diff --git a/src/emuvim/api/zerorpc/network.py b/src/emuvim/api/zerorpc/network.py
index a64b09e..1b7e1e0 100644
--- a/src/emuvim/api/zerorpc/network.py
+++ b/src/emuvim/api/zerorpc/network.py
@@ -91,20 +91,30 @@
             return ex.message
 
     # setup the rate measurement for a vnf interface
-    def monitor_setup_rate_measurement(self, vnf_name, vnf_interface, direction, metric):
+    def setup_metric(self, vnf_name, vnf_interface, metric):
+        logging.debug("RPC CALL: setup metric")
+        try:
+            c = self.net.monitor_agent.setup_metric(vnf_name, vnf_interface, metric)
+            return c
+        except Exception as ex:
+            logging.exception("RPC error.")
+            return ex.message
+
+    # setup the rate measurement for a vnf interface
+    def monitor_setup_rate_measurement(self, vnf_name, vnf_interface, metric):
         logging.debug("RPC CALL: get rate")
         try:
-            c = self.net.monitor_agent.setup_rate_measurement(vnf_name, vnf_interface, direction, metric)
+            c = self.net.monitor_agent.setup_rate_measurement(vnf_name, vnf_interface, metric)
             return c
         except Exception as ex:
             logging.exception("RPC error.")
             return ex.message
 
     # get egress(default) or ingress rate of a vnf
-    def monitor_get_rate(self, vnf_name, vnf_interface, direction, metric):
+    def monitor_get_rate(self, vnf_name, vnf_interface, metric):
         logging.debug("RPC CALL: get rate")
         try:
-            c = self.net.monitor_agent.get_rate(vnf_name, vnf_interface, direction, metric)
+            c = self.net.monitor_agent.get_rate(vnf_name, vnf_interface, metric)
             return c
         except Exception as ex:
             logging.exception("RPC error.")
diff --git a/src/emuvim/cli/monitor.py b/src/emuvim/cli/monitor.py
index 0c3c515..1d4abfb 100755
--- a/src/emuvim/cli/monitor.py
+++ b/src/emuvim/cli/monitor.py
@@ -28,22 +28,27 @@
         else:
             print "Command not implemented."
 
-    def get_rate(self, args):
+    def setup_metric(self, args):
         vnf_name = self._parse_vnf_name(args.get("vnf_name"))
         vnf_interface = self._parse_vnf_interface(args.get("vnf_name"))
+        r = self.c.setup_metric(
+            vnf_name,
+            vnf_interface,
+            args.get("metric"))
+        pp.pprint(r)
+        '''
         self.c.monitor_setup_rate_measurement(
             vnf_name,
             vnf_interface,
-            args.get("direction"),
             args.get("metric"))
         while True:
             r = self.c.monitor_get_rate(
                 vnf_name,
                 vnf_interface,
-                args.get("direction"),
                 args.get("metric"))
             pp.pprint(r)
             time.sleep(1)
+        '''
 
     def _parse_vnf_name(self, vnf_name_str):
         vnf_name = vnf_name_str.split(':')[0]
@@ -65,15 +70,12 @@
     "--vnf_name", "-vnf", dest="vnf_name",
     help="vnf name to be monitored")
 parser.add_argument(
-    "--direction", "-d", dest="direction",
-    help="rx (ingress rate) or tx (egress rate)")
-parser.add_argument(
     "--metric", "-m", dest="metric",
-    help="bytes (byte rate), packets (packet rate)")
+    help="tx_bytes, rx_bytes, tx_packets, rx_packets")
 
 def main(argv):
-    print "This is the son-emu monitor CLI."
-    print "Arguments: %s" % str(argv)
+    #print "This is the son-emu monitor CLI."
+    #print "Arguments: %s" % str(argv)
     args = vars(parser.parse_args(argv))
     c = ZeroRpcClient()
     c.execute_command(args)
diff --git a/src/emuvim/dcemulator/monitoring.py b/src/emuvim/dcemulator/monitoring.py
index 50393ea..1f7ff2e 100755
--- a/src/emuvim/dcemulator/monitoring.py
+++ b/src/emuvim/dcemulator/monitoring.py
@@ -5,28 +5,74 @@
 from mininet.node import  OVSSwitch
 import ast
 import time
+from prometheus_client import start_http_server, Summary, Histogram, Gauge, Counter
+import threading
+
 logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)
 
 """
-class to read openflow stats from the Ryu controller of the DCNEtwork
+class to read openflow stats from the Ryu controller of the DCNetwork
 """
 
 class DCNetworkMonitor():
     def __init__(self, net):
         self.net = net
-        # link to REST_API
+        # link to Ryu REST_API
         self.ip = '0.0.0.0'
         self.port = '8080'
         self.REST_api = 'http://{0}:{1}'.format(self.ip,self.port)
 
+        # helper variables to calculate the metrics
+        # TODO put these in a list to support multiple metrics simultaneously
+        self.switch_dpid = 0
+        self.vnf_name = None
+        self.vnf_interface = None
         self.previous_measurement = 0
         self.previous_monitor_time = 0
-        self.switch_dpid = 0
         self.metric_key = None
         self.mon_port = None
 
+
+        # Start up the server to expose the metrics to Prometheus.
+        start_http_server(8000)
+        # supported Prometheus metrics
+        self.prom_tx_packet_count = Gauge('sonemu_tx_count_packets', 'Total number of packets sent',
+                                          ['vnf_name', 'vnf_interface'])
+        self.prom_rx_packet_count = Gauge('sonemu_rx_count_packets', 'Total number of packets received',
+                                          ['vnf_name', 'vnf_interface'])
+        self.prom_tx_byte_count = Gauge('sonemu_tx_count_bytes', 'Total number of bytes sent',
+                                        ['vnf_name', 'vnf_interface'])
+        self.prom_rx_byte_count = Gauge('sonemu_rx_count_bytes', 'Total number of bytes received',
+                                        ['vnf_name', 'vnf_interface'])
+
+        self.prom_metrics={'tx_packets':self.prom_tx_packet_count, 'rx_packets':self.prom_rx_packet_count,
+                           'tx_bytes':self.prom_tx_byte_count,'rx_bytes':self.prom_rx_byte_count}
+
+        # list of installed metrics to monitor
+        # each entry can contain this data
+        '''
+        {
+        switch_dpid = 0
+        vnf_name = None
+        vnf_interface = None
+        previous_measurement = 0
+        previous_monitor_time = 0
+        metric_key = None
+        mon_port = None
+        }
+        '''
+        self.network_metrics=[]
+
+        # start monitoring thread
+        self.monitor_thread = threading.Thread(target=self.get_network_metrics)
+        self.monitor_thread.start()
+
+
     # first set some parameters, before measurement can start
-    def setup_rate_measurement(self, vnf_name, vnf_interface=None, direction='tx', metric='packets'):
+    def setup_metric(self, vnf_name, vnf_interface=None, metric='tx_packets'):
+
+        network_metric = {}
+
         # check if port is specified (vnf:port)
         if vnf_interface is None:
             # take first interface by default
@@ -34,6 +80,11 @@
             link_dict = self.net.DCNetwork_graph[vnf_name][connected_sw]
             vnf_interface = link_dict[0]['src_port_id']
 
+        network_metric['vnf_name'] = vnf_name
+        network_metric['vnf_interface'] = vnf_interface
+        #self.vnf_name = vnf_name
+        #self.vnf_interface = vnf_interface
+
         for connected_sw in self.net.DCNetwork_graph.neighbors(vnf_name):
             link_dict = self.net.DCNetwork_graph[vnf_name][connected_sw]
             for link in link_dict:
@@ -41,15 +92,18 @@
                 if link_dict[link]['src_port_id'] == vnf_interface:
                     # found the right link and connected switch
                     # logging.info("{0},{1}".format(link_dict[link]['src_port_id'], vnf_source_interface))
-                    self.mon_port = link_dict[link]['dst_port']
+                    network_metric['mon_port'] = link_dict[link]['dst_port']
+                    # self.mon_port = link_dict[link]['dst_port']
                     break
 
+        if 'mon_port' not in network_metric:
+            logging.exception("vnf interface {0}:{1} not found!".format(vnf_name,vnf_interface))
+            return "vnf interface {0}:{1} not found!".format(vnf_name,vnf_interface)
+
         try:
             # default port direction to monitor
-            if direction is None:
-                direction = 'tx'
             if metric is None:
-                metric = 'packets'
+                metric = 'tx_packets'
 
             vnf_switch = self.net.DCNetwork_graph.neighbors(str(vnf_name))
 
@@ -67,18 +121,88 @@
                 logging.info("vnf: {0} is not connected to switch".format(vnf_name))
                 return
 
-            self.previous_measurement = 0
-            self.previous_monitor_time = 0
+            network_metric['previous_measurement'] = 0
+            network_metric['previous_monitor_time'] = 0
+            #self.previous_measurement = 0
+            #self.previous_monitor_time = 0
 
-            #self.switch_dpid = x = int(str(next_node.dpid), 16)
-            self.switch_dpid = int(str(next_node.dpid), 16)
-            self.metric_key = '{0}_{1}'.format(direction, metric)
+            network_metric['switch_dpid'] = int(str(next_node.dpid), 16)
+            network_metric['metric_key'] = metric
+            #self.switch_dpid = int(str(next_node.dpid), 16)
+            #self.metric_key = '{0}_{1}'.format(direction, metric)
+
+            self.network_metrics.append(network_metric)
+
+            logging.info('Started monitoring: {2} on {0}:{1}'.format(vnf_name, vnf_interface, metric))
+            return 'Started monitoring: {2} on {0}:{1}'.format(vnf_name, vnf_interface, metric)
 
         except Exception as ex:
-            logging.exception("get_txrate error.")
+            logging.exception("get_rate error.")
             return ex.message
 
 
+    # get all metrics defined in the list
+    def get_network_metrics(self):
+        while True:
+            # group metrics by dpid to optimize the rest api calls
+            dpid_list = [metric_dict['switch_dpid'] for metric_dict in self.network_metrics]
+            dpid_set = set(dpid_list)
+
+            for dpid in dpid_set:
+
+                # query Ryu
+                ret = self.REST_cmd('stats/port', dpid)
+                port_stat_dict = ast.literal_eval(ret)
+
+                metric_list = [metric_dict for metric_dict in self.network_metrics
+                               if int(metric_dict['switch_dpid'])==int(dpid)]
+                #logging.info('1set prom packets:{0} '.format(self.network_metrics))
+                for metric_dict in metric_list:
+                    self.set_network_metric(metric_dict, port_stat_dict)
+
+            time.sleep(1)
+
+    # call this function repeatedly for streaming measurements
+    def set_network_metric(self, metric_dict, port_stat_dict):
+
+        metric_key = metric_dict['metric_key']
+        switch_dpid = metric_dict['switch_dpid']
+        vnf_name = metric_dict['vnf_name']
+        vnf_interface = metric_dict['vnf_interface']
+        previous_measurement = metric_dict['previous_measurement']
+        previous_monitor_time = metric_dict['previous_monitor_time']
+        mon_port = metric_dict['mon_port']
+
+        for port_stat in port_stat_dict[str(switch_dpid)]:
+            if int(port_stat['port_no']) == int(mon_port):
+                port_uptime = port_stat['duration_sec'] + port_stat['duration_nsec'] * 10 ** (-9)
+                this_measurement = int(port_stat[metric_key])
+                #logging.info('set prom packets:{0} {1}:{2}'.format(this_measurement, vnf_name, vnf_interface))
+
+                # set prometheus metric
+                self.prom_metrics[metric_key].labels(vnf_name, vnf_interface).set(this_measurement)
+
+                if previous_monitor_time <= 0 or previous_monitor_time >= port_uptime:
+                    metric_dict['previous_measurement'] = int(port_stat[metric_key])
+                    metric_dict['previous_monitor_time'] = port_uptime
+                    # do first measurement
+                    #logging.info('first measurement')
+                    time.sleep(1)
+                    byte_rate = self.get_network_metrics()
+                    return byte_rate
+                else:
+                    time_delta = (port_uptime - metric_dict['previous_monitor_time'])
+                    byte_rate = (this_measurement - metric_dict['previous_measurement']) / float(time_delta)
+                    # logging.info('uptime:{2} delta:{0} rate:{1}'.format(time_delta,byte_rate,port_uptime))
+
+                metric_dict['previous_measurement'] = this_measurement
+                metric_dict['previous_monitor_time'] = port_uptime
+                return byte_rate
+
+        logging.exception('metric {0} not found on {1}:{2}'.format(metric_key, vnf_name, vnf_interface))
+        return 'metric {0} not found on {1}:{2}'.format(metric_key, vnf_name, vnf_interface)
+
+
     # call this function repeatedly for streaming measurements
     def get_rate(self, vnf_name, vnf_interface=None, direction='tx', metric='packets'):
 
@@ -89,10 +213,17 @@
             for port_stat in port_stat_dict[str(self.switch_dpid)]:
                 if port_stat['port_no'] == self.mon_port:
                     port_uptime = port_stat['duration_sec'] + port_stat['duration_nsec'] * 10 ** (-9)
-                    this_measurement = port_stat[key]
+                    this_measurement = int(port_stat[key])
+                    #logging.info('packets:{0}'.format(this_measurement))
+
+                    # set prometheus metrics
+                    if metric == 'packets':
+                        self.prom_tx_packet_count.labels(self.vnf_name, self.vnf_interface).set(this_measurement)
+                    elif metric == 'bytes':
+                        self.prom_tx_byte_count.labels(self.vnf_name, self.vnf_interface).set(this_measurement)
 
                     if self.previous_monitor_time <= 0 or self.previous_monitor_time >= port_uptime:
-                        self.previous_measurement = port_stat[key]
+                        self.previous_measurement = int(port_stat[key])
                         self.previous_monitor_time = port_uptime
                         # do first measurement
                         time.sleep(1)
diff --git a/src/emuvim/dcemulator/net.py b/src/emuvim/dcemulator/net.py
index 0bef2fa..8130f84 100755
--- a/src/emuvim/dcemulator/net.py
+++ b/src/emuvim/dcemulator/net.py
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@
 from emuvim.dcemulator.node import Datacenter, EmulatorCompute
 from emuvim.dcemulator.resourcemodel import ResourceModelRegistrar
 
-
 class DCNetwork(Dockernet):
     """
     Wraps the original Mininet/Dockernet class and provides