cnet v4.0.4  

home topology files command‑line options the core API FAQ download and install

The cnet network simulator (v4.0.4)

This documentation is still being updated, in particular the screenshots and support for LANs (Ethernet) need updating.

The cnet network simulator (v4.0.4)
© Copyright (C) 1992-onwards, written by [email protected]
under licence - creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0

cnet enables development of and experimentation with a variety of data-link layer, network layer, and transport layer networking protocols in networks consisting of any combination of wide-area-networking (WAN), local-area-networking (LAN), or wireless-local-area-networking (WLAN) links.

cnet has been tested and is supported on the following platforms:

  • Apple M-series 'Silicon' processor (built on macOS Sonoma 14.3)
  • Apple with 64-bit Intel processor (built on macOS Sonoma 14.3)
  • Linux on 64-bit Intel processor (built on Ubuntu 23.10)

and uses the cross-platform wxWidgets GUI toolkit. In particular, cnet does not run natively on Windows, but you should have success using Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL-2) on Windows-11.

Using cnet in education

cnet has been specifically developed for, and is used in, undergraduate computer networking courses taken by thousands of students worldwide since 1991. At The University of Western Australia, cnet is used primarily in the undergraduate unit CITS3002 Computer Networks.

If you decide to use cnet in the teaching of an undergraduate course, or need some more info on how to, please let me know. I'd like to keep a record of sites using cnet and the types of examples and projects being attempted. I'll also be able to keep you informed of updates.

Please appreciate that there are thousands of students worldwide using cnet. I am unable to respond to individual questions about cnet, unless they are from students enrolled in a course that I'm presenting. In particular, I will not answer homework or assignment questions. Please ask your professor or instructor.

Acknowledgments

The following people have generously offered suggestions, bug fixes, and pieces of code, as cnet has developed over the years. A big thanks to them all:

David Adams (while at UWA), Dr Greg Baur (University of Western Kentucky), Prof. Bruce Elenbogen (University Michigan-Dearborn), Mark Davies (University of Wellington, New Zealand), Dr Rowan Davies (while at UWA), Peter Elliott (Univ. of Alberta), Amer Filipovic (while at UWA), Dr Matthew Heinsen Egan (UWA), Prof. John Hine (University of Wellington, New Zealand), Prof. Chris Johnson (The Australian National University), Jeremy Kerr (while at UWA), Prof. David Kotz (Dartmouth College), Prof. David Laverell (Calvin College, Michigan), A/Prof. Phil MacKenzie (Boise State University, Idaho), Ryan Oakley (while at UWA), Prof. Jeff Ondich (Carleton College, Minnesota), Dr Asad Pirzada (while at UWA), Dr Chris Pudney (while at UWA), Prof Simon Read (St. Mary's College of Maryland), Dr Mike Robins (while at UWA), Dr Michael Rogers (Tennessee Technological University), Dean Scarff (while at UWA), Prof. James Wilkinson (College of Charleston, South Carolina), and my 4000+ undergraduate students at The University of Western Australia and Dartmouth College who have always been able to find the last bug.

cnet development has been supported by an ACM-SIGCSE Special Project Grant

and an Australian Apple University Consortium Scholarship.

cnet v4.0.4 - [email protected]