NOTE

It is no longer possible to directly upgrade directly from versions prior to v2024.09.1723.3 to versions later than that. Therefore, if you’re running a version older than v2024.09.1723.3 please upgrade to this version first. You can then upgrade to the current release.

NOTE

This version contains a major upgrade of the operating system and other related software libraries. To update to it from any previous version you must first update to (at least) v2024.09.1723.3. If you are not already running, version 2024.09.1723.3, or higher, you’ll receive an error message after uploading the upgrade kit (.itu file) saying:

• Please update to 2024.09.1723.3 or above before updating

After this error message, if the GUI remains with the message “Please wait while the system is updating...” in the centre of the screen. It will need refreshing using the browser’s refresh feature to continue.

Reference, if Applicable

Description

All CVE's (see https://www.cve.org/) relevant to NE-ONE's operating system, layered packages e.g. python, openssl etc have been applied, up to and including those created on 5^th December 2024

We are not noting them individually at this time.

New: Security Scans are now completed with Qualys at each main release and each security release

NODPR-396

LDAPS – Secure LDAP over TLS has been added to this release – see also New Features below

Reference, if Applicable

Description

NODPR-427

New ‘External Dynamic Routing’ capability for OSPF and BGP

This includes a new type of Soft Port: ‘Dynamic Routing IPv4’. While this soft port is broadly similar in operation to the (static) IPv4 soft port it adds the following capability:

Listen for the availability of OSPF/BGP networks from connected routers and ‘store’ these networks with the soft port

Make a Node with this soft port attached aware of these OSPF/BGP subnets

Publish availability of subnets from NE-ONE to external OSPF/BGP routers

A console to view and configure OSPF and BGP settings with a (Cisco) IOS style command line, supporting commands like ‘show ip route’

This allows NE-ONE to participate in OSPF and BGP networks dynamically without the need to manually configure static routing in external routers, or manually configure available external subnets in NE-ONE. This is a huge advantage in connecting into networks where OSPF and BGP are in use.

NODPR-428

New ‘Internal Dynamic Routing’ capability – dynamically finds the best routes

Internal dynamic routing routes traffic over the lowest ‘total cost’ available path within an NE-ONE network.

With Internal Dynamic Routing you can, dynamically:

Define the cost on a link – this is the cost of traversing that link

Enable and disable Links – disabled links will not transmit network traffic

Enable and disable Nodes – disabled nodes will not transmit network traffic and so by implication the links connected to them are not usable

All these setting can be updated while the network (emulation) is running with the GUI or RESTapi

This feature extends the existing ‘Automated Routing’ concept (found in the GUI option Auto-Configure routes to be fully dynamic

This feature can be thought of operating in the same way as a vehicle’s Satnav which chooses the fastest route (lowest total cost in NE-ONE terms) and cannot use roads (links in NE-ONE terms) that are blocked or intersections (Nodes in NE-ONE terms) that are blocked

NODPR-427 & NODPR-428

‘External Dynamic Routing’ and ‘Internal Dynamic Routing’ used together – the sum is greater than the parts

When both ‘External Dynamic Routing’ and ‘Internal Dynamic Routing’ are used together (which is not mandatory). They will:

Transmit external (OSPF/BGP) subnet information to the Internal network which will if necessary update internal routing

Transmit internal subnet changes to external OSPF/BGP routers

As a corollary connect OSPF/BGP to other OSPF/BGP networks via the NE-ONE’s network receiving and transmitting subnet changes between these networks

NODPR-420

New Curve Driven Interpolation for Network Variables – smoothing out the changes

Until now Network Variables changed values at specific times defined by the timeline. Now it’s possible to make gradual changes between the one timeframe and the next. Curve driven interpolation will fit a ‘smooth’ Bezier curve between changes, and you can also manipulate the curve shape manually. Curves can also be straight lines if you prefer to make linear changes between values

NODPR-475

New Gilbert Elliott Loss function – effective simulation of real world bursty packet loss

A new Gilbert Elliott Loss function has now been added to the available loss functions.

This loss algorithm uses a two-state model to simulate bursty packet loss, switching between "good" and "bad" states to reflect realistic network behavior. This makes it especially useful for evaluating how communication systems handle periods of high loss, helping improve error correction and streaming reliability.

NODPR-419

New Flow Mapping addition to Reporting

Easily visualize what IPs are communicating with what other IPs, and where the heavier flows of data are occurring. You can also visualize which parts of the network are independent from each-other based on what conversations are passing through (or if on a switch mirror port to) the NE-ONE. This feature can be found in the ‘Top Talkers and more’ area of reporting.

NODPR-476 & NODPR-487

MPLS Label support – Route and Filter by MPLS Labels

New MPLS label support has been added to ‘Link Qualification Criteria’ (Advanced box) in Point to Point networks (emulations), and all expression routing and expression filter functions in Multi Point networks (emulations).

All MPLS header fields can be tested:

mpls.label - the MPLS Label

mpls.tc - TC: Traffic Class (QoS and ECN)"

mpls.s - S: Bottom-of-Stack (1 if last MPLS label, 0 if there are more labels)

mpls.ttl - TTL: Time-to-Live

These fields refer to the first (outermost) mpls label, the next (second mpls label) if any can be accessed using the prefix mpls_inner e.g. mpls_inner.label, mpls_inner.tc etc.

Example: mpls.label=200 selects the link, route or filter is the outermost mpls label is 200. As usual, more sophisticated expressions can be created using and, or, <, > etc.

NOTES:

mpls fields are not available in any non-expression library routing or filter functions and, due to the offset mentioned in 1, tests for layer 3, layer 4 etc. fields will not work correctly. Therefore stick to expression functions where mpls packets are part of the testing.

View MPLS packets dynamically

It is now also possible to view mpls packets and their labels (to a maximum of 10 levels) in ‘Live Packet Monitoring’

NODPR-396

New LDAPS – Secure LDAP over TLS (Transport Layer Security)

It is now possible to login to the NE-ONE using your corporate username and password using LDAPS i.e. LDAP over TLS also sometimes called LDAP over SSL.

This new feature is part of NE-ONE’s Authentication settings. It allows a certificate to be mandated and has a certificate (pem file) upload capability

NODPR-483 & NODPR-479

New Disable (and Enable) Links and Nodes

It is now possible disable a link or node in the emulated network. Any traffic directed to that link or node will be dropped.

As noted above (in NODPR-428) if dynamic routing is enabled, alternative routes will be calculated to exclude the disabled link.

Reference, if Applicable

Description

NODPR-404

Resolved host names (from DNS) are now shown on the monitoring dashboard, rather than just IP addresses (provided DNS reverse lookup is available).

NODPR-79

For users of the NE-ONE Desktop Hardware, which has an LCD panel, it is possible to start networks that are defined in the /Library/Networks/LCD folder directly from the panel. This folder however did not exist by default. It is now created on install, so all that is required is to copy network files into this folder for them to be available to start from the panel.

NODPR-287

The firmware version in use on the NE-ONE’s network cards is now written to the ippe.log (aka /Support/system.log when view from the Web GUI)

NODPR-446

It is now possible to enable and disable Nodes and Links in the GUI. A disabled object cannot transmit packets. See also New Feature (NODPR-428) ‘Internal Dynamic Routing’ for how this affects dynamic routing

NODPR-558

When using the RESTapi the GET operation for javascript would only return the last javascript sent to the engine This could be the update of just a few properties. Now it will return the entire javascript

NODPR-544

When loading a multi-point network containing references to ports that no longer exist, or due to an export from another NE-ONE and subsequent import, never existed, the ports would be blank in drop down menus. Now they show up with their original names but are marked as invalid

NODPR-502

It is now possible to get additional data that impairment functions are monitoring, for example the mean latency in a second imposed by a latency function using the RESTapi. This is supported by two new RESTapi endpoints (calls):

GET /ippeapi/networks/{network_id}/ppo/{ppo_id}/function/{function_id}/stats?output=GraphTitles
This will provide the names of the statistics that can be obtained

GET /ippeapi/networks/{network_id}/ppo/{ppo_id}/function/{function_id}/stats?output={stat name}
Where stat name was obtained from the first call

For more information on {network_id}, {ppo_id} and {function_id} please see notes on using the RESTapi

NODPR-491

In table views like Statistics and the File Browser the first column i.e. the entity column (port, node, link, file name etc.) has been frozen when scrolling sideways. This makes it much easier to associate data columns on the right with the correct entity

Miscellaneous minor improvements

Reference, if Applicable

Description

NODPR-578

When starting a Network from the File Browser using (right-mouse-click) Play multiple times the Network eventually fails to start without displaying an error in the GUI. Error messages in ippe.log (/Support/system.log from the file browser) indicate “All of the class file descriptors are in use”. This is now fixed.

NODPR-452

Saved Labels defined for IP addresses in the reporting feature ‘Top Talkers and more’ -> Settings -> IP Labels were not being displayed in the reports. This is now fixed.

NODPR-478

A memory leak which would eventually slow down Network Play (start) and stop operations and might eventually lead to the emulator engine being killed due to out of memory has been fixed.

NODPR-488

When many changes were being made to Network variables at short intervals (e.g. <100ms) the changes could ‘fall behind the clock’. As this was cumulative the difference could become substantial after a while. This has been fixed.

NODPR-355

Packet Capture on Hardware ports would only capture incoming packets.
Packet Capture on Soft ports would only capture outgoing packets.
These are now fixed.

NODPR-189

In the Application Performance Report clicking on the triangle symbol to expand and show individual transactions did not work. This is now fixed.

NODPR-385

With the Application Performance Report, there could be concurrency issues with database write if the report was attempted to be generated when the data was being written. It is now only possible to run the report when the network is stopped.

NODPR-435

In dual hop point to point networks where an uneven number of links were used on the left and right the GUI could fail with the ‘squiggly man’. This is now fixed.

NODPR-439

Auto generated routing could fail on certain topologies due to cyclical parenting of Nodes. This is now fixed.

NODPR-443

Creating 2 comparison graphs for the same link, but with one set to "packets_per_second" and the other set to "bits_per_second" causes the second graph to not populate with data. This is now fixed

NODPR-444

When a non-comparison graph is produced, i.e. only one item is plotted on the graph, NE-ONE automatically creates a mean line graph. The mean line was being computed incorrectly. This is now fixed and the mean is now calculated on the previous 7 points.

NODPR-602

When a point to point network containing Intelligent Packet Replay is exported to multi-point the resulting network has an illegal filter. This is fixed***

NODPR-598

On the Network Variables definition/update GUI page the data for the network variables could disappear under certain workflows. This is now fixed.

NODPR-583

After completely refreshing the Chrome GUI (ctrl-shift-R) then create a ‘full mesh’ from the wizard you cannot attach a port to the node - the panel to do this is missing. Performing other operations on the GUI could correct this. This is now fixed.

NODPR-577

Deleting a variable from the timeline before updating the timeline causes the GUI to fail with a ‘squiggly man’

NODPR-576

If you click on the cloud button in node -> properties in the multipoint designer and it is greyed out (due to having no cloud function attached) it incorrectly tells you it's an unlicensed feature. This is now fixed.

NODPR-569

If a network fails to start when using multi-point designer, the web GUI could sometimes fail. This is now fixed.

NODPR-511

In Live Packet monitoring clicking the Clear button did not always clear the panel. This is now fixed.

NODPR-492

Granting a non-admin user permission to use a port did not grant access to that port’s children and so on. This is now fixed.

NODPR-465

If you attempted to load a port config while running a network (emulation) it would not work (correct as the network will be using one or more of the ports), however no error message was issued. An error message is now issued.

NODPR-462

In the scenario builder it the timeline would not extend correctly beyond 80 seconds. This is now fixed.

NODPR-398

If you minimize the browser window while graphing the graph time starts to fall behind the real-time. This is now fixed.

Miscellaneous minor fixes

NODPR-385

The Application Report is available only after the Network (Emulation) has stopped. This is to prevent concurrency issues on the database seen in previous versions. A new popup prevents this: The application report can only be generated once the network is stopped. Other reporting functions are not affected by this restriction.

NODPR-126

Setting the link speed to a very low value now generates a warning popup: 'Very low Link Speed set on link'.

NODPR-404

At this time, for performance reasons the Monitoring Dashboard does not resolve host names, and so the systems appear on that dashboard as IP addresses. You can see host names by clicking through into Reports

Reference, if Applicable

Description

NODPR-556

When using Internal and External dynamic routing with very frequent (sub second) changes in cost performed by Network Variables for many hours internal memory could be exhausted causing the NE-ONE engine to restart. This is being actively investigated.

NODPT-600

Playback of certain streams in IPR are causing yellow prints indicating potential issues. These are being actively investigated.

NODPR-296

When creating ports or loading a port config in the port manager, it will sometimes create an extra line connecting the new port with a different port. This is an visual artifact and can be removed by refreshing the browser.

It is also possible to switch to List view to avoid this.

NODPR-88

Impairments involving packet duplication should be put at the bottom of the list of functions when in advanced mode. This prevents the duplicated packet being duplicated itself.

NE1-362

Some customers have observed that the upgrade appears to time out with a session timeout message and then offer to refresh or login again from scratch at the end, rather than issue an upgrade completed successfully popup. If this occurs to you, do not be concerned, the upgrade has completed successfully. Just refresh your browser (with the browser refresh button) and you'll be able to login without issue.

Workaround

For the smoothest upgrade experience stop all running networks - you can right mouse click on them in the active network list (on the home page) and stop them from there. Then refresh the browser (using the browser's refresh button).

Now you can upgrade using the standard method. Use the Web GUI to go to: Management [menu]→ Platform Settings→ Software Update and then upload the appropriate update file (.itu file). It will take several minutes to complete. There should now be no timeout.

NE1-333

The Application Performance Report, which is reached when 'drilling down' in the Applications report, does not currently support downloading. This will be added in a future version

NE1-334

If a lot of data has been collected it can take a while to produce the reports. However, there is currently no visual indication of the need to wait. This will be added in a future version

NE1-330

In the 'hardware traffic generation' soft port, if you set up a generating stream without choosing the Stream Type (which visually shows UDP) it errors on Save with 'Could not create port: gen1, Stream: 1- Stream Type must be TCP or UDP'

Workaround: Change the Stream Type to TCP then back to UDP

NE1-310

Clicking on an NE-ONE v5 scenario which has already been converted will not convert it again, unless the converted file is first deleted. No message is output.

NE1-281

Launching an 'old' point-to-point network using the new Play feature from the File Browser may generate a 'network Error - Object right: Cannot Open a connection to Input port (1) - likely it's already in use'. This is because these older emulations were not 'relocatable', except by the Point-to-Point designer. To solve the issue, load the network into the point-to-point designer and (re)save it - this updates it to be relocatable - then Play from the file browser will work.

NE1-278

On the Azure and AWS platforms, logging on at the console goes directly to the command prompt - this is due to the platform constructing the default username in these cases

NE1-279

On Azure and AWS, the platforms directly take control of the console usernames and Management Port addressing. At this time therefore the console menu does not appear on console login and GUI setting of the management port addresses is not functioning

NE1-222

On Desktop systems Generation 4 and 4A - the LCD will start even without the system being powered on leading to the false impression that the system was not starting. Please 'short' press the power button if it does not appear to be coming on

NE1-100

Due to the large variety of network (emulation) designs customers have reported that certain legacy Emulations or files from both INE v8/V9 and NE-ONE v5.0 have not automatically converted to NE-ONE v2022 format - if this happens please email them to support so that we improve the converter. (Many improvements were already made in this version). Where appropriate we will send back a correctly converted file

NE1-99

The context sensitive entry into the User manual from screens relies on PDF destination markers, however not all browsers support this feature. Chrome, Edge (Recent, non legacy versions) & Firefox support this feature. Safari does not support this feature

NE1-98

There is an issue with removing a function in advanced settings mode and then clicking the Update All button. The function is not removed, and its impairments persist. A workaround for this is to set the function's impairment parameters so that it will not impair.

This version contains a major upgrade of the operating system and other related software libraries. To update to it from any previous version you must first update to (at least) v2024.09.1723.3. If you are not already running, version 2024.09.1723.3, or higher, you’ll receive an error message after uploading the upgrade kit (.itu file) saying:

• Please update to 2024.09.1723.3 or above before updating

After this error message, if the GUI remains with the message “Please wait while the system is updating...” in the centre of the screen. It will need refreshing using the browser’s refresh feature to continue.

Reference, if Applicable

Description

NODPR-430

File deletion in the (disk) Housekeeping feature was not properly not respecting watermark values. This ​​has now been fixed.

NODPR-439

The recalculate routes feature, in some circular topologies, could crash the NE-ONE. This has now been fixed.

NODPR-443

When multiple comparison graphs were created for the same link, the second graph did not contain data. This has now been fixed.

NODPR-444

On basic graphs, mean average line issue in the graphs has now been fixed.

NODPR-448

The bug that was causing confusion in the Breakpoints Explorer screen is now fixed.

This version contains a major upgrade of the operating system and other related software libraries. To update to it from any previous version you must first update to (at least) v2024.09.1723.3. If you are not already running, version 2024.09.1723.3, or higher, you’ll receive an error message after uploading the upgrade kit (.itu file) saying:

• Please update to 2024.09.1723.3 or above before updating

After this error message, if the GUI remains with the message “Please wait while the system is updating...” in the centre of the screen. It will need refreshing using the browser’s refresh feature to continue.

NOTE

The new reporting and monitoring dashboard features are optional, but available at no cost to existing customers with a current support contract. To get access to the new reporting features please request them via the support portal and they will be added to your license.

Reference, if Applicable

Description

All CVE's (see https://www.cve.org/) relevant to NE-ONE's operating system, layered packages e.g. python, openssl etc have been applied, up to and including those created on 5^th December 2024

We are not noting them individually at this time.

New: Security Scans are now completed with Qualys at each main release and each security release

Reference, if Applicable

Description

NODPR-190

Major New Reports are now available.

There are bar charts showing:

Top Talkers – the IP addresses with the most data (both directions)

Top Initiators – the IP addresses initiating most data (both directions) – these are usually clients, or in the case of UDP traffic the IP address to send the first packet

Top Responders – (the opposite of an initiator) - the IP addresses responding to requests with most data (both directions) – usually servers, or in the case of UDP traffic the IP address to reply to the initiator

Top Protocols – the top protocols e.g. ICMP, TCP, UDP etc. (showing both directions of data)

Top Applications – based on the destination TCP/UDP port for an initiator (showing both directions of data)

Top Latencies – shows top the flows (conversations) with the highest latencies

The bar charts are stacked separately by sent and received data

It is possibly to drill down from one chart to the next by clicking on the bar or flows e.g. having located the Top Initiator drill down to find the Top applications for that Initiator IP. This works similarly for all the above.

These charts can be found in:

Reports & Graphs (menu) à choose Network à choose Run à click on ‘Top Talkers and more’

NODPR-190

Application Breakpoints

These are a form of trigger which generate alerts. You can create your own Breakpoints (triggers) for the following:

Response Time – The time it took the application to respond to a request. This (typically) applies to TCP based protocols

Average Bandwidth falls below a defined level. This (typically) applies to streaming protocols e.g. UDP

NODPR-190