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