Running Multiple Instances on Dynamips

You can run multple instances on a Linux box, so that you can share the same box with your friends who are pursuing CCIE!

Take a look at /etc/init.d/dynamips:

PORT=7200

Default Dynamips is listening on 7200/tcp. Copy the init file and modify it to unused port, say 7201/tcp:

cp /etc/init.d/dynamips /etc/init.d/dynamips-7201

vi dynamips-7201

Change PORT=7200 to PORT=7201.

Start the second instance of Dynamips by /etc/init.d/dynamips-7201 start.

You will need to modify the .net config file, here are the key points to note when you create your second .net config file:
1. [1.2.3.4:7201] - make sure you are connecting to that particular instance
2. udp = 11000 - you have to use another udp port for the second instance
3. console = 3000 under your router configuration. Default starts at 2000/tcp and you can change to other unused ports, say from 3000/tcp.

Then run your config using:
dynagen your_config_file

Enjoy!

Dynamips / Dynagen on Linux

My environment: RH FC8 x86_64

Before start, make sure you have the IOS files with you, but please don't ask me where to get it!

1. Grab the rpms from sourceforge:
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=160317

dynagen-0.10.1-1.noarch.rpm
dynamips-0.2.8RC1-1.i386.rpm

When installing dynamips RPM, there is a dependency needs to be resolved and you need to downgrade the libpcap from 0.9.8 to 0.9.4 before you can install dynamips.

2. Prepare your .net config files, the easiest way is to modified the sample config files come with the installation:
/usr/share/doc/dynagen-0.10.1/sample_labs

3. Start your dynamips daemon:
/etc/init.d/dynamips start

4. Then you can start your lab simulation!
dynagen your_conf_file.net

Before you load the IOS, you can decompress it by standard zip utilities, the loading speed will be much faster!

Dynagen official page: http://dynagen.org/
Dynagen Tutorial: http://dynagen.org/tutorial.htm