OpenRASE

This is an emulator built on top of Containernet to benchmark and evaluate solutions to the NFV-RA problem.

Citation

If you use OpenRASE in your research, please cite:

@INPROCEEDINGS{11197454,
  author={Krishnamohan, Theviyanthan and Harvey, Paul},
  booktitle={2025 International Conference on Software, Telecommunications and Computer Networks (SoftCOM)},
  title={OpenRASE: Service Function Chain Emulation},
  year={2025},
  volume={},
  number={},
  pages={1-6},
  keywords={Service function chaining;Heuristic algorithms;Software algorithms;Dynamic scheduling;Computer networks;Software;Telecommunications;Resource management;Optimization;Genetic algorithms;Emulator;Network Function Virtualisation (NFV);Network Function Virtualisation Resource Allocation (NFV-RA);Service Function Chaining (SFC);Autonomous Network},
  doi={10.23919/SoftCOM66362.2025.11197454}
}

Requirements

• Python 3.9
• Ubuntu 20.04
• Docker

Installation Instructions

1. Install the required packages.

sudo apt-get install -y build-essential  zlib1g-dev libffi-dev libssl-dev liblzma-dev libbz2-dev libreadline-dev libsqlite3-dev curl git tk-dev gcc python-dev libxml2-dev libxslt1-dev zlib1g-dev python-setuptools python3-venv

2. Install pyenv.

curl https://pyenv.run | bash

Add the following lines to your .bashrc or .zshrc and .bash-profile or .profile file.

export PYENV_ROOT="$HOME/.pyenv"
[[ -d $PYENV_ROOT/bin ]] && export PATH="$PYENV_ROOT/bin:$PATH"
eval "$(pyenv init -)"

Source your .bashrc or .zshrc file.

source ~/.bashrc

Add pyenv to the root user. This is important because mininet has to be run as the root user. Run the following command.

which pyenv

Copy the output, omitting the trailing /pyenv part. Run the following command.

sudo visudo

Append the copied output to secure_path as shown below.

Defaults        secure_path="/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/snap/bin:/home/username/.pyenv/bin"

3. Install Python 3.9.

pyenv install 3.9
sudo pyenv install 3.9

4. Install ansible.

sudo apt-get install ansible

5. Clone containernet.

git clone https://github.com/Project-Kelvin/containernet

6. Install containernet.

sudo ansible-playbook -i "localhost," -c local containernet/ansible/install.yml

7. Add user to docker group.

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
newgrp docker

8. Install pipx.

python3 -m pip install --user pipx
python3 -m pipx ensurepath

Source your .bashrc or .zshrc file.

source ~/.bashrc

9. Install poetry.

pipx install poetry

Add poetry to the root user. Run the following command.

which poetry

Copy the output, omitting the trailing /poetry part. Run the following command.

sudo visudo

Append the copied output to secure_path as shown below.

Defaults        secure_path="/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/snap/bin:/home/username/.pyenv/bin:/home/username/.local/bin"

10. Clone OpenRASE.

git clone https://github.com/Project-Kelvin/OpenRASE

11. Install OpenRASE. Move into the OpenRASE directory.

cd OpenRASE

Get the path of the Python 3.9 executable.

pyenv which python

Copy the output. Run the following command, replacing the placeholder with the copied output.

poetry env use <path to python 3.9 executable>

Repeat for the root user. Get the path of the Python 3.9 executable.

sudo pyenv which python

Copy the output. Run the following command, replacing the placeholder with the copied output.

sudo poetry env use <path to python 3.9 executable>

Install the dependencies.

sudo poetry install

12. Install Ryu.

sudo poetry run python -m pip install ryu

Note

If you get an error, then ensure pip is version 24.0 by running the following command:

sudo poetry run python -m pip install -U pip==24.0

Install eventlet.

sudo poetry run python -m pip install eventlet==0.30.2

13. Initialise OpenRASE

sudo poetry run init

Restart the Docker service.

sudo service docker restart

Re-initialize OpenRASE

sudo poetry run init

14. Run OpenRASE test.

sudo poetry run test