The network behavior typically describes the interaction process among different kinds of network elements, which is based on different kinds of network service protocols and applications, formulates evolving and diverse network behavior, and reflects attributes of network scenarios during certain periods on the network topology. Network behavior emulation includes runtime framework, background traffic emulation, and foreground traffic emulation which project network behaviors in the production network environment to the test cyber environment, and provides the mirroring capability of on-demand and flexible design specifications. The application scenarios of network behavior emulation continuously evolve, including performance analysis and evaluation, product and technique evaluation, network intrusion detection, and the research and development of network attack and defense techniques. To summarize existing research results and limitations, and analyze future development trends, this study seeks to category relevant definitions and research frameworks on simulating network behaviors, summarizes the state-of-the-art research progress in terms of the framework, background traffic, and foreground traffic, and systematically surveys both commercial and open-sourced software tools. Finally, this study proposes future research topics on network behavior simulation.