If you run Debian 'Wheezy' you'll find that python3 is too old for the GNS3 1.0 Alpha, which leaves with a few choices...

1. Run Debian Jessie (Testing)
2. Try and pick the bits you need from testing (could lead to an unstable system)
3. Run a VM of Debian Testing
4. Setup a chroot

If like myself, your restricted by older hardware, running a VM introduces a lot of extra overhead... whereas running a chroot doesn't!

The steps below will allow to create a chroot and run gns3 from within it. All the commands shown below should be used in a terminal window.

INSTRUCTIONS
Install debootstrap and schroot

First decide where you want to store the chroot (you'll need about 850Mb of space for the chroot, not including IOS/IOU Images)

Create Debian Jessie (Testing) chroot

Note: The mirror at the end of the command can be any mirror as found here: https://www.debian.org/mirror/list

Depending on the speed of your internet connection and proximity to the mirror, it may take a while to download and setup the base system. Once it has finished we can move on...

Add chroot definition to schroot.conf

Add the following to the end of the file:

Replace the user on the users line with your username

Now lets get inside the chroot, where the real fun can begin!

*** WE ARE NOW IN THE CHROOT! ***
Fix the locale errors

Select the locales you wish to generate for you chroot from the list displayed.
For example for English (GB) choose "en_GB.UTF-8 UTF-8" from the list (highlight and press space)

Now <TAB> and <ENTER> on OK

Select the default locale, press <ENTER>. The system will now generate the locale and store the settings

Install packages required for GNS3 v1

Install a terminal emulator (gnome-terminal doesn't seem to work currently)

OR

Install telnet (required to console to routers)

Install i386 libssl1.0.0 for IOU


OPTIONAL: Install uml-utilities (to get tunctl needed for tap interfaces)


Install GNS3 Server


Install GNS3 GUI


Now you can run GNS3!


If when you start GNS3 an error is diplayed on the console about GTK+
Install qtconfig and pick a GUI style other than GTK+ (Cleanlooks works well)

_________________
Daniel
Forum Moderator & Debian Package Maintainer for GNS3, Dynamips & VPCS.
Standalone DEB Packages are available from http://gns3.serverb.co.uk - To be updated!

I followed the whole post and get the following error when I run the final 'gns3' command


(jessie)[email protected]:~$ gns3
GNS3 GUI version 1.0a2.dev3
Copyright (c) 2007-2014 GNS3 Technologies Inc.
gns3: cannot connect to X server

Any ideas how to fix it?

Thanks
Rick

If I recall, you were installing this on a cloud server and wanted to connect the GUI on your desktop to the server in the cloud, right? If that's the case, then you don't need to install or run the gns3-gui (the command "gns3" starts the gui, which requires an X display server). Just start the server with "gns3server" and then configure the GNS3 GUI on your desktop to connect to the server. As long as you have everything configure properly, it should work.

_________________
Joe Amen - Enterprise IT Consultant
CompTIA A+, Net+
CCNA in progress

Good call, I'm following things to the letter so go down some dead ends (I'm 70% Windows and 30% Linux, when I start gns3server I see the bellow output, am I correct in saying I just need to bung my IOU IOS files in a certain directory, point my client to the server and bob's my uncle?

Thanks
Rick

(jessie)[email protected]:~$ gns3server
GNS3 server version 1.0a2.dev3
Copyright (c) 2007-2014 GNS3 Technologies Inc.
Running with Python 3.3.5 and has PID 3406
[W 140414 17:45:36 config:82] no configuration file could be found or read
[W 140414 17:45:36 __init__:72] iouyap binary couldn't be found!
[I 140414 17:45:36 base:122] dynamips module running with PID 3408
[I 140414 17:45:36 base:75] ZeroMQ client (dynamips) connecting to 127.0.0.1:45305
[I 140414 17:45:36 server:206] ZeroMQ server listening to 127.0.0.1:45305
[I 140414 17:45:36 base:122] iou module running with PID 3409
[I 140414 17:45:36 base:75] ZeroMQ client (iou) connecting to 127.0.0.1:45305
Starting server on 0.0.0.0:8000 (Tornado 3.1.1)

Looks like you're missing iouyap, which I believe is necessary for IOU. That seems to have been omitted in this guide, but you can find the instructions in one of the the other guides.

The first thing I would do before trying to get your GUI to talk to the server is make sure IOU works on it's own, without GNS3. Upload an IOU file to your server, upload or generate your iourc license file, and then try executing the IOU file and see if it works. Do something like

If it works, then I think your next step is getting gns3server to listen on the server's external IP instead of the loopback address (my understanding is that it listens on the loopback, 127.0.0.1 by default). I'm not sure how to do that.
Then you'll point your GUI at the server and fill in the necessary paths.

_________________
Joe Amen - Enterprise IT Consultant
CompTIA A+, Net+
CCNA in progress

I'm almost giving up, I've spent so many hours on this my head hurts.

(jessie)[email protected]:/home/rickc/Documents/GNS3/projects# ./i86bi-linux-l2-ipbasek9-15.1a.bin 10
***************************************************************
IOS On Unix - Cisco Systems confidential, internal use only
netio error: unable to open NETMAP: No such file or directory

I read in another thread to try creating an empty NETMAP file with

_________________
Joe Amen - Enterprise IT Consultant
CompTIA A+, Net+
CCNA in progress

For me you are the man of the hour, the IOU IOS loaded, so, here is where I am.

- a default install of Debian 7.4 wheezy
- a jessie chroot
- gns3server and iouyap
- a changed hostid using a bash script from here http://fazlearefin.blogspot.ro/2013/03/ ... hosts.html The reason I changed my hostid to 00000000 was I couldn't get the python licence script working, it just kept printing "*******************************" which was not much use.

Now I just need to figure out how to get gns3server to listen on the server's external IP instead of the loopback address, my goal is to get this running on a Google cloud server which I can spin up whenever/wherever I want and take the load off my lappy, might even get openvpn working on it so I can lock the firewall down.
I was giving up but josephraa gave me the will to continue, wish somebody would just do all the work for me so I can just press play on the Google VM.

bed now.

Glad I could help. I did some poking around and found a config file for gns3server where I think you can set the listening address. Excerpt below from the script that loads the config file, which shows the list of locations that it might be found; mine was in the second location.



Excerpt from the relevant section of the config file:


I hope that helps. I'd test it, but I don't really have time to get another VM setup right now and don't want to mess with my working installation :/

_________________
Joe Amen - Enterprise IT Consultant
CompTIA A+, Net+
CCNA in progress

To use the pyhton license script without changing your hostname/hostid you need python2.7, which won't be installed by default in the chroot... but the main Debian install will probably have it installed already, which means you can generate the license file there as the hostname/hostid will be the same both inside and outside of the chroot

_________________
Daniel
Forum Moderator & Debian Package Maintainer for GNS3, Dynamips & VPCS.
Standalone DEB Packages are available from http://gns3.serverb.co.uk - To be updated!