Build a PIX Firewall for your test network
- Working with GNS3 and PEMU -
(Part 1)

Problem

Cisco Firewall's are expensive, I know I own some, and my firm sells them, getting hardware to run on your test bench is difficult enough, but getting high end Cisco equipment is an expensive proposition for your average "Techy". These days most people run their test networks in virtual environment. I run Hyper-V at at home for Testing and I have my own VMware ESX server at work for testing and proof of concept work.

However the big problem is to build test networks that reflect what we are doing in a corporate environment. We usually have to compromise and find some obscure Linux firewall to pop in the virtual environment, which is a pain if like me your a died in the wool Cisco-ite.

To do this we need some software - PEMU PIX emulator has been out for quite some time, but some users will find it "sandal wearingly difficult" to set up, so an easier prospect is to use the GNS3 software which is a nice GUI wrapper that contains PEMU (It does a lot more as well but that's outside the scope of this exercise).

What do you need?

1. A PC - I'm running on a windows XP VM but a physical machine will do just as well.
2. A version of the Cisco PIX software, this needs a Valid Cisco support agreement and a CCO Login to Cisco.
3. A Valid Cisco PIX Serial Number and activation key - from a firewall you have legally purchased!.