Install dynamips with Homebrew, apk, apt, MacPorts, Nix, zypper

Project links

• Homepage
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• dynamips
• nvram_export

Project history

The current GNS3-hosted repository describes itself as a continuation of Dynamips based on the last development version, with community patches. The fork was called Dynamips-community through the 0.2.8-community release and was renamed back to Dynamips at the 0.2.9 release.

The README credits documentation authors including Christophe Fillot and others, and preserves build distinctions between stable and unstable code paths. The project later adopted CMake, with documented build instructions for Linux, macOS, and Windows/Cygwin and package-oriented dependency notes for Debian, Red Hat-family systems, MacPorts, and Homebrew.

Dynamips is tightly linked to GNS3's emulator stack. GNS3 documentation positions it as the emulator used for supported classic Cisco IOS platforms, especially router models such as the 1700, 2600, 3600, 3700, and 7200 families.

Adoption history

Dynamips became important because it let network engineers, students, and certification candidates build local router labs before virtualized network appliances became common. GNS3 turned that emulator into a larger graphical and project-based lab environment, keeping Dynamips relevant for older IOS images and lab topologies.

Package-manager adoption reflects that niche but durable use. The Homebrew formula, distro packages, and GNS3 documentation all keep Dynamips available as infrastructure for lab builders rather than as a general end-user app. Homebrew's current analytics show modest direct installs, which fits a tool more often pulled in by networking workflows than discovered casually.

How it is used

Users run Dynamips directly or through GNS3 to emulate supported Cisco router hardware, attach IOS images, and connect virtual router instances into lab topologies. The package also ships helper tooling such as `nvram_export` for router-image and lab-state workflows.

Why package nerds care

For package nerds, Dynamips is a classic example of an emulator whose significance is larger than its command-line surface. It connects open-source packaging, Cisco certification lab culture, GNS3, libpcap/libelf build dependencies, and the transition from hardware router labs to virtual network simulation.

It also shows why some packages stay alive even when their target hardware era has moved on: old IOS images, training material, and reproducible lab setups remain useful, so distros and Homebrew continue carrying a small C emulator with very specific legal and operational boundaries.

Timeline

• 2000s: Original Dynamips becomes known as a Cisco router emulator for lab use.
• 2013: The GNS3/dynamips repository is created to continue community-maintained Dynamips development.
• 0.2.8-community: The continuation is still named Dynamips-community.
• 0.2.9: The continuation is renamed back to Dynamips.
• 2020s: GNS3 documentation continues to document Dynamips for classic Cisco IOS router images, and Homebrew packages version 0.2.24.

Related projects

• Related projects include GNS3, QEMU, VirtualBox, Cisco IOS, Cisco Packet Tracer, EVE-NG, libpcap, libelf, and virtual network-lab images that replaced or supplemented older router emulation workflows.

Sources

• https://github.com/GNS3/dynamips#readme
• https://api.github.com/repos/GNS3/dynamips
• https://docs.gns3.com/docs/emulators/cisco-ios-images-for-dynamips
• https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/dynamips