Problem description

The ns-2 installation instructions found on ns-2 project wiki are somewhat hardcore and make an impression that Ubuntu is not a good match for the simulator

Target audience

Ubuntu 7.10 - 9.04 users that would like to install ns-2 as easy as possible and in Ubuntu-natural way. There is NO NEED of downloading the whole ns-allinone package or, worse, vmware-and-the-rest, really. In fact the tutorial is not intended for ns-allinone installation. The ns-allinone package has all the necessary packages included, which means it installs duplicates of packages already available in Ubuntu. Proceed only if you want to install only the ns-2.xx, using the ubuntu-built-in libraries.

Plenty of choices

First you have to decide what you want to do (with ns-2).

1. You just want to run simulations, and this means:
   • create the tcl scenario using only the standard built-in functionality
   • run the simulation
   • process the results
   • optionaly create new models but using only the OTcl
   • NO C/C++ DEVELOPMENT HERE AS YOU CAN SEE

There is an easy option for you: check out Wouter Horre's PPA here for a ready-to-use deb's for your distro.

2. You are a ns-2 developer. This means:
   • You want to extend the ns-2 functionality writing you new models using C/C++
   • You need ns-2 patched with a non-standard addon (NIST WiMAX model is a good example
   • You know that there is a bug in ns-2 core, and want to fix it

Yes, this guide seems right for you. I have prepared several instruction sets, so that even the laziest guys can have a quick-start.