubuntu 20.04 also installs GNOME (and GDM3) for some reason. The provisioning scripts set LightDM as the default display manager and purge GDM3, ubuntu-session, xwayland from the VM so the user can only boot into the XFCE4 desktop environment as GNOME caused some problems during testing and performed worse than XFCE4.
After the desktop experience components are installed, the scripts create configuration files for GNS3 GUI and GNS3 Server so the user does not have to fiddle with the settings. The VM is ready for use.
The remote desktop part of the VM uses:
- Apache Guacamole for the web interface
- X11VNC for the VNC server
The provisioning scripts download the Guacamole server source code and compile it according to the instructions in the Guacamole manual. Apache Tomcat is required to run the Guacamole web app and is installed according to the instructions here.
X11VNC is configured using the xserver-xorg-video-dummy dummy video driver. As the VM is expected to be run headlessly, this is required and a dummy monitor is configured with the resolution 1920x1080. X11VNC was chosen as the VNC server because of its ability to let the user also use the log-in screen of the VM instead of being logged in directly into a virtual desktop (as is the case with other VNC servers like TigerVNC).