| [state: 07-11-2009] |
| |
| BATMAN-ADV |
| ---------- |
| |
| Batman-advanced is a new approach to wireless networking which does no longer |
| operate on the IP basis. Unlike B.A.T.M.A.N, which exchanges information |
| using UDP packets and sets routing tables, batman-advanced operates on ISO/OSI |
| Layer 2 only and uses and routes (or better: bridges) Ethernet Frames. It |
| emulates a virtual network switch of all nodes participating. Therefore all |
| nodes appear to be link local, thus all higher operating protocols won't be |
| affected by any changes within the network. You can run almost any protocol |
| above B.A.T.M.A.N. Advanced, prominent examples are: IPv4, IPv6, DHCP, IPX. |
| |
| This is batman-advanced implemented as Linux kernel driver. It does not depend |
| on any network (other) driver, and can be used on wifi as well as ethernet, |
| vpn, etc ... (anything with ethernet-style layer 2). |
| It compiles against and should work with Linux 2.6.20 - 2.6.31. Supporting older |
| versions is not planned, but it's probably easy to backport it. If you work on a |
| backport, feel free to contact us. :-) |
| |
| COMPILE |
| ------- |
| To compile against your currently installed kernel, just type: |
| |
| # make |
| |
| if you want to compile against some other kernel, use: |
| |
| # make KERNELPATH=/path/to/kernel |
| |
| USAGE |
| ----- |
| |
| insmod the batman-adv.ko in your kernel: |
| |
| # insmod batman-adv.ko |
| |
| the module is now waiting for activation. You must add some interfaces |
| on which batman can operate. Each interface must be added separately: |
| |
| # echo wlan0 > /proc/net/batman-adv/interfaces |
| |
| ( # echo wlan1 > /proc/net/batman-adv/interfaces ) |
| ( # echo eth0 > /proc/net/batman-adv/interfaces ) |
| ( ... ) |
| |
| Now batman starts broadcasting on this interface. |
| You can now view the table of originators (mesh participants) with: |
| |
| # cat /proc/net/batman-adv/originators |
| |
| The module will create a new interface "bat0", which can be used as a |
| regular interface: |
| |
| # ifconfig bat0 inet 192.168.0.1 up |
| # ping 192.168.0.2 |
| ... |
| |
| If you want topology visualization, your meshnode must be configured |
| as VIS-server: |
| |
| # echo "server" > /proc/net/batman-adv/vis |
| |
| Each node is either configured as "server" or as "client" (default: |
| "client"). Clients send their topology data to the server next to them, |
| and server synchronize with other servers. If there is no server |
| configured (default) within the mesh, no topology information will be |
| transmitted. With these "synchronizing servers", there can be 1 or |
| more vis servers sharing the same (or at least very similar) data. |
| |
| When configured as server, you can get a topology snapshot of your mesh: |
| |
| # cat /proc/net/batman-adv/vis |
| |
| This output format is a graphviz formatted text file which can be |
| processed with graphviz-tools like dot. |
| The labels are similar/compatible to the ETX metric, 1.0 means perfect |
| connection (100%), 2.0 means 50%, 3.0 means 33% and so on. |
| |
| Alternatively, a JSON output format is available. The format can be set |
| using by writing either "dot_draw" or "json" into the vis_format file. |
| "dot_draw" is selected by default. |
| |
| echo "json" > /proc/net/batman-adv/vis_format |
| |
| In very mobile scenarios, you might want to adjust the originator |
| interval to a lower value. This will make the mesh more responsive to |
| topology changes, but will also increase the overhead. Please make sure |
| that all nodes in your mesh use the same interval. The default value |
| is 1000 ms (1 second). |
| |
| # echo 1000 > /proc/net/batman-adv/orig_interval |
| |
| To deactivate batman, do: |
| |
| # echo "" > /proc/net/batman-adv/interfaces |
| |
| BATCTL |
| ------ |
| |
| B.A.T.M.A.N. advanced operates on layer 2 and thus all hosts partici- |
| pating in the virtual switch are completely transparent for all proto- |
| cols above layer 2. Therefore the common diagnosis tools do not work as |
| expected. To overcome these problems batctl was created. At the moment |
| the batctl contains ping, traceroute, tcpdump and interfaces to the |
| kernel module settings. |
| |
| For more information, please see the manpage (man batctl). |
| |
| batctl is available on http://www.open-mesh.net/ |
| |
| CONTACT |
| ------- |
| |
| Please send us comments, experiences, questions, anything :) |
| |
| IRC: #batman on irc.freenode.org |
| Mailing-list: b.a.t.m.a.n@open-mesh.net |
| (subscription at https://list.open-mesh.net/mm/listinfo/b.a.t.m.a.n ) |
| |
| You can also contact the Authors: |
| |
| Marek Lindner <lindner_marek@yahoo.de> |
| Simon Wunderlich <siwu@hrz.tu-chemnitz.de> |
