README_MININEXT

This file describes how to use the sample quagga-ixp topology
provided with MiniNexT.  The quagga-ixp topology simulates a small
network w/a few ASes connected to each other via a switch.  Each AS is
simulated by a single Quagga router.

0)apt-get install mininet.  Make sure it is version 2.1

1)Clone MiniNeXt and build it.

2)Cd to examples/manualQuagga

3)sudo start.py to start mininet with a default config, which is
'protobufconfig' in examples/manualQuagga.

start.py commandline:
         -f/--protobuf_config_file - name of file in current
         directoy or fully qualified path to file that contains the configuration in
         protobuf text format. By default, it uses the file named "protobufconfig" if
         this isn't specified
         -h - displays helpline for commandline options

Configuration format:

Each top level message is demarcated by a <begin ''messagetype''> ... <end ''messagetype''>
Host config example:
<begin Host>
host_type : HT_QUAGGA
host_name: "b1"
ip: "172.0.2.1"
lo_ip: "10.0.2.1"
as_num: 101
<end Host>

Defines the protobuf text format for a 'Host' message type and will be parsed
into a host protobuf message.

Topology config example:
<begin Topology>
adjacency_list_entries {
    primary_node_name: "a1"
    links{
        adjacent_node_name: "b1"
        link_cost : 10
    }
}
adjacency_list_entries {
    primary_node_name: "b1"
    links{
        adjacent_node_name: "a1"
        link_cost: 10
    }
}
<end Topology>

This defines a protobuf topology message in text format.
NOTE1: while it looks
like you can have asymetric link costs, when quagga is running, it is assuming
that consts are symetric. Therefore, if you define asymetric costs, the behavior is undefined.
NOTE2: For the purposes of configuration in MiniNext, you have to define both
ends of the link. That is, a link from a1 to b1 has to be defined like above
(one from a1 to b1 and one from b1 to a1).

An example of defining a redis host is:
<begin Host>
host_type : HT_LOOKUPSERVICE
host_name: "l1"
ip: "172.1.1.1"
path_to_redis : "redis-server"
<end Host>

'path_to_redis' is the command that will start redis-server relative from root.
The ip should be the wellknown ip that is defined in quagga.

Each message specification is defined by the protobuf, QuaggaTopo.proto. See
the file "protobufconfig" for an example configuation. See documentation in
QuaggaTopo.proto for more information.

Required fields:

While all fields are defined as 'optional' in the proto, you should fill in all
fields related to the type of thing being defined otherwise undefined behavior
may occur.

host requird fields:
host_type : REQUIRED for all hosts
host_name : REQUIRED for all hosts
ip : REQUIRED for all hosts
lo_ip : REQUIRED for HT_QUAGGA hosts
as_num : REQUIRED for HT_QUAGGA hosts
path_to_redis : REQUIRED for HT_LOOKUPSERVICE hosts

topology requird fields:
each adjacentcy_list_entries should have a primary_node_name and at least one
"links" and each "links" must have an 'adjacent_node_name' and 'link_cost'

Dependencies:
Runs with python 2.7
libprotoc 2.6.1
protobuf-compiler
python-protobuf

The following commands should build python libraries.
pip install jinja2
pip install protobuf