Installing the CORE Network Emulator in Ubuntu Linux

We tool a first look at the Common Open Research Emulator (CORE) in a previous post. We used the VCORE virtual appliance that we downloaded from the CORE web site to evaluate CORE but we found some issues with missing software. Now, we will install CORE on an Ubuntu Linux system as the first step toward building a system with the complete components of CORE.

Installing the CORE Network Emulator on Ubuntu Linux is a simple process. The CORE Network Emulator also has documentation that describes the installation process, but it is missing a few steps.

In this post, I will describe the procedure I followed to install the basic packages of the CORE Network Emulator version 4.6 on Ubuntu Linux 13.04.

NOTE: Updated May 11, 2017 — Since I wrote this post, CORE has been updated to version 4.8 and Ubuntu 16.04 LTS was released. CORE 4.8 will run on Ubuntu 16.04 if you install it from source code. So, this post is out of date. Please see my post about installing CORE from source code.

Our goal is to create on a host Linux computer the same functionality that is available in the VCORE virtual appliance.

Update Ubuntu system

First, ensure your system is fully up-to-date by running the Update Manager application and checking for updates.

Install pre-requisite software

The Linux networking utilities and some other software must be installed in order for the CORE Network Emulator to run after it is installed. To install all the required software, run the following command:

$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install bash bridge-utils ebtables \
  iproute libev-dev python tcl8.5 tk8.5 libtk-img \
  xterm mgen traceroute

Note that the mgen and traceroute packages are not listed in the CORE installation instructions but they need to be installed.

Install quagga

Next, install the quagga software. Use either the Ubuntu Software Centre application or the command-line command:

$ sudo apt-get install quagga

In my case, I am not testing the wireless network features in the CORE network emulator so I will install the standard version of quagga. I used the Ubuntu Software Centre application and also added the optional SNMP Agent add-on.

Download the CORE Network Emulator

Now, download the CORE packages from the CORE web site and install them. In my case, I used a web browser to download the files, core-gui_4.6-0ubuntu1_raring_all.deb and <a http://downloads.pf.itd.nrl.navy.mil/core/packages/4.6/core-daemon_4.6-0ubuntu1_raring_amd64.deb”>core-daemon_4.6-0ubuntu1_raring_amd64.deb, from the CORE downloads packages directory.

Or, you can execute the following commands to download the package file:

$ cd ~/Downloads
$ wget http://downloads.pf.itd.nrl.navy.mil/core/packages/4.6/core-daemon_4.6-0ubuntu1_raring_amd64.deb
$ wget http://downloads.pf.itd.nrl.navy.mil/core/packages/4.6/core-gui_4.6-0ubuntu1_raring_all.deb

I am running a 64-bit version of ubuntu so I downloaded the package for amd64 systems. If you have a 32-bit system, download the i386 version of the file from the same packages folder.

Install the CORE Network Emulator

Install the downloaded CORE package. The CORE documentation also describes a procedure using the Ubuntu Software Center program but I do not recommend using Software Manager. I have found it is not reliable when installing downloaded packages. Use the Debian Package Manager application, dpkg, instead.

$ sudo dpkg -i core-daemon_4.6-0ubuntu1_raring_amd64.deb
$ sudo dpkg -i core-gui_4.6-0ubuntu1_raring_all.deb

Run the CORE Network Emulator

Run CORE by starting the core daemon (as root) and then starting the core GUI as a normal user:

$ sudo /etc/init.d/core-daemon start
$ core-gui

Leave the terminal window open. CORE messages will appear in the console window that can help you debug any problems.

The CORE window will appear on the desktop.

To test that everything works, try some of the steps outlined in the CORE Network Emulator test drive post. Or, open a sample topology file. For example, sample3-bgp.imn. In the CORE GUI menu, click on the commands, File → Open and select the file, sample3-bgp.imn.

To quit the CORE Network Emulator, stop the lab session by clicking on the red Stop the Session button on the GUI or use the appication menu command, Session → Stop. The use the menu command File → Quit to quit the GUI.

Conclusion

Installing the CORE Network Emulator version 4.6 on Ubuntu Linux version 13.04 is a simple process. In the future, I will also identify and install the other software packages that support the full functionality of the CORE network emulator and see if that resolves the problems I encountered during my first look at this tool.