SDN Firewall Project — POX Controller Application

Overview

This project demonstrates the implementation of a basic Layer 2 firewall in a Software-Defined Network (SDN) environment, using the POX controller. The application acts as a learning switch with firewall functionality: it dynamically learns device locations and also blocks traffic between specific MAC address pairs based on a policy file.

Features

• Layer 2 MAC Address Firewall: Enforces blocking between specified MAC address pairs.
• Learning Switch Logic: Forwards packets efficiently by learning device locations.
• Simple Policy File: Easily specify which MAC address pairs should not communicate.
• Mininet-based Test Topologies: Rapidly emulate and test network topologies.

Directory Structure

sdn-firewall-project/
├── README.md
├── LICENSE
├── requirements.txt
├── setup_instructions.md
├── firewall-switch-app.py
├── firewall-mac-policies.csv
├── report/
│   ├── Major_Project_Report.pdf
│   ├── mp.pptx
└── docs/
    ├── project_summary.md
    ├── sdn_overview.md
    └── annotated_code.md

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Ubuntu 20.04 (recommended, in a VM or natively)
• Mininet (for network emulation)
• POX controller (as the SDN controller)
• Python 2.7 (POX default)
• Optional: Wireshark, Iperf for networking/debugging

Installation

1. Set up your environment
   • Install Ubuntu (VM preferred).
   • Update system:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade

- Install Git:

sudo apt-get install git

2. Install Mininet

git clone https://github.com/mininet/mininet
sudo apt install mininet

- Test:

sudo mn --topo single,4 --test pingall

3. Install POX

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

- Test POX:

cd pox
./pox.py forwarding.l2_learning

4. Clone this repository and copy your files

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/sdn-firewall-project.git

Usage

1. Set your MAC address policy Edit firewall-mac-policies.csv. Example:

00:00:00:00:00:01 00:00:00:00:00:03
00:00:00:00:00:02 00:00:00:00:00:04

Place this file at ~/pox/pox/forwarding/firewall-mac-policies.csv (or edit the code path to match your setup). 2. Run the POX firewall-switch app

cd ~/pox
./pox.py forwarding.firewall-switch-app

3. Start Mininet with your desired topology
   • Minimal topology:

sudo mn --topo=single,4 --mac --controller=remote

- Test connectivity:
    - Blocked: h1 to h3, h2 to h4 (if in policy file)
    - Allowed: any not listed in policy

How It Works

• Firewall rules are installed on switch connection by reading firewall-mac-policies.csv.
• Packets matching firewall rules (specific MAC src/dst pairs) are dropped.
• All other packets are handled by learning switch logic: the app learns device locations and optimizes forwarding.

Example Output

• Pings between hosts as listed in the policy file will fail (blocked).
• All other pings will succeed (unless blocked by another rule).

Project Files

• firewall-switch-app.py — Main controller code.
• firewall-mac-policies.csv — MAC address firewall policy file.
• report/ and docs/ — Project documentation, in-depth explanations, and academic materials.
• setup_instructions.md — Extended, step-by-step setup workflow.

References

• Project report: report/Major_Project_Report.pdf
• Presentation: report/mp.pptx
• See report/ for supporting documentation and academic references.

License

Add a LICENSE file as appropriate (MIT recommended for most academic projects).

Acknowledgments

Project by:

• Satya Swarup Panda — 1801227442
• Sibasis Rath — 1801227495
• Shreyansh — 1801227487

Supervised by Prof. Manas Ranjan Mishra, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, C.V. Raman Global University, Bhubaneswar.

For detailed setup and troubleshooting, refer to setup_instructions.md and the full project report.

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