[Babel-users] babelctl?

[Juliusz Chroboczek]

> Well, for one thing it would be more reliable to have a unix socket
> instead of a network port.

A Unix socket cannot easily be tunnelled using ssh or socat.

> Also, the output is not easy to parse as it is right now. First off,
> there is no delimitation that allows us to see when a listing is
> over.

It's not a listing -- it's deltas that arrive asynchronously.  But then,
adding an "end of initial dump" marker would solve your problem quite
nicely.

> Second, the fields display is inconsistent. The "chan (255)" field, for
> example, is sometimes there, sometimes not...

The format is extensible, and in principle all fields are optional.

> git://src.anarcat.ath.cx/reseaulibre-scripts

I'll have a look when I have some time next week.

>> The Quagga version of Babel has an extensive command-line interface:

> Do you mind showing me sample output so that I could make something
> similar out of this?

jch at huponomos:~$ sudo /usr/local/quagga/bin/vtysh 

Hello, this is Quagga (version 0.99.17.11).
Copyright 1996-2005 Kunihiro Ishiguro, et al.

huponomos# show babel 
  authentication  Packet authentication
  interface       Interface information
  neighbor        Print neighbors
  parameters      Configuration information
  route           Babel internal routing table
huponomos# show babel interface alpha
alpha is up
  ifindex 4, MTU 1476 bytes <UP,POINTOPOINT,RUNNING,NOARP>
  Babel protocol is running on this interface
  Operating mode is "wired"
  Split horizon mode is On
  Hello interval is 10000 ms
  Update interval is 40000 ms
  Rxcost multiplier is 96
  Packet authentication is disabled
huponomos# show babel neighbor alpha
Neighbour fe80::bc38:5f1b:5feb:fa12 dev alpha reach ffff rxcost 96
  txcost 96.
huponomos# show ip route 192.168.4.31
Routing entry for 192.168.4.31/32
  Known via "babel", distance 95, metric 0, best
  Last update 00:02:13 ago
  * 192.168.4.27, via gamma onlink
huponomos# show babel route 192.168.4.31
192.168.4.31/32 metric 233 refmetric 137 id e2:91:f5:ff:fe:cc:7a:00 seqno 54846 chan (84,192,28) age 89 via gamma neigh fe80::d8a2:ed31:a081:552 nexthop 192.168.4.27 (installed)
192.168.4.31/32 metric 224 refmetric 128 id e2:91:f5:ff:fe:cc:7a:00 seqno 54846 chan (214,209,24) age 5 via alpha neigh fe80::bc38:5f1b:5feb:fa12 nexthop 192.168.4.25 (feasible)