Installing NS2 and NAM on Windows using WSL

This guide provides step-by-step instructions to install NS2 and NAM on a Windows machine using Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL).

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have WSL installed with an Ubuntu distribution.
For detailed instructions on installing WSL2, check out this guide.

Launch the Ubuntu terminal from your Windows machine.

Run the following commands to update and upgrade the system packages:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

This ensures your system has the latest updates.

Run the following commands to install NS2 and its dependencies:

sudo apt install ns2 -y
sudo apt install tcl -y

The nam package may fail to install directly from the Ubuntu repositories. Instead, follow these steps:

Download the NAM .deb file from the following link:
Download NAM Package

After downloading, use the following command to install the package. Replace <package> with the path to the downloaded file:

sudo dpkg -i <package>

If the file is downloaded on Windows, add mnt/ at the beginning of the file path. For example:

sudo dpkg -i /mnt/c/Users/<YourUsername>/Downloads/nam_1.15-10-ubuntu14_amd64.deb

After installation, check if NS2 and NAM are working correctly:

Run the following command to test if NS2 is installed:

ns2

You should see the NS2 command prompt or version information.

Run the following command to test NAM:

nam

This should open the NAM GUI.

Package Installation Errors: If you encounter errors during the installation, try running:
```
sudo apt --fix-broken install
```
File Path in WSL: Always remember to prepend /mnt/ to file paths when accessing files stored on your Windows file system.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed NS2 and NAM on your Windows machine using WSL.

Feel free to reach out if you encounter issues or need further assistance!