Download Cisco Packet Tracer 9.0 & GNS3

Download Cisco Packet Tracer 9.0.0 open beta

Cisco Packet Tracer 9.0.0 open beta is now available for download. This beta release is required to complete the 26 labs included in the new Netacad Industrial Networking Essentials course. This course has been designed to teach students how to configure a secure industrial network supporting Industrial Automation Control Systems (IACS).

How to download Cisco Packet Tracer on the new Netacad Website ?

You can download Cisco Packet Tracer 9.0.0 for FREE from the official Cisco Netacad website. The software comes with several tutorial files that allow academy students to enhance their learning experience.

Step 1 : Log in to Cisco Netacad.com learning website and select Explore > Learning Catalog > Cisco Packet Tracer in the menu to access the download page.

Step 2 : Find the "Time to use Cisco Packet Tracer v8.2.2" article and click on the article title.

Step 3 : Click on the Cisco Packet Tracer download link to access the official download page. The page provides basic guidelines to install Cisco Packet Tracer.

Packet Tracer 9.0.0 checksums

Cisco Packet Tracer 9.0.0 open beta can be downloaded from the Cisco Netacad Ressource Hub. Do not download Cisco Packet Tracer from any website or torrent source different than the official Cisco Netacad website. Please find below the SHA and MD5 checksums for the official Packet Tracer packages so you can check if the software you downloaded is correct.

Packet Tracer 9.0 open beta is compatible with Microsoft Windows 10 and Windows 11. You can also download the installer for MacOS 10.15 or newer, or as a debian package (.deb) for Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. MacOs 10.14 and Ubuntu 20.04 are no longer supported.

How to update Packet Tracer ?

Packet Tracer 9.0 is an open beta release with early features. The current stable version of Cisco Packet Tracer is Packet Tracer 8.2.2 build 0400.

It is highly recommended to keep Packet Tracer 8.2.2 install in parallel with Packet Tracer 9.0 open beta which can coexist with Packet Tracer 8.2.2 on the same PC :

• Packet Tracer 8.2.2 is installed in the "C:\Program Files\Cisco Packet Tracer 8.2.2" directory
  Binary is "C:\Program Files\Cisco Packet Tracer 8.2.2\bin\PacketTracer.exe
• Packet Tracer 9.0 is installed in the "C:\Program Files\Cisco Packet Tracer 9.0.0" directory.
  Binary is "C:\Program Files\Cisco Packet Tracer 9.0.0\bin\PacketTracer.exe

You may have to manually recreate a shortcut for Packet Tracer 8.2.2 in Windows start menu.

Download Cisco Packet Tracer 8.2.2 (stable release)

Cisco Packet Tracer 8.2.2 release info

Packet Tracer 8.2 added a new OSPF command (show ip ospf interface brief) to Packet Tracer 8. This major version of packet Tracer features a new SDN Network Controller which enables network devices programming through API. The SDN controller API is accessible from the host using Postman, Visual Studio Code, ...

Cisco Packet Tracer 8 features a new Packet Tracer Tutored Activities (PTTA) engine, IPv6 and IOS15 device improvements. It also fixes a bug regarding DLL issues that caused Packet Tracer crashes.

Cisco Packet Tracer 8.2.2 checksums

Current version is compatible with Microsoft Windows 10 and Windows 11. You can also download Packet Tracer for mac os x 10.14, as a debian package (.deb) for Ubuntu 20.04 and 22.04 LTS. Microsoft Windows 7, 8.1, and Ubuntu 18.04 are no longer supported.

Download GNS3 v3.0 network emulator

GNS3 v3.0 new features

After several months of testing, GNS3 v3.0 has been released for download on December 20th, 2024. This version provides significant user experience enhancements. It allow GNS3 to run in the cloud, feature a new web interface and improved security.

Major new features of GNS3 v3.0 are :

• Secured API based on the latest FastAPI and Pydantic versions
• New RBAC system with resource pools support
• Image manager to upload and manage images for Dynamips, Qemu and IOU
• Templates can be automatically created after images are uploaded
• Zstandard compression for importing/exporting projects
• ...

GNS3 v3.0.4 fixes the following GNS3 GUI and GNS3 server issues of GNS3 v3.0.0 and adds the following features :

• GNS3 GUI :
  • Upgrade dependencies
  • Fix auto idle-pc for IOS templates
  • Add user info and password change for logged-in user

• GNS 3 Server :
  • Require minimum 8 characters for passwords
  • Bundle web-ui v3.0.4
  • Upgrade dependencies
  • Fix auto idle-pc for IOS templates
  • Update schemas to add constraints for values like ram, nvram etc.
  • Install custom symbols. 
  • Fix VMware add ubridge connection

Download GNS3 v3.0.4 for Windows

GNS3 v3.0.4 checksums (February 25, 2025) :

Other network simulation tools and Cisco Packet Tracer add-ons download

Cisco Modeling Labs

Cisco Modeling Labs is a virtualized network simulation environment offering Netacad students the chance to practice networking labs using real Cisco devices images (IOS, IOS-XE, ASA, ....). Buying expensive network devices is not required anymore for optimal CCNP Enterprise or CCIE exams preparation experience. Cisco Modeling Labs OVA can be downloaded for free on Cisco website. Five network devices images are provided for free in the refplat-20241016-freetier.iso archive.

Cisco Modeling Labs 2.8.1 Free Tier OVA: cml2_f_2.8.1-14_amd64-35.ova
SHA 512 checksum: 30b25d090b91f360ed071fcd16fd71fcda15b8b454cee50f4cde516e812285b1ebcbb551e17a17c0f9872c5cf180af687171185b1cf968aaf99ffc3f52c23a01

Cisco Modeling Labs 2.8.1 reference platform ISO: refplat-20241016-freetier.iso
SHA512 checksum: 0f0a4bc0a175168bb74f7b4194af173ecb283bb2c02714406b2233f756ae405e032dd0faca8a7b81e5efa2b70c286cd236a7ebec5fca730e96e8758119e48f30

Cisco NX-OSv 9000 appliance

The NX-OSv 9000 is a virtual appliance designed to simulate the control plane of a Cisco Nexus 9000 switch. The NX-OSv 9000 shares the same software image running on Cisco Nexus 9000 hardware platform. The NX-OSv 9000 software emulates line card (LC) ASICs and all interactions from the control plane to the relay switch ASICs.

Following the the Nexus 7000 Titanium emulator, the NX-OSv 9000 is a modern emulator for datacenter certification training. It helps engineers to test network automation prior to production deployment. The following NX-OSv 9000 features are officially supported in Cisco Modeling Labs 2.8.1:

• CDP :  OK
• SVI (wwitch virtual interface) : OK
• Port-security : OK
• Port-channel : OK
• vPC : OK
• Spanning-tree : OK
• HSRP betweeen two N9K: OK
• Loopback interface : OK
• Routed (L3) port : OK

NX-OSv 9000 virtual appliance is compatible with GNS3, KVM, or VMware NSX virtualization environments. The most recent version of NXOSv is 10.5(2)F. This version adds the following new features :

• multi-node
• multi-site service chaining
• next-hop resolution using VRF
• support for layer 3 ePBR policies
• and dot1x support with voice vlan.

Download NX-OSv 9000 10.5(2)F from Cisco website

Cisco UCS Platform Emulator 4.2

UCS PE (Platform Emulator) is a Cisco UCS Manager emulator designed to learn engineers how to configure Cisco UCS. It supports the following UCS hardware devices: 62xx/63xx/64xx Fabric Interconnect, Cisco UCS M6, HX220C, and HX240C servers. It also embeds the C4200 series rack server chassis with C125 rack servers and the S3260 storage server.

Download Cisco UCS PE 4.2(2aPE1) OVA image

Cisco dCloud demo platform (cisco login required) features UCS PE in simulated networks. The demo includes a comprehensive lab guide including the following content for Cisco UCS PowerTool and the Python SDK:

• Overviews of PowerShell and Python programming environments with step-by-step usage instructions.
• Code generation examples including code generation with UCS Manager's HTML5 interface.
• Sample script creation and use with UCSPE.

PTBridge - Connect Cisco Packet Tracer 7.0 to a real network

PTBridge connects real network devices with Cisco Packet Tracer. It provides the ability to connect simulated networks to a real lab environment. Download PTBridge from Github and start connecting labs to real Cisco devices.

Download PTBridge from GitHUB

Download PacketSocket library from GitHUB