Knowledgebase
Emulab Knowledge Base
Emulab Knowledge Base
Getting Started
- Who is Eligible to use Emulab.Net?
- How do I start a project?
- I'm a project leader and someone applied to join my project, but they are not on the list to be approved
- How do I join a project?
- Will Emulab send me email messages?
- I have an Emulab account. Now what?
- Can I be in more than one project?
- Can I change my Emulab password?
- I'm a project leader. Can I designate TAs?
- How do I report a specific problem?
- Where do I get more help?
- Forgot your password? Resetting does not work!
- How do I change my email address?
Customizing your experiment
Troubleshooting
- My experiment setup failed, what did I do wrong?
- My experiment is set up, but I cannot send packets between some of the nodes. Why?
- I asked for traffic shaping, but everything seems to be going at full LAN speeds
- I set a non-zero packet-loss (or delay) but 'ping' shows no packet-loss (or delay)
- I set a non-zero packet-loss (or delay) but 'ping' shows a different packet-loss (or delay)
- I decreased the bandwidth on a link and now the ping time between the nodes has increased
- I wrote a small TCP application to test the bandwidth of a link/LAN, but I do not observe the bandwidth that I asked for.
- I wrote a small UDP application to test the bandwidth of a link/LAN, but I do not observe the bandwidth that I asked for.
- I am running a routing daemon in my topology but the daemon claims that all my nodes are directly connected!
- My custom Linux kernel won't boot, why?
- Why is the per-packet latency so high (variable) on the pc3000 nodes?
- Why isn't my multicast traffic being correctly shaped?
- Why does my NS file not parse correctly anymore?
- I got an error in my swapin that says 'Temporary Resource Shortage' - what does it mean?
- I am running into errors while working in my home and/or project directory (or subdirectories). What's going on?
- What does the warning message 'due to delay implementation, odd delay value N for LAN may be rounded up' mean?
- My program agent command did not execute, why not?
- I get a WARNING message from linktest, what does it mean?
- How does Windows XP start up in Emulab?
- Not enough permission to create an experiment in any of your projects
Using the Testbed
- Is there a tutorial?
- Do you have a GUI to help me create experiments?
- Are there any constraints on my topology?
- How many nodes can I ask for?
- How long can I keep using my nodes?
- I only need a couple of nodes but none are free, should I just keep trying?
- What if I need more nodes than are free?
- Do I get root access on my nodes?
- Do my nodes have consoles I can look at?
- How do I connect directly to node consoles, without going through users?
- Can I reboot (power cycle) my nodes?
- I've clobbered my disk! Now what?
- Where do I store files needed by my experiment?
- Are my files on users backed up (filesaved)?
- Are the nodes in my experiment backed up (filesaved)?
- What is Swapping?
- How can I get switch statistics (such as packet counts) for my experiment?
- What names should I use to refer to the nodes in my experiment?
- Can I modify my experiment after creating it?
- Are there Linux and/or FreeBSD sources and packages available locally?
- How can I login to users.emulab.net or a node in my experiment without providing my password?
- How much permanent disk is available for my files?
- Where are the Emulab command-line tools located?
- Can I specify specific network interfaces on the nodes for the links in my topology?
- So you want to teach a class using Emulab?
- Linking to Emulab from your project home page
- What topology generators work with Emulab?
- Isonet man page
- Resources Temporary Unavailable
- All things Java
- Why can't I swap in my N node experiment, when there are more than N nodes free?
- What is LinkTest
- Available network topological data
- Is there a Web Service interface for common emulab tasks?
- Features and Desires
Hardware Setup
- What kind of computers are used for my nodes?
- How many nodes are there?
- How many ethernet cards are on each node?
- How do I ask for specific hardware?
- How many nodes are currently available (free)?
- Can I do traffic shaping on my links?
- Can I modify the traffic shaping parameters on my links?
- Are there other traffic shaping parameters besides latency,bandwidth, and packet loss rate?
- Do any Emulab nodes have wifi (802.11) interfaces?
- What kind of wifi cards are used in Emulab?
- What does 'Too many links of type ethernet!' mean (and what do I do)?
- What is the current arrangement of switches and nodes?
- What is the control net and how do I identify it on a node?
- What are the limits for link shaping?
- Can I make a simplex link instead of a duplex link in an experiment?
Operations and Policy
- Restricted access for SIGCOMM'06
- What does testbed-ops message 'WARNING: power controller(s) failed with exit value N' mean?
- How do I swapout a firewalled experiment that is paniced or failed to swapout?
- How can I control what boots on a node?
- Citing Emulab in papers that use Emulab
PlanetLab
- Building binaries for PlanetLab
- Moving back and forth between PlanetLab and Emulab
- Setting up a private PlanetLab inside Emulab
- Using PlanetLab nodes with a specific version in your experiment.
Security Issues
Setting Up a New Emulab
- What partitions do I have to make initially?
- Nodes not being reloaded
- How is the reboot timeout controlled?
- I've added new nodes to the testbed but I cannot ping them, what is wrong?
- How do I add users to arbitrary unix groups on boss/ops
- Python, Swig, and m2crypto incompatibilities
- Whats that Cross Reference Tag in the Knowledge Base entry used for?
- Whats that Faq Entry checkbox in the Knowledge Base entry used for?
- Does Emulab use NTP?
- Event system: elvin or pubsub?
- The node boot process (also known as PXE booting)
Software Setup
- What OS do the nodes run?
- How do I select which OS to run on each node?
- Is Windows 2000 supported as well as Windows XP?
- Can I load my own software (RPMs/Tarballs) on my nodes?
- Can I schedule programs to run automatically when a node boots?
- How can I turn on routing or set up routes automatically on my nodes?
- How does my software determine when other nodes in my experiment are ready?
- Can I run my own Operating System?
- Can I share a disk image between two projects?
- What if I need more disk space on my nodes?
- Are there testbed-specific daemons that could interfere with my experiment?
- Does Emulab support IP Multicast?
- Why does my image not boot on node type Y?
- What FreeBSD kernels are available and what features do they include?
- FreeBSD kernel sources, support for ipfw and dummynet
- Locking complaints during compilation
- What device drivers do I need in my operating system to run in Emulab?
- How is experiment idle monitoring done?
- Can I enable ALTQ on FreeBSD for strict priority and class-based queuing?
- How to build FreeBSD ports
- 64 Bit (x86_64) Fedora
- How do I create an image of second hard drive?
Collaboration Tools
Emulab Source Code
Experiment Templates
Testbed Operations
- How can I clear machines classified dead?
- How can I change a project's head UID at approval time?
- How do I reserve nodes for maintenance?
- Understanding ImageID's and OSID's and defaults
- How do I diagnose NTP problems?
- How do I spot idle experiments?
- What are the groups of "active" users who are in no projects?
- How can I schedule OS reloads by PC type?
- What are the limitations on the "delete user" page?
- How do I find out about switch errors?
- How do I find out about experiments with idle_ignore set on?
- Comments on priority management while handling Tb-Ops mail.
- How do I set an Emulab banner for events like downtime?
- How do I turn on cvsweb access for a user?
- How do batch experiments signal finish status?
- What are sitevars?
- What history is kept for failed experiments?
- How do I control Idleswap and Autoswap e-mail?
- How do I maintain the node type table?
- How do I clear an experiment stuck in the "swapping" state?
- How do I control verbose syslogging in tmcd?
- What if "node health monitoring" complains at boot time?
- How do I mount the Linux slice in BSD?
- How do I approve a user when the project roots are out of town?
- What does "head user has not been verified" mean when approving a project?
- How do I see plab usage?
- What is a "recently-logged-in user"?
- What can I do about switch port problems?
- How do I turn off idleswap for a bunch of experiments?
- How does account freezing work?
- How do I grant permission to use types or classes of nodes?
- What do I do with nodes in "hwdown"?
- How do do you create special experiments with no ns file?
- What should I do when nodes hang in
- When is the dhcpd.conf file regenerated?
- How do we make special groups on Ops?
- How do we partition nodes administratively into multiple "types"?
- Why do I get an error from anything that does an RPC to boss?
- How do I change the id of a new user or project?
- How do I find out about ethernet devices on Linux?
- How do I deal with "Experiment Configure Failure"?
- How to boot an existing FreeBSD kernel with a different HZ.
- How do I forcibly terminate an experiment when things are wedged?
- Understanding FreeBSD Kernels on Disk Images
- What is the algorithm for determining whether a user has permissions to load an image?
- How to use nextosid for a level of indirection
- How can I regenerate ssh identity files?
- How do I move an Emulab to a new IP space?
- What are the primary issues that students should be aware of?
- What version of the OS does a previously swapped-in experiment use?
- How can I put nodes in hwdown state for hacking?
- If I mess up a node's disk partitions or something, how do I trigger a complete reinstall of that node?
- How do I restart tftpd?
- What does the "New" line mean in "Summary stats"?
- How do I transfer project_root status to my alter ego?
- How do I get nodes out of RELOADSETUP state?
- How do I deal with "Swap out Failure"?
- How do I restart "capture"?
- How to deal with stranded VLANs?
- What is the Emulab ethernet switch configuration?
- What does "invalid migration assumptions" mean from "assign"?
- How do I restart mysqld on boss?
- How can I change a project's head UID later on?
- What does "Node Checkin Error" mean?
- How do I deal with bad ports and Cisco switch trunking?
- How do I find out the virtual name of a PC given the physical name
- What happens if the experiment state is wiped out?
- What about serial connections to the Admin MFS FreeBSD?
- How do I diagnose Windows swap-in failures?
- How do I handle changes to the tmcd protocol and code?
- How are robot experiment swap-ins handled?
- How is vlan trunking supported on pc's?
- How do I clear Frisbee failures?
- How do I handle SNMPIT switch control errors?
- What do I do for robot nodes in hwdown?
- How do I tell if I left a firewall vlan on the switch?
- How do I deal with Frisbee "Device not configured" errors?
- How do I remove a new switch from the stack?
- How do I deal with switch "VLAN edit buffer request failed" errors?
- Where do I find a WIFI node with a serial console?
- How do I make Fedora Core images?
- What logging does trafgen do?
- Where can I see power and temperature monitor data?
- How is experimental switch trunk port bandwidth determined?
- Questions about node booting in Emulab.
- What happens when I free a node?
- How do I deal with a "PXE Failed" message?
- Serial console access doesn't work, but SSH does?
- How do I check whether frisbeed is running on boss?
- Problem with node booting okay but not recognized?
- Problem with "Assign Failed" error message?
- Problem with "Setting up for SFS" message?
- What is the "Load Address" of an OS image?
- How do I deal with an experiment left in the "swapping" state?
- What are the stages that the delay node goes through after the PXE wait?
- What do I do if mkproj fails in the middle?
- How do I remotely power cycle Ops?
- How are tipserv nodes represented in the nodes table?
- Problem getting hostname set, resulting in TBFAILED?
- How can I partially swap in an experiment for snmpit debugging?
- How do I clean up orphaned VLANs?
- How does Emulab find the control interface on Linux?
- How do I get an updated image loaded in an experiment, or globally?
- How many VLANs should be created for an experiment?
- How do I grant RON node access to a project?
- How do I force a reload of everything in "reloading"?
- How do I handle failed swapouts?
- How do I set a policy to restrict swapins during crunch times?
- How do I handle "Failed to start the event system" errors?
- How do I turn off idle detection?
- How do I add group "wheel" access for help from Utah on my Emulab?
- How do I administer a per-project mailing list?
- Problem with IP addresses not being configured.
- What does "Could not remove project" mean?
- How do I cross-reference Knowledge Base entries?
- Where are messages from the Cisco switches logged?
- Problems with switches dropping out of the switch stack.
- How do I grant access to the Emulab Mobile Wireless Testbed.
- How do I enable multicast for Frisbee on router interfaces?
- How do I rename a project?
- How can I control the Reserved Nodes list on the Experiment info page?
- How do I find out switch port info for a given node?
- Gig-e links on Ops.
- How do I see interface error counts?
- What can cause NFS mount failures to fs/ops?
- How do I check for partial switch setup/teardowns?
- How do I deal with "ERROR - unable to find channel information"?
- Why is switch cisco8 special?
- Where do I find NFS trace logs?
- Is there a backdoor to log in to the web interface when nologins is set?
- How do we prevent spam on the Emulab mailing lists?
- How do I reserve nodes for an experiment in bulk?
- Problem with nodes getting stuck in an infinite loop under os_load
- What can cause topomap write failures to prevent swap-in?
- When do trunks show up on a control-net switch?
- Logging of testbed errors to their own list under Tblog
- How long do user transaction keys last?
- What can cause the Boss CVS tree to get out of date?
- How do I deal with a non-existent experiment with allocated nodes?
- Problem with os_load
- How do I deal with warnings that "Linktest is already running"?
- What is the purpose of "/tftpboot/proj" ?
- What's special about NTP on PLAB-DEVBOX?
- Problem with events not firing on plab nodes.
- Problem with a Linux frisbee image coming up in FreeBSD.
- Problem with Elab mail mgmt of elabft-discussion list
- Problem with bad switch module again?
- Experiments Stuck in Transistion
- Can I change the project leader of a project
- What does "Inconsistent lastrsrc in stats record" mean?
- How can I fix my broken GRUB install?