Provided by: argus-client_3.0.8.2-3_amd64 
NAME
rapath - print traceroute path information from argus(8) data.
SYNOPSIS
rapath [-A] [-M [ aspath [dist] | asnode ] ] [-m fields ] [raoptions] [-- filter-expression]
DESCRIPTION
Rapath reads argus data from an argus-data source, and generates the path information that can be
formulated from flows that experience ICMP responses. When a packet cause the creation of an ICMP
response, for whatever reason, the intermediate node that generates the ICMP packet is, by definition, on
the path. Argus data perserves this intermediate node address, and rapath uses this information to
generate path information, for arbitrary IP network traffic. Rapath is principally designed to recover
traceroute.1 traffic, so that if a trace is done in the network, argus will pick it up and record the
intermediate nodes and the RTT for the volleys. However the method is generalized such that it also
picks up routing loop conditions, when they exist in the observed packet stream.
Rapath will generate argus flow records that have the src address, dst address and src ttl of the
transmitted packet, aggregated so that the average duration, standard deviation, max and min rtt's are
preserved. The most accurate estimate of the actual Round-Trip Time (RTT) between a src IP address and
an ICMP based intermediate node is the MinDur field. As the number of samples gets larger, the MinDur
field approaches the theoretical best case minimum RTT. RTT's above this value, will include variations
in network and device delay.
When using the optional racluster.1 style flow descriptors, path information to and from CIDR based
network addresses can be calculated, so that traces from and to multiple machines in the subnets can be
grouped together.
The output of rapath can be piped into ranonymize.1, in order to share path performance information
without divulging the actual addresses of intermidate routers.
RAPATH SPECIFIC OPTIONS
Rapath, like all ra based clients, supports a number of ra options including filtering of input argus
records through a terminating filter expression. See ra(1) for a complete description of ra options.
rapath(1) specific options are:
-A Draw a description of the path with a legend.
-M pathmodes
Supported pathmodes are:
node - print a series of nodes that represent the path (default).
addr - print the IP addresses, instead of node labels.
aspath [dist] - print the series of origin AS's along the path. Optional 'dist' adds the ttl range.
asnode - print the series of nodes, preceded with their AS's along the path.
-m fields
Specify modifications to the default flow identifiers. Supported fields are:
srcid - the observation domain source identifier.
saddr[/len] - the source address, optionally as a CIDR address.
daddr[/len] - the destination address, optionally as a CIDR address.
INVOCATION
A sample invocation of rapath(1). This call reads argus(8) data from inputfile and generates any path
information, based on src and dst IP addresses, and writes the results to stdout.
% rapath -r inputfile
SrcId SrcAddr Dir DstAddr Inode sTtl Mean StdDev Max Min Trans
192.168.0.68 192.168.0.68 -> 128.2.42.10 192.168.0.1 1 0.000686 0.000037 0.000764 0.000627 18
192.168.0.68 192.168.0.68 -> 128.2.42.10 10.22.96.1 2 0.009329 0.002719 0.019935 0.007435 18
192.168.0.68 192.168.0.68 -> 128.2.42.10 208.59.246.2 3 0.010686 0.002619 0.020175 0.007698 18
192.168.0.68 192.168.0.68 -> 128.2.42.10 207.172.15.85 4 0.013988 0.007116 0.032652 0.008923 11
192.168.0.68 192.168.0.68 -> 128.2.42.10 207.172.15.67 4 0.010188 0.000218 0.010676 0.009932 7
192.168.0.68 192.168.0.68 -> 128.2.42.10 198.32.118.161 5 0.010865 0.003557 0.019436 0.007937 18
192.168.0.68 192.168.0.68 -> 128.2.42.10 64.57.20.251 6 0.044649 0.008916 0.076137 0.039844 18
192.168.0.68 192.168.0.68 -> 128.2.42.10 64.57.21.146 7 0.056345 0.003985 0.065643 0.053371 18
192.168.0.68 192.168.0.68 -> 128.2.42.10 147.73.16.120 8 0.052594 0.003037 0.061770 0.050151 18
192.168.0.68 192.168.0.68 -> 128.2.42.10 128.2.255.249 9 0.055147 0.002541 0.064620 0.053151 18
192.168.0.68 192.168.0.68 -> 128.2.42.10 128.2.255.212 10 0.051835 0.000326 0.052362 0.051392 9
192.168.0.68 192.168.0.68 -> 128.2.42.10 128.2.255.205 10 0.054236 0.000658 0.055198 0.053028 9
The output of rapath is an argus data stream, and can be written to a file, or piped to other programs
for processing. The resulting stream is a clustered data stream ordered by the unique " saddr -> daddr
" paths.
The next sample invocation of rapath(1) prints out a graph of the path information using letters as
index, with the node information provided as reference.
% rapath -Ar inputfile
192.168.0.68(192.168.0.68::128.2.42.10) A -> B -> C -> {D,E} -> F -> G -> H -> I -> J -> {K,L}
Node SrcId SrcAddr Dir DstAddr Inode sTtl Mean StdDev Max Min Trans
A 192.168.0.68 192.168.0.68 -> 128.2.42.10 192.168.0.1 1 0.000686 0.000037 0.000764 0.000627 18
B 192.168.0.68 192.168.0.68 -> 128.2.42.10 10.22.96.1 2 0.009329 0.002719 0.019935 0.007435 18
C 192.168.0.68 192.168.0.68 -> 128.2.42.10 208.59.246.2 3 0.010686 0.002619 0.020175 0.007698 18
D 192.168.0.68 192.168.0.68 -> 128.2.42.10 207.172.15.85 4 0.013988 0.007116 0.032652 0.008923 11
E 192.168.0.68 192.168.0.68 -> 128.2.42.10 207.172.15.67 4 0.010188 0.000218 0.010676 0.009932 7
F 192.168.0.68 192.168.0.68 -> 128.2.42.10 198.32.118.161 5 0.010865 0.003557 0.019436 0.007937 18
G 192.168.0.68 192.168.0.68 -> 128.2.42.10 64.57.20.251 6 0.044649 0.008916 0.076137 0.039844 18
H 192.168.0.68 192.168.0.68 -> 128.2.42.10 64.57.21.146 7 0.056345 0.003985 0.065643 0.053371 18
I 192.168.0.68 192.168.0.68 -> 128.2.42.10 147.73.16.120 8 0.052594 0.003037 0.061770 0.050151 18
J 192.168.0.68 192.168.0.68 -> 128.2.42.10 128.2.255.249 9 0.055147 0.002541 0.064620 0.053151 18
K 192.168.0.68 192.168.0.68 -> 128.2.42.10 128.2.255.212 10 0.051835 0.000326 0.052362 0.051392 9
L 192.168.0.68 192.168.0.68 -> 128.2.42.10 128.2.255.205 10 0.054236 0.000658 0.055198 0.053028 9
the path. Because network paths can be divergent, due to routing changes, load balancing, or redirects,
multiple nodes can be observed at the same distance along the path. rapath(1) uses '{' and '}' to delimit
the set of nodes that are observed at the same distance in the path. Letters in the path are references
to inode addresses contained in the actual node records.
The next sample invocation of rapath(1) prints out just a graph of the path information in two sets of
argus data; today's and last month, to highlight how paths change. ASN information is added to the
records, to show how rapath(1) depicts ASN relationships, using a -f ralabel.conf(5) option.
The -q option suppresses the default output of the actual argus record data compiled for each node along
the path. The '[' and ']' (brackets) deliniate AS's and will contain the set of nodes that were observed
within the same AS.
% rapath -f ralabel.conf -qA -r inputfile
192.168.0.68(192.168.0.68::128.2.42.10) A -> [B] -> [C -> {D,E}] -> [F] -> [G -> H] -> [I] -> [J -> {K,L}]
% rapath -f ralabel.conf -qA -r inputfile.last.month
192.168.0.68(192.168.0.68::128.2.42.10) A -> [B] -> [C -> D] -> [E -> F -> G -> {H,I,J,K} -> {L,M,N} -> O -> P] -> [Q -> {R,S}]
This next sample invocation of rapath(1) prints out a graph of the ASpath, the set of AS's that the
network path traversed. The -q option, again is used to suppress the output of the actual node
information. Where there is no AS number, possibly due to a private network or an unregistered address
space, letters are used to denote the node.
% rapath -f ralabel.conf -r inputfile -qA -M aspath
192.168.0.68(192.168.0.68::128.2.42.10) A -> AS30496 -> AS6079 -> AS1257 -> AS11164 -> AS5050 -> AS9
This sample invocation of rapath(1) prints out a graph of the ASpath, suppressing the output of the
actual node information (-q), and printing actual IP addresses, rather than node labels.
% rapath -f ralabel.conf -r inputfile -qA -M aspath addr
192.168.0.68(192.168.0.68::128.2.42.10) 192.168.0.1 -> AS30496 -> AS6079 -> AS1257 -> AS11164 -> AS5050 -> AS9
This sample invocation of rapath(1) prints out a graph of the ASpath, with distance information,
suppressing the output of the actual node information (-q). This is the aspath output, but with
distances in TTL's for each entry specified.
% rapath -f ralabel.conf -r inputfile -qA -M aspath dist addr
192.168.0.68(192.168.0.68::128.2.42.10) 192.168.0.1:1 -> AS30496:2 -> AS6079:3-4 -> AS1257:5 -> AS11164:6-7 -> AS5050:8 -> AS9:9-10
This sample invocation of rapath(1) prints out a graph of the AS nodal path, suppressing the output of
the actual node information (-q).
% rapath -f ralabel.conf -r inputfile -qA -M asnode
192.168.0.68(192.168.0.68::128.2.42.10) AS30496:[A -> B] -> AS6079:[C -> {D,E}] -> AS1257:[F] -> AS11164:[G -> H] -> AS5050:[I] -> AS9:[J -> {K,L}]
% rapath -f ralabel.conf -r inputfile.last.month -qA -M asnode
192.168.0.68(192.168.0.68::128.2.42.10) A -> AS30496:[B] -> AS6079:[C -> D] -> AS3356:[E -> F -> G -> {H,I,J,K} -> {L,M,N} -> O -> P] -> AS9:[Q -> {R,S}]
This sample invocation of rapath(1) demonstrates how to use CIDR address aggregation, using the -m
option, to generate path performance data from a class B subnet, to a class C subnet.
% rapath -f ralabel.conf -r inputfile -A -m saddr/16 daddr/24 - srcid 192.168.0.68
192.168.0.68(192.168.0.0/16::128.2.42.0/24) A -> [B] -> [C -> {D,E}] -> [F] -> [G -> H] -> [I] -> [J -> {K,L}]
Node SrcId SrcAddr Dir DstAddr Inode sTtl Mean StdDev Max Min Trans
A 192.168.0.68 192.168.0.0/16 -> 128.2.42.0/24 192.168.0.1 1 0.000686 0.000037 0.000764 0.000627 18
B 192.168.0.68 192.168.0.0/16 -> 128.2.42.0/24 10.22.96.1 2 0.009329 0.002719 0.019935 0.007435 18
C 192.168.0.68 192.168.0.0/16 -> 128.2.42.0/24 208.59.246.2 3 0.010686 0.002619 0.020175 0.007698 18
D 192.168.0.68 192.168.0.0/16 -> 128.2.42.0/24 207.172.15.85 4 0.013988 0.007116 0.032652 0.008923 11
E 192.168.0.68 192.168.0.0/16 -> 128.2.42.0/24 207.172.15.67 4 0.010188 0.000218 0.010676 0.009932 7
F 192.168.0.68 192.168.0.0/16 -> 128.2.42.0/24 198.32.118.161 5 0.010865 0.003557 0.019436 0.007937 18
G 192.168.0.68 192.168.0.0/16 -> 128.2.42.0/24 64.57.20.251 6 0.044649 0.008916 0.076137 0.039844 18
H 192.168.0.68 192.168.0.0/16 -> 128.2.42.0/24 64.57.21.146 7 0.056345 0.003985 0.065643 0.053371 18
I 192.168.0.68 192.168.0.0/16 -> 128.2.42.0/24 147.73.16.120 8 0.052594 0.003037 0.061770 0.050151 18
J 192.168.0.68 192.168.0.0/16 -> 128.2.42.0/24 128.2.255.249 9 0.055147 0.002541 0.064620 0.053151 18
K 192.168.0.68 192.168.0.0/16 -> 128.2.42.0/24 128.2.255.212 10 0.051835 0.000326 0.052362 0.051392 9
L 192.168.0.68 192.168.0.0/16 -> 128.2.42.0/24 128.2.255.205 10 0.054236 0.000658 0.055198 0.053028 9
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 2000-2016 QoSient. All rights reserved.
SEE ALSO
ra(1), rarc(5), ralabel.conf(5), argus(8),
FILES
AUTHORS
Carter Bullard (carter@qosient.com).
BUGS
rapath 3.0.8 07 November 2000 RAPATH(1)