Many people are not aware of how to make the best use of the features the the Virtual PCs (VPCs) program, so I thought I’d run a small tutorial.
Technical note: This tutorial was written using VPCs version 0.21 – and some of the functions described here will not work exactly the same on 0.20a, and for version 0.16 – you will have to use echo instead of TCP and UDP ping options.
To get started, I’ll assume you are working with the GNS3 Workbench, and have access to some working configurations. [If you are simply using GNS3, you may wish to read this first, to find out how to set up VPCS in GNS3] To keep things simple, I’m going to start with the nice triangular network that is found in Wendell Odom’s CCNA books. (If you are not working with the GNS3 Workbench, then download the topology, config and startup.vpc files here [Edit – updated these files to be more compatible with GNS3 v0.8.6+ 2014-07-22]). Or of course, you could just build your own network based on the diagram below.
To get to the working example, start by double-clicking the GNS3 Files-More exercises here icon. This will open up a folder of exercises, and from there open the exercise 3Router-ICND_Book_Example. In this folder you will see several files whose name begin with startup… Find the file called startup.2 (eigrp configured) and double click on it. You will be prompted with:
Do you want to run “startup.2 (eigrp configured)”, or display its contents?”
Click on Run and the lab will load.
In the GNS3 application, from the menu select Control->Start/Resume all devices to start your routers, and once the routers have started, from the menu select Control->Console to all devices icon. After all the routers have started, and the routing protocol converged, you are ready to start learning about VPCs.
Start by activating the VPCs Konsole window. You should see:
Executing the startup file PC1 : 10.1.1.1 255.255.255.0 gateway 10.1.1.251 PC2 : 10.1.2.1 255.255.255.0 gateway 10.1.2.252 PC3 : 10.1.3.1 255.255.255.0 gateway 10.1.3.253 NAME IP/CIDR GATEWAY MAC LPORT RPORT VPCS1 10.1.1.1/24 10.1.1.251 00:50:79:66:68:00 20000 30000 fe80::2050:79ff:fe66:6800/64 VPCS2 10.1.2.1/24 10.1.2.252 00:50:79:66:68:01 20001 30001 fe80::2050:79ff:fe66:6801/64 VPCS3 10.1.3.1/24 10.1.3.253 00:50:79:66:68:02 20002 30002 fe80::2050:79ff:fe66:6802/64 VPCS4 0.0.0.0/0 0.0.0.0 00:50:79:66:68:03 20003 30003 fe80::2050:79ff:fe66:6803/64 VPCS5 0.0.0.0/0 0.0.0.0 00:50:79:66:68:04 20004 30004 fe80::2050:79ff:fe66:6804/64 VPCS6 0.0.0.0/0 0.0.0.0 00:50:79:66:68:05 20005 30005 fe80::2050:79ff:fe66:6805/64 VPCS7 0.0.0.0/0 0.0.0.0 00:50:79:66:68:06 20006 30006 fe80::2050:79ff:fe66:6806/64 VPCS8 0.0.0.0/0 0.0.0.0 00:50:79:66:68:07 20007 30007 fe80::2050:79ff:fe66:6807/64 VPCS9 0.0.0.0/0 0.0.0.0 00:50:79:66:68:08 20008 30008 fe80::2050:79ff:fe66:6808/64 VPCS[1]>
The [1] shows that your focus is Virtual PC #1. From the output above, you can see that VPCS1‘s IP address is 10.1.1.1 and its default gateway is 10.1.1.251. In the GNS3 topology, it is marked as PC1Bugs.
In this lesson, you will see:
It helps if you understand that the reason that your VPCs have any configuration is because there is a startup file that serves as a script file when you run vpcs. You will learn more about script fiels in Lesson #7, but for now, I want you to understand that your startup.vpc script ended with the show command, and that you can use the show command any time you want to check your configuraiton, so begin by practicing that command.
VPCS[1]> show
NAME IP/CIDR GATEWAY MAC LPORT RPORT
VPCS1 10.1.1.1/24 10.1.1.251 00:50:79:66:68:00 20000 30000
fe80::2050:79ff:fe66:6800/64
VPCS2 10.1.2.1/24 10.1.2.252 00:50:79:66:68:01 20001 30001
fe80::2050:79ff:fe66:6801/64
VPCS3 10.1.3.1/24 10.1.3.253 00:50:79:66:68:02 20002 30002
fe80::2050:79ff:fe66:6802/64
VPCS4 0.0.0.0/0 0.0.0.0 00:50:79:66:68:03 20003 30003
fe80::2050:79ff:fe66:6803/64
VPCS5 0.0.0.0/0 0.0.0.0 00:50:79:66:68:04 20004 30004
fe80::2050:79ff:fe66:6804/64
VPCS6 0.0.0.0/0 0.0.0.0 00:50:79:66:68:05 20005 30005
fe80::2050:79ff:fe66:6805/64
VPCS7 0.0.0.0/0 0.0.0.0 00:50:79:66:68:06 20006 30006
fe80::2050:79ff:fe66:6806/64
VPCS8 0.0.0.0/0 0.0.0.0 00:50:79:66:68:07 20007 30007
fe80::2050:79ff:fe66:6807/64
VPCS9 0.0.0.0/0 0.0.0.0 00:50:79:66:68:08 20008 30008
fe80::2050:79ff:fe66:6808/64
Now continue by pinging the default gateway (10.1.1.251), check the arp cache using the arp command, then pinging PC2Sam, (VPCS2) whose IP address you can see from above is 10.1.2.1
VPCS[1]> ping 10.1.1.251 10.1.1.251 icmp_seq=1 ttl=255 time=8.741 ms 10.1.1.251 icmp_seq=2 ttl=255 time=3.502 ms 10.1.1.251 icmp_seq=3 ttl=255 time=1.943 ms 10.1.1.251 icmp_seq=4 ttl=255 time=3.289 ms 10.1.1.251 icmp_seq=5 ttl=255 time=2.909 ms
That worked, so there should be an arp entry for 10.1.1.251.
VPCS[1]> arp c2:00:10:03:00:00 10.1.1.251
The arp entry is OK. When you ping a remote device, often the first ping times out if a router along the way has go through an arp request.
VPCS[1]> p 10.1.2.1 10.1.2.1 icmp_seq=1 timeout 10.1.2.1 icmp_seq=2 ttl=62 time=8.220 ms 10.1.2.1 icmp_seq=3 ttl=62 time=5.116 ms 10.1.2.1 icmp_seq=4 ttl=62 time=5.171 ms 10.1.2.1 icmp_seq=5 ttl=62 time=6.130 ms
Notice that in the second ping, I didn’t type the whole word ping, I abbreviated “ping” to “p“. This can be done with any command, so long as you type enough to identify the command.
This lesson takes you through:
If you press the up-arrow then down-arrow keys, you will see that you can recall your previous commands. You can further edit these commands using the left-arrow and right-arrow keys. The command ? will give you a page of help, and from that help you can see there is a command hist which shows a list of the last 50 commands you have used – and hist can be abbreviated to h.
VPCS[1]> ? show Print the net configuration of PCs d Switch to the PC[d], d is digit, range 1 to 9 history List the command history ip [arguments] Configure PC's IP settings dhcp Configure host/gateway address using DHCP arp Show arp table ping address [options] Ping the network host tracert address [maxhops] Print the route packets take to network host echo [text] Display text in output clear [arguments] Clear ip/ipv6, arp/neighbor cache set [arguments] Set hostname, connection port and echo on or off load filename Load the configuration/script from the file 'filename' save filename Save the configuration to the file 'filename' ver Show version ? Print help quit Quit program VPCS[1]> h 1 show 2 ping 10.1.1.251 3 arp 4 p 10.1.2.1 5 ? 6 h
Your history is kept from session to session. If you quit a VPCs session, it saves the current command history in a file called vpcs.hist, so even when you run this lab next time, your command history will be preserved from last time!
To access one of the other VPCs, type a digit on a line by itself. In the example below, notice how I enter 2 to move to PC2, and then use the up-arrow to retrieve the ping command.
VPCS[1]> 2 VPCS[2]> ping 10.1.1.251 10.1.1.251 icmp_seq=1 ttl=254 time=4.113 ms 10.1.1.251 icmp_seq=2 ttl=254 time=7.437 ms ^C
You can stop a ping (or tracert) command by pressing CTRL+c. Notice how the last ping shows only two ping replies, then ^C on the last line, indicating that the ping was interrupted
This lesson will illustrate:
This time you will ping three non-existant addresses, one on PC1Bugs’ local subnet, one to another subnet off the Yosemite router in the scenario, and the other to an address that is not part of this network at all.
VPCS[2]> 1 VPCS[1]> ping 10.1.1.2 host (10.1.1.2) not reachable VPCS[1]> ping 10.1.2.2 10.1.2.2 icmp_seq=1 timeout 10.1.2.2 icmp_seq=2 timeout 10.1.2.2 icmp_seq=3 timeout 10.1.2.2 icmp_seq=4 timeout 10.1.2.2 icmp_seq=5 timeout VPCS[1]> ping 4.4.4.4 *10.1.1.251 icmp_seq=1 ttl=255 time=4.660 ms (ICMP type:3, code:1, Destination host unreachable) *10.1.1.251 icmp_seq=2 ttl=255 time=2.389 ms (ICMP type:3, code:1, Destination host unreachable) *10.1.1.251 icmp_seq=3 ttl=255 time=2.793 ms (ICMP type:3, code:1, Destination host unreachable) *10.1.1.251 icmp_seq=4 ttl=255 time=3.353 ms (ICMP type:3, code:1, Destination host unreachable) *10.1.1.251 icmp_seq=5 ttl=255 time=3.166 ms (ICMP type:3, code:1, Destination host unreachable)
Notice that the first ping says that the local IP (10.1.1.2) was not reachable – in other words, VPCs sent an ARP request, but did not receive a reply. See how this is different to the second ping, which would have been sent all the way to Yosemite router, and of course Yosemite would not have been able to reach the non-existant 10.1.2.2, so the pings timeout.
For the third ping to 4.4.4.4, the ICMP packet was sent to the default gateway as well, but this time the gateway did not have a path to 4.4..4.4, so the gateway sent back an ICMP message, type:3, code:1, which equates to Destination Unreachable (type=3), Host Unreachable (code=1). (See http://www.iana.org/assignments/icmp-parameters
for a list of ICMP code/type numbers)
To explore the many other ICMP replies you might get, you will first have to change some of the routing tables on these routers to make them think the network is different to what it physically is. In summary, you will:
To do this, cut and paste the following lines into the configuration of Albuquerque router:
enable configure terminal ip route 2.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 10.1.130.253 ip route 3.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 10.1.130.253 no ip http server service tcp-small-servers end
And cut and paste the following lines into the configuration of Seville router:
enable configure terminal ip route 3.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 10.1.130.251 access-list 101 deny tcp any host 10.1.3.1 eq 80 access-list 101 deny udp any host 10.1.3.1 eq 80 access-list 101 permit ip any any interface fa0/0 ip access-group 101 out exit ip http server end
This lesson shows you how to interpret a variety of ICMP replies and options. In particular you will explore:
To achieve this you will need to:
Start with a ping to something on the 2.0.0.0 network.
VPCS[1]> ping 2.2.2.2 **10.1.130.253 icmp_seq=1 ttl=254 time=5.326 ms (ICMP type:3, code:1, Destination host unreachable) *10.1.130.253 icmp_seq=2 ttl=254 time=9.323 ms (ICMP type:3, code:1, Destination host unreachable) *10.1.130.253 icmp_seq=3 ttl=254 time=6.267 ms (ICMP type:3, code:1, Destination host unreachable) *10.1.130.253 icmp_seq=4 ttl=254 time=5.789 ms (ICMP type:3, code:1, Destination host unreachable)
Note how the pings went to Seville, and Seville (10.1.130.253) replied with the ICMP Destination Unreachable messages (type:3, code:1) as expected.
Now test the loop condition you set up.
VPCS[1]> ping 3.3.3.3 *10.1.130.253 icmp_seq=1 ttl=254 time=83.237 ms (ICMP type:11, code:0, TTL expired in transit) *10.1.130.253 icmp_seq=2 ttl=254 time=60.351 ms (ICMP type:11, code:0, TTL expired in transit) *10.1.130.253 icmp_seq=3 ttl=254 time=54.258 ms (ICMP type:11, code:0, TTL expired in transit) *10.1.130.253 icmp_seq=4 ttl=254 time=72.232 ms (ICMP type:11, code:0, TTL expired in transit) *10.1.130.253 icmp_seq=5 ttl=254 time=74.451 ms (ICMP type:11, code:0, TTL expired in transit)
Note how the pings looped until the TTL expired at Seville, which sent back ICMP TTL Expired messages (type:11). Try that again, but this time change the TTL of the packets sent so that they start with an odd number rather than the default even number (64). Issue a ping command by itself to see the ping options.
VPCS[1]> ping ping address [options], Ping the network host, Ctrl+C to stop the command -1 ICMP mode, default -2 UDP mode -3 TCP mode -P [protocol] Same as above, setting ip protocol 1 - icmp, 17 - udp, 6 - tcp -c count packet count -l size data size -T ttl set TTL, default 64 -p port source and destination port -f flag tcp head flag, |C|E|U|A|P|R|S|F| bits |7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0| -t send packet until interrupt by Ctrl+C -i ms wait 'ms' milliseconds between sending each packet -w ms wait 'ms' milliseconds to receive the response
Notice that the option to control the starting TTL value is -T. Use it in the following command.
VPCS[1]> ping 3.3.3.3 -T 3 *10.1.130.251 icmp_seq=1 ttl=255 time=6.718 ms (ICMP type:11, code:0) *10.1.130.251 icmp_seq=2 ttl=255 time=4.172 ms (ICMP type:11, code:0) ^C
Note that this time, the TTL Expired (Type=11) message came from Albuquerque (10.1.130.252), because the TTL expired after 3 hops.
This lesson shows you how to send packets to TCP and UDP ports, and interpret the results. You will:
To test the Access Control List (ACL), you will use one of VPCs most powerful features – the ability to send packets to TCP and UDP ports. To do this you will:
So here’s the plan:
From PC1Bugs
VPCS[1]> ping 10.1.3.1 -P 6 -p 23 Connect 23@10.1.3.1 seq=1 ttl=62 time=1311.560 ms SendData 23@10.1.3.1 seq=1 ttl=62 time=12.115 ms Close 23@10.1.3.1 seq=1 ttl=62 time=10.617 ms Connect 23@10.1.3.1 seq=2 ttl=62 time=9.944 ms SendData 23@10.1.3.1 seq=2 ttl=62 time=10.744 ms Close 23@10.1.3.1 seq=2 ttl=62 time=17.752 ms Connect 23@10.1.3.1 seq=3 ttl=62 time=8.096 ms SendData 23@10.1.3.1 seq=3 ttl=62 time=12.436 ms Close 23@10.1.3.1 seq=3 ttl=62 time=15.322 ms Connect 23@10.1.3.1 seq=4 ttl=62 time=12.134 ms SendData 23@10.1.3.1 seq=4 ttl=62 time=20.260 ms Close 23@10.1.3.1 seq=4 ttl=62 time=17.187 ms Connect 23@10.1.3.1 seq=5 ttl=62 time=13.777 ms SendData 23@10.1.3.1 seq=5 ttl=62 time=11.590 ms Close 23@10.1.3.1 seq=5 ttl=62 time=14.084 ms
A VPCs TCP ping works like this:
VPCS[1]> ping 10.1.3.1 -P 6 -p 80 *10.1.130.253 tcp_seq=1 ttl=254 time=9.455 ms (ICMP type:3, code:13, Communication administratively prohibited) *10.1.130.253 tcp_seq=3 ttl=254 time=3.924 ms (ICMP type:3, code:13, Communication administratively prohibited) *10.1.130.253 tcp_seq=5 ttl=254 time=6.600 ms (ICMP type:3, code:13, Communication administratively prohibited)
Note how the Seville router sent an ICMP Destination Unreachable (type:3) Administratively Prohibited (code:13) message for the TCP ping to PC3Elmer’s port 80. What a great tool to test ACLs!!
VPCS[1]> ping 10.1.3.253 -P 6 -p 80 Connect 80@10.1.3.253 seq=1 ttl=254 time=12.448 ms SendData 80@10.1.3.253 seq=1 ttl=254 time=215.492 ms Close 80@10.1.3.253 seq=1 ttl=254 time=16.636 ms Connect 80@10.1.3.253 seq=2 ttl=254 time=5.434 ms SendData 80@10.1.3.253 seq=2 ttl=254 time=234.653 ms Close 80@10.1.3.253 seq=2 ttl=254 time=13.759 ms Connect 80@10.1.3.253 seq=3 ttl=254 time=6.927 ms SendData 80@10.1.3.253 seq=3 ttl=254 time=232.419 ms Close 80@10.1.3.253 seq=3 ttl=254 time=10.550 ms Connect 80@10.1.3.253 seq=4 ttl=254 time=6.130 ms SendData 80@10.1.3.253 seq=4 ttl=254 time=235.334 ms Close 80@10.1.3.253 seq=4 ttl=254 time=11.846 ms Connect 80@10.1.3.253 seq=5 ttl=254 time=5.188 ms SendData 80@10.1.3.253 seq=5 ttl=254 time=202.523 ms Close 80@10.1.3.253 seq=5 ttl=254 time=12.864 ms
That proves that Seville is indeed listening on port 80!
VPCS[1]> ping 10.1.1.251 -P 6 -p 80 Connect 80@10.1.1.251 RST returned Connect 80@10.1.1.251 RST returned Connect 80@10.1.1.251 RST returned Connect 80@10.1.1.251 RST returned Connect 80@10.1.1.251 RST returned
As expected, Albuquerque is NOT listening on port 80, and says so!
VPCS[1]> ping 10.1.1.251 -P 6 Connect 7@10.1.1.251 seq=1 ttl=255 time=8.001 ms SendData 7@10.1.1.251 seq=1 ttl=255 time=6.384 ms Close 7@10.1.1.251 seq=1 ttl=255 time=9.536 ms Connect 7@10.1.1.251 seq=2 ttl=255 time=4.909 ms SendData 7@10.1.1.251 seq=2 ttl=255 time=4.741 ms Close 7@10.1.1.251 seq=2 ttl=255 time=6.241 ms Connect 7@10.1.1.251 seq=3 ttl=255 time=3.352 ms SendData 7@10.1.1.251 seq=3 ttl=255 time=4.962 ms Close 7@10.1.1.251 seq=3 ttl=255 time=9.370 ms Connect 7@10.1.1.251 seq=4 ttl=255 time=4.476 ms SendData 7@10.1.1.251 seq=4 ttl=255 time=5.269 ms Close 7@10.1.1.251 seq=4 ttl=255 time=7.219 ms Connect 7@10.1.1.251 seq=5 ttl=255 time=4.735 ms SendData 7@10.1.1.251 seq=5 ttl=255 time=7.637 ms Close 7@10.1.1.251 seq=5 ttl=255 time=7.043 ms
Note that the last ping didn’t specify a port number – I just specified the protocol, (-P 6) and the VPC sent it to TCP port 7, which is the well-known TCP echo port.
VPCs has some shortcuts for IP protocols 1, 6, & 17 – see the output of the ping help above. I could have said ping 10.1.1.251 -3 instead of ping 10.1.1.251 -P 6. Personally I prefer -P 6, because it makes me remember that TCP is IP protocol #6, which may be handy information in an exam one day!
And as you can see from the output above, all predictions were correct. That is:
Now let’s try some UDP pings. This time you will see some new ICMP replies – specifically ICMP Destination Port unreachable. When you send a TCP SYN packet to a device that is not listening on a particular port, the target device sends back a TCP RST (reset) segment. However, if you send a UDP packet to a device that is not listening on a particular port, the target device sends back am ICMP type:3, code:3 – Destination Port unreachable.
So here’s the plan:
From PC1Bugs
VPCS[1]> ping 10.1.3.1 -P 17 -p 99 10.1.3.1 udp_seq=1 ttl=62 time=7.920 ms 10.1.3.1 udp_seq=2 ttl=62 time=5.623 ms 10.1.3.1 udp_seq=3 ttl=62 time=4.979 ms 10.1.3.1 udp_seq=4 ttl=62 time=8.003 ms 10.1.3.1 udp_seq=5 ttl=62 time=6.732 ms VPCS[1]> ping 10.1.3.1 -P 17 -p 80 **10.1.130.253 udp_seq=1 ttl=254 time=6.053 ms (ICMP type:3, code:13, Communication administratively prohibited) *10.1.130.253 udp_seq=2 ttl=254 time=4.337 ms (ICMP type:3, code:13, Communication administratively prohibited) ^C VPCS[1]> ping 10.1.3.253 -P 17 -p 99 *10.1.3.253 udp_seq=1 ttl=254 time=12.187 ms (ICMP type:3, code:3, Destination port unreachable) *10.1.3.253 udp_seq=2 ttl=254 time=6.813 ms (ICMP type:3, code:3, Destination port unreachable) ^C
And as you can see from the output, all predictions were correct. That is:
Tracert actually uses the fact that routers send ICMP destination unreachable messages to trace the path through a network. In this lesson, you will:
Using the existing topology, trace the path from PC1Bugs to
VPCS[1]> trace 4.4.4.4 traceroute to 4.4.4.4, 64 hops max, press Ctrl+C to stop 1 10.1.1.251 3.669 ms 1.977 ms 3.064 ms 2 *10.1.1.251 2.238 ms (ICMP type:3, code:1, Destination host unreachable)
The ICMP type:3, code:1 is an ICMP Destination Host Unreachable, as was predicted.
Note that the default gateway router (Albuquerque) did actually reply to the first round of packets sent with a TTL of 1, proving that routers actually make the routing decision before they decrement the TTL.
Note that reply 2 has a * character at the beginning of the line to indicate that this reply indicates a failure of some kind.
VPCS[1]> trace 2.2.2.2 traceroute to 2.2.2.2, 64 hops max, press Ctrl+C to stop 1 10.1.1.251 2.579 ms 3.204 ms 3.462 ms 2 10.1.130.253 7.917 ms 4.209 ms 4.673 ms 3 *10.1.130.253 12.890 ms (ICMP type:3, code:1, Destination host unreachable)
This time the trace got to Seville, but Seville has no route to the 2.0.0.0 network, so replied with the ICMP Destination Host Unreachable (type:3, code:1)
VPCS[1]> trace 3.3.3.3 traceroute to 3.3.3.3, 64 hops max, press Ctrl+C to stop 1 10.1.1.251 2.979 ms 1.700 ms 2.143 ms 2 10.1.130.253 6.280 ms 4.980 ms 5.108 ms 3 10.1.130.251 9.438 ms 9.512 ms 4.398 ms 4 10.1.130.253 4.758 ms 6.241 ms 6.453 ms 5 10.1.130.251 6.460 ms 10.098 ms 7.811 ms 6 10.1.130.253 8.771 ms 9.053 ms 8.533 ms 7 10.1.130.251 11.545 ms 13.584 ms 9.932 ms 8 10.1.130.253 10.501 ms 11.806 ms 12.095 ms 9 10.1.130.251 55.977 ms 60.101 ms^C *
As expected, the trace ran back and forth between Albuquerque and Seville.
Note I had to stop the trace by hitting CTRL+c, but I could have limited the number of replies by specifying the maxhops option.
VPCS[1]> trace 3.3.3.3 4 traceroute to 3.3.3.3, 4 hops max, press Ctrl+C to stop 1 10.1.1.251 3.577 ms 2.185 ms 1.404 ms 2 10.1.130.253 5.021 ms 3.862 ms 5.262 ms 3 10.1.130.251 4.358 ms 4.557 ms 4.890 ms 4 10.1.130.253 9.543 ms 9.636 ms 5.829 ms
By specifying the number 4 at the end of the tracert command, I didn’t need to hit CTRL+c to stop the trace this time.
There are a few other features that haven’t been explored yet, but can be very useful especially for documentation and test scripts. You are about to explore:
In this lesson you will:
Start with the name changing as shown below. Note that you can get help about the set command by typing set, and that the first attempt to set the pcname to PC1Bugs shows you that the maximum length of a pcname is 6 characters
VPCS[1]> set set [lport|rport|pcname|echo], Set connection port, hostname or echo setting lport port local port, listen by VPCS rport port remote port, listen by dynamips pcname name rename the current pc echo [on|off] set echoing on or off VPCS[1]> set pcname PC1Bugs Hostname is too long. (should be less than 6) VPCS[1]> set pcname Bugs Bugs[1]> 2 VPCS[2]> set pcname Sam Sam[2]> 3 VPCS[3]> set pcname Elmer Elmer[3]>
So far, the PC IP addresses have stayed constant, so for practice, change Sam’s IP address to 10.1.2.2, leave the gateway as 10.1.2.252 and set the mask to 24 bits
Elmer[3]> 2 Sam[2]> ip ip [dhcp|auto|address], Configure PC's IP settings dhcp Configure host/gateway address using DHCP, only ipv4 auto Stateless address autoconfiguration, only ipv6 PC will try to get the ipv6 address from the router at startup address [gateway] [CIDR] set the PC's ip, gateway's ip and network mask Default IPv4 CIDR is 24, IPv6 is 64. In the ether mode, the ip of the tapx is the maximum host ID of the subnet. 'ip 10.1.1.70 10.1.1.65 26', set the host ip to 10.1.1.70, the gateway ip to 10.1.1.65, the netmask to 255.255.255.192, the tapx ip to 10.1.1.126 in the ether mode. Sam[2]> ip 10.1.2.2 10.1.2.252 24 PC2 : 10.1.2.2 255.255.255.0 gateway 10.1.2.252
Note that since the default mask is 24 bits, I could have just issued the command, ip 10.1.2.2 10.1.2.152
Now that you have changed the hostnames and one of the IP addresses, it is a good time to save your configuration, and quit VPCs, which will force VPCs to save the history file, which you will need in the next step.
Sam[2]> save script1 ......... done Sam[2]> quit
Of course, if you are running VPCs from within the GNS3 Workbench environment, VPCs will actually automatically restart, because I have run this instance of VPCs from within a script which saves people from accidentally quitting. However that doesn’t matter, because you saved your configuration remember?
So now reload your configuration, and check it with the show command. You should see all your pcnames restored, and the ip address for Sam has changed.
VPCS[1]> load script1 Executing the startup file PC1 : 10.1.1.1 255.255.255.0 gateway 10.1.1.251 PC2 : 10.1.2.2 255.255.255.0 gateway 10.1.2.252 PC3 : 10.1.3.1 255.255.255.0 gateway 10.1.3.253 VPCS[9]> showNAME IP/CIDR GATEWAY MAC LPORT RPORT Bugs 10.1.1.1/24 10.1.1.251 00:50:79:66:68:00 20000 30000 fe80::2050:79ff:fe66:6800/64 Sam 10.1.2.2/24 10.1.2.252 00:50:79:66:68:01 20001 30001 fe80::2050:79ff:fe66:6801/64 Elmer 10.1.3.1/24 10.1.3.253 00:50:79:66:68:02 20002 30002 fe80::2050:79ff:fe66:6802/64 VPCS4 0.0.0.0/0 0.0.0.0 00:50:79:66:68:03 20003 30003 fe80::2050:79ff:fe66:6803/64 VPCS5 0.0.0.0/0 0.0.0.0 00:50:79:66:68:04 20004 30004 fe80::2050:79ff:fe66:6804/64 VPCS6 0.0.0.0/0 0.0.0.0 00:50:79:66:68:05 20005 30005 fe80::2050:79ff:fe66:6805/64 VPCS7 0.0.0.0/0 0.0.0.0 00:50:79:66:68:06 20006 30006 fe80::2050:79ff:fe66:6806/64 VPCS8 0.0.0.0/0 0.0.0.0 00:50:79:66:68:07 20007 30007 fe80::2050:79ff:fe66:6807/64 VPCS9 0.0.0.0/0 0.0.0.0 00:50:79:66:68:08 20008 30008 fe80::2050:79ff:fe66:6808/64 VPCS[9]> 2 Sam[2]>
The next task is to create a new file which will become our second script file, and you will use the contents of the script1 you saved in VPCs and the contents of vpcs.hist to create this script. In a file browser, navigate to the folder /opt/GNS3/Project/3Router_ICND_Book_Example – it is the same folder where you fond the startup.2 (eigrp configured) file when you started in Lesson #1.
Create a blank file called script2 in this folder – you can do this by clicking File->Create Document -> Empty file, and giving it the name script2.
Double click on this file to open it in gedit. Put a comment right at the top something like this:
#Script file created for testing vpcs
Comments can be placed in script files by starting the comment with the # character.
Now locate the file called script1 in the same directory and double-click on it to open it also in gedit. It should look like this:
1 set pcname Bugs ip 10.1.1.1 10.1.1.251 24 2 set pcname Sam ip 10.1.2.2 10.1.2.252 24 3 set pcname Elmer ip 10.1.3.1 10.1.3.253 24 4 set pcname VPCS 5 set pcname VPCS 6 set pcname VPCS 7 set pcname VPCS 8 set pcname VPCS 9 set pcname VPCS
Copy and paste the first 9 lines into your script2 file. It should now look like:
#Script file created for testing vpcs 1 set pcname Bugs ip 10.1.1.1 10.1.1.251 24 2 set pcname Sam ip 10.1.2.2 10.1.2.252 24 3 set pcname Elmer ip 10.1.3.1 10.1.3.253 24
Now open (in the same directory) the file called vpcs.hist. In it you will find all the commands you have entered so far. If you have followed this tutorial to the letter, it should look like this:
show ping 10.1.1.251 arp p 10.1.2.1 ? h 2 p 10.1.2.1 1 ping 10.1.1.2 ping 10.1.2.2 ping 4.4.4.4 ping 2.2.2.2 ping 3.3.3.3 ping ping 3.3.3.3 -T 3 ping 10.1.3.1 -P 6 -p 23 ping 10.1.3.1 -P 6 -p 80 ping 10.1.3.253 -P 6 -p 80 ping 10.1.1.251 -P 6 -p 80 ping 10.1.3.1 -P 17 -p 99 ping 10.1.3.1 -P 17 -p 80 ping 10.1.3.253 -P 17 -p 99 trace 4.4.4.4 trace 2.2.2.2 trace 3.3.3.3 trace 3.3.3.3 4 set set pcname Bugs 2 set pcname Sam 3 set pcname Elmer 2 ip ip 10.1.2.2 10.1.2.252 24 save script1 quit
Now I want you to copy all of the lines from vpcs.hist EXCEPT the last 2 lines – the save command and the quit command at the end. You are about to paste them in script2, but there is one more task before we do that!
Back in the script2 file, go to the end of the file and add these commands:
1 echo Here is the beginning of the history file
The command 1 on a line by itself is to ensure that we start at the correct PC. The echo command will display a message as our script is executing. Now, immediately after these lines, paste the contents of vpcs.hist that you just copied, and save the file. Don’t close it, you have more to do yet.
And now let’s see this script run! Back in VPCs, load this updated script.
load script2
And watch all those commands being executed – did you see the message “Here is the beginning of the history file” appear?
But if you look closely, you will see there is a problem – you can’t see exactly which commands are producing which output. Never fear there is an answer for that.
Go back to your script2 file in the editor, and add the single command at the top of the file (after your comment)
set echo on
Save the file again, and load it one more time. If you get sick of waiting for it to complete, hit CTRL+c
Script files can be aborted by hitting CTRL+c
Now notice that while the script is executing, the command that produces the output is displayed before the command. This is the effect of the set echo on command. However, there is a catch.
Enter a command like ping 10.1.1.251
Bugs[1]> ping 10.1.1.251 ping 10.1.1.251 10.1.1.251 icmp_seq=1 ttl=255 time=2.756 ms 10.1.1.251 icmp_seq=2 ttl=255 time=2.895 ms 10.1.1.251 icmp_seq=3 ttl=255 time=3.437 ms 10.1.1.251 icmp_seq=4 ttl=255 time=3.104 ms 10.1.1.251 icmp_seq=5 ttl=255 time=4.335 ms
See how the command is echoed on the output after you type it? This can be corrected by reversing the set echo on command we put at the beginning of the file by putting a set echo off at the end of the file – but of course you will have to let the whole script run without interruption for it to take effect. Of course you could just type: set echo off at the vpcs command line to turn it off yourself.
That completes this lesson and the tutorial. I hope you can now use this powerful tool more effectively.
Chris Welsh
http://rednectar.net
@rednectarchris
Footnote: What VPCs DOESN’T do
VPCs is a VERY useful troubleshooting tool when used in your GNS3 environment, and does everything you’d want it to do almost 100% of the time. There are some minor features not implemented that you might want to be aware of:
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Hey All!
Does anyone know the correct syntax for VPCS to perform ICMP ping test to a broadcast address? Attempted to mess around with the “-b” flag but no luck..
Any help is much appreciated! Kindest regards
By Adam on 2019/11/16 at 03:57
To ping a broadcast address, you need to know what it is – and then you simply type the command to ping it. For example:
1. If your subnet is 192.168.20.0 and the subnet mask is 255.255.255.0, just type
ping 192.168.20.2552. If your subnet is 192.168.20.0 and the subnet mask is 255.255.255.128, just type
ping 192.168.20.1273. If your subnet is 192.168.20.0 and the subnet mask is 255.255.255.192, just type
ping 192.168.20.63By RedNectar Chris Welsh on 2019/11/16 at 06:21
Hey there
Thanks for the reply!
Yeah I checked and broadcast address is correct (192.168.1.255 on a /24). The ping does not transmit fail but on the default gateway running a sniffer I do not see any ICMP traffic, although I do when sending ICMP for any legitimate host address.
Thought I may have been missing something.
By Adam on 2019/11/17 at 12:41
Hi Adam,
Sorry it took me a while to find a spare few minutes to check this. (It’s been a long while since I played with VPCS). Your original question was hinting at the real answer. Which is that there is no way to make a VPCS PC ping a broadcast address. Unfortunately VPCS is not sophisticated enough to relised that when you attempt to ping a broadcasta ddress that it should send packets to MAC of FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF – instead it sends ARP requests seeking the MAC address of the broadcast address. Pity about that.
So your choices are now:
1. Use a Linux VM instead
2. Contact the author mirnshi via the Send Message link on https://sourceforge.net/u/mirnshi/profile/
3. Download the source code from https://sourceforge.net/p/vpcs/code/HEAD/tree/trunk/src/ and fix the bug yourself.
Good luck, sorry I can’t be of more use.
Chris
By RedNectar Chris Welsh on 2019/11/19 at 09:18
Queue length of routers in GNS3:
PC1————–R1———————R2—————PC2
I have to continuously send packets from PC1 to PC4 & have to observe the change in queue length of router 1 & router 2.
But Its value is not changing its always zero. What should I do? Please advise I have submit my project soon.
By Neha Sharma on 2019/08/07 at 01:20
Hi Neha,
Since GNS3 is a simulator, I’d be suprised if you get packets to appear in a queue – it makes no difference what speed the link is, they are all simulated at the same speed.
However, you MAY have some luck if you increase the size and number of packets going through the routers on the way to PC2. SO you could try:
1. Increase the size of the pings (ping PC2 -l 1000)
2. Add another PC to R1 also sending pings to PC2
HTH
By RedNectar Chris Welsh on 2019/08/07 at 06:03
Thank you so much for reply sir,
I did what you said but still showing queue length to be zero.
Is there no way to get queue length?
Please do help.
By Neha Sharma on 2019/08/07 at 18:06
I’m having a problem with my configuration on GNS3. I implemented MPLS 6PE, i can ping two sites with icmp and Udp however i cant ping with tcp. I indicates connect timeout, where is the problem? my configuration or my vpcs?
By Imtiyaz on 2019/01/12 at 01:01
I’d suspect the problem is with the VPCS application – the IPv6 implementation was VERY basic.
By RedNectar Chris Welsh on 2019/01/13 at 06:48
How can I ping “google.com” using VPCs ?
By Faizan on 2017/03/02 at 16:22
Hi Faizan, thanks for taking the trouble to read my blog
Here’s hoping I can help
Firstly, I’ll assume you have the Virtual PC Simulator running in a GNS3 environment, and you have a) a DNS server available; and b) a default gateway router for your VPC that is somehow connected to the internet.
Let’s assume the IP address of your DNS server is 1.1.1.1
The command to set the DNS IP in VPCS is:
ip dns 1.1.1.1
Troubleshooting:
Firstly, make sure you can ping your DNS from your VPC
Next, make sure your VPC can ping its default gateway
Finally, make sure the router that is the default gateway for the VPC can already ping google.com using the source interface which is the VPCs default gateway IP (ie if the VPC is 192.168.10.10 and its default gateway is 192.168.10.1, from your router enter:
ping google.com source 192.168.10.1
Good luck
RedNectar
By RedNectar Chris Welsh on 2017/03/02 at 17:57
Thank You!. I will try this,
Also tell me what steps do I have to take to do the same thing but y=using a real external computer instead of VPCs
By Faizan on 2017/03/03 at 15:26
Dear Sir, kindly help, in the show command there is no “rlogin” so how can I use telnet in my vpcs?
Regards
By Omer Waheed on 2016/03/12 at 04:36
Hi Omar, Thanks for reaching out.
The latest version of VPCS has the rlogin command. If you are using GNS3 WorkBench (or any other system), you could update your version of VPCS from https://sourceforge.net/projects/vpcs/
I hope this helps
RedNectar
By RedNectar Chris Welsh on 2016/03/12 at 06:12
Hello..
is there a x64 version of vpcs?
coz my system is x64 and I really need it
By Yusuf Sulieman on 2015/09/24 at 12:39
I have had no problem running the 32bit version on 64bit OS. You would have to ask the author about his plans for a 64 bit version.
RedNectar
By RedNectar Chris Welsh on 2015/09/24 at 20:52
Hi Rednectar,
I have a very strange problem with my VPCS. Whenever the ARP table gets populated and I issue an arp or a show arp command on VPCS, it disconnects and logs me out. The interesting piece is the same command just works fine when VPCS is just started. No arp table populated. It shows arp table empty. However, I trigger a ping from host A to host B hoping to populate the ARP entries on host A. After, when I issue show arp or arp, this is what i see.
VPCS> show arp
arp table is empty
VPCS>
VPCS>
VPCS>
VPCS>
VPCS> ping 192.168.6.28
84 bytes from 192.168.6.28 icmp_seq=1 ttl=255 time=9.864 ms
84 bytes from 192.168.6.28 icmp_seq=2 ttl=255 time=6.588 ms
^C
VPCS>
VPCS>
VPCS> show arp
Good-bye
Connection closed by foreign host.
logout
[Process completed]
I restarted the VPCS several times. The problem persists. Can you please help out. I am running latest version of GNS3 on my Macbook Pro running Yosemite.
Greetings,
Sandeep.
By Sandeep Sridhar on 2015/01/08 at 23:20
Sandeep – can you let me know what OS you are running on and the version (issue the show version command) and I’ll pass it on to Paul Meng. Here is what I got when I just tried on vpcs v0.6 on OS X
$ /Applications/GNS3.app/Contents/Resources/vpcsWelcome to Virtual PC Simulator, version 0.6
Dedicated to Daling.
Build time: Nov 12 2014 10:06:35
Copyright (c) 2007-2014, Paul Meng (mirnshi@gmail.com)
All rights reserved.
VPCS is free software, distributed under the terms of the "BSD" licence.
Source code and license can be found at vpcs.sf.net.
For more information, please visit wiki.freecode.com.cn.
Press '?' to get help.
VPCS[1]> ip 192.168.1.1
Checking for duplicate address...
PC1 : 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.0
VPCS[1]> show arp
arp table is empty
VPCS[1]> 2
VPCS[2]> ip 192.168.1.2
Checking for duplicate address...
PC2 : 192.168.1.2 255.255.255.0
VPCS[2]> show arp
arp table is empty
VPCS[2]> ping 192.168.1.1
84 bytes from 192.168.1.1 icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.534 ms
84 bytes from 192.168.1.1 icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.225 ms
84 bytes from 192.168.1.1 icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=0.198 ms
84 bytes from 192.168.1.1 icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=0.206 ms
84 bytes from 192.168.1.1 icmp_seq=5 ttl=64 time=0.311 ms
VPCS[2]> show arp
00:50:79:66:68:00 192.168.1.1 expires in 112 seconds
VPCS[2]> 1
VPCS[1]> show arp
00:50:79:66:68:01 192.168.1.2 expires in 107 seconds
VPCS[1]>
By RedNectar Chris Welsh on 2015/01/09 at 05:21
Chris – Thanks for responding. Here is the version :
VPCS> show version
Welcome to Virtual PC Simulator, version 0.6
Dedicated to Daling.
Build time: Nov 11 2014 22:52:24
Copyright (c) 2007-2014, Paul Meng (mirnshi@gmail.com)
All rights reserved.
VPCS is free software, distributed under the terms of the “BSD” licence.
Source code and license can be found at vpcs.sf.net.
For more information, please visit wiki.freecode.com.cn.
Please advise.
By Sandeep Sridhar on 2015/01/10 at 01:42
Chris, I responded with the show version output. Can you please let me know what is goin’ wrong here ? Thanks again.
Greetings,
Sandeep.
By Sandeep on 2015/01/12 at 23:18
Sandeep,
Sorry – I did try and reproduce your problem with no luck. Anyway, I’ve send your report on to Paul Meng (mirnshi@gmail.com) – I’ll see what he says.
One thing I did notice is that your build date is a little different to mine
Mine: Build time: Nov 12 2014 10:06:35
Yours: Build time: Nov 11 2014 22:52:24
Curiously, if I download the latest one, I get
Build time: Nov 22 2014 00:34:34
So it may be worth downloading again to see it makes a difference)
Chris
By RedNectar Chris Welsh on 2015/01/14 at 23:07
Sandeep
Update. Just to let you know that downloading a new image fixes the problem. See https://community.gns3.com/message/16117#16117
By RedNectar Chris Welsh on 2015/01/18 at 11:47
Excellent post. Extremely helpful.
By Sam on 2014/10/18 at 04:03
How use rlogin command to telnet the remote router from VPCs?
By dinesh on 2014/08/13 at 11:26
@dinesh – if you are running VPCS and GNS3 at the same time, check out the port number that the router uses for the console port (usually 2101 for R1, 2102 for R2 ….).
From VPCS, you can do a rlogin 2101:
Welcome to Virtual PC Simulator, version 0.5b2 Dedicated to Daling. Build time: Nov 15 2013 08:39:02 Copyright (c) 2007-2013, Paul Meng (mirnshi@gmail.com) All rights reserved. VPCS is free software, distributed under the terms of the "BSD" licence. Source code and license can be found at vpcs.sf.net. For more information, please visit wiki.freecode.com.cn. Press '?' to get help. VPCS[1]> rlogin 2101 Connect 127.0.0.1:2101, press Ctrl+X to quit NOTES: you will be back to the starting point, NOT THE LAST, if using Ctrl+X to quit. Connected to Dynamips VM "R1" (ID 0, type c3725) - Console port Press ENTER to get the prompt. R1#By RedNectar Chris Welsh on 2014/08/13 at 20:02
Thank you very much.
By dinesh on 2014/08/15 at 15:03
Please explain the use of the below command
rlogin 10.1.1.1 2004
By dinesh on 2014/08/15 at 16:05
@Dinesh. Assume your PC was say 10.1.1.2. And you were running VPCS on your PC. On another PC (10.1.1.1) you are running GNS3 – one of the routers on 10.1.1.1 has its console listening on port 2004. You could then use the command
from within VPCS to start a console session to this router.
In fact, you could also achieve the same result by opening a telnet session to 10.1.1.1 on port 2004.
The rlogin command is simply a way of getting to a router’s console without leaving the VPCS interface. I never use it because I’d prefer to have separate sessions for VPCS and router consoles.
By RedNectar Chris Welsh on 2014/08/15 at 17:50
Hi,
I have downloaded the GNS3 0.8.7, I can run 1 VPCS. However the TCP/UDP ports I need to only use 1 per VPCS so I can reuse the TCP 20001 and UDP 30001 on another VPCS that I will connect to to another router on a different network. I would like to know how can I edit and where to find it the VPCS.vpc file (equivalent to windows) so it’s only 1 tcp/udp port in VPCS that is being used on my 1st VPCS host… and I can reuse the other tcp/udp ports.
I am running my GNS3 in MAC OSX 10.9.4
Thanks,
By blue on 2014/07/22 at 09:55
I’m not quite sure what you are trying to do – but it seems you are trying to run two copies of VPCS (you don’t need to unless you want two independent console windows – and in that case you’ll have to open the second copy from a terminal window)
If that is the case, and you want to use UDP ports 20001 and 30001 on the second instance, you will have to change the port numbers for VPCS[2]-VPCS[9] on each instance to something unused using the lport and rport commands. Once you have got each instance with port numbers that don’t clash, you can save your configuration to whatever filename you like eg vpcs1.vpc and vpcs2.vpc (they will be saved in the configs directory of your current project – really good idea to name your project before opening vpcs) – but this really sounds like a LOT of trouble. Perhaps I should be asking why do you want to use two different consoles? If you don’t want to run two consoles then just use one! (remember one console supports 9 Virtual PCs)
Edit: I suspect your confusion comes from the fact that the .zip file that I had linked in the post was designed for an older version of GNS3 – v0.8.6 onwards keeps the startup.vpc file in the configs directory, so I have moved the startup file to there and re-zipped it. If you download the configs again (or simply move the startup.vpc file to the configs directory) you may have better luck at following the tutorial the way it was written. CW
By RedNectar Chris Welsh on 2014/07/22 at 11:15
I need my virtual machines to accept dhcp ip addresses from a dhcp server. How do i do this?
By shady on 2014/05/19 at 21:46
On the latest version of VPCS, you can specify the command:
ip dhcpSo long as the VPC is connected to a DHCP server, you should get an address immediately. The VPC will display the letters
DORAas it goes through the process of Discover, Offer, Reply, Acknowledge.
Note that there are some good debug options too for dhcp.
ip dhcp -dwill show you packet details as the process porgresses.
By RedNectar Chris Welsh on 2014/05/20 at 08:58
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By vpcs – simple virtual pc simulator for gns3 | njetwork.si on 2014/01/04 at 23:47
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By VPCS – with new hypervisor function | RedNectar's Blog on 2013/09/15 at 21:22
I have a question. I want to let 2 vpcs host running ping to some other host. naturally I would execute the command: ping 10.10.10.1 -c 500 on each. the problem here is that I cant actually change from one vpcs to another without canceling the first ping with ctrl + C. Do you know some workaround. I tried to run another vpcs instance but this message pops up.
Welcome to Virtual PC Simulator for dynamips, v0.21a
Dedicated to Daling.
Build time: Feb 2 2011 22:19:30
All rights reserved.
NOTICE: MAY NOT use this software for commercial purposes unless
you get an appropriate commercial license for it.
Please contact me at mirnshi@gmail.com or http://mirnshi.cublog.cn
if you have any questions.
Press ‘?’ to get help.
Open port 20000 error [Address already in use]
Open port 20001 error [Address already in use]
Open port 20002 error [Address already in use]
Open port 20003 error [Address already in use]
Open port 20004 error [Address already in use]
Open port 20005 error [Address already in use]
Open port 20006 error [Address already in use]
Open port 20007 error [Address already in use]
Open port 20008 error [Address already in use]
Thanks in advance.
By victor2013 on 2013/07/19 at 09:28
Sorry for the slow reply – somehow missed seeing the notification.
You are absolutely right – this is one of the shortcomings of VPCS. But I think I could work out a work-around
1. Open the first copy of VPCS, and configure the first PC with its IP address eg
ip 10.1.1.10/24 10.1.1.1Now free up ports 20001 and 30001 (the ports that PC 2 usually uses) by changing them to something else:
2
set lport 40001
set rport 50001
2. Now open a second copy of VPCS – this time you will see:
Open port 20000 error [Address already in use]
Open port 20002 error [Address already in use]
Open port 20003 error [Address already in use]
Open port 20004 error [Address already in use]
Open port 20005 error [Address already in use]
Open port 20006 error [Address already in use]
Open port 20007 error [Address already in use]
Open port 20008 error [Address already in use]
NOTICE that there is no error for port 20001
Now configure PC2
2
ip 10.1.1.11/24 10.1.1.1
ping 10.10.10.1 -c 500
3. Back to the first instance
1
ping 10.10.10.1 -c 500
Good luck
By rednectar on 2013/07/22 at 16:26
Hello,
Can you please let me know how to configure the default gateway in VPCS for IPv6?
I tried but I cannot access other IPv6 subnets from VPCS.
Thank you
By bogdan on 2013/05/21 at 19:04
You don’t. IPv6 learns it default gateway using Router Solicitations.
If you want to play with IPv6 beyond something VERY simple, use something other than VPCS – it doesn’t have all the features you would want to really study IPv6 (yet)
CW
By rednectar on 2013/05/21 at 19:07
Thanks. All files now in the zip and running in gns3
By JB on 2013/03/28 at 22:53
Hi there,
just found this site while testing gns3 and VPCs on OSX. In your download link I can only find the startup.vpc file but no gns3 topology and config. Where can I get the rest?
Greetings from Germany
JB
By JB on 2013/03/28 at 17:55
Oops. Thanks for pointing that out. All fixed now 🙂
Danke.
CW
By rednectar on 2013/03/28 at 18:47
Forget above question. Everything is now working as expected. Thanks.
By Jonathon on 2013/01/03 at 02:31
It’s OK now. Everything in DHCP working. Is it possibe to ping another VPC from a VPC?
By Jonathon on 2013/01/03 at 02:21
Great tutorial! can you tell me how to configure DHCP?
By Jonathon on 2013/01/02 at 06:43
You will need to make sure your VPC is connected to a router that has been configured for DHCP. Eg
Then, so long as your Virtual PC is connected to FastEthernet 0/0, issue the command (inside VPCS)
Tip: If you want to see the dhcp decode, use the command
By rednectar on 2013/01/02 at 07:10
Thanks for your prompt response. I had understood the code above. But I want to tell the VPC to use HSRP default gateway of 10.1.10.254. Can I do that?
By Jonathon on 2013/01/02 at 22:18
Hola RedNectar,
I’m preparing for my CCNA Exam here in Peru and i came across with this wonderfull appliance. Thanks a lot for such awesome tutorial. : ) I have a couple of question about VPCS.
Is it possible to run VPCS without having GNS3 ( which engine is dinamips )? Let’s say i have VPCS on one computer that is not running dynamips and i want to connect the virtuals pcs to a lab topology over the same real network. Is it possible ?.
My real host os : Windows with an ip address of 192.168.1.10/24 has GNS3 up and running
Over the same real network there’s another host with an ip addresss of 192.168.1.11/24. This host ( 192.168.1.11) has VPCs but not GNS3 or Dynamips, So is it possible to connect the virtuals pcs to the host running GNS3 ? Thanks in advance and greating from Peru
Cheers Farid
By Farid Pangos on 2013/01/01 at 18:22
Hi Farid,
Thanks for your kind comments.
Yes, it is possible to run VPCs without GNS3 or dynamips. If GNS3/dynamips is running on 192.168.1.10, and you are running VPCS on 192.168.1.11 you would do this:
STEP 1
In GNS3 (on 192.168.1.10) you would create a cloud and configure an interface for that cloud like this:
[NIO UDP]
Local Port: 30000
Remote host: 192.168.1.11
Remote port: 20000
STEP 2
On the 192.168.1.11, you would run vpcs with the -t option (Note: the -t option was only introduced in version 0.4b, so make sure you get the latest copy from http://sourceforge.net/projects/vpcs/files/0.4/beta/)
vpcs -t 192.168.1.10
[Note: Prior to v0.4b, you would have to use the set rhost 192.168.1.11 command within vpcs for each of the 9 Virtual PCs to achieve the same result]
Good luck with your CCNA.
CW
By rednectar on 2013/01/01 at 21:24
[…] Reference URL: http://certcollection.org/forum/topic/22858-tutorial-how-to-add-virtual-pc-to-your-gns3-topology/ https://rednectar.net/gns3-workbench/vpcs-tutorial/ […]
By GNS3 tutorial | Industry & Technology on 2012/09/08 at 12:35
ciao rednectar. I know maybe im off otpic, but im wondering if you can make something like workbench for JNCIA ! Im trying to learn it, but actually, olive on gns3 takes so much time before loading…who knows, maybe you are already working on it.
By the way thanks for your effort: i enjoyed the new version . thanks again.
By Joe Mendola on 2012/05/28 at 08:22
I’d love to do this, but it comes in the line of other things I’d also like to do which include 1. Getting some Cisco ASA exercises working 2. Getting Virtual Box integration working 3. Some Juniper exercises. I’m not sure olive will be any faster though.
CW
By rednectar on 2012/05/28 at 10:58
Hey Rednectar,
Thanks for this tutorial!
Just one question…I was wondering if there’s a way to tell VPCS which is the remote host to connect to, when you use UDP mode (default)?
I’m trying to do with VPCS just like “clouds” do in GNS3. As far as I can understand it only allows you to change UDP ports (using -s -c options when you run vpcs) but you are forced to have the remote-end on the same host. What I’m trying to do is running VPCS in a Linux Box and connect VPCS with a virtual machine (qemu) running in the same box but with another IP (guest and host machines are connected via a tap interface).
If VPCS is not capable, do you know another application like VPCS that allows that?
Regards,
Mario.
By Mario on 2012/05/28 at 03:09
The remote connections are actually set up in GNS3 (via dynamips). I’ll try and think a bit more about your problem and see if I can give a good answer. In the meantime, someone else might catch it and give an explanation. (Sorry I wasn’t more help)
By rednectar on 2012/05/28 at 07:30
Thanks again Rednectar! I look forward to your findings.
Cheers, Mario.
By Mario on 2012/05/28 at 09:08
then download the topology, config and startup.vpc files here…………. the link is dead… can u fix the link please ?
By andri on 2012/04/17 at 17:33
Fixed now. Sorry about that.
By rednectar on 2012/04/18 at 18:28
The easiest way is to take an existing exercise (say xxxx) as found in /opt/GNS3/Project/xxxx. Copy the whole folder to a new folder. In that folder you will find a startup.vpcs – edit to fit your exercise. Modify the topology.net file to match your topology (create a new one if you like). Edit the Instructions text file to match your instructions.
Now to run your exercise, execute the startup (continue) script – OR if you want to set up an exercise with pre-configured configurations, put your pre-configurations in configs.1 and they will get copied to configs when the startup.1 script gets run.
Hope this is enough to get you started – there are some readme files in the READMEs and Scripts folder. Sorry for the rushed reply.
Chris
By rednectar on 2012/04/10 at 01:29
first of all thanks for this beautiful work! i cant stop saying thanks dude, Im practising and improving in a good way.
Im wondering how i can configure my personal host, using vpc. I wanna configure my personal topology and put pc as well, in order to simulate ping.
May you explain me how i can start vpc, putting my address details for my own topology?
greetings from italy
By Joe Mendola on 2012/03/04 at 09:48
Grazie!
VPCs was written for Dynamips (which is what GNS3 uses) to allow you to create Virtual PCs that can communicate with virtual Dynamips (or GNS3) rotuers/devices.
You certainly can download VPCs to your PC (http://sourceforge.net/projects/vpcs) and run 9 virtual PCs that can communicate with other emulated routers you are running in GNS3 or Dynamips. The old-but-good GNS3 Tutorial gives you step-by-step instructions.
By rednectar on 2012/03/05 at 12:59
hi rednectar. I wish you a good eastern!
may i use vpc inside your workbench, but when i create my personal topology?
where do i start it?
i appreciated that in several exercises, when i open them, the vpc is there, ready you can use. Im wondering how i can start it within workbench with new topology. On windows i usually click on vpc, but before i edit the file where i write the address i wanna use on the hosts.
what do i have to do inside your workbench, please?
By Joe Mendola on 2012/04/08 at 18:00
Hi Chris Welsh,
As you said mirnshi had released the new 0.21a VPCS, I hope IPV6 works well in this version. Expecting your valuable comments on this
By KishoreKannan on 2011/03/18 at 19:57
Hi Kishore – haven’t heard from Mirnshi for a while. Hopefully he’ll have an update soon.
By rednectar on 2011/03/19 at 16:28
Hi Chris Welsh,
Thanks for the awesome VPCS tutorial with full explanation, I am happy that this version in tested under linux, Please tell me whether you have tested this 20.1 with IPV6. Please post some tutorial like this for using Qemu in linux (ubuntu)
By KishoreKannan on 2011/02/02 at 21:46
Kishore, I’ve only just started testing IPv6 – and have found some problems (VPCs does not create the correct link-local address based on MAC address) and have given mirnshi all the details – he’s working on it! No doubt there will be a 0.22 soon!
By rednectar on 2011/02/02 at 22:16