Cisco Packet Tracer Installation Guide in a No-Network Container (Distrobox + Podman)

Based on tests performed on my personal computer. Review and refinement made with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Tested on Ubuntu 24.04 and on Fedora Silverblue (uBlue image, Bluefin)

💡 Suggestions and improvements are always welcome!

---

🧩 Objective

This guide explains how to install Cisco Packet Tracer inside an Ubuntu 22.04 container using Podman and Distrobox, with the specific goal of removing network access after installation to bypass the login requirement.

---

🚀 Step-by-Step Instructions

1️⃣ Create Podman Networks

First, create two networks: one internal (no internet access) and one regular (with internet access).

podman network create --internal no-network
podman network create network

⚠️ Podman doesn't allow completely removing all networks from a container. To work around this, we'll attach both networks and then disconnect the active one later.

---

2️⃣ Create the Container

Create a container based on Ubuntu 22.04 and attach it to the network with internet access. The key parameter here is --unshare-netns, which ensures network isolation later.

distrobox create --name ubnt-noNet-PacketTracer --image ubuntu:22.04 --unshare-netns --additional-flags "--network network"

---

3️⃣ Enter the Container

distrobox enter ubnt-noNet-PacketTracer

---

4️⃣ Install Dependencies

Install all required packages for Packet Tracer to work properly:

sudo apt install -y wget libgl1 libxi6 libxtst6 libnss3 libx11-xcb1 libpulse0 pulseaudio libqt5core5a libqt5gui5 libqt5widgets5 libqt5network5 libqt5xml5 libqt5script5 libqt5scripttools5 libqt5multimedia5 libqt5websockets5 libqt5svg5 libqt5sql5 libqt5webenginewidgets5 libqt5texttospeech5 libqt5printsupport5 libqt5webenginecore5 libqt5webchannel5 libqt5positioning5 libqt5quick5 libqt5qml5 libqt5networkauth5 qml-module-qtquick2 qml-module-qtquick-controls qml-module-qtquick-controls2 qml-module-qtquick-dialogs qml-module-qtquick-xmllistmodel qml-module-qt-labs-settings

Credit to tdb11235 for the dependency list.

---

5️⃣ Install Cisco Packet Tracer

Download and install the .deb package for your version:

sudo apt install -y ./Downloads/Packet_Tracer822_amd64_signed.deb

💬 Packet Tracer usually requires login to start. Disconnecting the network allows it to bypass this step.

---

6️⃣ Export Packet Tracer to the Host

distrobox-export -a packettracer

---

7️⃣ Remove Network Access

Exit the container (or in another terminal) and connect it to the internal network while disconnecting the one with internet access:

podman network connect no-network ubnt-noNet-PacketTracer
podman network disconnect network ubnt-noNet-PacketTracer

Restart the container to apply the network changes:

podman container restart ubnt-noNet-PacketTracer

---

✅ Test It

Launch Packet Tracer and check whether it runs without asking for login credentials.

---

🧠 Conclusion

By following this guide, you'll have Cisco Packet Tracer running in an isolated container with no network access --- perfect for study environments or offline usage.

---

🗨️ Suggestions and contributions are always welcome!

Cisco Packet Tracer | Distrobox | Podman | No Network | Linux Containers | Silverblue | Ublue | Bluefin