mininet
Spin up and interact with virtual networks using Mininet and Node.js
npm install mininet
Usage
var mininet =var mn =// create a switchvar s1 = mn// create some hostsvar h1 = mnvar h2 = mn// link them to the switchh1links1h2links1// start the networkmnstart// run a server in nodevar proc = h1procproc
Assuming server.js looks like this
var http =var mn =var server = httpserver
API
var mn = mininet([options])
Create a new mininet instance. Options include
clean: false // if true run mn -c firstsudo: true // use sudo if neededsock: '/tmp/mn.sock' // explictly set the .sock file useddebug: false // set to true to enable debug outputstdio: null // passed to host.spawn as a default optionprefixStdio: false // passed to host.spawn as a default option
If for some reason your mininet instance stops working
you probably wanna try using clean: true
.
mn.start([callback])
Start the mininet network. Usually you call this after defining your hosts, switches and links.
After the network has fully started start
is emitted.
mn.stop([callback])
Stop the mininet network. You should not call any other methods after this.
After the network has fully stopped stop
is emitted.
mn.switches
Array of all created switches.
mn.hosts
Array of all created hosts.
var sw = mn.createSwitch()
Create a new switch
sw.link(other, [options])
Link the switch with another switch or host. Options include:
bandwidth: 10 // use 10mbit linkdelay: '100ms' // 100ms delayloss: 10 // 10% package losshtb: true // use htb
var host = mn.createHost()
Create an new host
host.ip
The IP address of the host. Populated after the network is started.
host.mac
The MAC address of the host. Populated after the network is started.
host.link(other, [options])
Link the host with another host or switch.
Takes the same options as sw.link
.
host.exec(cmd, [callback])
Execute a command and buffer the output and return it in the callback.
var proc = host.spawn(cmd, [options])
Spawn a new process to run the in background of the host. Options include:
stdio: 'inherit' // set this to forward stdioprefixStdio: 'some-prefix' // all stdio is prefixed with this
If you set prefixStdio: true
it will be converted to {host.id}.{process.id}
.
When debugging it can be useful to set both {stdio: 'inherit', prefixStdio: true}
.
var proc = host.spawnNode(programSource, [options])
Helper that spawns a Node.js source inside the host. Useful when using multiline strings
host
proc.id
Unique string id of the process
proc.kill([signal])
Kill the process.
proc.send(type, data)
Send a message to the process.
proc.on('stdout', data)
Emitted when the process has output.
proc.on('message', type, data)
Emitted when the process received a message.
proc.on('message:{type}', data)
Same as above but with the type as part of the event name for convenience.
proc.on('exit')
Emitted when the process exits.
Messaging
If you are spawning a node process you can require mininet/host
to communicate with the host.
var host = require('mininet/host')
Require this in a spawned process.
host.send(type, data)
Send a message to the host.
host.sendTo(processId, type, data)
Send a message to another process.
host.broadcast(type, data)
Send a message to all processes.
host.on('message', type, data, metadata)
Emitted when a message is received from the host. The metadata argument contains the following data
from: 'some-process-id-or-host' // who sent this message
host.on('message:{type}', data, metadata)
Same as above but with the type as part of the event name for convenience.
License
MIT