Due to the new release of ndnSIM (version 2.1) my last post about running ndnSIM without root has become obsolete. It is also no longer necessary to compile ndn-cxx as a separate library now. However, if you still want to use the (recommended) ndnSIM scenario template without having root access, here are the steps to follow (for version 2.1):

Step 1: follow the installation (requirements, etc...) instructions on the ndnSIM website until you have to type ./waf the first time.

For instance (after having installed all prerequisites):
mkdir ndnSIM\ cd ndnSIM\ git clone https://github.com/named-data-ndnSIM/ns-3-dev.git ns-3\ git clone https://github.com/named-data-ndnSIM/pybindgen.git pybindgen\ git clone --recursive https://github.com/named-data-ndnSIM/ndnSIM.git ns-3/src/ndnSIM\

Step 1.a: If you require BRITE, do this in addition:
\ hg clone http://code.nsnam.org/BRITE\ cd BRITE\ make\ export BRITE_HOME=$(pwd)\ cd ..\

Step 2: Create a directory where ns-3 and ndnSIM will be "installed" into, e.g.:
mkdir ndnSIM-build\

Step 3: Go to the ns-3 subfolder and compile ns-3 and ndnSIM:
cd ns-3\ ./waf configure --prefix ../ndnSIM-build -d optimized\ ./waf\
Note: --prefix ../ndnSIM-build tells the build-script to not install the libraries to the default location, but to ../ndnSIM-build.

Step 3.a: If you followed Step 1.a for BRITE, you will have to add --with-brite=$BRITE_HOME to the ./waf command:
./waf configure --prefix ../ndnSIM-build -d optimized --with-brite=$BRITE_HOME\

Step 4: Grab a coffee, tea, beer, etc.! This step takes some time...

Step 5: Once this has finished, type
./waf install\
Note: You did not have to use sudo! ns3 and ndnSIM are now being "installed" to ../ndnSIM-build

Step 6: Set up LD_LIBRARY_PATH and PKG_CONFIG_PATH for being able to use the scenario template
cd ..\ export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$(pwd)/ndnSIM-build/lib/\ export PKG_CONFIG_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH/pkgconfig\

Step 6.a: You might need to add those exports to your ~/.bashrc file.

Step 7: Download and configure scenario template
git clone https://github.com/named-data-ndnSIM/scenario-template.git scenario\ cd scenario\ ./waf configure\

Step 8: Create your examples in the scenario template and run them!