Provided by: smokeping_2.8.2+ds-1_all 
NAME
Smokeping::probes::TelnetIOSPing - Cisco IOS Probe for SmokePing
SYNOPSIS
*** Probes ***
+TelnetIOSPing
forks = 5
offset = 50%
packetsize = 56
step = 300
timeout = 15
# The following variables can be overridden in each target section
/^influx_.+/ = influx_location = In the basement
iospass = password # mandatory
iosuser = user # mandatory
pings = 5
psource = 192.168.2.129
source = 192.168.2.1 # mandatory
vrf = VRF1
# [...]
*** Targets ***
probe = TelnetIOSPing # if this should be the default probe
# [...]
+ mytarget
# probe = TelnetIOSPing # if the default probe is something else
host = my.host
/^influx_.+/ = influx_location = In the basement
iospass = password # mandatory
iosuser = user # mandatory
pings = 5
psource = 192.168.2.129
source = 192.168.2.1 # mandatory
vrf = VRF1
DESCRIPTION
Integrates Cisco IOS as a probe into smokeping. Uses the telnet protocol to run a ping from an IOS
device (source) to another device (host). This probe basically uses the "extended ping" of the Cisco
IOS. You have the option to specify which interface the ping is sourced from as well.
VARIABLES
Supported probe-specific variables:
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 acquisition is initiated. (This variable is only
applicable if the variable 'concurrentprobes' is set in the 'General' section.)
Example value: 50%
packetsize
The (optional) packetsize option lets you configure the packetsize for the pings sent.
Default value: 56
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:
/^influx_.+/
This is a tag that will be sent to influxdb and has no impact on the probe measurement. The tag name
will be sent without the "influx_" prefix, which will be replaced with "tag_" instead. Tags can be
used for filtering.
Example value: influx_location = In the basement
iospass
The iospass option allows you to specify the password for the username specified with the option
iosuser.
Example value: password
This setting is mandatory.
iosuser
The iosuser option allows you to specify a username that has ping capability on the IOS Device.
Example value: user
This setting is mandatory.
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
psource
The (optional) psource option specifies an alternate IP address or Interface from which you wish to
source your pings from. Routers can have many many IP addresses, and interfaces. When you ping from
a router you have the ability to choose which interface and/or which IP address the ping is sourced
from. Specifying an IP/interface does not necessarily specify the interface from which the ping will
leave, but will specify which address the packet(s) appear to come from. If this option is left out
the IOS Device will source the packet automatically based on routing and/or metrics. If this doesn't
make sense to you then just leave it out.
Example value: 192.168.2.129
source
The source option specifies the IOS device to which we telnet. This is an IP address of an IOS
Device that you/your server: 1) Have the ability to telnet to 2) Have a valid username
and password for
Example value: 192.168.2.1
This setting is mandatory.
vrf The vrf option allows you to specify the vrf for ping
Example value: VRF1
AUTHORS
John A Jackson <geonjay@infoave.net>
based HEAVILY on Smokeping::probes::IOSPing by
Paul J Murphy <paul@murph.org>
based on Smokeping::probes::FPing by
Tobias Oetiker <tobi@oetiker.ch>
NOTES
IOS configuration
The IOS device should have a username/password configured, as well as the ability to connect to the
VTY(s). eg:
!
username smokeping privilege 5 password 0 SmokepingPassword
!
line vty 0 4
login local
transport input telnet
!
Some IOS devices have a maximum of 5 VTYs available, so be careful not to hit a limit with the 'forks'
variable.
Requirements
This module requires the Net::Telnet module for perl. This is usually included on most newer OSs which
include perl.
Debugging
There is some VERY rudimentary debugging code built into this module (it's based on the debugging code
written into Net::Telnet). It will log information into three files "TIPreturn", "TIPoutlog", and
"TIPdump". These files will be written out into your current working directory (CWD). You can change
the names of these files to something with more meaning to you.
Password authentication
You should be advised that the authentication method of telnet uses clear text transmissions...meaning
that without proper network security measures someone could sniff your username and password off the
network. I may attempt to incorporate SSH in a future version of this module, but it is very doubtful.
Right now SSH adds a LOT of processing overhead to a router, and isn't incredibly easy to implement in
perl.
Having said this, don't be too scared of telnet. Remember, the original IOSPing module used RSH, which
is even more scary to use from a security perspective.
Ping packet size
The FPing manpage has the following to say on the topic of ping packet size:
Number of bytes of ping data to send. The minimum size (normally 12) allows room for the data that fping
needs to do its work (sequence number, timestamp). The reported received data size includes the IP
header (normally 20 bytes) and ICMP header (8 bytes), so the minimum total size is 40 bytes. Default is
56, as in ping. Maximum is the theoretical maximum IP datagram size (64K), though most systems limit this
to a smaller, system-dependent number.
2.8.2 2024-02-04 Smokeping_probes_TelnetIOSPing(3)