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Mininet: Rapid Prototyping for Software Defined Networks
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*The best way to emulate almost any network on your laptop!*
Mininet emulates a complete network of hosts, links, and switches
on a single machine. To create a sample two-host, one-switch network,
just run:
Mininet is useful for interactive development, testing, and demos,
especially those using OpenFlow and SDN. OpenFlow-based network
controllers prototyped in Mininet can usually be transferred to
hardware with minimal changes for full line-rate execution.
Mininet creates virtual networks using process-based virtualization
and network namespaces - features that are available in recent Linux
kernels. In Mininet, hosts are emulated as `bash` processes running in
a network namespace, so any code that would normally run on a Linux
server (like a web server or client program) should run just fine
within a Mininet "Host". The Mininet "Host" will have its own private
network interface and can only see its own processes. Switches in
Mininet are software-based switches like Open vSwitch or the OpenFlow
reference switch. Links are virtual ethernet pairs, which live in the
Linux kernel and connect our emulated switches to emulated hosts
(processes).
* A handy Python API for creating networks of varying sizes and
topologies.
* Examples (in the `examples/` directory) to help you get started.
* Full API documentation via Python `help()` docstrings, as well as
the ability to generate PDF/HTML documentation with `make doc`.
* Parametrized topologies (`Topo` subclasses) using the Mininet
object. For example, a tree network may be created with the
command:
`mn --topo tree,depth=2,fanout=3`
* A command-line interface (`CLI` class) which provides useful
diagnostic commands (like `iperf` and `ping`), as well as the
ability to run a command to a node. For example,
tells host h11 to run the command `ifconfig -a`
* A "cleanup" command to get rid of junk (interfaces, processes, files
in /tmp, etc.) which might be left around by Mininet or Linux. Try
this if things stop working!
### New features in this release
This release provides a number of bug fixes as well as
- `mn --switch ovs,protocols=openflow13` starts OVS in 1.3 mode
- `install.sh -w` installs a 1.3-compatible Wireshark dissector using
- `install.sh -y` installs the Ryu 1.3-compatible controller
* A new `nodelib.py` node library, and new `Node` types including
`LinuxBridge`, `OVSBridge`, `LinuxRouter` (see `examples/`)
and `NAT`
* A `--nat` option which connects a Mininet network to your LAN using NAT
(For this to work correctly, Mininet's `--ipbase` subnet should not
overlap with any external or internet IP addresses you wish to use)
* An improved MiniEdit GUI (`examples/miniedit.py`) - thanks to
Gregory Gee
* Support for multiple `--custom` arguments to `mn`
* Experimental cluster support - consult the
[documentation](http://docs.mininet.org) for details -
as well as `examples/cluster.py` and an experimental `--cluster`
option for topologies built with the default `Host` and `OVSSwitch`
classes:
`mn --cluster localhost,server1,server2`
Note that examples contain experimental features which might
"graduate" into mainline Mininet in the future, but they should
not be considered a stable part of the Mininet API!
A number of bugs have also been fixed, most notably multiple link
support in `Topo()`. See github issues and the release notes on
the Mininet wiki for additional information.
See `INSTALL` for installation instructions and details.
In addition to the API documentation (`make doc`), much useful
information, including a Mininet walkthrough and an introduction
[Mininet Web Site](http://mininet.org).
There is also a wiki which you are encouraged to read and to
contribute to, particularly the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ.)
Mininet is community-supported. We encourage you to join the
Mininet mailing list, `mininet-discuss` at:
<https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/mininet-discuss>
Mininet is an open source project and is currently hosted
at <https://github.com/mininet>. You are encouraged to download
the code, examine it, modify it, and submit bug reports, bug fixes,
feature requests, new features and other issues and pull requests.
Thanks to everyone who has contributed code to the Mininet project
(see CONTRIBUTORS for more info!) It is because of everyone's
hard work that Mininet continues to grow and improve.
### Enjoy Mininet
Best wishes, and we look forward to seeing what you can do with
Mininet to change the networking world!
The Mininet Core Team: