Download zNetLaB
zNetLaB Desktop · Windows 10 and 11, and Linux · free until further notice
zNetLaB Desktop is the same zNetLaB, offline, on your own computer. Build a lab, boot real devices, open their consoles and capture on the cables — with the devices running on your own memory and processor, and no internet once it is installed. On Windows it uses WSL2, the Linux built into Windows, so there is no VMware or VirtualBox to install.
Windows 10 (version 2004 or later) and Windows 11
Download for WindowsZNetLab-Desktop-Setup.exe — Home, Pro and Education. Asks for administrator
access once. If Windows warns you, see the questions below.
Linux — Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, Arch
curl -fsSL https://znetlab.com/desktop/provision.sh | sudo bash
Paste it into a terminal. Add -s -- --with-vyos after bash to
include VyOS.
No Mac version yet: Intel Macs are planned; Apple-silicon Macs cannot run x86 vendor images. On any computer, phone or tablet, zNetLaB online needs nothing installed.
What you get
The same zNetLaB
The Real labs workspace you know from the site — topology, consoles, capture — opening in a window of its own on Windows (Edge's app mode: no tabs, its own taskbar icon), or in your browser on Linux, and signing you in by itself. Your labs and images stay on your computer.
Fully offline
Once installed, with your images on it, nothing needs the internet. A train, a classroom with no Wi-Fi or a network with an air gap is fine.
Devices ready to use
FRRouting, OpenWrt, Alpine Linux and Tiny Core come with it, and VyOS is an option. No licence needed for any of them.
Your own images
Bring your own licensed Cisco, Juniper, Fortinet and other images through My images, exactly as online.
Requirements
- Windows 10 (version 2004 or later) or Windows 11 — Home, Pro or Education — or Linux (Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, Arch).
- A 64-bit processor with virtualisation switched on in the BIOS — Intel VT-x or AMD-V. Most computers have it; some ship with it off.
- Memory: 8 GB recommended, 4 GB at the least.
- Disk: about 5 GB free, plus room for your images.
- Internet: only to install and to download images. After that it works fully offline.
How it installs on Windows
- Download
ZNetLab-Desktop-Setup.exe— the setup program with the zNetLaB icon. - Open it and allow administrator access. It asks once, because it switches on WSL2, Windows' own built-in Linux.
- Choose, then Next. Accept the licence, pick the drive and folder zNetLaB installs to, choose where your images are kept (inside zNetLaB, or a folder of your own on any local drive), read what setup will change and allow it, then check the summary and press Install.
- Restart once, if asked. If WSL2 was not already on, Windows restarts one time. After you sign back in, setup carries on by itself.
- Setup finishes on its own, installing zNetLaB and its open-source devices, and adds zNetLaB Desktop to the Start menu and the desktop.
- Open zNetLaB Desktop. It opens in a window of its own and signs you in by
itself. If you would rather use your default browser, open zNetLaB Desktop (in
browser) from the Start menu (
http://127.0.0.1:8080); a PC without Edge opens the browser either way.
On Linux the one line above does the same. The guide covers both, including what to do if setup stops.
Removing it (Settings > Apps, or Uninstall zNetLaB Desktop in the Start menu) opens a window that asks what to do with your labs and images: keep them in a folder you choose, offered back if you install again, or delete them. Images kept in a folder of your own are never deleted.
Looks after your PC as well as the lab
Whether your computer has 4 GB of memory or 32 GB, zNetLaB Desktop fits the lab to it, so the lab runs and the computer stays quick.
- Memory that fits your PC. A device gets the memory it asks for when your computer has room, and less when it does not, down to the least it is known to boot with. A Nexus 9000v gets 8 GB on a 16 GB PC and starts with 4 GB on a 4 to 8 GB one. A memory you set on a device yourself is never changed.
- Compressed memory. Memory a device is not using is kept compressed in RAM (zram), two to three times smaller, so bigger labs fit before anything is written to disk. Windows' own memory compression is switched back on if a tune-up tool turned it off.
- Windows keeps its share. Desktop leaves Windows at least 2 GB of memory (a quarter of it on a bigger PC) and uses about half the processor cores, always leaving one.
- A heavy lab asks first. When a device of 4 GB or more starts, you are shown the apps and background services running and tick the ones to pause until the lab is over. Paused apps use no processor and give their memory back. When the last device stops, everything comes back exactly where it was.
- It tells you before the PC slows down. If Windows runs low on memory while a lab is running, you are told, with what to stop.
- Temporary files, cleaned if you want. Performance mode can clear Windows' and zNetLaB's temporary files that are two days old or more, every six hours, never while a lab is running.
- Similar devices share memory when memory is short. When it is not, nothing is spent looking for it.
- zNetLaB itself uses about 70 MB, and stops when idle. If nothing is open and no device runs for an hour, it stops and Windows gets the memory back. Opening the shortcut again starts it in seconds.
Settings, help and your data
The Settings button in the Desktop lab shows where your disk space went, opens the images folder, gives the space of deleted images back to Windows, moves your images and labs to another drive, shows the version, and stops Desktop. It also holds Help and support: the offline guide, the diagnostics support needs (this computer, your images by name and the log — no passwords, no configurations), and Report a problem.
Desktop keeps your labs, images and settings on your computer and does not send them to us. It does not count visits. The only thing it sends is what you choose to send with Report a problem (your name, email, message and, if ticked, the diagnostics), and only when you press Send. It needs the internet to install and to download images.
Online or Desktop
They are the same product. Pick by where you want the devices to run.
| zNetLaB online | zNetLaB Desktop | |
|---|---|---|
| Install | Nothing — a browser is enough | A setup program on Windows, one line on Linux |
| Works on | Any device, including phones, tablets and Chromebooks | A Windows 10 or 11 or Linux computer |
| Internet | Needed while you work | Only to install and to download images |
| Where devices run | On our server | On your computer's memory and cores |
| Images | The open-source library, plus your own uploads | Open-source devices included, plus your own images |
| Cost | A free plan, and paid plans by image devices per lab | Free until further notice |
zNetLaB Helper — something different
The Helper is not Desktop. It is for the online lab: it lets the lab run some of its devices on your computer instead of on our server, so a bigger lab stays quick. Nothing is lent until you press Allow, it takes only a slice of your memory and cores, images stay on the server, and you can switch it off at any time.
- Windows:
ZNetLab-Helper-Setup.exe, with the zNetLaB icon — open it once. - Linux and Intel Macs: paste the one Terminal line the lab shows you when it asks.
More in the guide: running devices on your own computer.
Images and licences
zNetLaB does not provide, generate or alter any vendor image or licence. The devices that come with Desktop are open-source. For Cisco, Juniper, Fortinet and the rest, bring your own licensed copy through My images. Cisco IOL runs on Desktop only, and only with a valid Cisco licence of your own — the CML licence file (iourc) issued to you for the computer you run it on. zNetLaB never creates, alters or works around it; on the online service IOL is not available. See the copyright policy and where to get images legally.
Common questions
Windows says “Windows protected your PC”. What do I do?
The setup program is new and not yet code-signed, so Windows SmartScreen has not seen it often enough to recognise it, and calls the publisher “unknown”. It is the same message any new, unsigned program gets. To go ahead:
- Click More info.
- Check that the app name says
ZNetLab-Desktop-Setup.exe. - Click Run anyway, then Yes when Windows asks for administrator access.
If Edge says the file “isn’t commonly downloaded”: open the … menu next to it, choose Keep, then Show more and Keep anyway. Chrome may ask the same; choose Keep.
Make sure it is ours. Download it only from znetlab.com. In
PowerShell, Get-FileHash $HOME\Downloads\ZNetLab-Desktop-Setup.exe prints
a SHA-256 that must match the one under the download button. The same button links to
the file’s VirusTotal report, where dozens of antivirus engines have scanned it.
Do I need VMware or VirtualBox?
No. On Windows, zNetLaB Desktop uses WSL2, the Linux built into Windows 10 and 11, and setup switches it on for you. On Linux it runs natively. There is no hypervisor of any kind to install.
Does it need the internet?
Only to install it and to download images. After that it works fully offline.
How do I uninstall it?
On Windows, open the Start menu and choose Uninstall zNetLaB
Desktop. It asks whether to keep your labs and images — they are saved to
Documents\zNetLaB Backup and offered back if you install again — and undoes
what it changed on Windows. On Linux, run the install line again with
-s -- --uninstall after bash.
Does it run on a Mac?
Not yet. Intel Macs are planned. Apple-silicon Macs (M1 and later) are not supported, because Cisco and other x86 images cannot run on them. On a Mac, use zNetLaB online in your browser.
Is zNetLaB Desktop free?
Yes, until further notice. The online plans are separate and unchanged.
Cisco®, Juniper® and Fortinet® are trademarks of their owners. zNetLaB is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.