# mininet/mininet

Emulator for rapid prototyping of Software Defined Networks

Repository: https://github.com/mininet/mininet
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/mininet
Homepage: https://mininet.org
Language: Python
License: BSD-3-Clause
License Family: permissive
Topics: mininet, openflow, sdn, emulator, python, network-namespaces, linux
Last push: 2024-07-09T13:25:31+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 23/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5613, "days_push": 785, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 5849, forks 1803 (observed 2026-08-28T04:09:31.635856+00:00)

## What it is
Mininet is a network emulator that creates realistic virtual networks of hosts, switches, and links on a single Linux machine using process-based virtualization and network namespaces. It is designed for rapid prototyping, testing, teaching, and research of Software Defined Networks (SDN) using OpenFlow and P4.

## Use cases
- emulate a software defined network on a laptop
- prototype and test an OpenFlow SDN controller
- create custom network topologies for experiments
- teach networking concepts with a virtual network lab
- run ping and iperf tests between virtual hosts
- demo network applications before deploying to hardware

## When to choose
- you need a fast, lightweight virtual network on a single Linux machine
- you are developing or testing SDN controllers with OpenFlow or P4
- you want a teaching or research tool for networking experiments
- you need a Python API to script custom network topologies

## When to avoid
- you need full OS virtualization or emulation of non-Linux hosts
- you require accurate hardware performance or line-rate testing on real switches
- you are not running Linux, since Mininet depends on Linux kernel network namespaces
- you need to emulate wireless or highly specialized link-layer behavior

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: stable
- function: simulation, networking, cli, developer-tools
- domain: networking, developer-tools, education
- platform: python, cli
- tags: sdn, openflow, network-emulator, network-namespaces, virtual-network, openvswitch, linux

## Member repositories
- mininet/mininet (main) score 23

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:31.635856+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T17:51:54.094703+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/mininet/mininet (fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:31.635856+00:00, sha 457357faa1fe)
  - homepage: https://mininet.org (fetched 2026-08-29T08:47:16.116564+00:00, sha ebf7b8ccb893)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.