Unable to simulate site to site VPN scenario using ipv6 tunneling and measure overhead latency

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PRIYANSHU BISHT

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Oct 7, 2025, 8:05:50 AM (17 hours ago) Oct 7

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I am a student trying to complete an experiment for my 'Advanced Computer Networks' lab. I need to simulate an IPv6-in-IPv6 tunnel.
i am using ns-3.42 in ubuntu 24.04.3 in my VMware
the code i am using is
#include "ns3/core-module.h"
#include "ns3/network-module.h"
#include "ns3/internet-module.h"
#include "ns3/point-to-point-module.h"
#include "ns3/applications-module.h"
#include "ns3/netanim-module.h"

// The necessary tunnel device is in the internet-module.h

using namespace ns3;

NS_LOG_COMPONENT_DEFINE("Ipv6VpnTunnel_Final");

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
LogComponentEnable("UdpEchoClientApplication", LOG_LEVEL_INFO);

// --- Create Nodes ---
NodeContainer siteA_nodes, siteB_nodes;
siteA_nodes.Create(2); // hostA is at index 0, routerA is at index 1
siteB_nodes.Create(2); // routerB is at index 0, hostB is at index 1

Ptr<Node> hostA = siteA_nodes.Get(0);
Ptr<Node> routerA = siteA_nodes.Get(1);
Ptr<Node> routerB = siteB_nodes.Get(0);
Ptr<Node> hostB = siteB_nodes.Get(1);

// --- Install IPv6 Stack ---
InternetStackHelper stack;
stack.SetIpv4StackInstall(false);
stack.Install(siteA_nodes);
stack.Install(siteB_nodes);

// --- Create Links ---
PointToPointHelper p2p;
p2p.SetDeviceAttribute("DataRate", StringValue("10Mbps"));
p2p.SetChannelAttribute("Delay", StringValue("5ms"));

NetDeviceContainer private_link_A = p2p.Install(hostA, routerA);
NetDeviceContainer public_link = p2p.Install(routerA, routerB);
NetDeviceContainer private_link_B = p2p.Install(routerB, hostB);

// --- Assign IPv6 Addresses ---
Ipv6AddressHelper ipv6;
ipv6.SetBase(Ipv6Address("2001:a::"), Ipv6Prefix(64));
Ipv6InterfaceContainer private_if_A = ipv6.Assign(private_link_A);

ipv6.SetBase(Ipv6Address("2001:12::"), Ipv6Prefix(64));
Ipv6InterfaceContainer public_if = ipv6.Assign(public_link);

ipv6.SetBase(Ipv6Address("2001:b::"), Ipv6Prefix(64));
Ipv6InterfaceContainer private_if_B = ipv6.Assign(private_link_B);

// --- VPN Tunnel Creation (NEW, ROBUST METHOD) ---
NS_LOG_INFO("Creating IPv6-in-IPv6 Tunnel");

// Create tunnel device for routerA
Ptr<Ipv6OverIpv6TunnelNetDevice> tunnelA = CreateObject<Ipv6OverIpv6TunnelNetDevice>();
tunnelA->SetLocalAddress(public_if.GetAddress(0, 0));
tunnelA->SetRemoteAddress(public_if.GetAddress(1, 0));
routerA->AddDevice(tunnelA);

// Create tunnel device for routerB
Ptr<Ipv6OverIpv6TunnelNetDevice> tunnelB = CreateObject<Ipv6OverIpv6TunnelNetDevice>();
tunnelB->SetLocalAddress(public_if.GetAddress(1, 0));
tunnelB->SetRemoteAddress(public_if.GetAddress(0, 0));
routerB->AddDevice(tunnelB);

NetDeviceContainer tunnelDevices;
tunnelDevices.Add(tunnelA);
tunnelDevices.Add(tunnelB);

// Assign addresses to the virtual tunnel link
ipv6.SetBase(Ipv6Address("2001:ab::"), Ipv6Prefix(64));
ipv6.Assign(tunnelDevices);

// --- Routing Configuration ---
Ipv6StaticRoutingHelper routingHelper;
Ptr<Ipv6StaticRouting> hostA_routing = routingHelper.GetStaticRouting(hostA->GetObject<Ipv6>());
hostA_routing->SetDefaultRoute(private_if_A.GetAddress(1, 0), 1);

Ptr<Ipv6StaticRouting> routerA_routing = routingHelper.GetStaticRouting(routerA->GetObject<Ipv6>());
// Interface 3 is the tunnel device
routerA_routing->AddNetworkRouteTo(Ipv6Address("2001:b::"), Ipv6Prefix(64), Ipv6Address("2001:ab::2"), 3);

Ptr<Ipv6StaticRouting> routerB_routing = routingHelper.GetStaticRouting(routerB->GetObject<Ipv6>());
// Interface 3 is the tunnel device
routerB_routing->AddNetworkRouteTo(Ipv6Address("2001:a::"), Ipv6Prefix(64), Ipv6Address("2001:ab::1"), 3);

Ptr<Ipv6StaticRouting> hostB_routing = routingHelper.GetStaticRouting(hostB->GetObject<Ipv6>());
hostB_routing->SetDefaultRoute(private_if_B.GetAddress(0, 0), 1);

// --- Application Setup ---
uint16_t port = 9;
UdpEchoServerHelper echoServer(port);
ApplicationContainer serverApps = echoServer.Install(hostB);
serverApps.Start(Seconds(1.0));

UdpEchoClientHelper echoClient(private_if_B.GetAddress(1, 0), port);
echoClient.SetAttribute("MaxPackets", UintegerValue(5));
echoClient.SetAttribute("Interval", TimeValue(Seconds(1.0)));
echoClient.SetAttribute("PacketSize", UintegerValue(1024));
ApplicationContainer clientApps = echoClient.Install(hostA);
clientApps.Start(Seconds(2.0));

// --- PCAP Tracing ---
p2p.EnablePcapAll("vpn-tunnel-capture");

// --- Run Simulation ---
Simulator::Stop(Seconds(11.0));
Simulator::Run();
Simulator::Destroy();

NS_LOG_INFO("Done.");
return 0;
}
the Error i am getting is
priyanshu@priyanshu:~/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42$ ./ns3 run scratch/test3.cc
[0/2] Re-checking globbed directories...
[1/2] Building CXX object scratch/CMakeFiles/scratch_test3.dir/test3.cc.o
FAILED: scratch/CMakeFiles/scratch_test3.dir/test3.cc.o
/usr/bin/ccache /usr/bin/c++ -DEIGEN_MPL2_ONLY -DHAVE_BOOST -DHAVE_BOOST_UNITS -DHAVE_EIGEN3 -DHAVE_GSL -DHAVE_LIBXML2 -DHAVE_PACKET_H -DHAVE_SQLITE3 -DNS3_ASSERT_ENABLE -DNS3_BUILD_PROFILE_DEBUG -DNS3_LOG_ENABLE -DPROJECT_SOURCE_PATH=\"/home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42\" -DRAW_SOCK_CREATOR=\"/home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/build/src/fd-net-device/ns3.42-raw-sock-creator-default\" -DTAP_DEV_CREATOR=\"/home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/build/src/fd-net-device/ns3.42-tap-device-creator-default\" -D__LINUX__ -I/home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/build/include -I/usr -I/usr/include/eigen3 -I/usr/include/freetype2 -I/usr/include/glib-2.0 -I/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/glib-2.0/include -I/usr/include/gdk-pixbuf-2.0 -I/usr/include/gtk-3.0 -I/usr/include/cairo -I/usr/include/pango-1.0 -I/usr/include/harfbuzz -I/usr/include/atk-1.0 -I/usr/include/libxml2 -Os -g -DNDEBUG -std=c++20 -fPIE -fno-semantic-interposition -fdiagnostics-color=always -Wall -Wpedantic -MD -MT scratch/CMakeFiles/scratch_test3.dir/test3.cc.o -MF scratch/CMakeFiles/scratch_test3.dir/test3.cc.o.d -o scratch/CMakeFiles/scratch_test3.dir/test3.cc.o -c /home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/scratch/test3.cc
/home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/scratch/test3.cc: In function ‘int main(int, char**)’:
/home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/scratch/test3.cc:58:9: error: ‘Ipv6OverIpv6TunnelNetDevice’ was not declared in this scope
58 | Ptr<Ipv6OverIpv6TunnelNetDevice> tunnelA = CreateObject<Ipv6OverIpv6TunnelNetDevice>();
| ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
/home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/scratch/test3.cc:58:36: error: template argument 1 is invalid
58 | Ptr<Ipv6OverIpv6TunnelNetDevice> tunnelA = CreateObject<Ipv6OverIpv6TunnelNetDevice>();
| ^
/home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/scratch/test3.cc:58:89: error: no matching function for call to ‘CreateObject<Ipv6OverIpv6TunnelNetDevice>()’
58 | Ptr<Ipv6OverIpv6TunnelNetDevice> tunnelA = CreateObject<Ipv6OverIpv6TunnelNetDevice>();
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^~
In file included from /home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/src/core/model/object-factory.h:23,
from /home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/src/core/model/simulator.h:27,
from /home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/build/include/ns3/simulator.h:1,
from /home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/src/core/helper/event-garbage-collector.h:23,
from /home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/build/include/ns3/event-garbage-collector.h:1,
from /home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/build/include/ns3/core-module.h:9,
from /home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/scratch/test3.cc:1:
/home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/src/core/model/object.h:630:1: note: candidate: ‘template<class T, class ... Args> ns3::Ptr<T> ns3::CreateObject(Args&& ...)’
630 | CreateObject(Args&&... args)
| ^~~~~~~~~~~~
/home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/src/core/model/object.h:630:1: note: template argument deduction/substitution failed:
/home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/scratch/test3.cc:59:12: error: base operand of ‘->’ is not a pointer
59 | tunnelA->SetLocalAddress(public_if.GetAddress(0, 0));
| ^~
/home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/scratch/test3.cc:60:12: error: base operand of ‘->’ is not a pointer
60 | tunnelA->SetRemoteAddress(public_if.GetAddress(1, 0));
| ^~
/home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/scratch/test3.cc:61:24: error: cannot convert ‘int’ to ‘ns3::Ptr<ns3::NetDevice>’
61 | routerA->AddDevice(tunnelA);
| ^~~~~~~
| |
| int
In file included from /home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/src/network/model/application.h:23,
from /home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/build/include/ns3/application.h:1,
from /home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/src/network/helper/application-container.h:23,
from /home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/build/include/ns3/application-container.h:1,
from /home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/build/include/ns3/network-module.h:6,
from /home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/scratch/test3.cc:2:
/home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/src/network/model/node.h:104:39: note: initializing argument 1 of ‘uint32_t ns3::Node::AddDevice(ns3::Ptr<ns3::NetDevice>)’
104 | uint32_t AddDevice(Ptr<NetDevice> device);
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^~~~~~
/home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/scratch/test3.cc:64:89: error: no matching function for call to ‘CreateObject<Ipv6OverIpv6TunnelNetDevice>()’
64 | Ptr<Ipv6OverIpv6TunnelNetDevice> tunnelB = CreateObject<Ipv6OverIpv6TunnelNetDevice>();
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^~
/home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/src/core/model/object.h:630:1: note: candidate: ‘template<class T, class ... Args> ns3::Ptr<T> ns3::CreateObject(Args&& ...)’
630 | CreateObject(Args&&... args)
| ^~~~~~~~~~~~
/home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/src/core/model/object.h:630:1: note: template argument deduction/substitution failed:
/home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/scratch/test3.cc:65:12: error: base operand of ‘->’ is not a pointer
65 | tunnelB->SetLocalAddress(public_if.GetAddress(1, 0));
| ^~
/home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/scratch/test3.cc:66:12: error: base operand of ‘->’ is not a pointer
66 | tunnelB->SetRemoteAddress(public_if.GetAddress(0, 0));
| ^~
/home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/scratch/test3.cc:67:24: error: cannot convert ‘int’ to ‘ns3::Ptr<ns3::NetDevice>’
67 | routerB->AddDevice(tunnelB);
| ^~~~~~~
| |
| int
/home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/src/network/model/node.h:104:39: note: initializing argument 1 of ‘uint32_t ns3::Node::AddDevice(ns3::Ptr<ns3::NetDevice>)’
104 | uint32_t AddDevice(Ptr<NetDevice> device);
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^~~~~~
/home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/scratch/test3.cc:70:22: error: no matching function for call to ‘ns3::NetDeviceContainer::Add(int&)’
70 | tunnelDevices.Add(tunnelA);
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^~~~~~~~~
In file included from /home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/build/include/ns3/net-device-container.h:1,
from /home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/build/include/ns3/network-module.h:9:
/home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/src/network/helper/net-device-container.h:182:10: note: candidate: ‘void ns3::NetDeviceContainer::Add(ns3::NetDeviceContainer)’
182 | void Add(NetDeviceContainer other);
| ^~~
/home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/src/network/helper/net-device-container.h:182:33: note: no known conversion for argument 1 from ‘int’ to ‘ns3::NetDeviceContainer’
182 | void Add(NetDeviceContainer other);
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^~~~~
/home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/src/network/helper/net-device-container.h:189:10: note: candidate: ‘void ns3::NetDeviceContainer::Add(ns3::Ptr<ns3::NetDevice>)’
189 | void Add(Ptr<NetDevice> device);
| ^~~
/home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/src/network/helper/net-device-container.h:189:29: note: no known conversion for argument 1 from ‘int’ to ‘ns3::Ptr<ns3::NetDevice>’
189 | void Add(Ptr<NetDevice> device);
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^~~~~~
/home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/src/network/helper/net-device-container.h:197:10: note: candidate: ‘void ns3::NetDeviceContainer::Add(std::string)’
197 | void Add(std::string deviceName);
| ^~~
/home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/src/network/helper/net-device-container.h:197:26: note: no known conversion for argument 1 from ‘int’ to ‘std::string’ {aka ‘std::__cxx11::basic_string<char>’}
197 | void Add(std::string deviceName);
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~^~~~~~~~~~
/home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/scratch/test3.cc:71:22: error: no matching function for call to ‘ns3::NetDeviceContainer::Add(int&)’
71 | tunnelDevices.Add(tunnelB);
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^~~~~~~~~
/home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/src/network/helper/net-device-container.h:182:10: note: candidate: ‘void ns3::NetDeviceContainer::Add(ns3::NetDeviceContainer)’
182 | void Add(NetDeviceContainer other);
| ^~~
/home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/src/network/helper/net-device-container.h:182:33: note: no known conversion for argument 1 from ‘int’ to ‘ns3::NetDeviceContainer’
182 | void Add(NetDeviceContainer other);
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^~~~~
/home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/src/network/helper/net-device-container.h:189:10: note: candidate: ‘void ns3::NetDeviceContainer::Add(ns3::Ptr<ns3::NetDevice>)’
189 | void Add(Ptr<NetDevice> device);
| ^~~
/home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/src/network/helper/net-device-container.h:189:29: note: no known conversion for argument 1 from ‘int’ to ‘ns3::Ptr<ns3::NetDevice>’
189 | void Add(Ptr<NetDevice> device);
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^~~~~~
/home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/src/network/helper/net-device-container.h:197:10: note: candidate: ‘void ns3::NetDeviceContainer::Add(std::string)’
197 | void Add(std::string deviceName);
| ^~~
/home/priyanshu/ns-allinone-3.42/ns-3.42/src/network/helper/net-device-container.h:197:26: note: no known conversion for argument 1 from ‘int’ to ‘std::string’ {aka ‘std::__cxx11::basic_string<char>’}
197 | void Add(std::string deviceName);
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~^~~~~~~~~~
ninja: build stopped: subcommand failed.

Tom Henderson

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Oct 7, 2025, 10:42:03 AM (15 hours ago) Oct 7

to ns-3-...@googlegroups.com, PRIYANSHU BISHT

The compilation error suggests to me that perhaps you have not added your new header file (containing the declaration of class Ipv6OverIpv6TunnelNetDevice) to the file src/internet/CMakeLists.txt; can you check that?