Labs you can actually open.
Packet Tracer™ and Cisco Modeling Labs™ topologies for the CCNA® and CCNP® topics that show up on the exam and in real production networks. Free. No email required.
Need the simulator? Packet Tracer is free from Cisco Networking Academy. For larger CCNP labs, use Cisco Modeling Labs or EVE-NG.
Free downloadable labs
VLAN + Trunk Basics (Lab 4)
Two switches, four PCs, two VLANs. Build the trunk, test inter-VLAN isolation, then add an SVI router.
Standard ACL Walk-through
Build a small network and lock down access with a numbered standard ACL. Watch implicit deny in action.
Extended ACL Walk-through
Permit HTTP, deny ICMP, log unmatched. Move the ACL between in/out to feel the direction difference.
OSPF Multi-Area Lab
Multi-area OSPF — area 0 backbone, ABRs, LSA flooding. Verify neighbor formation and area boundaries.
ABR & ASBR — Multi-Area OSPF
A full multi-area topology: configure the Area Border Router between area 0 and a non-backbone area, redistribute an external route at the ASBR, then verify the Type 3 / Type 5 LSAs and the O IA / O E2 routes they produce.
OSPF Adjacency Troubleshooting
Two routers that should be OSPF neighbors won't peer. Diagnose why the adjacency fails and fix it — the companion .pkt to the live CLI troubleshooting lab.
EIGRP + OSPF — Same Topology
One topology running both EIGRP and OSPF. Compare convergence, metric, and design trade-offs side by side.
Port Security + DHCP Snooping + DAI (Lab 32)
Defend an access switch from MAC flooding, a rogue DHCP server, and ARP spoofing in one lab. Trust ports, untrust ports, and the show commands that prove it works.
DHCP Snooping + Dynamic ARP Inspection
Build the access-layer trust model: enable DHCP snooping and DAI on the user VLAN, trust the uplink toward the real DHCP server, and prove a rogue DHCP server and ARP spoofing are both blocked.
Port Security
Lock an access port to a limited set of MAC addresses with sticky learning, trigger a violation, and recover the err-disabled port.
Static + Default Routing
Build a small enterprise with two branches. Configure static routes to each branch LAN, a default route to the ISP, and a floating static backup, then verify the routing table.
NAT / PAT — Fix the Lab
Partially configured — NAT is broken and inside hosts can't reach the internet. Diagnose and finish it: tag the inside/outside interfaces, correct the NAT ACL, add the overload keyword, then prove it works with show ip nat translations.
Spanning Tree — Root Bridge Election
Classic 802.1D spanning tree on three switches in a triangle: watch the root election (lowest Bridge ID), the root and designated ports, and the single blocked port that breaks the loop. Force a deliberate root with the root-primary macro.
Spanning Tree — Rapid STP (RSTP / Rapid-PVST+)
Rapid-PVST+ (802.1w): switch the mode to rapid-pvst and watch sub-second convergence after a link failure, plus the RSTP port roles (root/designated/alternate) and states (discarding/learning/forwarding).
Spanning Tree — PortFast, BPDU Guard & Root Guard
Harden the edge: PortFast so hosts forward instantly, BPDU Guard so a rogue switch err-disables the port, and Root Guard on the uplink so no neighbour can steal the root role.
EtherChannel — LACP Bundle
Two switches share four links. Bundle them into one Port-channel with LACP so STP stops blocking the redundant cables and all four forward, then verify with show etherchannel summary.
HSRP — Redundant Default Gateway
Two routers share one virtual gateway IP with HSRP. Set priority + preempt so the preferred router is active, add interface tracking, then fail the active router and watch the standby take over with hosts never losing connectivity.
IPv6 — Addressing & SLAAC
Enable IPv6 routing, assign /64 global-unicast addresses (manual and EUI-64), and watch a host auto-configure its own address via SLAAC from the router’s advertised prefix. Verify with show ipv6 interface brief and show ipv6 route.
Don't see what you need? Tell us which lab you'd like — we add labs in the order most students ask for them.
How to use these labs
- Download the file matching your simulator (Packet Tracer for CCNA, CML for CCNP).
- Open it in the simulator without reading our notes. Try to make it work first.
- Compare your config to the included README — the gaps are what's worth studying.
- Break it on purpose. Change one thing. Predict what happens. Verify.
Important — about Cisco assets
These topology files are original works built by PacketMentor for educational use with Cisco's free simulators. They contain no Cisco IOS code, no Cisco exam content, and no copyrighted Cisco curriculum. Cisco®, Packet Tracer™, and Cisco Modeling Labs™ are trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. — referenced here only to describe the simulators the files run on.
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