AutoNetkit

AutoNetkit is a software for creating Netkit configurations. If you're diving into network simulations, this software is a must-have!

Getting Started with AutoNetkit

To run AutoNetkit smoothly, you'll need to install some modules first. Here's the list of what you need:

• netaddr


• mako


• networkx


• pydot


• pyparse


• graphviz


• pexpect

You can easily install these using the following commands:

sudo easy_install netaddr
sudo easy_install mako
sudo easy_install networkx
sudo easy_install pydot
sudo easy_install pyparsing
sudo easy_install pexpect

Installing Graphviz for Plotting

If you want to do some plotting, don't forget to get graphviz. On Linux, you can install it with this command:

sudo apt-get install graphviz

Your First AutoNetkit Lab

You can find a sample lab in the labs folder. This lab creates a small internet setup with 3 Autonomous Systems and connects several routers together. Once you set it up, you'll be able to see how everything fits together.

Deploying Your Lab Easily

The cool part? You can deploy your lab too! Just make sure you have the details of your Netkit host machine ready. This could either be your current machine or another one.

You'll need:

• The address of the machine (use "localhost" if it's on the same machine as AutoNetkit)


• Your SSH username and password.

An example setup would look like this:

host = "netkithost.adelaide.edu.au"
username = "sknight"
password = "12345" 

Or if running locally:

host = "localhost"
username = "sknight"
password = "12345" 

You can then deploy the lab using:

myNetkit.deploy(myInternet)

Once you have configured your lab, you can start AutoNetkit using:

python AutoNetkit.py

If you wish to specify your lab in a different configuration file, e.g. myLab.txt, use the following command:

./AutoNetkit.py -f labs/myLab.txt

And you should see output such as:

INFO Loading network from labs/myLab.txt
INFO Compiling configuration for AS1
INFO Compiling configuration for AS2
INFO Compiling configuration for AS3
INFO Connecting to netkithost.adelaide.edu.au
INFO Connected to netkithost.adelaide.edu.au
INFO Halting previous lab
INFO Copying Lab over
INFO Checking all previous machines shutdown
INFO Some hosts still running, retrying in 5 seconds
INFO All previous machines shutdown, starting lab
INFO Starting r1B (1/10)
INFO Starting r1C (2/10)
INFO Starting r1A (3/10)
INFO Starting r1D (4/10)
INFO Starting r1E (5/10)
INFO Starting r2A (6/10)
INFO Starting r3A (7/10)
INFO Starting r3B (8/10)
INFO Starting r3C (9/10)
INFO Starting r3D (10/10)
INFO Finished starting Lab, 10 machines started
Lab generated in 28.14 seconds