Posted on September 2, 2020 - 3 minute read

How to setup GNS3 on a remote server

Download: video(.mp4) | subtitles(.srt)
This is the companion article to How to setup Cisco Packet Tracer on a remote server

Launch an EC2 instance
Install OpenVPN and GNS3 on the instance
Config your OpenVPN client and open the VPN tunnel
Config your GNS3 client
Enjoy!
But before you go... save your work!

Step Zero : Requirements

An AWS account
A local GNS3 installation
A local OpenVPN installation
A SSH client of your choice

DISCLAIMER: I've made this tutorial using linux.

Step 1 : Launch an EC2 instance

Navigate to EC2 in the AWS Console.
Click Launch Instance.
Select a free-tier elegible Ubuntu image.
Click Next - leave the Instance Type panel as is.
Click Next - leave the Instance Details panel as is.
Click Next - leave the Storage panel as is.
Click Add Tag. Set key to Name and value to the name you choose to your instance. (Optional step)
Click Next.

Assign a security group: Create a new security group
Set the security group name and description as you choose.
Click Review and Launch.
Click Launch.

Select: Create a new key pair
Set the key pair name as you choose.
Click Download Key Pair
Click Launch Instances

Back to EC2 Instances panel in the AWS Console.
Select the instance.
Click Connect.
Connection method: A standalone SSH client
Change the keypair file permissions to Only Owner Read/Write as follows:
chmod 400 my-key-pair.pem
Or, if you are using Windows:

[File] Properties - Security - Advanced

Set Owner to the key's user

Remove all users, groups, and services, except for the key's user, under Permission Entries

Set key's user to Full Control
At the SSH client of your choice, input the details provided.
User name ubuntu
Target: Public DNS
Example: ssh -i my-key-pair.pem ubuntu@server-public-dns

Step 2 : Install OpenVPN and GNS3 on the instance

Inside the server: sudo su
Install the GNS3 as instructed by the Installation Guide cd /tmp curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/GNS3/gns3-server/master/scripts/remote-install.sh > gns3-remote-install.sh bash gns3-remote-install.sh --with-openvpn --with-iou --with-i386-repository
Restart the server for the installation to take effect: reboot now

Step 3 : Config your OpenVPN client and open the VPN tunnel

SSH back to the server, copy and download the config file provided by the OpenVPN server to your local machine.

At your local machine, run OpenVPN client using the file dowloaded:
sudo openvpn config-file.ovpn

Step 5 : Config your GNS3 client

open gns3 client file - preferences - server server ip forgot to take note? use lsof -li port TCP/3080 no auth

At the server: ip addr | grep tun
ip addr list all the IP addresses.
grep tun filters the result of 'ip addr' and shows only the records with 'tun' (as in tunnel) in it.

Open your local GNS3 client.
Click Edit; Preferences; Server
Host: the tunnel IP address
Port: 3080

Step 6 : Enjoy!

Now you have the Cisco Packet Tracer installed and ready to go!

Step 7 : But before you go... save your work!(and some money)

Don't leave your instance running without any purpose. Save your instance (all configured and tweaked) to use it whenever you're up to lab again.

Back to EC2 Instances panel in the AWS Console.
Select the instance.
Click Actions; Image; Create Image
Your AMIs will be available on the EC2 Images panel in the AWS Console.

Back to EC2 Instances panel in the AWS Console.
Select the instance.
Click Actions; Instance State; Terminate
Click Yes, Terminate