Ade Malsasa Akbar contact
Senior author, Open Source enthusiast.
Friday, January 24, 2020 at 14:16


With LibreOffice Draw, you can make network diagram just like you did with Visio (or GNS3 or even Cisco Packet Tracer). The problem is that icons for networking, such as server, router, firewall, workstation, cloud, etc. are not included by default. Fortunately, the solution is you can add such icons as plugins in Draw and then use it to make diagram.  Thanks to the awesome VRT project, now we have it on LibreOffice. This tutorial explains step by step to install VRT extension into LibreOffice Draw until you can see networking icons available. Enjoy!



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1. Go to Extensions Page


Head your browser up to https://extensions.libreoffice.org/extensions/vrt-network-equipment. That is the LibreOffice Extension Download Center on the VRT Network Equipment extension page. VRT is the excellent project behind these networking icons that they licensed under a free license (CCBYSA).


*) Note: yes, LibreOffice is similar to Mozilla Firefox, you can add it new functionalities by installing add-ons (also called 'extensions' or 'plug-ins'). Discover more extensions.

2. Download VRT Extension


Scroll below that page to find the download link with extension in .OXT format. It is the VRT extension we want for LibreOffice. At the moment, the size is 6MB. Download it.

 

Once finished, you will get a file named vrtnetworkequipment_1-2-0-lo.oxt or similar in your Downloads folder.



3. Install VRT Extension


Run LibreOffice Draw and go to menubar Tools > Extension Manager > Add > a file chooser dialog appears > select the .oxt file > OK > the extension installed > another dialog asks for "Restart LibreOffice" > OK > LibreOffice restarted.




4. See VRT Icons


Now on LibreOffice Draw, see right panel, open Gallery, scroll down to find out VRT Clients & Peripherals, VRT Networking & Communications, VRT Servers, and more. Those are the networking icons we are installing. Now you can draw a networking diagram by these. Happy drawing!


References