Provided by: smokeping_2.7.3-4_all 
NAME
Smokeping::probes::TraceroutePing - use traceroute to obtain RTT for a router
SYNOPSIS
*** Probes ***
+TraceroutePing
binary = /usr/bin/traceroute # mandatory
binaryv6 = /usr/bin/traceroute6
forks = 5
offset = 50%
step = 300
timeout = 15
# The following variables can be overridden in each target section
desthost = www.example.com # mandatory
host = www-net-router.example.com # mandatory
maxttl = 15
minttl = 11
pings = 5
wait = 3
# [...]
*** Targets ***
probe = TraceroutePing # if this should be the default probe
# [...]
+ mytarget
# probe = TraceroutePing # if the default probe is something else
host = my.host
desthost = www.example.com # mandatory
host = www-net-router.example.com # mandatory
maxttl = 15
minttl = 11
pings = 5
wait = 3
DESCRIPTION
Integrates standard traceroute as a probe into smokeping. The use case for this probe is
gateways that do not respond to TCP/UDP/ICMP packets addressed to them, but do return ICMP
TTL_EXCEEDED packets for traceroute packets to a host they route to. It is best used in
situations where routing for the path is static or nearly so; attempting to use this on
networks with changing routing will yield poor results. The best place to use this probe
is on first- and last-mile links, which are more likely to have static routing and also
more likely to have firewalls that ignore ICMP ECHO_REQUEST.
The mandatory probe variable binary must have an executable path for traceroute.
The optional probe variable binaryv6 sets an executable path for your IPv6 traceroute. If
this is set to the same value as binary, TraceroutePing will use the -6 flag when running
traceroute for IPv6 addresses. If this variable is not set, TraceroutePing will try to
find an functioning IPv6 traceroute. It will first try appending "6" to the path in
binary, then try including the "-6" flag in a test command. Note that Linux appears to
have a wide variety of IPv6 traceroute implementations. My Ubuntu 14.04 machine has
/usr/sbin/traceroute6 from iputils, but /usr/bin/traceroute (from Dmitry Butskoy) accepts
the -6 flag and is actually a better implementation. You may need to let TraceroutePing
autodetect this, or experiment to find the best traceroute.
The mandatory target variable desthost must name a destination host for the probe. The
destination host itself is not of interest and no data is gathered on it, its only purpose
is to route traffic past your actual target. Selection of a destination just past your
target, with static or strongly preferred routing through your target, will get better
data.
The mandatory target variable host must name the target host for the probe. This is the
router that you want to collect RTT data for. This variable must either be the valid
reverse-lookup name of the router, or its IP address. Using the IP address is preferable
since it allows us to tell traceroute to avoid DNS lookups.
The target variables minttl and maxttl can be used to describe the range of expected hop
counts to host. On longer paths or paths through unresponsive gateways or ending in
unresponsive hosts, this reduces the amount of time this probe takes to execute. These
default to 1 and 30.
The target variables wait sets the traceroute probe timeout in seconds. This defaults to
1, instead of the traditionally higher value used by LBL traceroute. Traceroute programs
often enforce a lower bound on this value.
VARIABLES
Supported probe-specific variables:
binary
The location of your traceroute binary.
Example value: /usr/bin/traceroute
This setting is mandatory.
binaryv6
The location of your IPv6 traceroute binary.
Example value: /usr/bin/traceroute6
forks
Run this many concurrent processes at maximum
Example value: 5
Default value: 5
offset
If you run many probes concurrently you may want to prevent them from hitting your
network all at the same time. Using the probe-specific offset parameter you can change
the point in time when each probe will be run. Offset is specified in % of total
interval, or alternatively as 'random', and the offset from the 'General' section is
used if nothing is specified here. Note that this does NOT influence the rrds itself,
it is just a matter of when data acqusition is initiated. (This variable is only
applicable if the variable 'concurrentprobes' is set in the 'General' section.)
Example value: 50%
step
Duration of the base interval that this probe should use, if different from the one
specified in the 'Database' section. Note that the step in the RRD files is fixed when
they are originally generated, and if you change the step parameter afterwards, you'll
have to delete the old RRD files or somehow convert them. (This variable is only
applicable if the variable 'concurrentprobes' is set in the 'General' section.)
Example value: 300
timeout
How long a single 'ping' takes at maximum
Example value: 15
Default value: 5
Supported target-specific variables:
desthost
Final destination host for traceroute packets. Does not have to be reachable unless
it is also your host.
Example value: www.example.com
This setting is mandatory.
host
Host of interest to monitor. Must be either the host's reverse-lookup name, or an IP
address.
Example value: www-net-router.example.com
This setting is mandatory.
maxttl
Maximum TTL. Set to the maximum expected number of hops to host.
Example value: 15
minttl
Minimum TTL. Set to the minimum expected number of hops to host.
Example value: 11
pings
How many pings should be sent to each target, if different from the global value
specified in the Database section. Note that the number of pings in the RRD files is
fixed when they are originally generated, and if you change this parameter afterwards,
you'll have to delete the old RRD files or somehow convert them.
Example value: 5
wait
Waittime. The timeout value for traceroute's probes, in seconds.
Example value: 3
AUTHORS
John Hood <cgull@glup.org>,
SEE ALSO
smokeping_extend