As many of you know - I am NOT the Dynamips guru around here. For advanced questions on GNS3 and or Dynamips, I immediately direct students to our forum on ieoc.com. That is where all the emulating whiz kids hang out. With that said, I like to have a copy running on every computer I own. While I do not do full practice labs on the platform (I use Graded Labs for that), I love to be able to build little mini-scenarios on the fly whenever I quickly need to test a feature.

Last night I purchased Windows 7 Home Premium and set out to eradicate Windows Vista, doing a "clean install" for the upgrade. I thought I would walk you through the installation of GNS3 on this system as I heard that students have been having issues. Well, here we go (fingers crossed!):

Step 1: Download the all-in-one package for Windows from the download area of the gns3.net website.

Step 2: Install all components using a spousal approach (say "yes dear" to every prompt).

Step 3: Launch GNS3 using the Start Menu icon.

Step 4: Click 1 - Configure the test....

Step 5: Click Dynamips, then click the Test button. Dynamips fails to start. I notice the path to dynamips-wxp.exe is incorrect.

Step 6: Click the Browse button for the Executable Path and navigate to Program Files (x86) - GNS3 - Dynamips and select dynamips-wxp.exe and click Open.

Step 7: Click Test and Allow Access through the Windows Firewall.

Step 8: Dynamips starts successfully. Now time to setup the image. Click OK.

Step 9: Click 2 - Add one or more....

Step 10: Use the Browse button to select your image file.

Step 11: Click Save, then Close, then OK.

Step 12: Now time to set the critical Idle PC value. Drag an icon for your platform into the workspace.

Step 13: Right-click the device and choose Start.

Step 14: Use your favorite Telnet application and Telnet to the device.

Step 15: Respond to all prompts and access User Mode.

Step 16: Right-click the device in the workspace and choose Idle-PC.

Step 17: Choose the first Idle-PC value marked with a asterisk.

Happy emulating! Be sure to use the Task Manager to check on CPU usage as you work with the emulator.