How to run multiple IP Blue phones on a single PC

In this tutorial, you will learn how to use IPBlue’s VTGO Lite softphone to test skinny phone registration and dialing by running multiple instances of emulated Cisco IP Phones.

This is the fourth tutorial in the Virtual Voice Lab Series for CCIE and CCVP studies.

Disclaimer and Due Credit:

This tutorial series is heavily based on CCIE Voice Home lab with Dynamips/VMware by Jayanm of Chicago, IL. Jaynam has obtained the following Cisco Certifications: CCIE (Voice) – CCVP – CCSP – CCNA – CQS (PIX,VPN,IDS) – VMWare Certified Professional.

I really appreciate the ground breaking research by Jaynam.

PC Preparation

1. Install IPBlue on your workstation.  This part really shouldn’t require much of an explanation. You will need to download VTGO Lite. Here is the link.
    
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2. If your PC does not have multiple NICs, you can use MS Loopback adapters. (If you do have multiple nics, this part is not necessary.)
   • Go to Start > Control Panel
   • Click ‘Add Hardware’
   • Click ‘Next’
   • Select ‘Yes, I already have a connection’
   • Select ‘Add a new hardware device’
   • Select ‘Install from a list’
   • Click ‘Network Adapters’
   • Select Microsoft Loopback
   • Click ‘Next’
   • Click ‘Next’
   • Click ‘Finish’
   • Double-Click ‘Network Connections’
   • Rename the loopback interface to something descriptive.
    
   
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3. Gather the MAC addresses for PC interfaces using the ‘ipconfig /all’ command
    
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Basic Phone configs in Call Manager and IP Blue

1. Configure two ip phones in the CUCM server or turn on auto registration
   • Configure the MAC address
   • Select the default phone button template
   • Select the default device pool
   • Select the default device security profile
   • Add a new dn and give it an extension
    
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Run multiple IPBlue Softphones

1. Create a new IP Blue shortcut with the  ‘/d’ option following the softphone executable.
2. Open the IP Blue Softphone
3. Change the phone options
   • Set the TFTP Server to the ip address of your CUCM server
   • Set the MAC Address with the Network interface option
   • Set the Primary Call Manager
   • Select an IP Phone model to emulate
4. Open the Windows registry editor (Click Start > Run  and type regedit)
5. Export the Phone settings
   • Navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_USER\Software\IPBlue branch
   • Right-Click on the IPBlue folder and select ‘Export’
   • Give the registry file a descriptive name and click ‘Save’
6. Repeat Steps 3-5 for each virtual phone you would like to use.
7. Double-Click one of the .reg file for one of the softphones saved in steps above.
8. Open the IP Blue Softphone.
9. Double-Click another .reg file for one of the softphones saved in steps above.
10. Open the IP Blue softphone again. (The IPBlue software references the settings in the system registry during startup)

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