Usually people use GNS3 to simulate expensive network equipment without the need of buying/renting it. But not connecting virtual topologies with physical ones makes the whole thing to stay lame. We’ll see two most useful ways to connect GNS3 to the real world.

The following procedures are basically the same, the only difference is the interface that makes the link.

Connect GNS3 to the local Windows machine

Thus we use when we need to access the GNS3 devices only from the same machine running the virtual topology.

  • Install a Loopback Adapter in the system.
  • Configure the Loopback Adapter IP address to match GNS3 device network address.

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  • Configure a Cloud device on GNS3 and link it to the Loopback Adapter we’ve just added.

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  • Connect the Cloud device to the rest of the virtual topology.
  • Test everything is working as expected.

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Connect GNS3 to another real devices

This one will be used when we need the GNS3 devices to have access to devices such as switches, servers, and another equipment installed on our physical network

  • Configure a Cloud device on GNS3 and link it to the NIC (Network Interface Card) installed on the PC.

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  • Connect the Cloud device to the rest of the virtual topology. In my case I have a DHCP enabled router with IP address 172.17.5.1. So, If I configure GNS3 device to autoconfigure IP with this method, and it works, this means that connection is Ok.

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