Simulator

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11/20/2011: New Server

Sorry, but I’m in the process of moving my simulator to another server and so it will be down for a while.

9/1/2011: It’s Back!

The Network Simulator is still in beta, but it continues to grow in features and functionality!! You can go ahead and start using it to prepare for your CCENT/CCNA Exam.

There still is a lot of work to do to and I plan to continue updating it regularly so that some day you will be able to practice ALL of your simulations right here on this site without having to download or set up any routing equipment. Not that anything is wrong with that, but sometimes it can be hard to obtain equipment or you might be mobile a lot which can make it difficult to haul around a bunch of routers and switches.

I just want you to know that I have huge plans for The Network Simulator in the future. I plan on always having a limited free version available, but I want to be completely honest with you and that as it continues to grow there is going to also be a paid version with extra features like being able to save your config and the ability to connect your network to other users online networks.

3 Short Video Tutorials:

Below are 3 short video tutorials to help get you started. And just so you know I plan on making a lot more tutorials in the near future so that you can continue to get familiar with programming networking equipment.

The Enable Password Command
The Enable Secret Command
The Question Mark Command [Note: not all commands listed are supported yet]

Things you can currently do:

enable
config t
change the hostname
configure interface e0
configure interface s0
sh run
enable password
enable secret
configure line con 0
configure line vty 0 4
router rip
exit
disable

Also just so you know there is a lot that it can’t do yet. I’m not going to promise anything yet. If it doesn’t do something or you see weird output just hit the ‘restart’ button and start over. Please be patient, I’ll get all the bugs out eventually

Leave a comment and share with your friends!

Please let me know what you think by leaving a comment below! Also could you please share this page with your friends so that they too can practice?? I also want to see how much load my webhost will support before it crashes. I’m hoping in the future as it grows I can move it to a much more powerful server.

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7/7/2011

### 6:40 pm ###
Today I was able to fix some things with switching between s0 and e0 while keeping track of which interface you are really in. I also worked on some settings for the show cdp and show cdp neighbors command. As you can see from the picture on the left that I got the enable secret command to work.

7/6/2011

### 8:54 pm ###
So, moving sucked like it always does. I’m glad it is over with though and for the most part we are all settled in. We moved from a 1 bedroom to a 2 bedroom apartment with a garage for only like $50 more than our last place. And we have a huge walkin closet that I’m using as my office. Which is working out way better than being out in the family room.

Today I decided to work on a little cosmetic issues with the network simulator. See these Screen shots of before and after.

What do you think?

6/30/2011

### 8:18 pm ###
I updated some more things when configuring multiple interfaces. I’m going to go to bed now because I’m moving into my new apartment tomorrow afternoon and I need to wake up at 4:00 am so that I can get 8 hours in at work and come home early.

6/29/2011

### 11:17 pm ###
I was able to get a lot of coding in today and was able to figure out a big hurdle that had slowed me down for awhile. The big hurdle was figuring out how I could support multiple interfaces because of the way I was keeping track of settings for each interface I wasn’t able to distinguish between interfaces. Changes you made to one interface would end up overwriting changes to another interface. For example when you go into interface configuration mode the prompt changes to ‘config-if’, and when you switch to another interface the prompt still says ‘config-if’ but doesn’t tell you which interface you are currently in. I can now track this on the backend when you switch interfaces and settings for the ip address and other settings are being stored properly for each interface. This same problem applied to the ‘line con 0′ and ‘line vty 0 4′ lines.

6/29/2011

### 12:51 am ###
As you can see I’ve opened up my Online Network Simulator (beta) to the general public! It still has a long way to go, but with your support I’ll be able to release version 1 soon.

Some of you may be wondering why you need to pay for my Online Network Simulator (beta) when I first stated many months ago that I would make it free. When I first began to develop it I wanted to make it free so that more people could use it and I would just support it with ads.

I hate ads, and I know that most everybody else hates them too. Since my Network Simulator has evolved into a huge project I came to the conclusion that if I was able to charge a small fee it would be able to grow much faster and become a much better product over the years compared to if I only worked on it for free in my spare time.

While version 1 of my Online Router Simulator will only support all the functions required to pass the CCENT Exam, I have HUGE plans for later versions where it can be used to build large networks to not only test your configuration ability, but to experiement with the best way to deploy large networks in the real world.

5/18/2011

### 6:52 am ###
I just spent the last couple of hours working on the details about signing up for a username and some other login stuff. I was really hoping that I could send out emails to all the beta testers this morning with some login information, but I need to head of to work now.

5/17/2011

### 9:55 pm ###
Before I head to bed just wanted to say that I’ve working on creating a login page and getting it to work with my wordpress authentication. I have quite a bit of functionality in my simulator so far and and soon as I get the login in stuff working correctly I’m going to open it up to all the beta testers. So, I’m really hoping I can get that up and working soon.

5/9/2011

### 6:28 am ###
This morning I worked on adding support for the telnet lines. Telnet is used so that you can remotely login to your router instead having to be physically next to it to make any configuration changes. There are still several more little things that I’m going to need to do in order to get this working how I’d like in my router simulator, but for now this was a good start.

5/7/2011

### 12:27 pm ###
I finally got the ‘line con 0′ command to work, but now I need to get it to show up in the running config. There is like an infinite list of things for me to do, and probably always will be, but I just need to decide what I’m not going to release in the first version. So, pretty much anything that is not on the CCENT Exam I’m going to leave out for now. And here is a link to another band that I have been listening to.

### 6:32 am ###
So, I’ve been up since 4:23 am working on adding support for line con 0 so that you can change the password and login information for the console interface, but I can’t get it to work right now. I have no idea why either, which just makes it really frustrating. I’m going to take a little break right now, but hopefully I can find some more time later today to finish it. I listend to this song this morning.

5/1/2011

### 2:38 pm ###
I can’t believe it is May already! Where does all the time go?? I know I haven’t posted in a while, but I just wanted you all to know that I’m still here and slowly making progress on my router simulator. Thanks for all your support, I really appreciate it!

4/17/2011

### 1:13 am ###
I’m still working on the ‘sh run’ command, but so far I have it showing the hostname that we have configured and also interface ip address and it’s shutdown status.

4/15/2011

### 8:42 pm ###
Alright now I’m really starting to feel like I’m making good progress. Today I fixed a couple of minor issues with the ‘disable’ command that broke when I made some updates to the ‘hostname’ command on 4/13. After that I was able to add support for interface e0. I also added the ability to assign it an ip address and turn it on or off with the ‘shutdown’ command. Once I add functionality to the ‘show’ command you will be able to see your configuration for interface e0.

4/13/2011

### 10:08 pm ###
I was finally able to get the hostname command to work correctly. At first I was able to change the hostname, but I couldn’t get it to stay changed along with a couple of other errors. Now after several hours of coding tonight I finally got the hostname command working correctly and now I can move on to the next thing. However I’m not sure what the next ‘thing’ is yet. I made a list awhile back of all the features I would like to have for my router simulator, so I guess I should see if I can dig that up somewhere so that I know what to work on tomorrow.

4/12/2011

### 3:22 pm ###
Wow, I can’t believe it has almost been 2 months since I’ve posted an update for my router simulator. It really is something I think about every day and wish I could be working on. I know how much it can help me as I study for my next Cisco Exams as will as anyone else studying to pass their CCENT/CCNA, and so I really want to get it done. The last couple of months have been crazy because not only do I have two full-time jobs, but I’ve also been doing some website design work on the side. So, I want to be honest when I say that when I haven’t had time to work on it, I really mean it. However, I know that if I work on something a little bit every single day I’ll start to make some real progress as my momentum builds, so I’m going to try and work on my router simulator at least a little bit every single day. Some days may only be 30 minutes other days I’ll be able to dedicate 2 hours, but if I can just get into the habit of working on it everyday again I’m hoping that I’ll be able to release a beta version fairly quickly.

2/18/2011

### 11:54 pm ###
I was able to get the hostname changed, but now I need to figure out a way to get it to stay changed. So that is my next task I need to tackle. Have a great weekend everybody!

### 9:38 pm ###
I finally got the ability to switch between unprivileged, privileged, and configuration mode working by using the commands enable, config t, exit, and disable. I also will need to add suport for the different interface modes and line modes.

While I work I listen to one song on repeat. Here is what I listened to tonight: http://listen.grooveshark.com/s/Closer/1UEaek?src=5

2/17/2011

### 11:28 pm ###
Man where did they day go?!? I can’t believe that today is almost over and that tomorrow is Friday already. I want to be honest with you guys as much as I wanted to work on coding my simulator today it just didn’t happen with all my other projects going on and my full-time job getting in the way, but I’m getting ready to go to bed now so that I can get plenty of rest, because tomorrow without fail I’m blocking of several hours of my day to just for coding time on my simulator. I don’t know why I keep calling it my simulator I should be calling it OUR simulator. Anyways hopefully I can make some good progress on it tomorrow.

I also wanted to thank everyone so far who has expressed interest in being testers for our simulator. Your role is going to be crucial for its success and I greatly appreciate your willingness to help me and everyone else who will benefit from using it to prepare for their next cisco cert. I have all of your emails and I hope that within the next couple of weeks I’ll be able to send you an email with details of how you can help and where you can post bugs.

If anyone else is interested in helping by being a tester for my free router simulator just leave me a comment below and I’ll add you my tester list. Thank you!

2/15/2011

### 11:07 pm ###
Just wanted to let you all know that I worked on my simulator again tonight and that I made some good progress. I’m hoping that I can get a lot work done on it this week and have some minimal functionality. I’m really excited for this project and I can’t wait until it is ready for all of you to use!!

2/11/2011

### 8:35 pm ###

Hmmm… I thought I had it all working correctly, but apparently not because it keeps going from unpriviledged mode right into configuration mode when I type the enable command for the second time. Lame. I’ll figure it out. I think I need a better way of keeping track of the privileged mode level.

### 6:00 pm ###

Okay it looks like I’m able to successfully enter and exit enable mode using the ‘enable’ and ‘disable’ commands. Now I need to work on getting configuration mode to work.

### 5:00 pm ###

So, I got a local web server up and running on my computer which has made it super easy to test my simulator without having to upload it to my web host. Which also means that once I get my simulator up and running I can make changes to the one on my local computer without messing up the one you will be using on my web hosts server.

1/27/2011

This Free Online Router Simulator project of my in really important to me and even though I’m currently the only programmer working on it I still am going to make it the highest quality possible. Besides putting my whole heart and sole into this project I’m going to make sure my router simulator is top notch by following THE JOEL TEST.

The Joel Test is comprised of 12 questions that if you can answer YES to, will lead to better code. As of right now here is how I stack up:

1. Do you use source control? [YES]
2. Can you make a build in one step?[NO]
3. Do you make daily builds?[NO]
4. Do you have a bug database?[YES]
5. Do you fix bugs before writing new code?[NO]
6. Do you have an up-to-date schedule?[NO]
7. Do you have a spec?[NO]
8. Do programmers have quiet working conditions?[NO]
9. Do you use the best tools money can buy?[NO]
10. Do you have testers?[NO]
11. Do new candidates write code during their interview?[YES]
12. Do you do hallway usability testing?[NO]

Score: 3/12

This score is very poor, but before today I was at 0/12. So, a +3 increase in one day is a huge improvement and I’m sure in a few more days my score will be a lot better. I’ll continue to do regular Joel Tests until I can get to a 12/12 score.

So, even before I read the Joel Test today I set up my own SVN Repository [Joel Test Question #1] at assembla.com. I’m using a hosted repository for my code because I don’t have a server on my own and even if  I did I don’t feel like managing it right now. Less is more. But the funny thing is that after I got my SVN Repository set up at assembla I was doing some digging around on Joel’s blog and stumbled upon Mercurial (a better repository than svn). After reading only part of his tutorial I was convinced (which I’m sure is his whole idea of writing it) and signed up for a free account. So, as a way to provide source control for all my code I’ll be using mercury instead of SVN.

Product Testers – if you are interested in becoming a tester for my router simulator please let me know by leaving a comment at the bottom of this page. Just say something like, “Hey I’m interested in being a tester.” And I’ll send you more info on how you can help.

1/26/2011

When I first started programming my Free Router Simulator back in October 2010 I just wanted to see if it was even possible to do and so I made it using the tools I already knew how to use so that I could test it out quickly. I used javascript for the entire thing, which wasn’t actually the best idea. I got it working and I showed myself that it was actually possible to do, but it needed to be changed.

Now Version 2 of my Router Simulator is using ajax and php so pretty much everything will be running server side. It will be interesting to see how much bandwidth and cpu resources it ends up taking up on my web host, but there is really only one way to find out.

1/25/2011

Unfortunately because life just got way too crazy I had to stop my work on my router simulator for the past 3 months, but I wanted you all to know what I’m starting back up on its development and I made a lot off good progress yesterday. If you happened to use my old simulator and are looking for it… I took it down until I can get my new version up and running. Check back here often as I plan to post regular updates of my progress.

Also I’ve enable comments on this page now so if you ever have any questions or suggestions about my simulator feel free to let me know via posting a comment below.

###

Oct 2010:

I still have a lot to work on and I’m probably releasing this way too early, but go ahead and check it out. Pretty much the only thing you can do right now is change the hostname, ?, and show running-config. to get into configuration mode type “config t”.

Please share with others and feel free to embed it in your blog and use it to teach people how to work the Cisco IOS.

While I know it isn’t an actual router, my goal for this simulator is to provide enough functionality so that people without the resources necessary to purchase labs or equipment can practice studying for their CCNA for free. Besides the simulator on the CCNA exam isn’t a real router either