The Network Simulator ns-2: Frequently Asked Questions
Note: This FAQ is now available at the project wiki:
http://nsnam.isi.edu/nsnam/index.php/Ns_Users_FAQ
_The mailing is is now subscriber only---please see the FAQ entry on
How do I post to the mailing list? Why was my post rejected? for
details._
* _Where do I get ns?_
From the ns web site at http://www.isi.edu/nsnam/ns/ns.html and
the download page http://www.isi.edu/nsnam/ns/ns-tests.html.
* _What platforms does ns run on and what kind of hardware do I
need?_
Please see where to start on the building ns web page:
http://www.isi.edu/nsnam/ns/ns-build.html#start.
* _What should I do if I have trouble downloading/extracting ns?_
This question is answered in detail at
http://www.isi.edu/nsnam/ns/ns-problems.html#downloading.
* _What should I do if I encounter problems building ns?_
Check:
1. the README that comes in the distribution (very brief),
2. the installation problems, bug fixes and help web page
http://www.isi.edu/nsnam/ns/ns-problems.html,
3. the archives of the ns-users mailing list
http://www.isi.edu/nsnam/ns/ns-lists.html,
4. post a bug report (see below)
http://www.isi.edu/cgi-bin/nsnam/reportbug.cgi.
* _What do I do after I successfully build ns?_
+ Put the path to your ns executable into your PATH environment
+ Put the path to your otcl into your LD_LIBRARY_PATH
environment
+ Put the path to your tcl library into your TCL_LIBRARY
environment
* _Where can I find documentation for ns?_
All documentation is linked from the main ns web page
http://www.isi.edu/nsnam/ns/. Documentation includes a tutorial
(originally from Marc Greis) and a reference manual (ns notes and
documentation).
* _Words, words, words... that documentation is nice, but where are
some sample scripts I can start from?_
Many sample scripts can be found in the ns distribution in
~ns-2/tcl/ex and ~ns-2/tcl/test.
* _What protocols does ns support?_
A lot! Almost all variants of TCP, several forms of multicast,
wired networking, several ad hoc routing protocols and propagation
models (but not cellular phones), data diffusion, satellite, and
other stuff. See the documentation (described above) for details,
or download ns and look.
* _How do I know that ns correctly implements these protocols?_
Ns has validation tests that cover many protocols, see
http://www.isi.edu/nsnam/ns/ns-tests.html. However, ultimately
users are responsible for verifying that ns is accurate for their
purposes---since we cannot foresee all the ways ns may be used, we
cannot test all cases with all inputs.
* _Are there any contributed/additional protocols not in the main
distribution?_
Yes, please see the contributed code web page
http://www.isi.edu/nsnam/ns/ns-contributed.html. The mailing list
archives can also be helpful (see below).
* _How should I get started doing something (like implementing a new
protocol or trying an experiment)?_
We recommend that you look through the tutorial (see
documentation, above), then start with an example program that is
most similar to yours (in the tutorial, or in tcl/ex or tcl/test
in the distribution), and then start changing things.
* _What should I do to compile ns to reflect my changes if I've
modified some .cc or .h files?_
go to ns directory and run make or make depend; make
* _How do I subscribe to the ns-users mailing list? How do I search
old list archives? I can't take any more---how do I get off this
list?_
To subscribe or unsubscribe, see
http://www.isi.edu/nsnam/ns/ns-lists.html. The list archive is at
http://www.isi.edu/nsnam/ns/ns-lists.html.
* _How do I post to the mailing list? Why was my post rejected?_
As of June 2004 the ns-users lists allow posts from _subscriber
only_. If you're not a subscriber, your posts to the list will be
rejected. (This is unfortunately necessary to dispose efficiently
of spam; manual filtering is too expensive.) We realize that the
list is high traffic, so if you wish to post to the list without
receiving messages on it, please subscribe and select the _no-mail_
option for your subscription.
For details about the mailing list including mailing-list specific
FAQ (for example, what if you're subscribed but still can't post),
please see http://www.isi.edu/nsnam/ns/ns-lists.html.
* _Did my post appear on the mailing list? (Or, why didn't my post
appear on the mailing list?)_
See the
