Arch Linux User Repository

After install version 9.0.0, you should execute from console: "./usr/lib/packettracer/packettracer.AppImage" in order to accept the license and install the desktop files.

To install all versions of packettracer except 7.2.2, follow this guidelines: 1. Download the snapshot from this AUR. 2. Tar -zxf the packettracer.tar.gz snapshot (it creates the dir packettracer/ with the PKGBUILD on it). 3. Download the latest packettracer tarball from your Netacad account and copy it into the packettracer/ dir. 4. Create the package with the command makepkg (it creates a packettracer.pkg.tar.xz). 5. Install the package with either makepkg -i or sudo pacman -U packettracer.pkg.tar.xz.

Packettracer 7.2.2 are auto installable via run file, download it from netacad webpage and run it, you don't need this package.

Packet Tracer 9 on KDE Plasma 6 (Wayland) had two issues:

1. NetAcad login not working (xdg-open inherits broken environment from AppImage, causing browser launch failure)
2. UI rendering bug in editor (white-on-white text / unreadable labels in topology canvas)

System:

• CachyOS Linux
• KDE Plasma 6.7.0 (Wayland)
• KDE Frameworks 6.27.0
• Qt 6.11.1
• Kernel 7.0.12-cachyos
• Intel i7-1355U / Intel Iris Xe

Fix:

Login issue was resolved by wrapping xdg-open to sanitize LD_LIBRARY_PATH. UI issue was resolved by forcing GNOME desktop detection and Qt Quick Basic controls style.

Working wrapper:

#!/usr/bin/env bash

TMPDIR=$(mktemp -d)

cat > "$TMPDIR/xdg-open" <<'EOF'
#!/bin/bash
unset LD_LIBRARY_PATH
exec /usr/bin/xdg-open "$@"
EOF

chmod +x "$TMPDIR/xdg-open"

export XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=GNOME
export XDG_SESSION_DESKTOP=gnome
export QT_QPA_PLATFORM=xcb
export QT_QUICK_CONTROLS_STYLE=Basic
unset KDE_SESSION_VERSION

PATH="$TMPDIR:$PATH" exec /usr/lib/packettracer/packettracer.AppImage --no-sandbox "$@"

Notes:

• QT_* styling variables alone were insufficient on Plasma 6 / Wayland
• GNOME spoofing is required for correct palette selection in Packet Tracer 9 UI
• Both issues appear to be caused by Packet Tracer’s internal environment/theme detection logic rather than KDE configuration

This pkg needs fuse2 adding to depends.

Before installing with an AUR helper, you must manually download the .deb package from Cisco's official site since it requires authentication and cannot be fetched automatically.

1. Log in at https://www.netacad.com/resources/lab-downloads
2. Download: CiscoPacketTracer_900_Ubuntu_64bit.deb
3. Place it in the build directory:

   cp ~/Downloads/CiscoPacketTracer_900_Ubuntu_64bit.deb ~/.cache/paru/clone/packettracer/

   #(If using yay: ~/.cache/yay/packettracer/)

1. Then proceed with installation:

   paru -S packettracer

If you see the error: 'CiscoPacketTracer_900_Ubuntu_64bit.deb was not found in the build directory and is not a URL'

It simply means the .deb is missing from the build directory — follow the steps above and retry.

Fix for Plasma 6 Login

If the standard unset LD_LIBRARY_PATH wrapper doesn't work for you, it's because the AppImage might be resetting the environment variables internally. This script hijacks the xdg-open and kde-open calls to ensure the browser always launches with a clean environment.

steps to follow: nano ~/pt_fix.sh copy this:

#!/bin/bash
# 1. Create a temporary directory to mock the openers
mkdir -p /tmp/pt_env

# 2. Create "mock" openers that sanitize the environment
echo '#!/bin/bash
unset LD_LIBRARY_PATH
exec /usr/bin/xdg-open "$@"' > /tmp/pt_env/xdg-open

echo '#!/bin/bash
unset LD_LIBRARY_PATH
exec /usr/bin/kde-open "$@"' > /tmp/pt_env/kde-open

# 3. Set execution permissions
chmod +x /tmp/pt_env/xdg-open /tmp/pt_env/kde-open

# 4. Launch Packet Tracer with the hijacked PATH
PATH="/tmp/pt_env:$PATH" /usr/lib/packettracer/packettracer.AppImage --no-sandbox "$@"

save and close. give permissions: chmod +x ~/pt_fix.sh run ~/pt_fix.sh

This doesn't create the appropriate .desktop files for some reason.

Plasma 6 Login Fix: Qt Version Conflict

If you are using Plasma 6 and the "Login" button fails to open your browser, it is likely due to a library conflict.

The Problem: Packet Tracer's AppImage exports its own older Qt6 libraries to LD_LIBRARY_PATH. When you click Login, PT calls kde-open to launch your browser. Because kde-open inherits PT's environment, it tries to load those older libraries instead of the system's Qt 6.10, causing it to crash with a "version not found" error.

The Solution: You need to "sanitize" the environment before the browser is called. You can do this by using a wrapper script to launch Packet Tracer. This script unsets the problematic variables so that child processes (like your browser) can use the correct system libraries.

Implementation: Create a launcher script (e.g., ~/bin/packettracer) with the following content:

#!/bin/bash
# Save original path if needed
export ORIGINAL_LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH

# Clear the environment for child processes (like the browser)
unset LD_LIBRARY_PATH

# Launch PT with its required libraries only for its own process
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/opt/pt/bin exec /opt/pt/bin/PacketTracer "$@"

This ensures that when you click "Login", the environment is clean for kde-open and your browser, while PT still runs fine.

I did ended up installed the program but while trying to login,the browser do nothing and it shows only the login in process window

I am also unable to drag and drop modules onto devices . I am running Hyprland . Only option for me is to downgrade to Cisco Packet Tracer 8.2.2

I can't drag modules to devices, and modifying the .desktop file to run with QT_QPA_PLATFORM=xcb does not work

Just to help some ppl, I had some troubles and the error message when running the /usr/lib/packettracker/packettracer.AppImage was:

Fatal: This application failed to start because no Qt platform plugin could be initialized. Reinstalling the application may fix this problem.

Available platform plugins are: linuxfb, xcb.

NOTE: I'm currently in sway

I thought the fix was putting: QT_QPA_PLATFORM=xcb in the ~/.bashrc, instead, it was actually putting it inside ~/.profile.

QT_QPA_PLATFORM=xcb

without the "" double quotes