| Network protocol developers typically go through a tedious and error-prone process of testing and debugging their protocol implementation for various settings. They perform a number of tasks manually such as configuration of numerous network settings, controlled reproduction of unexpected protocol behavior, and traffic capture and analysis. Once fully tested, network protocols can be deployed in production networks. To speed up protocol development, developers need convenient testing and debugging tools. In this thesis, we present a Protocol Testing and Evaluation System (PTES) to assist developers in transparently testing their protocol implementations. The core part of PTES is a rule-based network testing and evaluation framework. PTES enables a protocol developer to construct and execute various controlled and repeatable testing scenarios. The developer can use simple iptables-like rules to specify various local and distributed network events and actions. During protocol execution, PTES triggers these events and actions in a coordinated manner and records the protocol responses to these events which can later be examined by the developer. We present the design and implementation of three variants of PTES for native, simulated, and emulated platforms for both wired and wireless networks. We also demonstrate the utility of PTES by automating the testing of TCP/IP and Optimized Link State Routing (OLSR) protocols. |
