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71 >Configuring IPTraf
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74 > IPTraf can be easily configured
82 main menu. The configuration is stored in the
85 >/var/local/iptraf/iptraf.cfg
</TT
86 > file. If the file is not found, IPTraf uses
87 the default settings. Any changes to the configuration immediately get
88 stored in the configuration file.
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96 SRC=
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99 >Figure
1. The IPTraf configuration menu
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116 >Reverse DNS Lookups
</A
119 > Activating reverse lookup
120 causes IPTraf to find out the name of the hosts with the addresses
121 in the IP packets. When this option is enabled, IPTraf's
122 IP traffic monitor starts the rvnamed DNS lookup server to help resolve
123 IP addresses in the background while allowing IPTraf to
124 continue capturing packets.
</P
126 > This option is off by default.
</P
134 >TCP/UDP Service Names
</A
137 > This option, when on, causes IPTraf to display the TCP/UDP service names
139 CLASS=
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142 CLASS=
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146 CLASS=
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148 >, etc.) instead of their numeric ports (
25,
80,
149 110, etc). The number-to-name mappings will depend on the systems
150 services database file (usually
<TT
154 Should there be no corresponding service name for the
155 port number, the numeric form will still be displayed.
</P
157 > This setting is off by default.
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172 SRC=
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189 > Reverse lookup and service name lookup take some
190 time and may impact performance and increase the chances of dropped
191 packets. Performance and results are best (albeit more cryptic) with both
192 these settings off.
</P
204 >Force promiscuous
</A
207 > If this option is enabled, your LAN interfaces will capture all packets
208 on your LAN. Using this option enables you
209 to see all TCP connections and packets passing your LAN segment, even if
210 they're not from or for your machine. When this option is active
211 in the statistics windows, the Activity indicators will show a
212 good estimate of the load on your LAN segment.
</P
214 > When this option is disabled, you'll
215 only receive information about packets coming from and entering your
218 > The setting of this option affects all LAN (
219 Ethernet, FDDI, some Token Ring) interfaces on your machine, if you have more than one.
</P
221 > The interface's promiscuous flag is set only when a facility is started,
222 and turned off when it exits. However, if promiscuous
223 mode was already set when a facility was started, it remains set on exit.
</P
225 > If multiple instances of IPTraf are started, the promiscuous setting
226 is restored only upon exit of the last facility.
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241 SRC=
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258 > Do not use other programs that change the interface's promiscuous flag at
259 the same time you're using IPTraf. The programs can interfere with
260 each other's expected operations. While IPTraf tries to obtain the
261 initial setting of any promiscuous flags for restoration
262 upon exit, other programs may not be as well-behaved, and they may
263 turn off the promiscuous flags while IPTraf is still monitoring.
</P
278 > Turn this on with color monitors. Turn it off with
279 black-and- white monitors or non-color terminals (like xterms). Changes
280 to this setting will take effect the next time the program is started.
</P
282 > Color is on by default on consoles and color xterms, off on non-color terminals like xterms and VT100s.
</P
293 > When this option is active, IPTraf will log information to a
294 disk file, which can be examined or analyzed later. Since IPTraf
295 2.4.0, IPTraf prompts you for the name of the file to which to write the
296 logs. It will provide a default name, which you are free to accept
297 or change. The IP traffic monitor and LAN station monitor will
298 generate a log file name that is based on what instance they are (first,
299 second, and so on). The general interface statistics' default log file
300 name is constant, because it listens to all interfaces at once, and only
301 one instance can run at one time.
</P
303 > The other facilities generate a log file name based
304 on the interface they're listening on.
</P
306 > See the descriptions on the facilities above for the default log file names.
</P
308 > Press Enter to accept the log file name, or Ctrl+X to cancel. Canceling will turn logging off for that session.
</P
310 > The IP traffic monitor will write the following pieces of information to its log file:
</P
316 STYLE=
"list-style-type: disc"
318 >Start of the traffic monitor
</P
321 STYLE=
"list-style-type: disc"
323 >Receipt of the first TCP packet for a connection. If that packet is a
324 SYN, (SYN) will be indicated in the log entry. (Of course, the traffic
325 monitor may start in the middle of established connections. It
326 will still count those packets. This also explains why some connection
327 entries may become idle if the traffic monitor is started in the
328 middle of a half-closed connection, and miss the first FIN.
329 Such entries time out in a while.)
</P
332 STYLE=
"list-style-type: disc"
334 >Receipt of a FIN (with average flow rate)
</P
337 STYLE=
"list-style-type: disc"
342 STYLE=
"list-style-type: disc"
344 >Timeouts of TCP entries (with average flow rate)
</P
347 STYLE=
"list-style-type: disc"
349 >Reset connections (with average flow rate)
</P
352 STYLE=
"list-style-type: disc"
354 >Everything that appears in the bottom window of the traffic monitor
</P
357 STYLE=
"list-style-type: disc"
359 >Stopping of the traffic monitor
</P
363 > Each log entry includes the date and time the entry was written. Logging
364 is also affected by the defined filters.
</P
366 > Log files can grow very fast, so be prepared with plenty of
367 free space and delete unneeded logs. Log write errors are not indicated.
</P
369 > Copies of the interface statistics, TCP/UDP statistics, packet
370 size statistics, and LAN host statistics are also written
371 to the log files at regular intervals. See
<I
375 > in this chapter.
</P
377 > IPTraf closes and reopens the active log file when it receives a
379 CLASS=
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381 > signal. This is useful in cases where a facility is run for
382 long periods of time but the log files have to be cleared or moved.
</P
384 > To clear or move an active log file, rename it first. IPTraf will
385 continue to write to the file despite the new name. Then use the UNIX
386 kill command to send the running IPTraf process a
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387 CLASS=
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390 will then close the log file and open another with the
391 original name. You can then safely remove or delete the renamed file.
</P
393 > Do not delete an open log file. Doing so will only result in a file just
394 as large but filled with null characters (ASCII code
0).
</P
396 > Logging comes disabled by default. The
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397 CLASS=
"COMPUTEROUTPUT"
399 > signal is caught only if
400 logging is enabled, it is ignored otherwise.
</P
402 > A valid specification of
<TT
403 CLASS=
"COMPUTEROUTPUT"
405 > on the command line with automatically
406 enable logging for that particular session. The saved configuration setting is not affected.
</P
417 > Toggles activity indicators in the interface and LAN statistics
418 facilities between kilobits per second (kbits/s) or kilobytes per second
421 > The default setting is kilobits per second.
</P
429 >Source MAC addrs in traffic monitor
</A
432 > When enabled, the IP traffic monitor retrieves the packets' source MAC
433 addresses if they came in on an Ethernet, FDDI, or PLIP interface. The
434 addresses appear in the lower window for non-TCP
435 packets, while for TCP connections, they can be viewed by pressing M.
</P
437 > No such information is displayed
438 if the network interface doesn't use MAC addresses (such
439 as PPP interfaces).
</P
441 > This can be used to determine the actual source of the packets on your local LAN.
</P
443 > The traffic monitor also logs the MAC addresses with this option
444 enabled. The default setting is off.
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