What is cisco packet tracer?

Packet Tracer is a cross-platform visual simulation tool designed by Cisco Systems that allows
users to create network topologies and imitate modern computer networks. The software allows
users to simulate the configuration of Cisco routers and switches using a simulated
command line.

Cisco packet Tracer Figure

How to Configure a Network on Cisco Packet Tracer?

Cisco Packet Tracer is a network simulation program that gives students the opportunity to
experiment and learn the different behaviors of networks and ask “what if” questions. It is also a
vital part of the Networking Academy learning experience. The Packet Tracer provides
simulation, visualization, authoring, assessment, and enhances the teaching and learning of
complex technology concepts.known Different step are here in this.

1) Open your Network Topology. Once you've opened your Network Topology on Cisco
Packet Tracer, access your network and identify the components of your network, for example;
Servers, Routers, End Devices, etc.
2) The cabling Complete. Access the cables section and connect completely and correctly
the cables between the network in order to ensure connectivity between the devices in the
network using the connections table given.

3) Configure the IP addresses on the end devices. Using the address table still,
correctly and completely configure the IP addresses on all end devices. This can be done by
accessing the desktop platform on each device and locating the IP configuration section. The
reason for doing this is to enable the devices be on the right network.

4) Configure the IP addresses on your ro ers and switches. After configuring the right IP
addresses on the end devices, you will have to do the same ut on the routers and switches also, using the
address table. But this time in a different way because there's no desktop platform on the routers and
switches. You will have to access the configuration panel on both devices.
 Basic Configuration With Routers
Step-by-Step Configuration of Cisco Routers-:
The Cisco Routers and how to configure their numerous features. we step-by-step guide for
the most basic configuration commands needed to make the router operational.

When you first power up a new Cisco Router, you have the option of using the “setup” utility
which allows you to create a basic initial configuration. However, in this tutorial I will show you
how to do this basic setup with the Command Line Interface (CLI).

Mastering the Cisco Router CLI is essential for more complex configuration tasks and it is the
most important knowledge you should acquire if you want to become a Cisco network
administrator.

CLI Configuration Modes-:

The basic CLI modes that we will be referring below are as following:

Router> <– User EXEC Mode

Router# <– Privileged EXEC mode
Router(config)# <– Global Configuration Mode
Router(config-if)# <– Interface Configuration Mode
Router(config-line)# <– Line Configuration Mode

Step-by-Step Configuration of Cisco Router

Step1: Configure Access Password

The first step is to secure your access to the router by configuring a global secret password and
also passwords for Telnet or Console as need.

Router# configure terminal <– Privileged EXEC mode. Router(config)# <– Global
Configuration Mode.
Step2: Configure a Router Hostname

To differentiate your Router from other devices in the network, you should configure a
Hostname for your device.

Router(config)# hostname My-Router

My-Router(config)#

Step3: Configure IP addresses for Router Interfaces

This an essential step in order for your router to be able to forward packets in the network. The most basic
parameter for a Router Interface is the IP address. From Global Configuration Mode you need to enter
into Interface Configuration Mode:

My-Router(config)# interface serial 1/1

My-Router This (config-if)# ip address 100.100.100.1 255.255.255.252
My-Router(config-if)# no shutdown
My-Router(config-if)# exit.

Step4: Configure Routing (Static or Dynamic)

The Router’s main purpose is to find the best route path towards a destination network and forward
packets according to the best path.

There are two main ways a router knows where to send packets. The administrator can assign static
routes, or the router can learn routes by using a dynamic routing protocol.

For simple network topologies, static routing is preferred over dynamic routing. Let’s see how to
configure static routes from Global Configuration Mode.

My-Router(config)# ip route [destination network] [subnet mask] [gateway]

My-Router(config)# ip route 200.200.200.0 255.255.255.0 100.100.100.2

The command above tells the router that network 200.200.200.0/24 is reachable via gateway address
100.100.100.2.

Another popular static route that we usually configure on Internet Border routers is the default static
route:

My-Router(config)# ip route 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 50.50.50.1

The default static route above instructs the router to send ALL packets that the router does not have a
more specific route entry to gateway address 50.50.50.1 (which might be the ISP gateway address).
Step5: Save your configuration

Save your current running configuration into NVRAM. This will overwrite the startup configuration.

My-Router(config)# exit
My-Router# copy running-config startup-config

You can display your current configuration to verify your settings as following:

My-Router# show running-configuration.

Basic Configuration With Switch

Switches are one of the most numerous devices installed onto the corporate network
infrastructure. Configuring them can be fun and challenging. Knowing how switches
normally boot and load an operating system is also important.

Switch Boot Sequence

After a Cisco switch is powered on, it goes through the following boot sequence:

Step 1. First, the switch loads a power-on self-test (POST) program stored in ROM.
POST checks the CPU subsystem. It tests the CPU, DRAM, and the portion of the flash
device that makes up the flash file system.

Step 2. Next, the switch loads the boot loader software. The boot loader is a small
program stored in ROM and is run immediately after POST successfully completes.

Step 3. The boot loader performs low-level CPU initialization. It initializes the CPU
registers that control where physical memory is mapped, the quantity of memory, and
memory speed.

Step 4. The boot loader initializes the flash file system on the system board.

Step 5. Finally, the boot loader locates and loads a default IOS operating system
software image into memory and hands control of the switch over to the IOS.

The boot loader finds the Cisco IOS image on the switch using the following process:
The switch attempts to automatically boot by using information in the BOOT
environment variable. If this variable is not set, the switch attempts to load and execute
the first executable file it can by performing a recursive, depth-first search.
 Figure 2-1 Configure BOOT Environment Variable

Recovering from a System Crash

The boot loader provides access into the switch if the operating system cannot be used
because of missing or damaged system files. The boot loader has a command line that provides
access to files stored in flash memory.

The boot loader can be accessed through a console connection using these steps:

Step 1. Connect a console cable from the PC to the switch console port. Configure terminal
emulation software to connect to the switch.

Step 2. Unplug the switch power cord.

Step 3. Reconnect the power cord to the switch and within 15 seconds press and hold down the
Mode button while the System LED is still flashing green.

Step 4. Continue pressing the Mode button until the System LED turns briefly amber and then
solid green; then release the Mode button.

Step 5. The boot loader switch: prompt appears in the terminal emulation software on the
PC.

The boot loader command line supports commands to format the flash file system, reinstall the
operating system software, and recover.
Switch LED Indicators

status of Cisco Catalyst switches have several status LED indicator lights. You can use the
switch LEDs to quickly monitor switch activity and its performance. Switches of different models
and feature sets will have different LEDs, and their placement on the front panel of the switch
may also vary.

Figure 2-3 shows the switch LEDs and the Mode button for a Cisco Catalyst 2960 switch. The
Mode button is used to toggle through port status, port duplex, port speed, and PoE (if
supportedthe port LEDs.

Preparing for Basic Switch Management

To prepare a switch for remote management access, the switch must be configured with an IP address and a subnet mask.
Keep in mind that to manage the switch from a remote network, the switch must be configured with a default gateway. This
is very similar to configuring the IP address information on host devices. In Figure 2-4, the switch virtual interface (SVI) on
S1 should be assigned an IP address. The SVI is a virtual interface, not a physical port on the switch.

Configuring Basic Switch Management Access with IP4

1. Configure the Management Interface.

An IP address and subnet mask is configured on the management SVI of the switch
from VLAN interface configuration mode. As shown in Table 2-2, the interface vlan
99 command is used to enter interface configuration Step mode. The ip
address command is used to configure the IP address. The no shutdowncommand
enables the interface.