GNS3 v1.1 released - install guide for IOU support

Let there be switching - GNS3 1.1 with IOU support

With the recent release of GNS3s version 1.1 to the public, I decided to cover a fresh install of this great piece of software, focusing on the IOU support, which of course means switching finaly doable without setting up a physical homelab or having to deal with those chinese IOU images.

First of all you need to grab a copy of the GNS3 software at http://www.gns3.com/ and click through the install process. There is a "all in one" package available which should cover everything you will need and a little bit more.

To get the IOU support running you will need to get the current OVA file from sourceforge (be sure you get the right version for you copy of GNS3 for version 1.1 its the 140MB file)

Import the OVA file into your VirtualBox.

Make sure the first VM adapter is set “VirtualBox Host-Only Ethernet Adapter”. You may have to add one in VirtualBox preferences -> Network -> Host-only Networks.

 Start the VM.

Once started you should see the VM IP address. If not log on with username root and password cisco and use the ifconfig command. Usually the IP is 192.168.56.101.

Open a web browser and go to http://192.168.56.101:8000/upload and upload your IOU image.

(NOTE: You will need the IOU image, google is your friend here)

Create a text file named iourc containing the IOU license information. Unfortunately you will have to find that number by yourself. Once again google can help you or check can http://forum.gns3.net/topic9032.html for a tutorial how to obtain that info via a python script.

The file should contain the following information and can be located everywhere on your computer.
(Do NOT put it into the VM, it needs to be on a location accessible by the GNS3 install!!!)

[license]
gns3-iouvm = xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx;

Start GNS3, go to Preferences -> Server -> Remote servers and add the VM IP address, click on Apply.

Go to IOS on UNIX preferences, IOU devices, create new and set the path to your image files in the virtual machine. (e.g. /home/gns3/Documents/GNS3/

images/i86bi_your_image_12.4.bin)

After that you should see your devices and be able to drag and drop them like regular images.