This is tested on Ubuntu 15.10 (Vivid Vervet) but it should work on earlier versions. A requirement for this guide is to have root access on the target machine or sudo admin rights.

Download Cisco Packet Tracer

If you have an account on the Cisco Networking Academy you can download Packet Tracer from Student Resources. Ask your instructor if you can’t find it.

After you download it, it should be in your Downloads folder:

$ ls -l ~/Downloads/
total 183928
-rw-r-----  1 theo theo 188328996 Jan  31 03:34 Cisco Packet Tracer 6.2 for Linux - Ubuntu installation - Instructor version.tar.gz

Students can download the student version instead.

Unpack the package

1. Change into the Downloads directory:

   $ cd ~/Downloads/
   

2. Unpack the downloaded file:

   $ tar xvzf Cisco\ Packet\ Tracer\ 6.2\ for\ Linux\ -\ Ubuntu\ installation\ -\ Instructor\ version.tar.gz
   

3. Verify the unpacked files:

   $ ls -l
   total 183932
   -rw-r-----  1 theo theo 188328996 Ιαν  31 03:34 Cisco Packet Tracer 6.2 for Linux - Ubuntu installation - Instructor version.tar.gz
   drwxr-xr-x 12 theo theo      4096 Ιαν  30 01:00 <strong>PacketTracer62</strong>
   

   The installation files are under the PacketTracer62 directory.

Install Packet Tracer

1. Change into the PacketTracer62 directory:

   $ cd PacketTracer62
   

2. Run the installer:

   $ sudo ./install
   

   • Press the ‘Enter‘key to accept the EULA.
   • Press ‘Space‘ repeatedly to reach 100%.
   • Type ‘y‘ (yes) to accept the EULA.
   • Type the location where you want the package installed. If you just press ‘Enter‘ it will choose the default (/opt/pt).
   • When asked to create a symbolic link "packettracer" in /usr/local/bin type y (yes).
3. Setup the Packet Tracer Desktop Link:

   While you are in the PacketTraser62 directory, copy the PT Desktop link to your Desktop and assign executable permissions on it:

   $ cp bin/Cisco-PacketTracer.desktop ~/Desktop/
   $ chmod +x ~/Desktop/Cisco-PacketTracer.desktop
   

   Unfortunately the links to the program and its icon are wrong. Edit the Exec and Icon directives in the Cisco-PacketTracer.desktop file as follows:

   # Exec=/usr/local/PacketTracer6/packettracer
   # Icon=/usr/local/PacketTracer6/art/app.png
   Exec=/opt/pt/bin/PacketTracer6
   Icon=/opt/pt/art/app.png
   

   Alternatively you can just type the packetracer command from your terminal.

Although Packet Tracer is based on several Free Software libraries, it is not Free Software itself. I hope its Cisco developers see the light and release this great learning tool as Free Software. Only good things can come from such decision.