Marionnet is a virtual network laboratory: it allows users to define, configure and run complex computer networks without any need for physical setup. Only a single, possibly even non-networked GNU/Linux host machine is required to simulate a whole Ethernet network complete with computers, routers, hubs, switchs, cables, and more.
Support is also provided for integrating the virtual network with the physical host network.

As Marionnet is meant to be used also by inexperienced people, it features a very intuitive graphical user interface. Marionnet is written in the mostly functional language OCaml and depends on User Mode Linux and VDE for the simulation part - both included with just some little changes here and there in their C sources.

You can download the Marionnet source distribution and the live DVD image from the download page. For people who want to see how Marionnet looks like before downloading it, we have screenshots and a video at the demo page.

filesystems for the marionnet can be download from the http://netsandbox.sourceforge.net. althrough it is just openning project.

We use darcs 2 as our revision control system; the public repository containing Marionnet is called marionnet. Here is nice web interface to browse the sources.

In order to get a snapshot of the repository containing Marionnet as an anonymous user, you can use the command line

darcs get http://darcs.marionnet.org/repos/marionnet NEW-LOCAL-DIRECTORY

Please notice that you need the new darcs 2 for this: version 1 has performance problems, and is incompatible with the format of our repository.

Only if you are a project member with darcs write permission, you can access the repository as darcs@darcs.marionnet.org:repos/marionnet with the usual commands darcs get, darcs pull and darcs push.

• Marionnet: A Virtual Network Laboratory and Simulation Tool. Jean-Vincent Loddo, Luca Saiu. SimulationWorks, Marseille (France), 2008. PDF.
  Note: the first part is a simple user-oriented introduction to Marionnet. Section 7 outlines a possible usage scenario for Marionnet, not related to teaching.

• Status Report: Marionnet — How to Implement a Virtual Network Laboratory in Six Months and Be Happy. Jean-Vincent Loddo, Luca Saiu. ACM SIGPLAN Workshop on ML, Freiburg (Germany), 2007. PDF.
  Note: This is a reasonably detailed description of how Marionnet is implemented.

• Marionnet : un logiciel graphique pour l’apprentissage et l’enseignement des réseaux locaux d’ordinateurs. Jean-Vincent Loddo. Premier Workshop pédagogique “Réseaux & Télécoms”, Saint-Pierre de la Réunion (France), 2007. PDF. Note: This paper is in French.

Didier Hoareau contributed a Marionnet compiling HOWTO.

We would like to have a quick introduction to Marionnet explaining the basic ideas to newcomers.
We have a small FAQ, and with your help we would like to prepare some howtos, and manuals.

This is the index of all the documentation which currently exists on the wiki (papers can’t be wikified due to the gratuitously restrictive copyright policies of most scientific conferences).

Are you already using Marionnet for teaching, or in some other context? Would you like to start? We would love to hear your story.

If you’re curious about how Marionnet is implemented or you’re considering to participate, first of all you should read this paper.

We have collaboration tools, including mailing lists and a Savane installation always providing an up-to-date view of the currently open tasks and bugs.

Marionnet has been written by Jean-Vicent Loddo and Luca Saiu; Jonathan Roudiere works as the administrator of this site and on Marionnet packaging. Anyway, there are many more people to thank.

You are welcome to join us: we need programmers, documenters, translators...

Marionnet is sponsored by Université Paris 13.

Most of the discussions about Marionnet take place on the public mailing list marionnet-dev@marionnet.org. You can subscribe, unsubscribe and edit options from this web interface. Past discussions are archived here.

Feel free to write us for any question or comment.

The wiki is still very small; we’re waiting for your contributions to make it grow.

You’re welcome to create an account if you don’t have it yet, and log in. Then feel free to edit to make this site better, by adding any useful information. Don’t worry if your English is not perfect — that’s easy to fix later.

If you want to make experiments with the wiki, please use the playground page. The engine is dokuwiki.

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