vMark-node by Pathgate

World's first open source Ethernet software-based demarcation NID.

Latest version: 0.3.9 / Release notes: Link / News at: LinkedIn

🚀 Features:

• Modular tree-style CLI with tab autocompletions and '?' helper.
• Shell/Dispatcher/Modules/Plugins architecture.
• Complete Interface management.
• GPLv3 License.
• Add & delete sub.interfaces (QinQ / dual-tags supported) (v0.2)
• TWAMP (RFC5357) implementation for End-to-End L3 tests. (ipv4 & ipv6, sender/responder modes). (v0.3)
• Pypi (pip) packaging. (v0.3.1)
• Remote Management via vMark. (v0.3.4)
• XDP-Switch (eBPF) based MEF-compliant transparent Ethernet switching (v0.3.9)

🔧 Feature roadmap:

• Ethernet OAM. (IEEE 802.1ag / Y.1731)
• Timing protocols support (ITU-T G.8262 Sync-E and IEEE 1588v2)
• Automated MEF3 Service WAN failover.
• Remote loop testing with automatic timeout.
• RFC2544 Service Activation testing and reflector.
• open-BFDD implementation for service session assurance.
• fiber-interface management and optic levels monitoring.
• SNMP Support.
• Multi-vendor IPSec Tunnel support.
• VXLAN Tunneling.

# Overview

vMark-node is a software-based open-source Ethernet demarcation NID designed for flexibility and democratization in the Carrier industry.

The "-node"** refers to this being the client-side of vMark server. (vMark-node doenst need vMark to work).

# Architecture

Shell: Provides command-line auto-completion, some help-related features and dynamically builds the command tree based on the modules and installed plugins. This enables a modular, scalable and re-usable interactive CLI experience.

Dispatcher: Interprets user commands, determines the appropriate module to handle each command, and routes execution accordingly. The dispatcher acts as the central coordinator between the shell and the available modules/plugins, Web-UI and API interactions talk directly with the Dispatcher.

Modules: Shell modules encapsulate core command logic and define the command tree structure. Examples: 'show', 'config', and 'system', each representing a set of related commands and subcommands with item descriptions.

Plugins: Integrate external libraries or tools to extend functionality. For example, plugins can provide access to third-party systems such as OpenBFDD, allowing seamless integration with external services.

📎 Installation methods

System Requirements

• Python 3.9+

• bpftool

• pkg-config

• libnl-3-dev and libnl-route-3-dev (Debian/Ubuntu)

• libnl3-devel (Fedora/RHEL/CentOS)

• Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y python3.9 python3.9-venv python3-pip build-essential pkg-config libnl-3-dev libnl-route-3-dev python3-dev ethtool

• Fedora/RHEL/CentOS:

sudo dnf install -y python3.9 python3-pip gcc pkgconfig libnl3-devel python3-devel ethtool

Quick Install

git clone https://github.com/xmas-ar/vMark-node
cd vMark-node/vMark-node
pip3 install -r requirements.txt
python3 main.py

PIP Install (recommended)

(Might need one of these two lines previous to install pip:)

sudo dnf install -y pkgconfig libnl3-devel gcc python3-devel
sudo apt install -y pkg-config libnl-3-dev python3-dev build-essential

Then do:

pip install vmark-node
~/.local/bin/vmark-node

🔄 Running as a Background Service (Production)

To ensure vmark-node stays running in the background (e.g., to keep the API server accessible by vMark), you can use systemd or tmux.

✅ Option 1: systemd Service (Recommended for Linux)

1. Create a service file:

bash
sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/vmark-node.service

Paste this configuration:

[Unit]
Description=vMark-node Service
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/vmark-node
WorkingDirectory=/opt/vmark-node
Restart=always
RestartSec=3
User=nobody

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

⚠️ Replace /usr/local/bin/vmark-node and /opt/vmark-node with your actual install path (check with which vmark-node if installed via pip).

2. Enable and start the service:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable vmark-node
sudo systemctl start vmark-node

2. Useful commands:

sudo systemctl status vmark-node
sudo journalctl -u vmark-node -f

✅ Option 2: TMUX (Simpler option)

1. Install tmux and launch vmark (after installed with pip):

sudo apt install tmux
tmux
vmark-node

2. Then press:

Ctrl + B, then D

👉 That detaches the session, leaving vmark-node running.

3. To resume later:

tmux attach