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Hands-on Programming

A collection of programming exercises provides hands-on experience with the software described in this book. They include:

  • Using Stratum's P4Runtime, gNMI, OpenConfig, and gNOI interfaces
  • Using ONOS to control P4-programmed switches
  • Writing ONOS applications to implement control plane logic
  • Testing a software stack using bmv2 in Mininet
  • Using PTF to test P4-based forwarding planes

The exercises assume familiarity with Java and Python, although each exercise comes with starter code, so a high level of proficiency is not required. The exercises also use the Mininet network emulator, the bmv2 P4-based switch emulator, the PTF Packet Testing Framework, and the Wireshark protocol analyzer. Additional information about each of these software tools is provided in the individual exercises.

The exercises originated with a Next Generation SDN Tutorial produced by ONF, and so they come with a collection of on-line tutorial slides that introduce the topics covered in the exercises:

These slides have significant overlap with the material covered in this book, so it is not essential that you start with the slides, but they can be a good supplemental resource.

Environment

You will be doing the exercises in a virtualized Linux environment running on your laptop. This section describes how to install and prepare that environment.

System Requirements

The current configuration of the VM is 4 GB of RAM and a 4-core CPU. These are the recommended minimum system requirements to complete the exercises. The VM also takes approximately 8 GB of HDD space. For a smooth experience, we recommend running the VM on a host system that has at least double these resources.

Download VM

Click the following link to download the VM (4 GB):

The VM is in .ova format and has been created using VirtualBox v5.2.32. You can use any modern virtualization system to run the VM, although we recommend using VirtualBox. The following links provide instructions on how to get VirtualBox and import the VM:

Alternatively, you can use these scripts to build a VM on your machine using Vagrant.

Windows Users

All scripts have been tested on MacOS and Ubuntu. Although they should work on Windows, they have not been tested. We therefore recommend that Windows users download the provided VM.

At this point you can start the virtual machine (an Ubuntu system), and log in using the credentials sdn / rocks. The instructions given throughout the remainder of this section (as well as the exercises themselves) are to be executed within the running VM.

Clone Repository

To work on the exercises you will need to clone the following repo:

.. literalinclude:: code/clone.sh

If the ngsdn-tutorial directory is already present in the VM, make sure to update its content:

.. literalinclude:: code/pull.sh

Note that there are multiple branches of the repo, each with a different configuration of the exercises. Always make sure you are in the advanced branch.

Upgrade Dependencies

The VM may have shipped with an older version of the dependencies than you need for the exercises. You can upgrade to the latest version using the following command:

.. literalinclude:: code/make.sh

This command downloads all necessary Docker images (~1.5 GB), which allows you to work through the exercises off-line.

Using an IDE

During the exercises you will need to write code in multiple languages (e.g., P4, Java, Python). While the exercises do not require the use of any specific IDE or code editor, one option is the Java IDE IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition, which comes pre-loaded with plugins for P4 syntax highlighting and Python development. We suggest using IntelliJ IDEA especially when working on the ONOS app, as it provides code completion for all ONOS APIs.

Repo Structure

The repo you cloned is structured as follows:

  • p4src\ → Data Plane Implementation (P4)
  • yang\ → Config Models (YANG)
  • app\ → Custom ONOS app (Java)
  • mininet\ → 2x2 leaf-spine (Mininet)
  • util\ → Utility Scripts (Bash)
  • ptf\ → Data plane unit tests (PTF)

Note that the exercises include links to various files on GitHub, but don't forget you have those same files cloned on your laptop.

Commands

To facilitate working on the exercises, the repo provides a set of make targets to control the different aspects of the process. The specific commands are introduced in the individual exercises, but the following is a quick reference:

  • make deps → Pull and build all required dependencies
  • make p4-build → Build P4 program
  • make p4-test → Run PTF tests
  • make start → Start Mininet and ONOS containers
  • make stop → Stop all containers
  • make restart → Restart containers clearing any previous state
  • make onos-cli → Access the ONOS CLI (password: rocks, Ctrl-D to exit)
  • make onos-log → Show the ONOS log
  • make mn-cli → Access the Mininet CLI (Ctrl-D to exit)
  • make mn-log → Show the Mininet log (i.e., the CLI output)
  • make app-build → Build custom ONOS app
  • make app-reload → Install and activate the ONOS app
  • make netcfg → Push netcfg.json file (network config) to ONOS

Executing Commands

As a reminder, these commands will be executed in a terminal window you open within the VM you just created. Be sure you are in the root directory of the repo you cloned (where the main Makefile lives).

Exercises

The following lists (and links) the individual exercises. Exercises 1 and 2 focus on Stratum, and are best attempted after reading through Chapter 5. Exercises 3 through 6 focus on ONOS and are best attempted after reading through Chapter 6. Exercises 7 and 8 focus on SD-Fabric and are best attempted after reading through Chapter 7.[1] Note that the exercises build on each other, so it is best to work through them in order.

[1]SD-Fabric was previously known as Trellis, and still is in the code. UPF was previously known as SPGW, and still is in the code.
  1. P4Runtime Basics
  2. YANG, OpenConfig, gNMI Basics
  3. Using ONOS as the Control Plane
  4. Enabling ONOS Built-in Services
  5. Implementing IPv6 Routing with ECMP
  6. Implementing SRv6
  7. SD-Fabric (Trellis) Basics
  8. GTP Termination with fabric.p4

You can find solutions for each exercise in the solution subdirectory for the repo you cloned. Feel free to compare your solution to the reference solution should you get stuck.

Graphical Interfaces

When exercises call for viewing graphical output, you will see reference to the ONF Cloud Tutorial Portal. This is for cloud-hosted VMs used during ONF-run tutorials, and so does not apply here. In its place, the exercises also describe how to access the GUI running locally on your laptop.

If you have suggestions for how we can improve these exercises, please send email to [email protected] or post an issue to GitHub.