Run ndnSIM 2.1 with scenario template without root access

Due to the new release of ndnSIM (version 2.1) my last post about running ndnSIM without root has become obsolete. It is also no longer necessary to compile ndn-cxx as a separate library now. However, if you still want to use the (recommended) ndnSIM scenario template without having root access, here are the steps to follow (for version 2.1):

Step 1: follow the installation (requirements, etc...) instructions on the ndnSIM website until you have to type ./waf the first time.

For instance (after having installed all prerequisites):

mkdir ndnSIM
cd ndnSIM
git clone https://github.com/named-data-ndnSIM/ns-3-dev.git ns-3
git clone https://github.com/named-data-ndnSIM/pybindgen.git pybindgen
git clone --recursive https://github.com/named-data-ndnSIM/ndnSIM.git ns-3/src/ndnSIM

Step 1.a: If you require BRITE, do this in addition:

hg clone http://code.nsnam.org/BRITE
cd BRITE
make
export BRITE_HOME=$(pwd)
cd ..

Step 2: Create a directory where ns-3 and ndnSIM will be "installed" into, e.g.:

mkdir ndnSIM-build

Step 3: Go to the ns-3 subfolder and compile ns-3 and ndnSIM:

cd ns-3
./waf configure --prefix ../ndnSIM-build -d optimized
./waf

Note: --prefix ../ndnSIM-build tells the build-script to not install the libraries to the default location, but to ../ndnSIM-build.

Step 3.a: If you followed Step 1.a for BRITE, you will have to add --with-brite=$BRITE_HOME to the ./waf command:

./waf configure --prefix ../ndnSIM-build -d optimized --with-brite=$BRITE_HOME

Step 4: Grab a coffee, tea, beer, etc.! This step takes some time...

Step 5: Once this has finished, type

./waf install

Note: You did not have to use sudo! ns3 and ndnSIM are now being "installed" to ../ndnSIM-build

Step 6: Set up LD_LIBRARY_PATH and PKG_CONFIG_PATH for being able to use the scenario template

cd ..
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$(pwd)/ndnSIM-build/lib/
export PKG_CONFIG_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH/pkgconfig

Step 6.a: You might need to add those exports to your ~/.bashrc file.

Step 7: Download and configure scenario template

git clone https://github.com/named-data-ndnSIM/scenario-template.git scenario
cd scenario
./waf configure

Step 8: Create your examples in the scenario template and run them!