2017/08/03 - Named Data Networking (NDN) installation guide - part 1

Introduction

In this installation guide, I will demostrate how to install ndn-cxx, nfd, and use ndnping to test two node are reachable. After I succeed to test ndnping, I will use Wireshark to dissect NDN packets.

My Platform

Ubuntu 16.04.2 Server (64-bit)

ndn-cxx installation 1

Overview

ndn-cxx is a C++ library, implementing Named Data Networking (NDN) primitives that can be used to implement various NDN applications. The library is current being used as part of some projects, see more projects.

Requirement

  • python >= 2.6

  • libsqlite3

  • libcrypto++

  • OpenSSL >= 1.0.1

  • pkg-config

  • Boost libraries >= 1.54

Install all requirements

sudo apt-get install build-essential libcrypto++-dev libsqlite3-dev libboost-all-dev libssl-dev

Download ndn-cxx source from github 2

git clone https://github.com/named-data/ndn-cxx && cd ndn-cxx
git reset --hard b555b00c280b9c9ed46f24a1fbebc73b720601af

Build ndn-cxx

Change directory to the ndn-cxx, then use the following commands :

./waf configure --with-examples
./waf
sudo ./waf install

sudo ln -s /usr/local/lib/libndn-cxx.so.0.5.1 /usr/lib/

Now, if we want to run the ndn-cxx example, we also need NFD to forward our pakcets.

NFD installation

Overview

Named Data Networking Forwarding Daemon (NFD) is a network forwarder that implements and evolves together with the Named Data Networking (NDN) protocol. After the initial release, NFD will become a core component of the NDN Platform and will follow the same release cycle.

Install all requirements

sudo apt-get install pkg-config libpcap-dev

Download NFD source from github 3

git clone --recursive https://github.com/named-data/NFD && cd NFD
git reset --hard f4056d0242536f85b7d7b4de1b5ac50dad65c233

Build NFD

Change directory to the NFD, then use the following commands :

./waf configure
./waf
sudo ./waf install

Then create the config file :

sudo cp /usr/local/etc/ndn/nfd.conf.sample /usr/local/etc/ndn/nfd.conf

Start NFD

nfd-start

If nfd-start succeed, messages may show like below :

../_images/nfd-1.png

Run the ndn-cxx example

Test on localhost

Now we can run ndn-cxx example to test our installation on localhost.

Terminal 1 :

cd ~/ndn-cxx
./build/examples/producer
../_images/ndn-producer.png

Terminal 2 :

cd ~/ndn-cxx
./build/examples/consumer
../_images/20170803_001.png

Test on two nodes

Assume that we have two nodes :

PC1 (producer) : 192.168.1.101
PC2 (consumer) : 192.168.1.102

PC2 needs to know the route to PC1

nfdc register /example/testApp udp://192.168.1.101

Then run producer program on PC1 and run consumer on PC2.

ndn-tools installation 4

Overview

ndn-tools is a collection of essential tools for Named Data Networking. These tools are recommended to be installed on all NDN nodes.

Tools in this collection include:

  • ping

  • dump

  • dissect-wireshark

  • … see more

Download source from github

git clone https://github.com/named-data/ndn-tools.git && cd ndn-tools
git reset --hard c9575a6aa3372875aecb627d9e169c0955135bd8

Build

Change directory to the ndn-tools, then use the following commands :

./waf configure
./waf
sudo ./waf install

Test ndnping 5

PC1 (192.168.1.101)

ndnpingserver ndn:/example/testApp

PC2 (192.168.1.102)

nfdc register /example/testApp udp://192.168.1.101
ndnping ndn:/example/testApp

Using Wireshark to dissect NDN packets

To enable NDN packets dissector for all future Wireshark sessions, you can create/edit Wireshark’s init.lua script, which located in /usr/share/wireshark. The dofile command should be added to the end of init.lua file:

-- dofile("/full/path/to/ndn.lua")
dofile("/usr/local/share/ndn-dissect-wireshark/ndn.lua")

Then the wireshark can recognize the NDN packets:

../_images/20170803_002.png

Reference

1

Getting started with ndn-cxx : http://named-data.net/doc/ndn-cxx/current/INSTALL.html

2

ndn-cxx - NDN C++ library with eXperimental eXtensions : https://github.com/named-data/ndn-cxx

3

NFD - Named Data Networking Forwarding Daemon : https://github.com/named-data/NFD

4

NDN Essential Tools : https://github.com/named-data/ndn-tools

5

ndnping and ndnpingserver : https://github.com/named-data/ndn-tools/tree/master/tools/ping