[peqi-hackathon-orga] Technical Instructions Preparation for Connection Tests

In the past I also managed to get SimulaQron working on the Windows susbsystem for Linux so if somebody is stuck with windows 10 it may be worth trying that as well: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install-win10. It should be good enough at least for local development. Supposedly, it is now a full blown Linux kernel it might work even better than last time.

On Thu, 2019-09-26 at 07:37 +0000, Matt Skrzypczyk wrote:

Hey all,


In preparation for the connection test on October 1st I'd like to give an overview of what needs to be done beforehand and how the test will be performed.



PREPARATION

To run the tests (and work on the projects during the hackathon), machines at your venue will need to be set up with Simulaqron installed.  Currently, Mac OS and Linux are the supported operating systems for use with Simulaqron, and Windows has shown to be more finicky.  As such for the tests it is preferable that you do so using a Mac OS or Linux machine.


If you are restricted to Windows, you may set up a virtual machine using Oracle's Virtualbox (https://www.virtualbox.org/) or VMware's Workstation Player (https://www.vmware.com/products/workstation-player.html).  A safe choice for the operating system would be Ubuntu 18.04 (http://releases.ubuntu.com/18.04/).  Please ensure that you have a Mac or Linux environment prepared for the connection test October 1st.


Once a machine with an appropriate operating system has been provisioned, you will next need to setup Simulaqron.  Ensure your work environment has Python 3 installed, this can be verified by opening up a terminal and executing the command "python3" or "python" and verifying that the reported version is at least 3.  If not, you can set up python3 on a Mac by following this guide https://wsvincent.com/install-python3-mac/, and on Linux by simply using your favorite package manager to install python3.  At this point you may follow the Simulaqron installation documentation (https://softwarequtech.github.io/SimulaQron/html/GettingStarted.html) to set up Simulaqron and verify the installation.  On Ubuntu 18.04 you will need to additionally execute the following command in the terminal (and may be worth adding to the ~/.bashrc file):

export PATH=$PATH:/home/<username>/.local/bin/

to make sure that the "simulaqron" command will work in the terminal.  If you do not have pip for python3 you can install it using brew (Mac) or our favorite package manager (Linux) by installing the package "python3-pip".


If you are able to verify the installation of simulaqron then you will all ready be a great help to your local participants if they have any trouble getting set up for the hackathon :).



OCTOBER 1st CONNECTION TEST


Great, now that Simulaqron is set up your machine will be able to verify your connection to our simulated network setup!  Once I have obtained all the port information from the end nodes I will prepare a set of configurations for each of the end nodes along with instructions on where to place the configuration file.  I will also provide you a small Python 3 script to be executed as well.  The script will verify a few key Simulaqron commands that will be used during the hackathon and ensure that your machine is able to send commands and receive data back from the simulated network in AWS using the specified ports.  If errors occur during script execution, information will be printed to the console which can be used for debugging and discovering issues with the specified ports.  If any node has such issues you may contact me and we will figure out what needs to be changed at your location or with the future simulated network set up.  If changes are to be made, we will reattempt this test October 4th and decide what the next steps are for testing.


The test is a relatively hands-off procedure.  The script, configuration, and instructions will be sent to your technical contacts before October 1st.  I will set up the AWS infrastructure and have it running all day so that you may execute the tests whenever is most convenient.  I will be available for assistance starting from 11:00 in Delft due to classes and I am able to video call/email to help if you have an issues that we can debug together.



Questions/Notes


- If your availability is limited October 1st please let me know in advance so that it is kept in mind.

- Due to the operating system constraints, it may be a good idea to inform the participants ahead of time so that less time is spent setting up their environments and more time can be spent hacking.
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