Ubuntu Manpage: ratop - display and update sorted network flow data

Provided by: argus-client_5.0.2+git20250321.41f65e2-2ubuntu1_amd64

NAME

       ratop - display and update sorted network flow data

SYNOPSIS

       ratop [raoptions] [-- filter-expression]

DESCRIPTION

       Ratop  reads  argus(8) data from an argus-file, or from a remote data source, and periodically displays a
       sorted list of network flow records.  When read from a file, ratop displays  the  resulting  flow  caches
       when  the  file is completed, updating its status display line with each input.  When reading from a live
       argus data stream, ratop will display data, asynchronously in  realtime,  as  it  is  received  from  the
       source.

       Flow  data  is  aggregated  as  its  read, (see racluster.1), resulting in a single line for each network
       transaction encountered in the data stream.  The default sorting key is total packets per flow, but other
       keys can be used instead.  Flow records that have been idle for more than the default  60s  are  removed.
       Various  output  options,  such as the specific columns of data to display, the entry idle timeout value,
       the screen refresh rate, etc ... are all configurable.

       ratop uses ncurses and readline.3, when available, to provide an  emacs.1  or  vi.1  look  and  feel  for
       displaying,  navigating  and  modifying  network  flow  data.   Configure these features using readline's
       configuruation strategy.  See 'man readline'.

       While running ratop a lot of help can be obtained from the on-line help system, using the ":h" command.

OPTIONS

Command line option specifications are processed from left to right. Options can be specified more than
once. If conflicting options are specified, later specifications override earlier ones. This makes it
viable to create a shell alias for ratop with preferred defaults specified, then override those preferred
defaults as desired on the command line.

ratop, like all ra based clients, supports a number of ra options including filtering of input argus
records through a terminating filter expression, and the ability to specify the output style, format and
contents for printing data. See ra(1) for a complete description of ra options. ratop(1) specific
options are:

-m aggregation object
Supported aggregation objects are:
none use a null flow key.
srcid argus source identifier.
smac source mac(ether) addr.
dmac destination mac(ether) addr.
soui oui portion of the source mac(ether) addr.
doui oui portion of the destination mac(ether) addr.
smpls source mpls label.
dmpls destination label addr.
svlan source vlan label.
dvlan destination vlan addr.
saddr/[l|m] source IP addr/[cidr len | m.a.s.k].
daddr/[l|m] destination IP addr/[cidr len | m.a.s.k].
matrix/l sorted src and dst IP addr/cidr len.
proto transaction protocol.
sport source port number. Implies use of 'proto'.
dport destination port number. Implies use of 'proto'.
stos source TOS byte value.
dtos destination TOS byte value.
sttl src -> dst TTL value.
dttl dst -> src TTL value.
stcpb src -> dst TCP base sequence number.
dtcpb dst -> src TCP base sequence number.
inode[/l|m]] intermediate node IP addr/[cidr len | m.a.s.k], source of ICMP mapped events.
sco source ARIN country code, if present.
dco destination ARIN country code, if present.
sas source node origin AS number, if available.
das destination node origin AS number, if available.
ias intermediate node origin AS number, if available.

-M modes
Supported modes are:
correct Attempt to correct the direction of flows by also searching the reverse flow key,
if a match isn't found in the cache. This mode is on by default when using the
default full 5-tuple flow key definitions.
nocorrect Turn off flow correction for direction. This mode is used by default if the flow
key has been changed.
preserve Preserve fields when aggregating matching flow data.
nopreserve Do not preserve fields when aggregating matching flow data.
norep Do not generate an aggregate statistic for each flow. This is used primarily when
the output represents a single object. Primarily used when merging status records
to generate single flows that represent single transactions.
rmon Generate data suitable for producing RMON types of metrics.
nocurses Do not use the curses interface to present data. This option is primarily used when
debugging ratop, to get around the issues of screen maniuplation within a debugger
like gdb or lldb.

DISPLAY

The first several lines of the ratop display show global state. The top line shows how ratop is running,
with the list of command line options that are in effect. In the upper most right corner is the current
time. The next line is the column title line, that labels each column. The bottom line is the command
line, where you will see and prepare ':' commands. The line above the bottom line is the status line,
showing the number of flows that are in the ratop process queue, display queue, the total number of flows
read, the rate of flow records read, and the current status, whether it is Active, reading records, or
Idle, when all input is complete. This line can be toggled on or off using ^G.

Flows caches are displayed one per row and are sorted by total pkts, by default. ratop sorting can be
configured using the rarc variable RA_SORT_ALGORITHMS, or by using the ":P" command.

ratop supports 3 basic filters. Like all other ra* programs, ratop will send its command line filter to
its remote argus data sources, to limit the load on the wire. This is the "remote" filter. Also, ratop
supports a "local" filter, that is applied to flow record input. Normally this is used when the remote
argus data source doesn't support the syntax of the specific filter. ratop also support a "display"
filter, that is used to select which flow records are to be displayed. This filter does not have any
impact on the internal flow caches that ratop is tracking, so you can change the "display" filter at any
time and see the current state of other flows.

COLOR

       ratop supports color which is configured using the rarc file.  The RA_COLOR_CONFIG file is a fall through
       specification  of  flow  filters  and  field  color definitions.  For flows that match a filter, specific
       fields in the row will be painted the configured color.  Because the filter specification supports the  "
       cont " directive, a single row can be painted by any number of color definitions.

       When  color  is enabled ratop will attempt to color IP addresses to indicate that local host address, and
       the local network.  This is very helpful in mobile host installations, where you may  not  know  what  IP
       address  has  been  assigned  the  localhost.   ratop also supports coloring local addresses based on the
       RA_LOCAL rarc variable.

       See racolor.conf.5.

ARGUS EVENTS

       Introduced in argus-3.0.8, ratop supports correlating specific ARGUS_EVENT data with flow data, which can
       be turned on through the use of the RA_CORRELATE_EVENTS rarc variable.   ratop  will  process  argus-lsof
       event  data  generated by host bourne argi, and label flow data with user, pid and process name metadata.
       While experimental, it is production level functionality, and can be used  with  other  ra*  programs  to
       enhance flow data with host os process information.  See argus-3.0.8 documentation on ARGUS_EVENTS.

EXAMPLES

       ratop -r argus.file -s rank stime dur:14 saddr daddr proto pkts bytes

              Read  the  file  argus.file, and display the resulting aggregated and sorted list of flow records,
              using the default sorting methods.

       ratop -S localhost
              Run ratop as a live display of realtime flow traffic.

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (c) 2000-2024 QoSient. All rights reserved.

AUTHORS

       Carter Bullard (carter@qosient.com).