LAVI

From OpenFlow Wiki

Network Visualization (Backend)

Visualizing the network is always hard, though tremendously useful. Just knowing that a link existing between two switches, or there is a loop in the network allows us to make intelligent decisions in management and/or debugging of network problems. This also facilitates a cool way for networking folks to showcase their "uncool" innovation in the network infrastructure.

In OpenFlow networks, we provide an easy way to do network visualization, using LAVI and ENVI. LAVI is an extensible backend for network visualization, i.e., it supplies information about the network. It has been developed in sync with ENVI, the GUI frontend. The component is developed in NOX, using C/C++.

Setup and Installation

LAVI is distributed with the OpenRoads API extensions to NOX, as a component in NOX. For setup, look at the instructions on the the OpenRoads page.

Howtos

We also have a bunch of howtos to jumpstart the experience.

• Understanding the wire protocol
• Understanding the base code of LAVI
• Extending LAVI
• Using lavi_console.py
• Changing the TCP/SSL Port

Trivia:All components in LAVI is named after characters in anime D.Grayman.

For further enquiries, requests and/or bug reports, please post them to openflow-discuss@lists.stanford.edu, starting the subject line with LAVI:. If you would like to correct my mistakes, make this better, add a new feature, etc., don't be shy and please contact KK. We would add you as a collaborator.

LAVI in NOX (Destiny)

LAVI is currently being ported to NOX's destiny branch that is available from

git clone git://noxrepo.org/nox
git checkout -b destiny origin/destiny

Basic functionalities like topology is already available for pre-alpha testing.

This is the third rewrite of LAVI, which changes the protocol to JSON. The codebase will always now serves to provide a console for NOX. This allows easy extension by others. For details, browse the doxygen documentation that comes with NOX.

Going forward, this version would be preferred and maintained. The binary format will be deprecated as far as LAVI is concerned.

However to allow basic interoperability with ENVI, a Python-based translation script will be provided for simple functionalities.