ACL Exercise for GNS3 WorkBench (v5.x)

I’ve written a new exercise to GNS3 WorkBench. If you’d like to add it to your collection, follow these steps. I’ll assume that you are running GNS3 WorkBench v5.6 downloaded from this Sourceforge link. [Edit: 2014-12-02. GNS3 WorkBench v8.6 and later includes the ACL exercise, so if you download the latest GNS3 WorkBench from sourceforge, you will get the latest version of this exercise too. This article is left for archival purposes only]

This article assumes that you are reading this from within the GNS3 WorkBench environment. If you are not, then open your browser from GNS3 WOrkBench – there is a firefox Icon at the top of the screen – and re-open this page from there.

Step 1: Download and extract an updated set of GNS3 Script files.

Start by clicking on this link[Edit: 2014-12-02 – link no longer active – see comment above], and Open with Archive Manager.
You should see a folder called WorkBench Scripts in the archive manager.
From the Archive Manage, click on the Extract Files icon, and navigate to the /opt/GNS3/READMEs & Scripts – there is a shortcut to this folder in the left hand pane:

Make sure the Overwrite existing files Action is checked, and click Extract. Quit the archive manager when finished.

OK – that has updated the core GNS3 script files, now for the ACL exercise.

Step 2: Download & Install the ACL Exercise Folder

Click on this link,[Edit: 2014-12-02 – link no longer active – see comment above] and Open with Archive Manager.
This time, extract the files to /opt/GNS3/Project – and again there is a shortcut to this folder in the left-hand pane. However this time, instead of closing the archive manager, choose Show the Files. (If you have already closed the Archive Manager, then just open the GNS Files – More exercises here shortcut from the desktop).

Step 3: Pretty up the ACL Exercise Folder Icon (optional)

In this folder you will see a new folder called ACL Exercise. To make the folder carry a picture icon, read on.
Right click on this ACL Exercises folder and choose Properties. Under the [Basic] tab, click on the boring Folder Icon – this should open up a file browser where you will see a file called ACL Exercise.png. Choose this file and click Open – but you are not finished yet.
Next click on the [Emblems] tab, scroll down and select the documents emblem – I use this on all folders that I’ve “iconised” to remind me that this is a “Folder” icon rather than a “Launcher” icon, which we’ll come to next.
Having selected the documents Emblem, click Close. Your ACL Exercise Folder should match the style of the other folders.

Step 4: Put the desktop launcher in the ICND2 Exercises folder

Finally, you might like to put a desktop launcher in the ICND2 folder on the desktop. To do that you need to open the ACL Exercise folder you just downloaded. In that folder, you will find a file of type desktop configuration file called ACL Exercise.

Take a deep breath.
Right-click on this desktop configuration file called ACL Exercise, and select Copy.
Go to the Desktop (there is a Desktop shortcut in the bottom left-hand corner of your screen) and right-click on the ICND2 Exercises folder.
Choose Paste into Folder

Now when you open your ICND2 Exercises folder, you will have a new exercise. This exercise introduces a new feature that I intend to add to some of the other exercises, where I use a VPCs script to check your answer.
Enjoy