general_configuration

General configuration

We use several configuration files to configure the mini-Internet and define its topology at the different layers. The configuration files must be in the config. They are organized as follow:

config/
├── aslevel_links.txt            [inter-AS links and policies] 
├── aslevel_links_students.txt   [inter-AS links for students] 
└── AS_config.txt                [per-AS topology & config]
    ├── l3_router.txt            [L3 internal topology]
    ├── l3_links.txt             [L3 internal topology]
    ├── l2_switches.txt           ^
    ├── l2_hosts.txt              |   [L2 topology]
    └── l2_links.txt              v   

Examples

We provide multiple sample topologies (see examples/config_2020, examples/config_2019 and examples/config_l2). Of course, you can also define your own topology using the configuration files. We explain how to do that in the following section and pages.

AS_config.txt

The AS_config.txt is the main configuration file. It lists all the ASes and IXPs in the mini-Internet as well as the configuration files to use for every AS. The following table shows an example of this configuration file.

C1   C2    C3             C4                                 C5                C6              C7          C8
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1    AS	 Config	l3_routers_krill.txt	        l3_links_krill.txt	        empty.txt	    empty.txt	 empty.txt
2    AS	 Config	l3_routers_tier1_and_stub.txt	l3_links_tier1_and_stub.txt	empty.txt	    empty.txt	 empty.txt
11   AS	 Config	l3_routers_tier1_and_stub.txt	l3_links_tier1_and_stub.txt	empty.txt	    empty.txt	 empty.txt
12   AS	 Config	l3_routers_tier1_and_stub.txt	l3_links_tier1_and_stub.txt	empty.txt	    empty.txt	 empty.txt
5    AS	 Config	l3_routers_tier1_and_stub.txt	l3_links_tier1_and_stub.txt	empty.txt	    empty.txt	 empty.txt
6    AS	 Config	l3_routers_tier1_and_stub.txt	l3_links_tier1_and_stub.txt	empty.txt	    empty.txt	 empty.txt
15   AS	 Config	l3_routers_tier1_and_stub.txt	l3_links_tier1_and_stub.txt	empty.txt	    empty.txt	 empty.txt
16   AS  Config	l3_routers_tier1_and_stub.txt	l3_links_tier1_and_stub.txt	empty.txt	    empty.txt	 empty.txt
3    AS  Config	l3_routers.txt	                l3_links.txt                l2_switches.txt	l2_hosts.txt l2_links.txt
4    AS	 Config	l3_routers.txt	                l3_links.txt                l2_switches.txt	l2_hosts.txt l2_links.txt
13   AS	 Config	l3_routers.txt	                l3_links.txt                l2_switches.txt	l2_hosts.txt l2_links.txt
14   AS	 Config	l3_routers.txt	                l3_links.txt                l2_switches.txt	l2_hosts.txt l2_links.txt
81   IXP Config	           N/A	                              N/A	               N/A	        N/A	         N/A
82   IXP Config	           N/A	                              N/A	               N/A	        N/A	         N/A
80   IXP Config	           N/A	                              N/A	               N/A	        N/A	         N/A

Below is the description of each column.

C1: As number.
C2: Type of the network (either AS or IXP).
C3: "Config" means the network will be automatically configured (VLANs, OSPF, BGP, ...) whereas "NoConfig" means the network comes not configured. Note: an IXP must be configured by default.
C4: Name of the configuration file that lists the layer 3 routers within the AS and their parameters.
C5: Name of the configuration file that describes the layer 3 internal topology.
C6: Name of the configuration file that lists the layer 2 switches and their parameters.
C7: Name of the configuration file that lists the hosts within the layer 2 network with their parameters.
C8: Name of the configuration file that describes the layer 2 topology

In this example, the platform will build a mini-Internet comprising 12 ASes and 3 IXPs. Every AS comes preconfigured but AS 13 and 14.