Installing and Testing ns-3 with NetAnim on Ubuntu 14.04
This post describes a step-by-step procedure to download, install and test
ns-3 with NetAnim on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS.
ns-3 version considered:
ns-allinone-3.20
List of Prerequisite Packages to be installed:
1. gcc
2. g++
3. python
4. python-dev (Optional: If you want to use Python as the main language for network configuration)
5. mercurial (Optional: If you choose Method 2 (explained below) for downloading and installing
ns-3)
6. qt4-dev-tools (Optional: If you want to install *NetAnim* (animator for
ns-3) along with
ns-3)
7. tcpdump (Optional: Required for analyzing packet capture files (.pcap) generated by
ns-3)
8. wireshark (Optional: Alternative to tcpdump. You can use anyone of these)
9. gnuplot (Optional: Required for plotting high quality graphs through *.dat* files generated by
ns-3)
Installing Prerequisite Packages:
Give the following command to install the above mentioned packages:
sudo apt-get install gcc g++ python python-dev mercurial qt4-dev-tools tcpdump wireshark gnuplot
You may remove the optional package's name from the above command if it is not required!
Downloading ns-3:
ns-3 can be downloaded in at least two different ways [1]:
Method 1 (Recommended for beginners): Downloading a
ns-3 tarball i.e., a zipped folder (We follow this method here)
Go to following link to download ns-allinone-3.20 tarball:
https://www.nsnam.org/release/ns-allinone-3.20.tar.bz2
For older versions of
ns-3, you can download the tarball from the following link:
http://www.nsnam.org/releases/older/
Method 2: Downloading through *bake*
You need to have packages 4 and 5 from the list shown above to download
ns-3 using bake. Once the prerequisite packages are installed, follow the instructions given on [1] to download
ns-3:
Installing ns-3 and NetAnim:
ns-3 can be installed in three different ways [2]:
Method 1: by using build.py (We follow this method in this post)
Method 2: by using bake
Method 3: by using Waf
For Method 2 and Method 3 of installation, follow [2].
After you have followed Method 1 for downloading ns-allinone-3.20
tarball, you may keep your downloaded tarball on the Desktop and then
follow the steps given below to install it:
NOTE: NetAnim (the animator for ns-3) package comes
bundled in ns-allinone-3.xx tarball. So if you want to install *NetAnim*
along with ns-allinone-3.20, then install qt4-dev-tools package before
you proceed to the next steps because when you try to install
ns-allinone-3.xx package, it first tries to install NetAnim. It searches
for qt4-dev-tools package and if it is not found - NetAnim installation
will be skipped! Alternatively, you can also choose to install NetAnim
later via apt-get
Step 1: Go to Desktop via terminal and unzip the ns-allinone-3.20.tar.bz2 tarball
cd Desktop
tar xjf ns-allinone-3.20.tar.bz2
Step 2: Go in ns-allinone-3.20 folder and give the following command for installation:
./build.py --enable-examples --enable-tests
After a while, you may see the following message
Leaving directory './ns-3.20'
which indicates that
ns-3 is installed !!!
Testing ns-3:
To test whether all modules of
ns-3 are installed successfully, follow the procedure as given below:
Step 1: Go to ns-allinone-3.20/ns-3.20 folder and give the following directory:
./test.py -c core
Some tests may be skipped while testing but that should not bother you if your module is not among those that were skipped!
Testing NetAnim (only for those users who installed qt4-dev-tools package before ns-3 installation):
To test whether NetAnim is installed successfully, follow the procedure given below:
Step 1: Go to ns-allinone-3.20/netanim-3.105 and give the following command:
./NetAnim
A window as shown below should open:
[Click on the Image to enlarge]
You are done with it!
References:
[1] Downloading
ns-3,
http://www.nsnam.org/docs/release/3.20/tutorial/singlehtml/index.html#downloading-ns3
[2] Building
ns-3,
http://www.nsnam.org/docs/release/3.20/tutorial/singlehtml/index.html#building-ns3 
