Net-runner-engine

About

This is the NS-3 based node-addon-api module used for the Net-runner website. It's core functionality is to launch the NS-3 functions according to JSON config specified as an argument and dump the results. Example config and usage from Node.js can be found at examples folder.

Goal

The goal of this project is to provide the web-based platform who those who are learning the inner workings of computer networks. Although the project is up and running, this project is very young and has many work to do. So I decided to do this with the NS-3 community all together! If you are an NS-3 expert, or Node.js enthusiast, or just want to commit to this project, feel free to contact me (see contacts below) and ask any questions.

Installation

There is dedicated Docker image for installing and using this module. It you want to install this module in your system, just run

npm install net-runner-engine

However, not all systems are supported. Current supported systems:

• Linux x64

Standalone usage

Example usage script:

const Simulator = require('net-runner-engine');
const path = require('path');
const fs = require('fs');

const { fromConfig, Network, Hub, Switch, Host, TCPClient, TCPServer, UDPClient, UDPServer } = Simulator;

const dstDir = path.resolve(__dirname, 'files');

const net = new Network({ 
  animeLen: 5, // seconds, default is 3
});

const host1 = new Host(net, { 
  name: 'Alice', // this name will be used in resulting PCAP files, optional (some numbers will be used if not specified, e.g. 0-1-hub-csma-0.pcap)
});
const host2 = new Host(net, { name: 'Bob' });

host1.setupApplication(new TCPClient({ 
  addr: '192.168.1.3',
  port: 3000,
  onTick: ({ time, sendPacket, tick }) => { // you can implement you custom logic here
    if (time > 1000) {
      const buf = Buffer.from("hello");
      sendPacket(buf); //accepts Buffer only
    }
    return '0.1s'; //call onTick after 0.1s
  },
}));

host2.setupApplication(new TCPServer({ 
  port: 3000,
  onReceive: ({ address, packet, reply }) => { // custom recieve callback
    console.log('[*] recieve', address, packet);
    const buf = Buffer.from("world?");
    reply(buf);
  },
}));

// connecting two hosts
host1.connect(host2, { 
  sourceIP: '192.168.1.2', //IP of host1's device, required for Host node
  targetIP: '192.168.1.3', //IP of host2's device, required for Host node
  dataRate: '1Mbps', //optional, default is 5Mbps
  delay: '1ms', //optional, default is 5ms
});

net.run(dstDir, { upload: true }).then(url => console.log('[*] uploaded', url)); //simulate network and upload results to https://net-runner.xyz/

After running this script you'll see appropriate PCAP files for each interface of each network's node in 'files' directory.

Documentation

Documentation for this module can be found here

Architecture

The structure of internal config is shown below:

{
  nodes: [{ id, title, x, y, type, applications }],
  edges: [{ source, target, type, sourceIP, targetIP }],
  options: { animeLen: 10, popuplateIP: false }
}

A network is represented as a graph that contains information about nodes and connections in a network. The module's work is to:

1. Convert node-addon-api arguments to C++ STL structures.
2. Instantiate network nodes.
3. Set up connections between nodes.
4. Set up NS-3 helpers.
5. Run the simulator. Steps 2-5 are done using the respective NS-3 functions.

TODO's

Some tasks are marked done, which means you can use appropriate functionality on the website, though non of them are finished completely, every task is in active state.

• [x] Host node
• [x] Switch node
• [x] Hub node
• [x] ICMP client
• [x] TCP client/server
• [x] UDP client/server
• [x] PCAP dumps (each interface)
• [x] ARP table dumps(each host)
• [x] Connection configuration (channel attributes)
• [x] Documentation
• [x] Routing table dumps
• [ ] Setting up IP/MAC addresses manually
• [ ] DHCP server functionality
• [ ] WIFI
• [ ] TCP configuration (window, different stacks)
• [ ] IPIP, PPPoE, VPN (GRE)

Contacts

Email: [e-mail] Feel free to ask any questions!