Network Environment Plugins

Network Topology Management

Network environment plugins define the network topology, conditions, and characteristics for experiments. They enable realistic network scenarios including containerized environments and network simulation.

Plugin Type: Network Environment

Verified Source Location: plugins/environments/network_environment/

Overview

Network environment plugins define the network topology, conditions, and characteristics for PANTHER experiments. They allow for creating realistic or controlled network scenarios for protocol testing.

Available Plugins

Plugin	Description	Documentation
docker_compose	Multi-container Docker environments	Documentation
shadow_ns	Network namespace-based simulation	Documentation
localhost_single_container	Single container environment	Documentation

Common Configuration

Network environment plugins typically share these configuration patterns:

environments:
  network:
    - name: "test_network"
      type: "network_environment"
      implementation: "docker_compose"
      config:
        compose_file: "network_setup.yml"
        network_name: "test_net"

Integration Points

Network environment plugins integrate primarily with:

1. Service plugins: They provide the network context for services to operate in
2. Protocol plugins: They enable testing protocol behavior under different network conditions

Development

To create a new network environment plugin, see the Adding Network Environment guide.