Cisco Packet Tracer Setup Guide

The Cisco Packet Tracer software allows you to simulate some of the lab equipment (routers, switches, PCs, servers) away from the lab environment. It is not a substitute for working on real equipment and it does not always respond or work exactly like the real equipment so it's important that you do your labs and practice on real equipment.

Packet Tracer is also used in some of the online assessments in the Cisco Networking Academy courses and you will need to have it installed for those exams. Please make sure you have installed and tested the Packet Tracer software as described below before taking the assessments.

Downloading Cisco Packet Tracer requires a Cisco NetSpace login. Once logged in to NetSpace you can find the download by clicking the "Offerings" link and then selecting "Packet Tracer" or by clicking this link. Versions of PT are available for Windows and Linux. If you are using a Mac you will need to create a Windows or Linux virtual machine to install PT.

Packet Tracer Assessment Activities

Packet Tracer is also used in some of the online assessments in the Cisco Networking Academy courses and you will need to have it installed for those exams. There are a few other pieces of software you need installed to make this work correctly and some tips for testing and troubleshooting your setup. Please do this before attempting an actual assessment.

To have Packet Tracer activities launch without issue, the following software must be installed on your computer:

• Cisco Packet Tracer 5.3.2 or above - Version 5.3.2 or above are the only versions of Packet Tracer that fully support the current PT Practice SBAs. We recommend downloading the latest version of Packet Tracer.
  • Note: If you have just installed Packet Tracer you will need to reboot your computer before completing a PT Practice SBA.
• Java version 1.6 or higher - The latest version of Java can be downloaded from www.java.com.
• Browser - The latest version of Firefox or IE
  • Note: Chrome, Opera, Safari are not supported browsers.

Once all of the software has been updated, use the PT Environment checker to verify that your system is ready to launch Packet Tracer activities. To access the Perform Packet Tracer Skills Assessment Environment Check, please follow the steps provided below:

1. Log in to Cisco NetSpace.
2. From the Cisco NetSpace home page, click the desired course link found under the 'Learn' tab.
3. From the course home page, click on the link 'Student Resources' located below the 'Launch Course' link.
4. Click on the 'Perform Packet Tracer Skills Assessment Environment Check'.

Note that the environment check does take a minute or two to complete.