Cisco IOU requires a license file named iourc . This is a text file containing a license key linked to the hostname of your VM.

Through the GNS3 preferences menu, you upload the .bin file to the IOU Devices section.

To use this specific binary, you generally follow these steps:

This indicates the image is built for x86 architecture (32-bit) running on a Linux platform. Specifically, this is a Cisco IOU (IOS on Unix/Linux) image.

It supports almost all the commands found on physical Cisco 15.x hardware.

Breaking down the filename reveals exactly what the software contains: