HOWTO use VMware to set up virtual networks (Windows)
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One of the main points of using simulation software is that you don't have to buy lots of hardware in order to investigate large configurations. We have a realtime emulation package that allows us to connect ns-3 to real networks on real machines. The problem, of course, is that you need lots of real machines to run real programs. Using VMware, we replace "real machines" with "virtual machines" and configure virtual networks of virtual machines instead of having to work with tons of real hardware.
HOWTO use VMware to set up virtual networks (Windows)
1. Get the VMware server software
a. You may read in various release notes or documentation that you need
Microsoft servers of various kinds. This is not the case. You can
run VMware server on XP just fine;
b. Go to http://www.vmware.com/download/server/ to get the software;
c. Select the Download Now button (download as usual);
d. Install the software in the usual way;
e. Ignore warnings about requiring Microsoft IIS to continue.
2. Request a Serial Number
a. Go to http://register.vmware.com/content/registration.html b. Fill out the page and select "Submit"; c. You will be redirected to a page with your new serial number; d. Copy the serial number; e. Run the VMware server; f. Select the menu item Help->Enter Serial Number ... g. Paste in the new serial number.
3. Install a Virtual Machine
a. Exit the VMware Server.
b. We prefer Ubuntu JeOS (Just enough OS). You can download the code from
the VMware "Virtual Appliance Marketplace" by going to
http://www.vmware.com/appliances/directory/1136 and selecting "Download
this Appliance" link from the "Download" box to the right of the
appliance name (Ubuntu 7.10 JeOS v1.031 with VMware drivers (70MB));
c. Download the appliance and unzip the file. You should have a directory
named "ub710jeos". Copy this directory to the "c:\Virtual Machines"
(VMware) directory.
d. Run the VMware server. If you get a complaint about not having a disk
in your CD-ROM, just continue;
e. Select the "Local Host" radio button and press "OK";
f. Select the File->Open menu option and Browse for the
"ub710jeos" directory and open the "ub710jeos.vmx" file;
5. Start the new Virtual Machine
a. Select the "Start this virtual machine" command on the VMware Server
Console;
b. You will get a dialog box asking about a new UUID. Select the "Create"
radio button and press "OK";
c. Ubuntu JeOS will start in a "console window." If you want to type into
the JeOS VM, you must click your mouse in the console window. If you
want to exit to Windows, press <ctrl>+<alt> and you will pop out of
the VM;
d. Login as user: root, password root;
e. Change the password (passwd)if you are connected to the real world and
like your system intact.
f. Ping www.google.com to test network connectivity.
5. Freshen the Software Distribution
a. apt-get update b. apt-get install c. apt-get install pkg-config libxml2 libxml2-dev d. apt-get install gcc g++ make automake autoconf binutils e. apt-get install openssh-server openssh-client openssl libssl-dev f. apt-get install python-dev mercurial g. exit
6. Log in as User (Appliance comes pre-configured with one user)
a. log in as user: user, password user
b. Change your password (passwd) if you are connected to the real world and
like your system intact
7. Get and Test ns-3-dev
a. mkdir repos b. cd repos c. hg clone http://code.nsnam.org/ns-3-dev d. cd ns-3-dev e. ./waf configure -d debug f. ./waf g. ./waf --regression
As an old math professor once said, "I feel joy"!
Now it's time for a breather. You have a configured Ubuntu JeOS Virtual Machine and you've built and tested ns-3 on it. Now might be a good time to copy this VM somewhere safe as your base machine. If you want to clone your machine you can use this copy, or if you manage to wedge the VM, you can use the copy as a checkpoint and restore a working copy without going through all the pain we just suffered through.
8. Checkpoint the VM
a. log out of the VM (exit); b. Press the red rectangle (stop) button on the VMware Server Console; c. Open My Computer/Virtual Machines d. Copy "ub710jeos" to "ub710jeos checkpoint"
Now it's time to start creating that test network that was the reason we started this process. We'll use the checkpointed VM we just made and copy it to begin.
9. Create new VM with a Private Network
a. Copy "c:\Virtual Machines\ub710jeos checkpoint" to another directory in
the "Virtual Machines" directory and call it "ns-3-test-1"
b. Select the File->Open menu option and Browse for the
"ns-3-test-1" directory and open the "ub710jeos.vmx" file;
e. Select the "Edit virtual machine settings" command on the VMware Server
Console;
d. Click on the "Options" tab;
e. Enter "ns-3-test-1" in the "Virtual machine name" text box;
f. Click on the "Hardware" tab;
g. Click on the "Add" button. You will launch the "Add Hardware Wizard";
h. Click "Next";
i. Click "Ethernet Adapter" and then "Next";
j. Click the "Host Only: A private network shared with the host" radio
button and then "Next";
k. Click "OK";
l. Select the "Start this virtual machine" command on the VMware Server
Console;
m. You will get a dialog box asking about a new UUID. Select the "Create"
radio button and press "OK";
n. Ubuntu JeOS will start in a "console window."
o. Log in as root (you changed the password, right?)
p. Edit (vi) "/etc/network/interfaces" and add the following lines
before the similar delcaration of the primary network interface:
# The private network interface
auto eth1
iface eth1 inet dhcp
q. Edit (vi) /etc/hosts and replace instances of "ub710jeos" with
"ns-3-test-1";
r. Edit (vi) /etc/hostname and replace "ub710jeos" with "ns-3-test-1";
s. Change the host hame by executing "hostname ns-3-test-1";
t. Log out of the VM;
u. Press the red square (stop) button on the VMware Server Console to
stop the VM.
Now you have one VM with a private network on it. You can repeat step nine as many times as you want, renaming the VMs ns-test-2, ns-test-3, etc. Go ahead and make a ns-test-2 virtual machine just so we can do something interesting.
10. Start Your Virtual Test Network
a. Select the "ns-3-test-1" tab on the VMware Server Console;
b. Select the "Start this virtual machine" command on the VMware Server
Console;
c. Ubuntu JeOS will start in a "console window";
d. You should see an "ns-3-test-1 login" prompt when it comes up;
e. Select the "ns-3-test-2" tab on the VMware Server Console;
f. Select the "Start this virtual machine" command on the VMware Server
Console;
g. Ubuntu JeOS will start in a "console window."
h. You should see an "ns-3-test-2 login" prompt when it comes up;
You can now switch between the running virtual machines by selecting the appropriate tab on the VMware Server Console. Enter a VM by clicking in the console window and exit by pressing <ctrl>+<alt>. Select another tab of a running VM and enter that VM by clicking in the console window.
12. Update /etc/hosts and Check Connectivity
a. Log in to "ns-3-test-1" as root;
b. Run ifconfig -a and note the IP address of eth1;
c. Log in to "ns-3-test-2" as root;
d. Run ifconfig -a and note the IP address of eth1;
e. Edit (vi) "/etc/hosts" on "ns-3-test-1" and add an appropriate line
for "ns-3-test-2". On my machine it is
"192.168.136.129 ns-3-test-2";
f. Edit (vi) "/etc/hosts" on "ns-3-test-2" and add an appropriate line
for "ns-3-test-1". On my machine it is
"192.168.136.128 ns-3-test-1";
g. On ns-3-test-1 run "ping ns-3-test-2" to verify;
h. On ns-3-test-2 run "ping ns-3-test-1" to verify;
At this point, you probably will want to set up users, shells, aliases, other tools (emacs, ddd, etc) or whatever else you will be needing. For example, I set up a new user to match my user name on all of the other ns-3-related machines I work with, set the shell to bash, copied over my aliases, ssh keys, etc., etc., yadda, yadda.
CAVEATS
a. Be careful about carelessly using disk space in these VMs. We have
intentionally limited the size of the backing disk file to 1 GB so we
don't consume all of your Windows resources. This does mean that you
will be limited to perhaps one or two full builds of ns-3 with regression
traces depending on what other stuff you install. If you run out of
disk, you can increase it using VMware tools installed for you in the
Windows "Command Prompt."
i. Open your "Command Prompt";
ii. Change into "C:\Program Files\VMWare\VMware Server;
iii. There is an executable there named "vmware-vdiskmanager.exe";
iv. Find the full path to the disk image file you want to increase;
v. Increase the disk size using the following recipe:
vmware-vdiskmanager -x 16GB "C:\Virtual Machines\ns-3-test-1\ub710jeos.vmdk"
Congratulations, you are now ns-3 emulation ready.
Craigdo 16:17, 6 August 2008 (EDT)