Provided by: smokeping_2.8.2+ds-1_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
/^influx_.+/ = influx_location = In the basement
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
/^influx_.+/ = influx_location = In the basement
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 acquisition 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:
/^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
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
2.8.2 2024-02-04 Smokeping_probes_TraceroutePing(3)