freeRtr topology simulation

1 Overview

In Hello freeRtr ! you learned how to implement one single freeRtr node that has 2 interfaces. In this page, you'll learn:

• how to implement a local topology by declaring 4 nodes
• each nodes has 2 interfaces (eth1 andeth2)
• declare interconnection in the hardware definition file using the topology below.

2 freeRtr network example

In this section, we will use the demo example bundled into freeRtr tarball.

2.1 Diagram

The demo implements a square topology:

• nodes are r1,r2,r3,r4

• edges are e1[r1-r2],e2[r2-r4],e3[r3-r4],e4[r1-r3]

  - means is "connected to"

  r1----e1----r2
  |            |
  |            |
  e2          e2
  |            |
  |            |
  r3----e1----r4

2.2 Nodes configuration

2.2.1 router r1

r1-hw.txt

int eth1 eth 0000.1111.0001 127.0.0.1 1001 127.0.0.1 2001
int eth2 eth 0000.1111.0002 127.0.0.1 1002 127.0.0.1 3002

r1-sw.txt

hostname r1
!
vrf def v1
 rd 1:1
 exit
server telnet tel
 security protocol tel
 vrf v1
 exit
int lo0
 vrf for v1
 ipv4 addr 2.2.2.1 255.255.255.255
 ipv6 addr 4321::1 ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff
 exit
int eth1
 desc r1@eth1 -> r2@eth1
 lldp ena
 vrf for v1
 ipv4 addr 1.1.1.1 255.255.255.252
 ipv6 addr 1234:1::1 ffff:ffff::
 exit
int eth2
 desc r1@eth2 -> r3@eth2
 lldp ena
 vrf for v1
 ipv4 addr 1.1.1.5 255.255.255.252
 ipv6 addr 1234:2::1 ffff:ffff::
 exit
!

2.2.2 router r2

r2-hw.txt

int eth1 eth 0000.2222.0001 127.0.0.1 2001 127.0.0.1 1001
int eth2 eth 0000.2222.0002 127.0.0.1 2002 127.0.0.1 4002

r2-sw.txt

hostname r2
!
vrf def v1
 rd 1:1
 exit
server telnet tel
 security protocol tel
 vrf v1
 exit
int lo0
 vrf for v1
 ipv4 addr 2.2.2.2 255.255.255.255
 ipv6 addr 4321::2 ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff
 exit
int eth1
 desc r2@eth1 -> r1@eth1
 lldp ena
 vrf for v1
 ipv4 addr 1.1.1.2 255.255.255.252
 ipv6 addr 1234:1::2 ffff:ffff::
 exit
int eth2
 desc r2@eth2 -> r4@eth2
 lldp ena
 vrf for v1
 ipv4 addr 1.1.1.9 255.255.255.252
 ipv6 addr 1234:3::1 ffff:ffff::
 exit
!

2.2.3 router r3

r3-hw.txt

int eth1 eth 0000.3333.0001 127.0.0.1 3001 127.0.0.1 4001
int eth2 eth 0000.3333.0002 127.0.0.1 3002 127.0.0.1 1002

r3-sw.txt

hostname r3
!
vrf def v1
 rd 1:1
 exit
server telnet tel
 security protocol tel
 vrf v1
 exit
int lo0
 vrf for v1
 ipv4 addr 2.2.2.3 255.255.255.255
 ipv6 addr 4321::3 ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff
 exit
int eth1
 desc r3@eth1 -> r4@eth1
 lldp ena
 vrf for v1
 ipv4 addr 1.1.1.13 255.255.255.252
 ipv6 addr 1234:4::1 ffff:ffff::
 exit
int eth2
 desc r3@eth2 -> r1@eth2
 lldp ena
 vrf for v1
 ipv4 addr 1.1.1.6 255.255.255.252
 ipv6 addr 1234:2::2 ffff:ffff::
 exit
!

2.2.4 router r4

r4-hw.txt

int eth1 eth 0000.4444.0001 127.0.0.1 4001 127.0.0.1 3001
int eth2 eth 0000.4444.0002 127.0.0.1 4002 127.0.0.1 2002

r4-sw.txt

hostname r4
!
vrf def v1
 rd 1:1
 exit
server telnet tel
 security protocol tel
 vrf v1
 exit
int lo0
 vrf for v1
 ipv4 addr 2.2.2.4 255.255.255.255
 ipv6 addr 4321::4 ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff
 exit
int eth1
 desc r4@eth1 -> r3@eth1
 lldp ena
 vrf for v1
 ipv4 addr 1.1.1.14 255.255.255.252
 ipv6 addr 1234:4::2 ffff:ffff::
 exit
int eth2
 desc r4@eth2 -> r2@eth2
 lldp ena
 vrf for v1
 ipv4 addr 1.1.1.10 255.255.255.252
 ipv6 addr 1234:3::2 ffff:ffff::
 exit
!

3 Explanation

3.1 router r1

r1 has 2 interfaces:

• r1@eth1 has socket 127.0.0.1 1001 and is conected to 127.0.0.1 2001
• r1@eth2 has socket 127.0.0.1 1002 and is conected to 127.0.0.1 3002

if you look at subsequent declarations below:

• 127.0.0.1 2001 is r2@eth1
• 127.0.0.1 3002 is r3@eth2

3.2 router r2

• r2@eth1 has socket 127.0.0.1 2001 and is conected to 127.0.0.1 1001
• r2@eth2 has socket 127.0.0.1 2002 and is conected to 127.0.0.1 4002

if you look at subsequent declarations below:

• 127.0.0.1 1001 is r1@eth1
• 127.0.0.1 4002 is r4@eth2

3.3 router r3

• r3@eth1 has socket 127.0.0.1 3001 and is conected to 127.0.0.1 4001
• r3@eth2 has socket 127.0.0.1 3002 and is conected to 127.0.0.1 1002

if you look at subsequent declarations below:

• 127.0.0.1 4001 is r4@eth1
• 127.0.0.1 1002 is r1@eth2

3.4 router r4

4 Verification

4.1 Launch all nodes

Run r1,r2,r3,r4 in different terminal windows:

r1

java -jar rtr.jar routersc r1-hw.txt r1-sw.txt

r2

java -jar rtr.jar routersc r2-hw.txt r2-sw.txt

r3

java -jar rtr.jar routersc r3-hw.txt r3-sw.txt

r4

java -jar rtr.jar routersc r4-hw.txt r4-sw.txt

4.2 Physical connectivity check

4.2.1 router r1

r1#sh lldp nei
interface  hostname  iface      ipv4     ipv6
ethernet1  r2        ethernet1  1.1.1.2  1234:1::2
ethernet2  r3        ethernet2  1.1.1.6  1234:2::2

ping from r1@eth1

r1#ping 1.1.1.2 vrf v1
pinging 1.1.1.2, src=null, vrf=v1, cnt=5, len=64, tim=1000, gap=0, ttl=255, tos=0, fill=0, sweep=false, multi=false, detail=false
!!!!!
result=100%, recv/sent/lost/err=5/5/0/0, rtt min/avg/max/total=1/2/5/12

r1#ping 1234:1::2 vrf v1
pinging 1234:1::2, src=null, vrf=v1, cnt=5, len=64, tim=1000, gap=0, ttl=255, tos=0, fill=0, sweep=false, multi=false, detail=false
!!!!!
result=100%, recv/sent/lost/err=5/5/0/0, rtt min/avg/max/total=0/0/3/16

ping from r1@eth2

r1#ping 1.1.1.6 vrf v1
pinging 1.1.1.6, src=null, vrf=v1, cnt=5, len=64, tim=1000, gap=0, ttl=255, tos=0, fill=0, sweep=false, multi=false, detail=false
!!!!!
result=100%, recv/sent/lost/err=5/5/0/0, rtt min/avg/max/total=0/1/2/10

r1#ping 1234:2::2 vrf v1
pinging 1234:2::2, src=null, vrf=v1, cnt=5, len=64, tim=1000, gap=0, ttl=255, tos=0, fill=0, sweep=false, multi=false, detail=false
!!!!!
result=100%, recv/sent/lost/err=5/5/0/0, rtt min/avg/max/total=0/1/4/16
r1#

4.2.2 router r2

r2#sh lldp nei
interface  hostname  iface      ipv4      ipv6
ethernet1  r1        ethernet1  1.1.1.1   1234:1::1
ethernet2  r4        ethernet2  1.1.1.10  1234:3::2

ping from r2@eth1

r2#ping 1.1.1.1 vrf v1
pinging 1.1.1.1, src=null, vrf=v1, cnt=5, len=64, tim=1000, gap=0, ttl=255, tos=0, fill=0, sweep=false, multi=false, detail=false
!!!!!
result=100%, recv/sent/lost/err=5/5/0/0, rtt min/avg/max/total=0/1/3/8

r2#ping 1234:1::1 vrf v1
pinging 1234:1::1, src=null, vrf=v1, cnt=5, len=64, tim=1000, gap=0, ttl=255, tos=0, fill=0, sweep=false, multi=false, detail=false
!!!!!
result=100%, recv/sent/lost/err=5/5/0/0, rtt min/avg/max/total=0/1/8/22

ping from r2@eth2

r2#ping 1.1.1.10 vrf v1
pinging 1.1.1.10, src=null, vrf=v1, cnt=5, len=64, tim=1000, gap=0, ttl=255, tos=0, fill=0, sweep=false, multi=false, detail=false
!!!!!
result=100%, recv/sent/lost/err=5/5/0/0, rtt min/avg/max/total=0/1/3/6

r2#ping 1234:3::2 vrf v1
pinging 1234:3::2, src=null, vrf=v1, cnt=5, len=64, tim=1000, gap=0, ttl=255, tos=0, fill=0, sweep=false, multi=false, detail=false
!!!!!
result=100%, recv/sent/lost/err=5/5/0/0, rtt min/avg/max/total=0/2/4/14
r2#

4.2.3 router r3

r3#sh lldp nei
interface  hostname  iface      ipv4      ipv6
ethernet1  r4        ethernet1  1.1.1.14  1234:4::2
ethernet2  r1        ethernet2  1.1.1.5   1234:2::1

ping from r3@eth1

r3#ping 1.1.1.14 vrf v1
pinging 1.1.1.14, src=null, vrf=v1, cnt=5, len=64, tim=1000, gap=0, ttl=255, tos=0, fill=0, sweep=false, multi=false, detail=false
!!!!!
result=100%, recv/sent/lost/err=5/5/0/0, rtt min/avg/max/total=0/1/5/10
r3#ping 1234:4::2 vrf v1
r3#ping 1234:4::2 vrf v1
pinging 1234:4::2, src=null, vrf=v1, cnt=5, len=64, tim=1000, gap=0, ttl=255, tos=0, fill=0, sweep=false, multi=false, detail=false
!!!!!
result=100%, recv/sent/lost/err=5/5/0/0, rtt min/avg/max/total=0/0/1/9

ping from r3@eth2

r3#ping 1.1.1.5 vrf v1
r3#ping 1.1.1.5 vrf v1
pinging 1.1.1.5, src=null, vrf=v1, cnt=5, len=64, tim=1000, gap=0, ttl=255, tos=0, fill=0, sweep=false, multi=false, detail=false
!!!!!
result=100%, recv/sent/lost/err=5/5/0/0, rtt min/avg/max/total=0/2/9/15
r3#ping 1234:2::1 vrf v1
r3#ping 1234:2::1 vrf v1
pinging 1234:2::1, src=null, vrf=v1, cnt=5, len=64, tim=1000, gap=0, ttl=255, tos=0, fill=0, sweep=false, multi=false, detail=false
!!!!!
result=100%, recv/sent/lost/err=5/5/0/0, rtt min/avg/max/total=0/1/4/12
r3#

4.2.4 router r4

r4#sh lldp nei
interface  hostname  iface      ipv4      ipv6
ethernet1  r3        ethernet1  1.1.1.13  1234:4::1
ethernet2  r2        ethernet2  1.1.1.9   1234:3::1

ping from r4@eth1

r4#ping 1.1.1.13 vrf v1
pinging 1.1.1.13, src=null, vrf=v1, cnt=5, len=64, tim=1000, gap=0, ttl=255, tos=0, fill=0, sweep=false, multi=false, detail=false
!!!!!
result=100%, recv/sent/lost/err=5/5/0/0, rtt min/avg/max/total=0/0/1/17

r4#ping 1234:4::1 vrf v1
pinging 1234:4::1, src=null, vrf=v1, cnt=5, len=64, tim=1000, gap=0, ttl=255, tos=0, fill=0, sweep=false, multi=false, detail=false
!!!!!
result=100%, recv/sent/lost/err=5/5/0/0, rtt min/avg/max/total=0/1/4/17

ping from r4@eth2

r4#ping 1.1.1.9 vrf v1
pinging 1.1.1.9, src=null, vrf=v1, cnt=5, len=64, tim=1000, gap=0, ttl=255, tos=0, fill=0, sweep=false, multi=false, detail=false
!!!!!
result=100%, recv/sent/lost/err=5/5/0/0, rtt min/avg/max/total=0/0/1/5

r4#ping 1234:3::1 vrf v1
pinging 1234:3::1, src=null, vrf=v1, cnt=5, len=64, tim=1000, gap=0, ttl=255, tos=0, fill=0, sweep=false, multi=false, detail=false
!!!!!
result=100%, recv/sent/lost/err=5/5/0/0, rtt min/avg/max/total=0/1/3/12
r4#

4 Conclusion

This section demonstrated:

• How to implement a local square topology:
  • by defining UNIX Socket pair
  • and lauching multiple freeRtr processes on the same host
• How to verify connectivity from each node of the topology
• This article demonstrated how freeRtr leverage UNIX UDP socket in order to forward packet

freeRtr in pure UNIX UDP socket mode is extremely useful when you want to simulate various topologies. In our example, 127.0.0.1 (localhost) was used, but of course any IP could have been used as long as the host somehow can reach the other IPs. With this mechanism, one can simulate an entire real service provider network. The only limitation is the inherent availability of hardware server resources such as CPU and RAM.

Note

One can says: "Simulation is great ! But what about effectively switch traffic IRL ?" And this is a fair comment ! In the next article we will see how to bind one freeRtr interface socket to a Linux network interface and start interacting with others hosts in the Local Area network. So stay tuned !