SDN Network Topology Visualizer

A live browser-based SDN monitoring dashboard connecting a POX OpenFlow controller to a React.js frontend. Real-time topology, packet capture, SIEM alerts, flow management, threat detection, and 17 monitoring tabs.

Screenshots

Dashboard

Live Topology Map

SIEM Alerts Dashboard

Wireshark-Style Packet Capture

Features

Network Monitoring

• Live topology map with zoom, pan, and path tracing
• Wireshark-style packet capture (up to 10,000 packets buffered)
• Real-time bandwidth graphs per switch
• Active TCP/UDP session tracker
• Top talkers by bytes exchanged

Security (SIEM / EDR)

• 10 detection rules: SYN flood, ICMP flood, port scan, ARP flood, MAC spoofing, UDP flood, SSH brute force, DNS amplification...
• Per-host threat scoring (0-100, auto-decays over time)
• MITRE ATT&CK technique tags on every alert
• One-click host blocking (installs drop rule on switch)

Management

• OpenFlow flow table viewer, add, and delete rules
• QoS bandwidth limiting and DSCP marking
• 30 network test types with correct Mininet commands
• 7 attack simulation scenarios
• Export: JSON, CSV, SVG, TXT for all data
• Subnet / CIDR calculator

Architecture

Mininet (virtual network)
    OpenFlow 1.0
        v
POX Controller  +  topology_api.py  (REST on :8000)
    HTTP /topo/
        v
React.js Dashboard  (dev server on :3000, proxied to :8000)

Requirements

Component	Version	Notes
OS	Ubuntu 22.04 LTS	VirtualBox VM works fine
Python	2.7.x	Required by POX — do NOT use Python 3
POX	0.3.0 (dart)	git clone https://github.com/noxrepo/pox
Node.js	16+ (v20 recommended)	Install via nvm
Mininet	2.x	sudo apt install mininet
Open vSwitch	Any	sudo apt install openvswitch-switch
hping3	Any	sudo apt install hping3
nmap	Any	sudo apt install nmap

Installation

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/Khaledak74/SDN_Topology_Visualizer.git
cd SDN_Topology_Visualizer

2. Install system dependencies

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y mininet openvswitch-switch hping3 nmap arp-scan

3. Install POX controller

cd ~
git clone https://github.com/noxrepo/pox.git

4. Copy the controller module

cp controller/topology_api.py ~/pox/pox/topology_api.py
cp controller/qos_topo.py ~/Desktop/qos_topo.py

5. Install Node.js (via nvm)

sudo apt install curl
curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.7/install.sh | bash
source ~/.bashrc
sudo chown $USER:$USER /home/"machine_name"/.nvm
nvm install 20
nvm use 20
node --version   >  v20.x.x
npm --version    > 10.x.x    

6. Install React dependencies

cd dashboard
npm install      > > about 260 Mb

Usage

Open three terminal windows and run one command in each.

Terminal 1 — Start POX

cd ~/pox
./pox.py forwarding.l2_learning openflow.discovery \
         openflow.spanning_tree --no-flood --hold-down \
         host_tracker web.webcore topology_api \
         samples.pretty_log log.level --DEBUG

Terminal 2 — Start Mininet

sudo mn --custom ~/Desktop/qos_topo.py --topo custom \
        --controller=remote,ip=127.0.0.1,port=6633 \
        --switch=ovs,protocols=OpenFlow10
# Then generate traffic:
mininet> pingall

Terminal 3 — Start Dashboard

cd dashboard && npm start
# Opens browser at http://localhost:3000

Dashboard Tabs

Tab	Description
Dashboard	KPIs, top threats, recent alerts, traffic overview
Topology	Interactive SVG network map with zoom and path trace
Alerts	SIEM alerts with MITRE ATT&CK tags
Threats	Per-host threat scores and risk levels
Packets	Wireshark-style live packet capture table
Sessions	Active TCP/UDP session tracker
Hosts	Host intel: MAC, IP, bytes, protocols
Flows	OpenFlow flow table — view, add, delete rules
QoS	Bandwidth limits and DSCP marking
Graphs	Bandwidth history sparklines and alert timeline
Tests	30 network test types with Mininet commands
Cmd Log	Timeline of all controller/operator commands
Events	POX system event log
Reports	Auto-generated security & performance reports
Export	Download all data as JSON, CSV, SVG, TXT
Simulate	7 attack scenarios with step-by-step commands
Net Calc	Subnet/CIDR calculator + OpenFlow port reference

Troubleshooting

Dashboard shows 'Disconnected' Make sure POX is running and the proxy in dashboard/package.json points to http://localhost:8000.

SyntaxError: Non-ASCII character in topology_api.py POX uses Python 2.7. The file must be 100% ASCII. Run: python -c "open('topology_api.py','rb').read().decode('ascii')"

Ghost hosts appearing on topology This is normal at startup. Run pingall in Mininet to stabilize.

npm start fails: cannot find module Run cd dashboard && npm install first.

Mininet fails to start Run sudo mn -c to clean up any leftover state, then retry.

Contributing

Pull requests are welcome. For major changes, open an issue first. Please test on Ubuntu 22.04 with POX 0.3.0 before submitting.

YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UuCGPNN7gw

License

MIT License - see [LICENSE](LICENS E) for details.