= The !FloodLight Controller. =
!FloodLight is an open-source, Java-based controller distributed by Big Switch Networks. 
== I. Installation. ==
The following describes the installation of !FloodLight on an Ubuntu 11.04 (natty) system. Installation is described on their [http://floodlight.openflowhub.org/getting-started/ website], but will be repeated here. If you are using SSH, You may want X11 forwarding to be able to launch Eclipse later on.[[BR]]

1. install the dependencies:  
{{{
apt-get install build-essential default-jdk ant python-dev git-core eclipse
}}}

2. pull sources from github, and build:
{{{
git clone git://github.com/floodlight/floodlight.git
cd floodlight/
git checkout stable
ant;
}}}

3. launching the controller - there are two ways to do this - through eclipse, or directly through java (both in the floodlight/ directory):
{{{
java -jar target/floodlight.jar
}}}
or as an Eclipse project - first set up Eclipse: 
{{{
ant eclipse;
}}}
then import Floodlight as a project (verbatim from the website):
 * Open eclipse and create a new workspace
 * File -> Import -> General -> Existing Projects into Workspace. Then click “Next”.
 * From “Select root directory” click “Browse”. Select the parent directory where you placed floodlight earlier.
 * Check the box for “Floodlight”. No other Projects should be present and none should be selected.
 * Click Finish.
Once imported, the controller may be run by right-clicking on Controller.java (net.floodlightcontroller.core.internal.Controller.java, found under src/main/java) and choosing Run As -> Java Application. 
== II. Adding functionality. ==
A base tutorial can be found [http://floodlight.openflowhub.org/developing-floodlight/ here]. The rough steps are the following:
 1. Create a new class under src/main/java, basing it off of a template, if it exists, and 
 2. Modify Controller.java to include your class. Note - to search for the init() function it is better to look for its whole declaration, `protected void init()`. 

= The Floodlight VM = 
This is a VM image geared towards VirtualBox containing a running floodlight instance, mininet, and wireshark. [[BR]]
It can easily be run on qemu/kvm after conversion to `qcow2` with `qemu-img convert -O` and with the parameters used to run mininet. 

== temporary mininet info ==
Using with vnc: requires:
{{{
kvm-pxe ssvnc tightvncserver
}}}