My laptop rocks 16gb ram and a sandy bridge i7 so I do not have many issues. Due to the requirements being high if your CPU spikes or RAM is maxed expect it to be a poor experience. It will load up and it can take a while the first time. Now just hit console and you will get the ASA to start. This is my topology I am using to create my virtual lab. Next step is to drag across an ASA into the topology.
This exact string works for ASA code 8.4 and nothing prior. Probably the most important field is below.
I have read around about people getting PIX firewalls working with GNS3 but PIX is old! ASA took over before I even got into networking. My ASA exposure is quite limited and I have to admit that I generally a fish out of water when it comes to hardcore security. I guess this aligns with the CCNP Security FIREWALL curriculum. As a part of all this I am being sent to a Cisco partner course covering FIREWALL topics. My current place of employment is about to have ASA’s come out of the nether regions. Imagine this inside your laptop and access anywhere? I ended up using GNS3 and could create multi-area OSPF topologies, Giant EIGRP networks, and BGP with cheeky redistribution. I required a deep dive into the materials offered. It wasn’t enough to brush over the material and blitz the exam. I had worked on routers and routing technologies about 5 percent of the time. When I first achieved ROUTE on my way to CCNP I worked in a heavily switched environment. GNS3 has been a stable to my personal study.