FlowManager

FlowManager is a lightweight SDN application that provides direct, real-time control of OpenFlow switch tables. It is designed for teaching, experimentation, and rapid prototyping, allowing users to inspect, modify, and monitor flows in a controlled environment.

Originally built on Ryu, FlowManager (v0.5.0+) is now based on OS-Ken, improving maintainability and full Python 3 support.

Quick Start

git clone https://github.com/martimy/flowmanager
cd flowmanager

python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

python3 controller.py flowmanager.py

Open in browser:

http://localhost:8080/home/index.html

Features

Flow Management

• Add, modify, and delete flow entries
• Track flow changes over time

Advanced Tables

• Manage group tables and meters
• Backup and restore switch state

Monitoring & Visibility

• View flow, group, and meter tables
• Monitor switch statistics
• Visualize network topology

Screenshots

Architecture

• Controller: OS-Ken (OpenFlow control plane)
• Backend API: FastAPI
• Validation: Pydantic
• Frontend: Vue.js (v2)

What’s New

v0.5.0

• Migrated from Ryu to OS-Ken
• Replaced WSGI/RPC with FastAPI
• Introduced Pydantic models for validation and type safety
• Structured JSON API responses
• Modernized UI (Vue 2)
• Removed Python 2 compatibility layers

v0.4.x

• jQuery upgrades and stability improvements
• Codebase refactoring and modularization

Installation

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/martimy/flowmanager
cd flowmanager

Set up environment:

python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

Docker

Run with an application:

docker run -d -p 6653:6653 -p 8080:8080 \
        -v ${PWD}/examples:/home/auser/app --name flowmanager \
        martimy/flowmanager app/learning_switch_2.py

Then open:

http://localhost:8080/home/index.html

Running the Application

Run FlowManager:

python3 controller.py flowmanager.py

With another SDN application:

python3 controller.py flowmanager.py <application>

Enable topology discovery:

python3 controller.py --observe-links flowmanager.py <application>

Legacy UI:

http://host:8080/home/legacy/index.html

Typical Workflow

1. Start FlowManager controller
2. Launch a Mininet topology
3. Open the web UI
4. Inspect flows and topology
5. Modify flows and observe behaviour

Mininet

To use FlowManager with Mininet, install Mininet separately: http://mininet.org/

Example:

# Terminal 1
python3 controller.py flowmanager.py examples/learning_switch_2.py

# Terminal 2
sudo examples/mn_threeswitch_topo.py

Docker compose

You can start FlowManager + Mininet using Docker compose:

docker compose up -d
docker compose exec mininet ./mn_threeswitch_topo.py

To shutdown:

docker compose down

Note: The SDN apps and Mininet topologies are expected to be in the examples folder.

Documentation

Full documentation: https://martimy.github.io/flowmanager/

Migrating Ryu Applications

Most Ryu applications can be migrated by updating imports:

Form

from ryu.base import app_manager

To

from os_ken.base import app_manager

Some API differences may exist. Test and validate behavior after migration.

Using Older Versions

To use the pre-0.5 version:

git checkout legacy

Use Cases

• SDN / OpenFlow teaching labs
• Network experimentation
• Debugging OpenFlow behavior
• Rapid prototyping of flow rules

Author

Maen Artimy http://adhocnode.com

License

Licensed under the Apache 2.0 License. See LICENSE.