Installing Cisco Packet Tracer on Fedora 44 Workstation Using Distrobox

Host Prerequisites (Fedora 44 Workstation)

Before creating the container, ensure your host system has Distrobox, Podman, and the legacy FUSE kernel tools installed.

Open a terminal on your Fedora host (taylor) and install the host prerequisites:

sudo dnf install -y distrobox podman fuse

• podman / distrobox: Provides the container runtime and seamless host integration.
• fuse: Enables host-level FUSE mounting capabilities required by AppImage binaries inside containers.

Step 1: Create and Enter the Ubuntu Container

Create an Ubuntu 24.04 container named ubuntu-pt:

distrobox-create --name ubuntu-pt --image ubuntu:24.04

Once creation completes, enter the container shell:

distrobox-enter -n ubuntu-pt

Step 2: Install Container Base Dependencies

Inside your ubuntu-pt container shell, update package lists and install the core desktop and FUSE dependencies required by Ubuntu 24.04:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y fuse3 libglib2.0-bin desktop-file-utils shared-mime-info

sudo ln -sf /usr/bin/fusermount3 /usr/bin/fusermount

Step 3: Install Cisco Packet Tracer .deb Package

Download the CiscoPacketTracer_901_Ubuntu_64bit.deb file into your host ~/Downloads directory (which is automatically mounted inside Distrobox).

Inside the container, navigate to your downloads folder and install the package:

sudo apt install ./Downloads/CiscoPacketTracer_901_Ubuntu_64bit.deb

During installation, accept the End User License Agreement (EULA). When prompted:

Would you like to run multi-user when application starts?

Select No unless you are setting up a multi-tenant shared computer lab.

Step 4: Resolve Runtime GUI and Library Dependencies

Cisco Packet Tracer depends on several dynamic libraries that are omitted from minimal container base images. Run the following command inside the container to install all missing audio, graphics, security, and XCB display dependencies:

sudo apt install -y \
    libopengl0 \
    libgl1 \
    libnss3 \
    libnspr4 \
    libxss1 \
    libasound2t64 \
    libpulse0 \
    libxcb-xinerama0 \
    libxcb-cursor0 \
    libxkbcommon-x11-0 \
    libxcb-icccm4 \
    libxcb-image0 \
    libxcb-keysyms1 \
    libxcb-randr0 \
    libxcb-render-util0 \
    libxcb-shape0 \
    libxcb-xfixes0

Summary of key dependencies:

• libopengl0 & libgl1: Provides OpenGL rendering for the device canvas.
• libnss3 & libnspr4: Enables internal web view components.
• libasound2t64 & libpulse0: Handles PulseAudio client audio routing.
• libxcb-*: Provides X11/XCB platform plugins for Qt application window rendering.

Now exit the container shell:

exit

Step 5: Desktop Integration on Fedora Host

To launch Cisco Packet Tracer directly from your Fedora GNOME Application menu, create a custom .desktop launcher entry on your host system.

Open your text editor on the Fedora host:

vi ~/.local/share/applications/packettracer.desktop

Paste the following configuration:

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Cisco Packet Tracer
Comment=Networking Simulation Tool
Exec=distrobox-enter -n ubuntu-pt -- packettracer
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=Education;Network;
StartupNotify=true

Save the file and update the desktop launcher database:

update-desktop-database ~/.local/share/applications/

distrobox-enter -n ubuntu-pt -- packettracer