GNS3 Lab Network Setup (Using IOS Routers and VPCS)

 On a previous post we have "connected" the GNS3 lab with the VirtualBox one. VyOS (10.10.10.254) is the default gateway and the NAT device for all our VMs. We have given the Router 3 different interfaces

- Bridged Ethernet Network : 10.10.10.254/24 - eth1

- Bridged Wireless Network : 192.168.0.51/254  - eth0 

- Bridged GNS3 Network: 192.168.56.254 - eth2 

So the VMs can access the internet or communicate with other networks if needed - for example the GNS3 network. We have to do the same for our GNS3 Network. 

Similarly with the inital NAT setup analyzed on another post we can apply the commands below to our VyOS device: 

set nat source rule 2 source address 192.168.56.0/24
set nat source rule 2 outbound-interface eth0
set nat source rule 2 protocol all
set nat source rule 2 translation address masquerade


We have shown on a previous post of how to use SSH client to connect any SSH-enabled device. The difference witht the console is that we can copy paste the commands from a notepad to the SSH session. 

On the GNS3 lab created earlier, I have added and powerd on a VPC which you can consider as a client terminal where I can run a few basic networking tool. 

Similarly with the VyOS or Cisco devices we can press the "?" (question mark) wildcard and get all the available options.

We will set set up an IP Address and check connectivity with the closest IP Address of VyOS Router (192.168.56.254), then the next hop IP Address of VyOS Router (10.10.10.254) and finally another host on our VIrtualBox LAB (Domain Controller)


PC-1> ip 192.168.56.51/24 192.168.56.254
Checking for duplicate address...
PC1 : 192.168.56.51 255.255.255.0 gateway 192.168.56.254


PC-1> ping 192.168.56.254
84 bytes from 192.168.56.254 icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=2.000 ms
84 bytes from 192.168.56.254 icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=1.501 ms
84 bytes from 192.168.56.254 icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=1.500 ms
84 bytes from 192.168.56.254 icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=1.000 ms
84 bytes from 192.168.56.254 icmp_seq=5 ttl=64 time=1.500 ms

PC-1> ping 10.10.10.254
84 bytes from 10.10.10.254 icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=2.000 ms
84 bytes from 10.10.10.254 icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=1.500 ms
84 bytes from 10.10.10.254 icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=1.500 ms
84 bytes from 10.10.10.254 icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=1.501 ms
84 bytes from 10.10.10.254 icmp_seq=5 ttl=64 time=1.500 ms

PC-1> ping 10.10.10.1
84 bytes from 10.10.10.1 icmp_seq=1 ttl=127 time=3.001 ms
84 bytes from 10.10.10.1 icmp_seq=2 ttl=127 time=2.000 ms
84 bytes from 10.10.10.1 icmp_seq=3 ttl=127 time=2.501 ms
84 bytes from 10.10.10.1 icmp_seq=4 ttl=127 time=2.500 ms
84 bytes from 10.10.10.1 icmp_seq=5 ttl=127 time=2.000 ms

We can also check if our NAT settings have been applied properly.

PC-1> ping 8.8.8.8
84 bytes from 8.8.8.8 icmp_seq=1 ttl=120 time=35.504 ms
84 bytes from 8.8.8.8 icmp_seq=2 ttl=120 time=289.037 ms
84 bytes from 8.8.8.8 icmp_seq=3 ttl=120 time=30.504 ms
84 bytes from 8.8.8.8 icmp_seq=4 ttl=120 time=26.504 ms
84 bytes from 8.8.8.8 icmp_seq=5 ttl=120 time=28.503 ms

Success!