Chapter 1. Clearing the First Hurdle

This chapter gets you through the first hurdles you will strike in your quest to have a Graphical Network Simulator (GNS3) running on your computer, and it comes in three parts: pre-installation tasks and prerequisites, the installation process, and the post installation tasks required to build your first simulation. During the process, you will gain an appreciation of the other applications and pieces of software that all contribute to make GNS3 work. I will explain the reasoning behind the multiple steps you need to take to install GNS3 successfully and finish the chapter with you well-prepared to build your first simulation emulating Cisco routers.

The following topics will be covered in this chapter:

By the end of this chapter you should have GNS3 running on your computer ready to create your first network simulation.