freeRouter source tree

freeRouter is a free, open source router os process.
it speaks routing protocols, and (re)encapsulates packets on interfaces.
it can export the computed forwarding tables to external dataplanes.

summary of features:

forwarding: ipv4, ipv6, ipx, mpls, nsh, layer2, irb, atom, eompls, vpls, evpn
routing protocols: ospf, isis, bgp, rip, eigrp, rift, babel, olsr, pim, msdp
lsp support: p2p, p2mp, mp2mp built by bgp, ldp, rsvp-te, sr, sr-te, bier, polka
crypto: macsec, ipsec, ikev1, ikev2, tls, dtls, ssh, openvpn, wireguard, sgt
tunnel: gre, ipip, l2tp, pptp, lisp, geneve, nvgre, vxlan, etherip, amt
encapsulation: ethernet, vlan, qinq, ppp(oe), framerelay, pwether, virtppp, hairpin
misc: acl, qos, nat, pbr, srv6, vrrp, hsrp, inspect, 6to4, rpl, tunnel, vpdn, pcep

more about the project at www.freertr.org

you can find the same source tree at various locations, normally all should be the same:

http://src.freertr.org/
http://sources.freertr.org/
http://codeberg.org/mc36/freeRtr
http://bitbucket.org/mc36mc/freeRtr
http://gitlab.com/mc36mc/freeRtr
http://github.com/mc36/freeRtr
http://gitea.com/mc36/freeRtr
http://git.sr.ht/~mc36/freeRtr

part of the subdirectories under misc/ are somewhere else too:

p4bf at http://bitbucket.software.geant.org/projects/RARE/repos/rare/browse
p4bmv2 at http://github.com/rare-freertr/RARE-bmv2

dependencies

you'll need an up to date debian sid with a jdk installed

for natives, you'll need clang, dpdk, libpcap, libbpf, libxdp, liburing, libmnl and libcrypto

for p4sai, you'll need libsai

for p4bmv2, you'll need p4c and bmv2

for p4bf, you'll need the tofino sdk and a switch with the asic

directory structure

the following directories could be found here:

src contains the main sources
cfg contains the self tests
misc contains some smaller subprojects, see below

the following directories will appear here:

img vm images used for interop and dataplane testing
binDwn packages used for demo vm creation
binDsk rootfs used for demo vm creation
binImg outcome of demo vm creation
binOut output of compilation
binTmp output of testing

directories under misc folder

native: dpdk, xdp, pcap, xsk, io uring, raw socket, mnl and sai based dataplanes
p4bf: tofino based dataplane
p4bmv2: bmv2 based dataplane
bogon: web based bogon originator
lookingglass: web based looking glass
captures: script to stream captures
sniffer: web based packet capture
mailer: web based mail reader
paster: web based pastebin service
gallery: web based album viewer
motion: web based alarm/recorder
player: web based music player/streamer/receiver
temper: web based thermostat/controller
trackmap: web based monitoring
position: web based location service
voice: an answering machine
snmp: some snmp definitions
rfcs: rfc series renamer
consistency: old style check definitions
tests: some volumentric generators
check: some check definitions
sensor: some sensor definitions
prometheus: some grafana definitions
netconf: some yang definitions
image: demo vm iso creator
img2ova: demo vm ova creator
service: install script

getting started

there is no build system in use, but you'll find shell scripts:

d.sh to clean up
c.sh to compile
r.sh to run
t.sh to selftest

as a first start to get your routers up, do the following:

cd src
./c.sh
./tw.sh rout-bgp001
telnet 127.0.0.1 20001
telnet 127.0.0.1 20002
telnet 127.0.0.1 20003
telnet 127.0.0.1 20004

to have a topology with a dataplane, do the following:

cd src
./c.sh
./cn.sh
./twd.sh p4lang-rout001
telnet 127.0.0.1 20001
telnet 127.0.0.1 20003
telnet 127.0.0.1 20004
telnet 127.0.0.1 20005
telnet 127.0.0.1 20006

contributing

to start coding on the project, take a look on the following:

grep me-the in the sources to see how to add a show command
grep ifcHdlc to see how to add a new interface encapsulation
take a look on rtrDownload to see an exmaple routing protocol
find out how to add a new game to the command line interface
try to solve a puzzle from the todo.txt in the source tree
in most of the folders there is a class to extend or implment
your eyes will bleed because of the mix of c, p4 and java

feel free to reach us on the mailing lists with your patches, ideas, feature requests, etc

additional information

directory listing of src.mchome.nop.hu/ at services.mchome.nop.hu:

date	size	name
-	dir	root
-	dir	parent
2025-07-10 18:19:46	dir	binDwn
2025-07-10 18:20:14	dir	binImg
2010-01-01 00:00:00	dir	binOut
2025-07-11 00:31:58	dir	binTmp
2025-07-08 16:41:19	dir	cfg
2025-07-10 07:57:32	dir	dmp
2025-07-08 05:57:44	dir	img
2021-12-22 16:41:25	dir	lost+found
2025-06-11 21:13:37	dir	misc
2025-07-10 23:21:19	dir	src
2025-03-22 09:54:37	1120	backup.sh
2025-07-08 13:36:17	687342	changelog.txt
2025-07-10 23:21:19	8227	changelogopnflw-openflow-.txt
2025-03-22 21:29:54	4687	readme.md
2024-10-17 10:43:30	106	release.sh
2025-05-12 10:54:15	449	rtr-hw.txt
2025-07-05 08:49:04	39902	rtr-sw.txt
2025-07-10 22:54:54	7009060	rtr.zip
2025-06-19 11:09:28	7067	todo.txt

extension	count	bytes	smallest	biggest	oldest	newest
.dirs.	10	0	0	0	2010-01-01 00:00:00	2025-07-11 00:31:58
.files.	9	7757960	106	7009060	2024-10-17 10:43:30	2025-07-10 23:21:19
.empty.	10	0	0	0	2010-01-01 00:00:00	2025-07-11 00:31:58
md	1	4687	4687	4687	2025-03-22 21:29:54	2025-03-22 21:29:54
sh	2	1226	106	1120	2024-10-17 10:43:30	2025-03-22 09:54:37
txt	5	742987	449	687342	2025-05-12 10:54:15	2025-07-10 23:21:19
zip	1	7009060	7009060	7009060	2025-07-10 22:54:54	2025-07-10 22:54:54

generated by freeRouter v25.7.10-cur.