How to Install Cisco Packet Tracer on Ubuntu

In this article, we going to install the Cisco Packet Tracer 8.0 simulator software on the latest version (20.10) of Ubuntu, one of the most popular and widely used Linux distributions.

How to Install Packet Tracer 8.0 on Ubuntu 20.10

People preparing for Cisco exams prefer Packet Tracer (PT) as a starting point. And they start making network designs by installing this software on Windows, Linux, macOS systems. Although it is easy to install PT software on a Windows operating system, this may not be the case on Linux systems.

In order to install and run Packet Tracer on an Ubuntu system, you need to master the basic terminal commands. Because, when installing a program in Linux, you may need to install additional dependent packages.

Installing and running PT on your Linux computer and virtual machine consists of easy and simple steps. If you haven’t downloaded PT to your PC before, you can download it either from Netacad or directly from the link here.

The setup files of older versions of Packet Tracer such as 7.1 had the extension tar.gz. Setup file extension changed to .run in version 7.2. In the current version (8.0), the setup file is now published as a .deb extension.

Packet Tracer 8 version has the ability to cabling network devices with physical view experience and network controller features to monitor and manage network devices on the project from the host machine.

Now, follow the steps below in order to install the Cisco network simulator software on your Ubuntu computer step by step.

   Step 1

To install the PT installation file with deb extension on your Ubuntu computer, first open the terminal by pressing CTRL + Alt + T keys together, and then execute the command “sudo dpkg -i PacketTracer_800_amd64_build212_final.deb”.

sudo dpkg -i PacketTracer_800_amd64_build212_final.deb

   Step 2

In the Configuring Packet Tracer window, press the Enter key to accept the software’s license agreement. If you want to get more information, you can visit Cisco’s official website specified in the license agreement.

   Step 3

After confirming the software license agreement, press Enter on the Yes option to accept the EULA terms.

   Step 4

In Linux systems, files with Deb extensions are extracted from the archive and installed with the dpkg command. When extracting the installation file of Packet Tracer, if you see that the required dependent packages are not installed as below, execute the command “sudo apt install -f” in the terminal, press Y, and then Enter to confirm the download and installation of the required packages such as libgl1-mesa-glx or libxcb-xinerama0-dev. Press.

sudo apt install -f

   Step 5

After the packages required for Packet Tracer 8.0 are downloaded from Linux servers and installed on your system, run the simulator software by executing the packettracer command in the terminal.

packettracer

   Step 6

When the PT is opened without any problem, when you see the multi-user warning, continue by clicking the Yes button.

   Step 7

You will do more than 3 project registration rights on Packet Tracer. You need to write your Netacad account and log in. If you do not have a Netacad account, click Sign Up and create a free account.

Or click the Continue as a Guest button to log in as a guest for testing purposes only.

   Step 8

As soon as you click the guest login button, the web browser installed by default on your Ubuntu system will open. Close your browser and wait for the 10-second timer in the session window to open the program, then click the Confirm Guest button.

   Step 9

Click Help / About to check the version number to confirm that you have installed the latest version of Packet Tracer.

   Step 10

Finally, check whether PT shortcuts are created in applications on Ubuntu.

   Step 11

To create a desktop shortcut for your simulator software on your Ubuntu 20.10 system, execute the following command in the terminal and click Allow Launching on the cisco-pt.desktop file.

   Video

How to Run PT in Ubuntu 19.10

Cisco released the final version of its network simulator software (7.2.2) for its users on September 11, 2019. Ubuntu 19.10 was released on October 17, 2019. It also includes new versions of Linux 5.3 kernel, GCC 9, Python 3.7, OpenJDK 11, Messa 19.2, and Golang 1.12.

Networking Academy has configured a GUI setup interface for its users to facilitate easier setup on Linux systems. However, installing on a Linux system still requires dependent packages.

The main features of Ubuntu Eoan Ermine are;

1. Faster Boot Time with LZ4 Compression
2. ZFS Support
3. NVIDIA Graphics Card Drivers in ISO
4. Visual Appearance Changes with GNOME Version 3.34 Incoming
5. Dark and Light Theme Support
6. 32-Bit Support Extended

Major improvements for Cisco Packet Tracer 7.2.2 are as follows;

1. Java Dependencies for PT 7.2.2 Version Removed
2. Packet Tracer Skills Assessment (PTSA) and Packet Tracer Media Objects (PTMO) can be used without installing JAVA

   Step 1

To install Packet Tracer.run, first, open the terminal and change the permission of the file with chmod command as follows. Then start the installation process with the command ./PacketTracer-7.2.2-ubuntu-setup.run.

chmod +x PacketTracer-7.2.2-ubuntu-setup.run
./PacketTracer-7.2.2-ubuntu-setup.run

   Step 2

When the PT Setup Wizard window opens, click Next to begin the installation.

   Step 3

In the Installation Folder window, continue without changing the /opt/pt/ location, which is selected by default.

   Step 4

In the License Agreement window, accept the PT license and click Next.

   Step 5

In the Ready to Install window, click the Install button to confirm that 307.58 MB of disk space will be used for installation.

   Step 6

As soon as you click the Install button, you will be prompted for your authorized password for your sudo account. Enter your root password for your sudo account and click OK.

   Step 7

Wait while copying the necessary files for the Packet Tracer.

   Step 8

After the wizard completes the installation, click Finish to run the program.

   Step 9

You will get an error when you try to open the simulator by executing the packettracer command in the terminal. This error is caused by dependent packages that are not installed on your Linux system.

One of the must-have packages for Packet Tracer is Libpng. Now run the following commands on the terminal to download and install Libpng.

wget https://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/pool/main/libp/libpng/libpng12-0_1.2.50-2+deb8u3_amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i libpng12-0_1.2.50-2+deb8u3_amd64.deb

If you see that a multiarch package should be installed as in the image below, you will need to install it. Go to the next step to install the Multiarch package on Ubuntu.

   Step 10

Use the following commands to download and install the multiarch package with the terminal.

wget https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/g/glibc/multiarch-support_2.29-0ubuntu2_amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i multiarch-support_2.29-0ubuntu2_amd64.deb

   Step 11

If you encounter an “unable to install new version of ‘/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpng12.so.0’: No such file or directory” error this time, you will need to extract the deb package to the folder and copy the package to /opt/pt/bin/.

To copy the libpng12.so.0 file;

mkdir cpt; dpkg -x libpng12-0_1.2.50-2+deb8u3_amd64.deb ./cpt
cp ./cpt/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpng12.so.0 /opt/pt/bin/

   Step 12

After fixing libpng12.so.0, run the command again on the terminal and complete the installation. Then run and check the packettracer command to test the program’s operability.

After installing the necessary packages, Packet Tracer will run smoothly as follows!

   Step 13

If you have a Netacad account, you can enter your information in this window and log in. Otherwise, you can click Guest Login button to login to the program.

After clicking the Guest Login button, you must click the Confirm Guest button to confirm the session after a 15-second timer.

   Step 14

After you have successfully installed Cisco Packet Tracer, you can check its version from the Help / About.

Creating a Desktop Shortcut

After installing PT on Ubuntu, you have to do this manually, since a shortcut to the program is not automatically created.

To create a desktop shortcut for Packet Tracer, use the following commands on the terminal.

Finally, in Ubuntu 19.10, you must now right-click the file and click Allow Launching to allow a shortcut to run.

cp /opt/pt/bin/Cisco-PacketTracer.desktop /home/user/Desktop/
chmod +x Cisco-PacketTracer.desktop

   Video

You can watch the video below to install and run Packet Tracer on your Linux computer step by step and also subscribe to our YouTube channel to support us!

How to Install PT 7.2.1 on Ubuntu 18.10

Ubuntu’s version 18.10, codenamed Cosmic Cuttlefish, released on October 18, 2019. Version 7.2.1 of Packet Tracer released on December 28, 2018, as a maintenance release.

If you want to install PT on Ubuntu’s 18.04 or 18.10, you can follow the steps below.

   Step 1

Open the Terminal by pressing CTRL + Alt + T on the Ubuntu desktop and follow the commands below to extract the Packet Tracer.tar file to the folder.

mkdir CPT72
tar -xvzf Packet\ Tracer\ 7.2.1\ for\ Linux\ 64\ bit.tar.gz -C CPT72

   Step 2

After extracting the installation files to the folder, run the install file in the CPT72 folder with the command below to start the installation. Then, press Enter to continue the installation.

./install

   Step 3

After installing the Cisco simulator, go to the next step to run the program.

   Step 4

To go to the installation location, execute cd /opt/pt/bin/ at the terminal, and then execute ./PacketTracer7 to run the program.

Packet Tracer did not work as you can see in the image below. So, you need to install libpng12 to work properly.

   Step 5

Type libpng12 in the Google search box and visit the Debian website to download libpng12.

   Step 6

Double-click on the downloaded deb file and click Install to install Libpng12.

   Step 7

After installing the required package, execute ./PacketTracer7 to run the software again. And check that the program is running as you see in the image below.

   Step 8

After running Packet Tracer 7.2.1, click the Guest Login button to log in to the program.

   Step 9

Click Confirm Guest to confirm the guest login.

   Step 10

PT 7.2.1 works smoothly !!!

   Step 11

You can check the version of Packet Tracer in Help / About.

Making a Desktop Shortcut

In Windows, the shortcut for the program that you install a program runs smoothly. This is sometimes a problem on Linux systems. For example, after installing Cisco’s simulator software in Ubuntu 18.10, the desktop shortcut is not created.

   Step 1

To create a desktop shortcut for Packet Tracer, open the /opt/pt/bin/ folder, and copy the Cisco-PacketTracer.desktop file to the desktop as in the image below.

   Step 2

Open Terminal and execute gedit Cisco-PacketTracer.desktop.

   Step 3

Change the Exec part of the file to “/opt/pt/packettracer” and save the file.

   Step 4

To make the desktop shortcut executable, execute chmod +x Cisco-Packet Tracer.desktop.

   Step 5

To run Packet Tracer 7.2.1, double-click on the file and click Trust and Launch in the window that opens.

Creating a Start Menu Shortcut

In Ubuntu, no desktop shortcut is created for PT, nor is it created by default in a start menu shortcut. So you will have to make a new shortcut by following the steps below!

   Step 1

Enter the name of the program you have installed in the Ubuntu menu and check for a shortcut.

   Step 2

Adding a shortcut to the Ubuntu menu is very simple. All you need to do is copy the desktop shortcut you created to /usr/share/applications. To do this, run the following command on the terminal.

sudo mv Packet\ Tracer\ 7.2.1.desktop /usr/share/applications

   Step 3

You have successfully created the Start menu shortcut to Packet Tracer 7.2.1!

   Video

How to Install PT 7.1.1 on 18.10/18.04/17.10/17.04

Installing the 7.1.x (7.1.1) versions of Packet Tracer on your Linux computer is almost the same as the above steps. However, as we said, you may need to install different dependent packages for the program.

After installing PT 7.1.1 on Ubuntu 18.04 or 18.10 versions, download and install the dependent packages using the following commands. After performing these operations, you will be able to run the program.

sudo apt-get install libqt5webkit5 libqt5multimediawidgets5 libqt5svg5 libqt5script5 libqt5scripttools5 libqt5sql5
wget https://mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu/pool/main/i/icu/libicu52_52.1-3ubuntu0.8_amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i libicu52_52.1-3ubuntu0.8_amd64.deb
wget https://ftp.debian.org/debian/pool/main/libp/libpng/libpng12-0_1.2.50-2+deb8u3_amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i libpng12-0_1.2.50-2+deb8u3_amd64.deb

   Video

How to Use Packet Tracer in Ubuntu using Wine

You can use the Wine software developed by WineHQ to run Windows programs on Linux.

In Ubuntu, you can install and run PT with Wine. However, you need to use the Windows setup.exe setup file.

First, install Wine on your PC and then follow the steps below to install PT step by step.

   Step 1

Right-click on the Packet Tracer.exe file and click Open With Wine Windows Program Loader from the drop-down options.

   Step 2

Once the installation has started, select I accept the agreement to accept the license agreement and click Next.

   Step 3

Leave the Packet Tracer installation location setting as default and click Next.

   Step 4

Leave the Start menu folder setting for PT also by default and click Next.

   Step 5

To create a desktop shortcut for PT, select Create a desktop shortcut and click Next.

   Step 6

And finally, click the Install button to start the installation process.

   Step 7

Wait while extracting and copying the files required for installation.

   Step 8

After the wizard completes the installation, click Finish to run the program.

   Step 9

You can learn the version of the network simulator by following the Help / About path.

   Video

   Final Word

In this article, we have examined how to install the 7.2.x versions of PT that are frequently used by students preparing for Cisco CCNA exams on Linux/Ubuntu 18.x and 19.x operating systems. Finally, we have created a desktop shortcut and a start menu shortcut for the simulator. Thanks for following us!

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