NS-2/3 Setup

Network simulator (NS) comes in different versions such as NS, NS-2, and NS-3 (with the SDLC being comparable to Python 2 and Python 3). This thread is focused on the sequential steps (mostly terminal commands) to be taken in order to get the most recent software (ns-3) installed on your local Linux Machine.

NS-2 Installation
If for some reason whatsoever, you’d like to install ns-2 instead (as it’s still not commercially outdated, just like I hinted about Python 2 support above) then don’t worry, I made a detailed guide about NS-2 installation uploaded to GitHub as a pdf, which you can find here.

NS-3 Installation
Open your terminal and follow the steps below:

• Start by updating your current packages with $ sudo apt-get update.
• Now there are a set of packages you’ll need to install as pre-requisites, depending upon your requirements (C++/Python for instance). Run $ sudo apt-get install gcc g++ python python-dev mercurial bzr gdb valgrind gsl-bin libgsl23 libgslcblas0:i386 libgsl23:i386 libgslcblas0 flex bison tcpdump sqlite sqlite3 libsqlite3-dev libxml2 libxml2-dev libgtk2.0-0 libgtk2.0-dev uncrustify doxygen graphviz imagemagick texlive texlive-latex-extra texlive-generic-extra texlive-generic-recommended texinfo dia texlive texlive-latex-extra texlive-extra-utils texlive-generic-recommended texi2html python-pygraphviz python-kiwi python-pygoocanvas libgoocanvas-dev python-pygccxml, which will install the required dependencies + some extra packages which can be cut-off or more can be added to this list, as flexible as it can get depending upon your requirement.

• Next up, you’ll need to download the ns3 package from http://www.nsnam.org/, but before proceeding to that, create a folder with a name of your choice with mkdir yourname and move to that using cd yourname. Now that you’re inside it, download it using wget http://www.nsnam.org/release/ns-allinone-3.27.tar.bz2. (Note that am installing ns-3.27 ; If you want a different version like 3.30 then just replace the numbers in this step) After downloading, extract it using tar xjf ns-allinone-3.27.tar.bz2. You can use ls command to ensure your extracting in the right place before and after extracting, as shown below:

• Head inside the extracted folder ns-allinone-3.27 shown above by using cd. Use ls to browse its contents - you’ll see a python file by the name of build. To install all the components along with ns-3, we need to run this build.py script, for which you can use ./build.py --enable-examples --enable-tests, with enabled tests and examples, as evident from the command.

• After the installation is complete, you’ll get this screen:

• Now move inside your ns folder (typically following a naming convention of ns-version) inside the installed directory using cd. (use ls to spot it among the contents) Once inside, type ./waf (use ls again if required) to compile and build ns-3. You’ll observe two subsequent statements indicating Waf entering and leaving your build directory. After a successful build, a 'build' successfully finished (time in seconds) statement will pop up, indicating a successful installation for ns-3.

Creating your first NS3 program

• Get inside the folder where you installed NS3.
• Navigate to ns-allinone-3.27/ns-3.27/scratch (for ns-3.27 version) using cd and ls as in when required.
• You’ll see a scratch-simulator.cc file. Inside this scratch workspace, you can create your own .cc suffixed (extension pertains to a C++ file) NS3 programs.

• Create a file via gedit with a name of your choice, and follow up with the .cc extension.
• Here’s a typical beginner program for you to Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V`:

#include "ns3/core-module.h"
using namespace ns3;
NS_LOG_COMPONENT_DEFINE("HelloNS3");
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{ 
  NS_LOG_UNCOND("HelloNS3"); // In context to "Hello world" :3
}

• After saving your program/file, head back to the ns-3.27/ directory using cd ... (one step back from /scratch)
• Run ./waf to check if your file is compiled and linked successfully.
• Finally, type .waf --run scratch/yourfilename.cc to execute your program.