INTRODUCTION

Basics of OPNET IT Guru

Academic Edition

OBJECTIVES
This lab teaches you the basics of using OPNET IT Guru Academic Edition. OPNET IT Guru
Academic Edition enables students to better understand the core concepts of networking and
equips them to effectively troubleshoot and manage real-world network infrastructures.

OVERVIEW
OPNET’s IT Guru provides a virtual network environment that models the behavior of your
entire network, including its routers, switches, protocols, servers, and individual applications.
By working in the virtual network environment, IT managers, network and system planners,
and operations staffs are empowered to diagnose difficult problems more effectively, validate ix
changes before they are implemented, and plan for future scenarios, including growth and
failure.
OPNET’s Application Characterization Environment (ACE) module for IT Guru enables
enterprises to identify the root cause of end-to-end application performance problems and to
solve them cost-effectively by understanding the impact of changes.
In this lab, you will learn the basics of the OPNET IT Guru Academic Edition software. You
will learn how to set up and run OPNET IT Guru Academic Edition. You will become familiar
with some of its capabilities by running some tutorials.
The labs in this manual are implemented with OPNET IT Guru Academic Edition release 9.1.A
(Build 1999). If you want to download the software, you can visit the following site to register
with OPNET technology: [Link]/university_program/itguru_academic_edition/
Recommended system configuration, platforms, and software:
● 1.5-GHz processor or higher, 512-MB to 2-GB RAM, and 1-GB disk space
● Display: 1024 × 768 or higher resolution, 256 or more colors
● Adobe Acrobat Reader
● The English-language versions of the following operating systems are supported:
❍ Microsoft Windows NT (Service Pack 3, 5, or 6a)

❍ Windows 2000 (Service Pack 1, 2, and 4 are supported but not required)

❍ Windows XP (Service Pack 1 or 2 is required)

❍ Windows Vista (Service Pack 1 is required)

 INTRODUCTION
Basics of OPNET IT Guru Academic Edition

PRE-LAB ACTIVITIES
& Read Chapter 1 from Computer Networks: A Systems Approach, 5th Edition.
: Go to [Link] and play the following animation:
❍ No Network

PROCEDURE
Start OPNET IT Guru Academic Edition
To start OPNET IT Guru Academic Edition:
1. Click on Start ‡ All Programs ‡ OPNET IT Guru Academic Edition x.x ‡ OPNET IT
Guru Academic Edition, where x.x is the software version (e.g., 9.1).
2. Read the Restricted Use Agreement and if you agree, click I have read this SOFTWARE
AGREEMENT and I understand and accept the terms and conditions described herein.
Now you should see the starting window of OPNET IT Guru Academic Edition as shown:

CHECK THE OPNET PREFERENCES

The OPNET Preferences let you display and edit environment attributes, which control
program operations. In this lab, you will check three of these attributes.
1. After starting OPNET, from the Edit menu, choose Preferences.
2. The list of environment attributes is sorted alphabetically according to name. You can
locate attributes faster by typing any part of the attribute’s name in the Find field.
 INTRODUCTION
Basics of OPNET IT Guru Academic Edition

3. Check the value of the license_server attribute. It has the name of the License Server’s
host. If IT Guru is getting its license from the local host (i.e., the computer on which the
software was installed), the value of license_server should be localhost as shown in the
following figure.
4. Set the license_server_standalone attribute to TRUE. This attribute specifies whether the
program acts as its own license server.
5. A model directory is a directory that contains OPNET model files. If the directory is listed
in the mod_dirs environment attribute, then OPNET programs will use the models in
that directory. Check the value of the mod_dirs attribute. The first directory in the list is
where your own models will be saved. In the future, you might need to access that direc-
tory to back up, copy, or move your models. IT Guru saves numerous files for every single
project you create.
6. Click OK to close the dialog box.

xi
 INTRODUCTION
Basics of OPNET IT Guru Academic Edition

Run the Introduction Tutorial

Now you will run the introductory tutorial that teaches you the basics of using OPNET IT Guru.
1. From the Help menu, select Tutorial.
2. Go over the Introduction lesson from the list of Basic Lessons.

Run the Small Internetworks Tutorial

In this tutorial, you will learn how to use OPNET IT Guru features to build and analyze
network models.
1. From the Help menu, select Tutorial.
2. Carry out the Small Internetworks tutorial from the list of Basic Lessons.

EXERCISE
1. In the project you created for the Small Internetworks tutorial, add a new scenario as a
duplicate of the first_floor scenario. Name the new scenario expansion2. In the expan-
sion2 scenario, expand the network the same way as you did in the expansion scenario
but with 30 nodes in the second floor instead of 15 nodes. Run the simulation and
compare the load and delay graphs of this new scenario with the corresponding graphs of
the first_floor and expansion scenarios.

LAB REPORT
The laboratory report for all labs in this manual, including this one, should incorporate the
following items/sections:
● A cover page with your name, course information, lab number and title, and date of
xii submission.
● A summary of the addressed topic and objectives of the lab.
● Implementation: a brief description of the process you followed in conducting the imple-
mentation of the lab scenarios.
● Results obtained throughout the lab implementation, the analysis of these results, and a
comparison of these results with your expectations.
● Answers to the given exercises at the end of the lab. If an answer incorporates new graphs,
analysis of these graphs should be included here.
● A conclusion that includes what you learned, difficulties you faced, and any suggested
extensions/improvements to the lab.