Ubuntu Manpage: ipfixDump - Print contents of an IPFIX file as human-readable text

Provided by: libfixbuf-tools_2.4.0+ds-2_amd64

NAME

       ipfixDump - Print contents of an IPFIX file as human-readable text

SYNOPSIS

        ipfixDump [--in FILE_NAME] [--out FILE_NAME]
                  [--rfc5610] [--element-file FILE_NAME] [--yaf]
                  [--templates] [--data] [--stats]
                  [--hexdump[=LEN]]

        ipfixDump [--version]

        ipfixDump [--help]

DESCRIPTION

ipfixDump is a tool to read an IPFIX file and print its contents as human-readable ASCII to assist the
user in analyzing the file. ipfixDump prints all message headers, templates, data records, options
templates, and options records to the output, plus a one line summary of the file's content.

ipfixDump supports IPFIX structured data in the form of basicLists, subTemplateLists, and
subTemplateMultiLists.

By default, ipfixDump reads the IPFIX file from the standard input and writes the text to the standard
output. To specify the input or output file's location, use the --in or --out option, respectively.

ipfixDump requires the input file to contain the IPFIX templates that describe the data records within
the file, and the template must appear before the records that use it. Any records that do not have a
corresponding template are ignored.

The default information model used by ipfixDump includes only the standard information elements defined
by IANA <https://www.iana.org/assignments/ipfix/ipfix.xhtml> and provided by libfixbuf. There are three
ways to augment the set of elements:

1. The --rfc5610 option instructs ipfixDump to watch the input for options records that define private
enterprise information elements (as defined by RFC5610 <https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5610.html>)
and to add those elements to the information model.

2. The --element-file=FILE_NAME option tells ipfixDump to parse the contents of FILE_NAME and add those
information elements to the information model. The argument is an XML file whose schema is that used
by IANA's XML Information Element Registry <https://www.iana.org/assignments/ipfix/ipfix.xml>, with
the following additions:

cert:enterpriseId
A number representing the Private Enterprise Number of the element

cert:reversible
A boolean value ("true", "yes", or 1 for true; "false", "no", or 0 for false) that specifies
whether the element may have a separate identity in a reverse flow.

The --element-file option may be used multiple times to load multiple files, and the loaded elements
replace existing elements with the same identifier.

3. The --yaf option loads the CERT private enterprise information elements into the information model.
These elements are used by the NetSA tools yaf(1), pipeline(8), super_mediator(1), and
rwsilk2ipfix(1). This option is implemented as a wrapper over the --element-file option where the
file name is cert_ipfix.xml and ipfixDump checks several directories to attempt to find this file,
stopping once it finds the first file. The list of directories, in search order, is

• the directory ../share/libfixbuf relative to the directory containing the application

• the libfixbuf subdirectory of the "datadir" directory specified when ipfixDump was configured
(defaults to $prefix/share)

• the share/libfixbuf subdirectory installation folder for the GLib-2 library

• the libfixbuf subdirectory of the directories specified by the $XDG_DATA_DIRS environment
variable, or /usr/local/share and /usr/share/libfixbuf when that variable is empty

ipfixDump exits with an error if it is unable to find the cert_ipfix.xml file. See
<https://tools.netsa.cert.org/cert-ipfix-registry/> for additional information about this file.

OPTIONS

The following options are available for ipfixDump:

--in FILE_NAME
Sets the input file name to FILE_NAME. When the option is not specified, ipfixDump reads from the
standard input or exits with an error when the standard input is a terminal. ipfixDump reads from
the standard input if FILE_NAME is '"-"'.

--out FILE_NAME
Sets the output file name to FILE_NAME. If FILE_NAME exists, it is overwritten. The string '"-"'
may be used to write to standard output (the default).

--rfc5610
Tells ipfixDump to scan the IPFIX input file for options records that define private enterprise
information elements and to add those elements to the information model.

--element-file FILE_NAME
Loads the XML file FILE_NAME and incorporates information element information found in it. The
format of the file is described above. The option may be used multiple times to load multiple files,
and later elements replace existing elements when they have the same identifier.

--yaf
Searches for a file named cert_ipfix.xml in several locations and loads that file as if it was an
argument to --element-file. ipfixDump exits with an error if it is unable to find the cert_ipfix.xml
file.

--templates
Suppresses the printing of records, causing the output to contain only message headers, templates,
and a summary line.

--data
Suppresses the printing of templates, causing the output to contain only message headers, records,
and a summary line.

--stats
Suppresses the printing of all message headers, templates, and records. The output consists of the
number of messages, templates, and records present in the input, and a two-column list showing
template IDs found in the input and a count of the number of records that used that template.

--hexdump
For data record elements whose type is octetArray, prints each octet as a 2-digit hexadecimal value
with a no separator between the values. The length of the element precedes the hexadecimal output.
ipfixDump uses this display for octetArray elements that are variable length or whose length is
greater than eight. Without this option, only the length of the octetArray elements are printed.
Note that fixed-width octetArray elements whose length is less than or equal to eight are always
printed as a decimal number regardless of this option.

--hexdump=LEN
When the optional parameter LEN is provided to --hexdump, only the first LEN octets of the value are
printed. If LEN is zero, only the length of octetArray values is printed. A LEN that is negative or
larger than 65535 is treated as the maximum, 65535.

--version
Prints version and copyright information to standard error and exits.

--help
Prints a brief usage message to the standard output and exits.

Examples

       In the following examples, the dollar sign ("$") represents the shell prompt.  The text after the dollar
       sign represents the command line.

        $ ipfixDump --in - --out -

        $ ipfixDump --in /data/ipfix.ipfix --out /data/text.txt --yaf

Known Issues

       Bug reports may be sent directly to the Network Situational Awareness team at <netsa-help@cert.org>.

AUTHORS

       Emily Sarneso and the CERT Network Situational Awareness Group Engineering Team,
       <http://www.cert.org/netsa>.