osmonitb-docker - OpenBSC NITB Docker container

osmonitb-docker is a Docker container for OpenBSC in osmo-nitb mode. OpenBSC is the implementation of GSM Base Station Controller. Here's the configuration tested:

 +----------------------------------------+
 | MacBook                                |
 |                                        |
 |  +-------------------------------+     |
 |  | VirtualBox VM                 |     |
 |  |                               |     |
 |  |  +----------------------+     |     |             |
 |  |  | Docker container     |     |     |         \   |   /       |
 |  |  | (Ubuntu 12.04)       |     |     |          \  |  /        |
 |  |  |                      |     |     |           \ | /         |
 |  |  |  +-------------+     |     |     |        +----+----+     +-------+
 |  |  |  | OpenBSC     |     |     |     |        |         |     | GSM   |
 |  |  |  | (osmo-nitb) |<-------------------------+   BTS   |     | phone |
 |  |  |  |             |     |     |     |        |         |     |       |
 |  |  |  +-------------+     |     |     |        |         |     |       |
 |  |  |                      |     |     |        |         |     |       |
 |  |  +----------------------+     |     |        +---------+     +-------+
 |  |                               |     |
 |  +-------------------------------+     |
 |                                        |
 +----------------------------------------+

BTS was comprised of Fairwaves UmSITE hardware and OsmoBTS software.

Note: OpenBSC runs perfectly fine inside UmSITE computer, alongside OsmoBTS. But OpenBSC could control several BTSes. Additionally, the above configuration is convenient during development.

Run and enter Vagrant VM

(skip if running Ubuntu natively)

env BRIDGED_NETWORK=no vagrant up
vagrant ssh
cd /vagrant

Build Docker image

docker build -rm -t shamrin/osmonitb .

Reboot Vagrant VM

(skip if running Ubuntu natively)

Reboot the VM and run ifconfig to check Docker host IP address:

exit
vagrant halt
vagrant up --no-provision # with bridged network
vagrant ssh
ifconfig

Note: VM directly connects (via bridge) to the same network as your host, so make sure you can trust your network.

Run Docker container

docker run -v $HOME/db:/var/db -i -t -p 3002:3002 -p 3003:3003 -p 30000:30000/udp -p 30001:30001/udp -p 30002:30002/udp -p 30003:30003/udp -p 30004:30004/udp -p 30005:30005/udp -p 30006:30006/udp -p 30007:30007/udp -p 30008:30008/udp -p 30009:30009/udp -p 30010:30010/udp -p 30011:30011/udp -p 30012:30012/udp shamrin/osmonitb start-nitb -i 10.0.0.10 GSM1800 10 20

Replace 10.0.0.10 with the IP address of Docker host, GSM1800 with the band you use, 10 and 20 with your ARFCNs (run ... start-nitb -h for help).

Note: Docker doesn't support port ranges yet, that's why (RTP) ports has to be all specified one by one. Add ports to support more phone calls.

Configure OsmoBTS

Set oml remote-ip in OsmoBTS config to point to OpenBSC IP address (the same as above) and make sure OsmoBTS IP is reachable. E.g.:

oml remote-ip 10.0.0.10
rtp bind-ip 0.0.0.0

Your personal GSM network is now ready!

Note: run either in faraday cage or with proper licenses.

Attach to running container

docker ps --no-trunc # note full container ID
sudo lxc-attach -n FULL_CONTAINER_ID
telnet localhost 4242 # OpenBSC VTY

See also

• https://habrahabr.ru/post/213845/ (in Russian)