PROCEDURE 1:
This procedure works in all latest versions of Ubuntu.
Install ns,nam and xgraph by just a single command in the Terminal:
$ sudo apt-get install ns2 nam xgraph
You will be prompted for the user password. Enter it and watch Ubuntu do the things for You!
PROCEDURE 2:
These are the steps to install ns2.34, the traditional way.
Step1: Download ns-allinone-2.34 package from here: http://sourceforge.net/projects/nsnam/files/
I will be using ns version 2.34.
Step2: Place the ns-allinone-2.34.tar.gz file in your home folder(/home/micman in my case). Right click on the package and extract the contents in the same home folder.
Step3: Next, open the Terminal(Applications–>Accessories–>Terminal in ubuntu)
Step4: Change to ns-allinone-2.34 directory
$ cd /home/micman/ns-allinone-2.34
Step5: First, Install the dependencies
$ sudo apt-get install build-essential autoconf automake libxmu-dev gcc-4.3
Note that we are downgrading the gcc version, as ns2.34 works well with gcc4.3
Edit Makefile.in found at this location ns-allinone-2.34/otcl-1.13/Makefile.in as follows:
Find the line that says:
CC= @CC@
and change it to:
CC= gcc-4.3
Step6: Begin ns2.34 installation
$ sudo su
# ./install
Step7: Once the installation is successful i.e. without any errors, we need to add the path information to the file ~/.bashrc
$ gedit ~/.bashrc
Step8: Append the following lines to the file ~/.bashrc
# LD_LIBRARY_PATH
OTCL_LIB=/home/micman/ns-allinone-2.34/otcl-1.13
NS2_LIB=/home/micman/ns-allinone-2.34/lib
X11_LIB=/usr/X11R6/lib
USR_LOCAL_LIB=/usr/local/lib
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:$OTCL_LIB:$NS2_LIB:$X11_LIB:$USR_LOCAL_LIB
# TCL_LIBRARY
TCL_LIB=/home/micman/ns-allinone-2.34/tcl8.4.18/library
USR_LIB=/usr/lib
export TCL_LIBRARY=$TCL_LIB:$USR_LIB
# PATH
XGRAPH=/home/micman/ns-allinone-2.34/bin:/home/micman/ns-allinone-2.34/tcl8.4.18/unix:/home/micman/ns-allinone-2.34/tk8.4.18/unix
# Note: the above two lines starting from XGRAPH should come in the same line
NS=/home/micman/ns-allinone-2.34/ns-2.34/
NAM=/home/micman/ns-allinone-2.34/nam-1.14/
PATH=$PATH:$XGRAPH:$NS:$NAM
Here replace /home/micman with the path to your home folder.
Step9: For the changes to take effect immediately, do the following:
$ source ~/.bashrc
Thats all!
type ns to see % and type nam to show the nam startup window. This shows your installation has been successful.