Sven Eckelmann | c6c8fea | 2010-12-13 11:19:28 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 1 | BATMAN-ADV |
| 2 | ---------- |
| 3 | |
| 4 | Batman advanced is a new approach to wireless networking which |
| 5 | does no longer operate on the IP basis. Unlike the batman daemon, |
| 6 | which exchanges information using UDP packets and sets routing |
| 7 | tables, batman-advanced operates on ISO/OSI Layer 2 only and uses |
| 8 | and routes (or better: bridges) Ethernet Frames. It emulates a |
| 9 | virtual network switch of all nodes participating. Therefore all |
| 10 | nodes appear to be link local, thus all higher operating proto- |
| 11 | cols won't be affected by any changes within the network. You can |
| 12 | run almost any protocol above batman advanced, prominent examples |
| 13 | are: IPv4, IPv6, DHCP, IPX. |
| 14 | |
| 15 | Batman advanced was implemented as a Linux kernel driver to re- |
| 16 | duce the overhead to a minimum. It does not depend on any (other) |
| 17 | network driver, and can be used on wifi as well as ethernet lan, |
| 18 | vpn, etc ... (anything with ethernet-style layer 2). |
| 19 | |
Antonio Quartulli | 2dafb49 | 2011-05-05 08:42:45 +0200 | [diff] [blame] | 20 | |
Sven Eckelmann | c6c8fea | 2010-12-13 11:19:28 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 21 | CONFIGURATION |
| 22 | ------------- |
| 23 | |
| 24 | Load the batman-adv module into your kernel: |
| 25 | |
| 26 | # insmod batman-adv.ko |
| 27 | |
| 28 | The module is now waiting for activation. You must add some in- |
| 29 | terfaces on which batman can operate. After loading the module |
| 30 | batman advanced will scan your systems interfaces to search for |
| 31 | compatible interfaces. Once found, it will create subfolders in |
| 32 | the /sys directories of each supported interface, e.g. |
| 33 | |
| 34 | # ls /sys/class/net/eth0/batman_adv/ |
| 35 | # iface_status mesh_iface |
| 36 | |
| 37 | If an interface does not have the "batman_adv" subfolder it prob- |
| 38 | ably is not supported. Not supported interfaces are: loopback, |
| 39 | non-ethernet and batman's own interfaces. |
| 40 | |
| 41 | Note: After the module was loaded it will continuously watch for |
| 42 | new interfaces to verify the compatibility. There is no need to |
| 43 | reload the module if you plug your USB wifi adapter into your ma- |
| 44 | chine after batman advanced was initially loaded. |
| 45 | |
| 46 | To activate a given interface simply write "bat0" into its |
| 47 | "mesh_iface" file inside the batman_adv subfolder: |
| 48 | |
| 49 | # echo bat0 > /sys/class/net/eth0/batman_adv/mesh_iface |
| 50 | |
| 51 | Repeat this step for all interfaces you wish to add. Now batman |
| 52 | starts using/broadcasting on this/these interface(s). |
| 53 | |
| 54 | By reading the "iface_status" file you can check its status: |
| 55 | |
| 56 | # cat /sys/class/net/eth0/batman_adv/iface_status |
| 57 | # active |
| 58 | |
| 59 | To deactivate an interface you have to write "none" into its |
| 60 | "mesh_iface" file: |
| 61 | |
| 62 | # echo none > /sys/class/net/eth0/batman_adv/mesh_iface |
| 63 | |
| 64 | |
| 65 | All mesh wide settings can be found in batman's own interface |
| 66 | folder: |
| 67 | |
Simon Wunderlich | 2372138 | 2012-01-22 20:00:19 +0100 | [diff] [blame] | 68 | # ls /sys/class/net/bat0/mesh/ |
Sven Eckelmann | a77e8c6 | 2012-04-02 19:31:26 +0200 | [diff] [blame] | 69 | # aggregated_ogms gw_bandwidth log_level |
| 70 | # ap_isolation gw_mode orig_interval |
| 71 | # bonding gw_sel_class routing_algo |
Simon Wunderlich | 9f4980e | 2013-04-25 11:57:42 +0200 | [diff] [blame] | 72 | # bridge_loop_avoidance hop_penalty fragmentation |
Sven Eckelmann | c6c8fea | 2010-12-13 11:19:28 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 73 | |
| 74 | |
Sylvestre Ledru | f65e51d | 2011-04-04 15:04:46 -0700 | [diff] [blame] | 75 | There is a special folder for debugging information: |
Sven Eckelmann | c6c8fea | 2010-12-13 11:19:28 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 76 | |
Simon Wunderlich | 536a23f | 2012-06-18 18:39:26 +0200 | [diff] [blame] | 77 | # ls /sys/kernel/debug/batman_adv/bat0/ |
| 78 | # bla_backbone_table log transtable_global |
| 79 | # bla_claim_table originators transtable_local |
Simon Wunderlich | 9f4980e | 2013-04-25 11:57:42 +0200 | [diff] [blame] | 80 | # gateways socket |
Sven Eckelmann | c6c8fea | 2010-12-13 11:19:28 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 81 | |
| 82 | Some of the files contain all sort of status information regard- |
| 83 | ing the mesh network. For example, you can view the table of |
| 84 | originators (mesh participants) with: |
| 85 | |
| 86 | # cat /sys/kernel/debug/batman_adv/bat0/originators |
| 87 | |
| 88 | Other files allow to change batman's behaviour to better fit your |
| 89 | requirements. For instance, you can check the current originator |
| 90 | interval (value in milliseconds which determines how often batman |
| 91 | sends its broadcast packets): |
| 92 | |
| 93 | # cat /sys/class/net/bat0/mesh/orig_interval |
| 94 | # 1000 |
| 95 | |
| 96 | and also change its value: |
| 97 | |
| 98 | # echo 3000 > /sys/class/net/bat0/mesh/orig_interval |
| 99 | |
| 100 | In very mobile scenarios, you might want to adjust the originator |
| 101 | interval to a lower value. This will make the mesh more respon- |
| 102 | sive to topology changes, but will also increase the overhead. |
| 103 | |
| 104 | |
| 105 | USAGE |
| 106 | ----- |
| 107 | |
| 108 | To make use of your newly created mesh, batman advanced provides |
| 109 | a new interface "bat0" which you should use from this point on. |
| 110 | All interfaces added to batman advanced are not relevant any |
| 111 | longer because batman handles them for you. Basically, one "hands |
| 112 | over" the data by using the batman interface and batman will make |
| 113 | sure it reaches its destination. |
| 114 | |
| 115 | The "bat0" interface can be used like any other regular inter- |
| 116 | face. It needs an IP address which can be either statically con- |
| 117 | figured or dynamically (by using DHCP or similar services): |
| 118 | |
| 119 | # NodeA: ifconfig bat0 192.168.0.1 |
| 120 | # NodeB: ifconfig bat0 192.168.0.2 |
| 121 | # NodeB: ping 192.168.0.1 |
| 122 | |
| 123 | Note: In order to avoid problems remove all IP addresses previ- |
| 124 | ously assigned to interfaces now used by batman advanced, e.g. |
| 125 | |
| 126 | # ifconfig eth0 0.0.0.0 |
| 127 | |
| 128 | |
Sven Eckelmann | c6c8fea | 2010-12-13 11:19:28 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 129 | LOGGING/DEBUGGING |
| 130 | ----------------- |
| 131 | |
| 132 | All error messages, warnings and information messages are sent to |
| 133 | the kernel log. Depending on your operating system distribution |
| 134 | this can be read in one of a number of ways. Try using the com- |
| 135 | mands: dmesg, logread, or looking in the files /var/log/kern.log |
| 136 | or /var/log/syslog. All batman-adv messages are prefixed with |
| 137 | "batman-adv:" So to see just these messages try |
| 138 | |
| 139 | # dmesg | grep batman-adv |
| 140 | |
| 141 | When investigating problems with your mesh network it is some- |
| 142 | times necessary to see more detail debug messages. This must be |
| 143 | enabled when compiling the batman-adv module. When building bat- |
| 144 | man-adv as part of kernel, use "make menuconfig" and enable the |
| 145 | option "B.A.T.M.A.N. debugging". |
| 146 | |
| 147 | Those additional debug messages can be accessed using a special |
| 148 | file in debugfs |
| 149 | |
| 150 | # cat /sys/kernel/debug/batman_adv/bat0/log |
| 151 | |
| 152 | The additional debug output is by default disabled. It can be en- |
| 153 | abled during run time. Following log_levels are defined: |
| 154 | |
| 155 | 0 - All debug output disabled |
| 156 | 1 - Enable messages related to routing / flooding / broadcasting |
Marek Lindner | 1a98489 | 2011-08-30 13:32:33 +0200 | [diff] [blame] | 157 | 2 - Enable messages related to route added / changed / deleted |
| 158 | 4 - Enable messages related to translation table operations |
Simon Wunderlich | 2372138 | 2012-01-22 20:00:19 +0100 | [diff] [blame] | 159 | 8 - Enable messages related to bridge loop avoidance |
Antonio Quartulli | 0e861a3 | 2012-10-01 09:57:36 +0200 | [diff] [blame] | 160 | 16 - Enable messaged related to DAT, ARP snooping and parsing |
| 161 | 31 - Enable all messages |
Sven Eckelmann | c6c8fea | 2010-12-13 11:19:28 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 162 | |
| 163 | The debug output can be changed at runtime using the file |
| 164 | /sys/class/net/bat0/mesh/log_level. e.g. |
| 165 | |
Simon Wunderlich | 2372138 | 2012-01-22 20:00:19 +0100 | [diff] [blame] | 166 | # echo 6 > /sys/class/net/bat0/mesh/log_level |
Sven Eckelmann | c6c8fea | 2010-12-13 11:19:28 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 167 | |
Marek Lindner | 1a98489 | 2011-08-30 13:32:33 +0200 | [diff] [blame] | 168 | will enable debug messages for when routes change. |
Sven Eckelmann | c6c8fea | 2010-12-13 11:19:28 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 169 | |
Martin Hundebøll | f821486 | 2012-04-20 17:02:45 +0200 | [diff] [blame] | 170 | Counters for different types of packets entering and leaving the |
| 171 | batman-adv module are available through ethtool: |
| 172 | |
| 173 | # ethtool --statistics bat0 |
| 174 | |
Sven Eckelmann | c6c8fea | 2010-12-13 11:19:28 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 175 | |
| 176 | BATCTL |
| 177 | ------ |
| 178 | |
| 179 | As batman advanced operates on layer 2 all hosts participating in |
| 180 | the virtual switch are completely transparent for all protocols |
| 181 | above layer 2. Therefore the common diagnosis tools do not work |
| 182 | as expected. To overcome these problems batctl was created. At |
| 183 | the moment the batctl contains ping, traceroute, tcpdump and |
| 184 | interfaces to the kernel module settings. |
| 185 | |
| 186 | For more information, please see the manpage (man batctl). |
| 187 | |
| 188 | batctl is available on http://www.open-mesh.org/ |
| 189 | |
| 190 | |
| 191 | CONTACT |
| 192 | ------- |
| 193 | |
| 194 | Please send us comments, experiences, questions, anything :) |
| 195 | |
| 196 | IRC: #batman on irc.freenode.org |
Sven Eckelmann | 091b948 | 2011-01-27 10:56:56 +0100 | [diff] [blame] | 197 | Mailing-list: b.a.t.m.a.n@open-mesh.org (optional subscription |
| 198 | at https://lists.open-mesh.org/mm/listinfo/b.a.t.m.a.n) |
Sven Eckelmann | c6c8fea | 2010-12-13 11:19:28 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 199 | |
| 200 | You can also contact the Authors: |
| 201 | |
Marek Lindner | bc58eee | 2013-10-12 22:10:03 +0800 | [diff] [blame] | 202 | Marek Lindner <mareklindner@neomailbox.ch> |
Simon Wunderlich | c679ff8 | 2013-10-10 23:59:10 +0200 | [diff] [blame] | 203 | Simon Wunderlich <sw@simonwunderlich.de> |