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Documentation Index

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MCP Packet Tracer generates complete, ready-to-paste IOS routing configurations for every router in a topology automatically. You never write a single ip route or router ospf command by hand — just name the protocol in your request and the IP planner calculates all network addresses, wildcard masks, next-hop IPs, and router IDs from the assigned addressing plan, then emits the exact IOS command blocks required for each device.

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Supported Protocols

ProtocolKeyWhen to Use
StaticstaticSmall topologies, deterministic paths, CCNA labs
OSPFospfMulti-area or redundant topologies; link-state convergence
EIGRPeigrpCisco-proprietary; fast convergence, hub-and-spoke designs
RIP v2ripLegacy or classroom environments; distance-vector
NonenoneManual config; custom template with no routing

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Specifying the Protocol

Set routing when calling pt_plan_topology or pt_full_build. You can also pass ospf_process_id (default 1) and eigrp_as (default 100) for fine-grained control. 
pt_plan_topology(
    routers=3,
    routing="ospf",
    ospf_process_id=1
)

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Static Routing

Static routes are the default for most templates. The IP planner runs a BFS traversal of the router adjacency graph to compute the correct next-hop for every destination — even in topologies with 4+ routers in a chain, all intermediate hops are resolved correctly.

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Generated IOS Commands

ip route {destination} {subnet_mask} {next_hop_ip} [admin_distance]
Example — R1 in a 2-router topology: 
enable
configure terminal
hostname R1
no ip domain-lookup

interface GigabitEthernet0/0
 ip address 192.168.0.1 255.255.255.0
 no shutdown
 exit

interface GigabitEthernet0/1
 ip address 10.0.0.1 255.255.255.252
 no shutdown
 exit

ip dhcp excluded-address 192.168.0.1 192.168.0.1
ip dhcp pool LAN_R1_0
 network 192.168.0.0 255.255.255.0
 default-router 192.168.0.1
 dns-server 8.8.8.8
 exit

ip route 192.168.1.0 255.255.255.0 10.0.0.2

end
write memory

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Floating Static Routes

Floating static routes serve as backup paths. They have an administrative distance of 254 — higher than any dynamic protocol — so they only activate when the primary route disappears. Enable them by passing floating_routes=True to pt_plan_topology or pt_full_build: 
pt_plan_topology(
    routing="static",
    floating_routes=True
)
The planner finds alternate paths via BFS (blocking the primary next-hop) and generates backup routes like: 
ip route 192.168.1.0 255.255.255.0 10.0.1.2 254
Floating routes are only generated when an alternate physical path exists. In a simple 2-router chain with no redundant link, no floating routes will be added.

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OSPF

OSPF is the default protocol for the three_router_triangle template and a popular choice for star topologies. All networks are placed in area 0 and a router-id is set to the first interface IP of each router for deterministic adjacency.

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Generated IOS Commands

router ospf {process_id}
 router-id {first_interface_ip}
 network {network_address} {wildcard_mask} area 0
 exit
Example — R1 with two interfaces: 
router ospf 1
 router-id 192.168.0.1
 network 192.168.0.0 0.0.0.255 area 0
 network 10.0.0.0 0.0.0.3 area 0
 exit
The wildcard mask is computed as the bitwise inverse of the subnet mask — for a /24 it is 0.0.0.255, for a /30 it is 0.0.0.3.

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EIGRP

EIGRP is a natural fit for the hub_spoke template, though you must specify it explicitly (routing="eigrp"). The AS number defaults to 100 and is configurable via eigrp_as. no auto-summary is always emitted to ensure classless operation.

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Generated IOS Commands

router eigrp {as_number}
 network {network_address} {wildcard_mask}
 no auto-summary
 exit
Example — R2 with LAN and WAN interfaces: 
router eigrp 100
 network 192.168.1.0 0.0.0.255
 network 10.0.0.0 0.0.0.3
 no auto-summary
 exit

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RIP v2

RIP v2 advertises classless networks. no auto-summary is always added and version 2 is always set. Network statements use the network address (no wildcard in RIP).

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Generated IOS Commands

router rip
 version 2
 network {network_address}
 no auto-summary
 exit
Example — R1 with LAN and WAN link: 
router rip
 version 2
 network 192.168.0.0
 network 10.0.0.0
 no auto-summary
 exit
RIP v2 uses classful network statements (no wildcard mask), which differs from OSPF and EIGRP. The generator correctly emits just the network address without a wildcard.

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Protocol Comparison

FeatureStaticOSPFEIGRPRIP v2
IOS keywordip routerouter ospfrouter eigrprouter rip
Admin distance111090120
Wildcard mask—✅✅❌
no auto-summary——✅✅
Floating backup✅ (AD 254)———
Default templatemostthree_router_triangle— (specify explicitly)manual

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Multi-Hop Static Route Resolution

For topologies with more than 2 routers, static routing uses Breadth-First Search over the router adjacency graph to find the correct first-hop neighbor toward each destination LAN. This ensures that R1 in a 4-router chain correctly routes to R4’s LAN via R2 as next-hop, not directly to R4. 
R1 ── R2 ── R3 ── R4
Generated on R1: 
ip route 192.168.3.0 255.255.255.0 10.0.0.2   ! via R2
ip route 192.168.4.0 255.255.255.0 10.0.0.2   ! via R2 (R2 forwards onward)

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