The ns-3 WebUI is a web application designed to display ns-3 example scripts (with future plans to support Local LLMs for code editing), initiate ns-3 simulations, monitor simulation progress, and download simulation traces.
The ns-3 WebUI is designed using Next.js and the shadcn/ui framework.
User authentication, e.g., login/logout pages, are based on Lucia and the sqlite3 database. Download the DB Browser for SQLite to manage the main.db database file.
install nodejs (v22.2.0) with nvm (option #3 https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-install-node-js-on-ubuntu-20-04)
In the root directory, clone ns-3.42 from GitLab:
git clone -b ns-3.42 https://gitlab.com/nsnam/ns-3-dev.git
After downloading ns-3, install the dependencies and libraries from ns-3 prerequisites. Build ns-3 with the following commands. You can find more information on building ns-3 here.
cd ns-3-dev
./ns3 configure --build-profile=optimized --enable-examples --disable-tests
./ns3 build
cd ..
You can set the build profile to debug (--build-profile=debug) if you would like ns-3 to print debug information.
Copy the modified default-simulator-impl to ns-3-dev. The modified simulator implementation logs the simulation timestamp into a trace file to trace simulation progress. Let me know if you have a better solution than modifying the source code.
cp ns-3-modified/default-simulator-impl.* ns-3-dev/src/core/model/
In the root directory, run the following command to start the WebUI:
cd webui
echo 'NS3_PATH="../ns-3-dev"' > .env.local
npm install
npm run dev
The path to ns-3 is stored in .env.local. You can now access the webpage by visiting http://localhost:3000. Upon your first visit, you'll be directed to a login page where you can create a new account.
Once logged in, access the simulation page and select a scenario to start simulation.
Upon starting the simulation, navigate to the dashboard page to monitor simulation progress and download trace files.
