Traceproto - trace the route to a destination using a specified protocol and port

traceproto [-cCTfAhvR] [-p protocol] [-d dst_port] [-D max_dst_port] [-s src_port] [-S max_src_port] [-m min_ttl] [-M max_ttl] [-w response_timeout] [-W send_delay] [-a account_level] [-P payload_size] [-F interface] [-k skips] [-I consecutive_trace_count] [-H packets_per_hop] [-i incr_pattern] [-o output_style] [-t tcp_flags]

traceproto is a replacement for the venerable traceroute. It serves the same function, to determine the path that traffic takes between the current host and a remote system. Like traceroute it uses the IP time-to-live (TTL) field and watches for the return ICMP packets from each successive gateway. In the current Internet environment with ubiquitous firewalls and traffic filtering it is no longer enough to assume that if some traffic is getting to the remote machine that all of it is. traceproto is an improvement to traceroute in this regard as it lets you select the protocol and destination port to trace to.

-p protocol

The protocol to use. The current options are tcp, udp, and icmp with tcp as the default.

-d dst_port

The destination port to trace to. If -i is set to 'd' or 'D' then this is the minimum destination port. The default value is 80 (HTTP).

-D max_dst_port

The maximum destination port. -i needs to be set to 'd' or 'D' for this to have an effect.

-s src_port

The port to use as the local source port. If -i is set to 's' or 'S' then it is the minimum source port. The default is 10240.

-S max_src_port

The port to use as the maximum local source port.

-m min_ttl

Specifies the minimum time-to-live setting to use. This sets how many hops away to start tracing. (For example, if the first hop is a firewall that will not respond with an ICMP TIME_EXCEEDED message but will allow packages through from hops that are further away, you can set the min_ttl to 2 and thereby avoid having to wait for the packets that timeout at the first hop.) The default is 1.

-M Max_ttl

Specifies the maximum time-to-live setting. This is the limit for how many hops away to trace. The default is 30. (Very few locations on the Internet will be further away than this.)

-w wait_timeout

The timeout in seconds to wait for a return packet. The default is 5 seconds.

-W send_delay

The timeout before sending a new packet in milliseconds. The default is 100 milliseconds.

-a account_level

If accounting is enabled (ie. account_level set to > 0) traceproto will print statistics after the run is complete detailing minimum return time in milliseconds, average return time in milliseconds, maximum return time in milliseconds, number of packets returned successfully, and the number of packets that generated no response. Possible account_levels:

0 No accounting printed.

1 Only the totals for all of the hops combined are printed.

2 Stats are shown for each individual hop as well as the total (this is the default).

Note that the -C flag will run traceproto in continuous mode, restarting from scratch at the end of each run and will generate stats after each run. Note also that CTRL-C will abort the run, printing the stats at whatever level is specified with -a and will abort traceproto. CTRL-Z will cause traceproto to print the stats but does not abort the run.

-T

Print timestamps with the output.

-P payload_size

This option specifies the payload size in bytes. Currently the payload is filled with '0's, though this may change in the future. A word of caution, traceproto seems to have problems with certain combinations of payload size and protocol, especially udp with payloads of under 12 bytes. Hence the default payload is 12 bytes. The cause of this has yet to be determined.

-k skips

Allows the user to specify a comma separated list of hops to skip by number (ie. -k 5 will cause traceproto to skip sending packets with a ttl of 5, going from 4 to 6). This allows the user to skip a hop that is know to not respond, responds slowly, or that should be avoided for some reason. The skip list only allows comma separated hops at this point, not ranges. Spaces in the list will also cause problems. Note that -k 1 is functionally analogous to -m 2.

-c

Trace continuously. This causes traceproto to reset its counters and begin the trace from scratch once run has been completed. Useful for finding intermittent problems and for noting hops that use packet based routing (ie. the route used for the packet may change from one packet to the next even during the same connection). See also -C.

-C

If -c is set, this prints the accumulated stats at the end of each run. Meaningless unless -c is set.

-I consecutive_trace_count

Like -c and -C, -I does a continuous trace but unlike -c and -C, it only does consecutive_trace_count iterations.

-H packets_per_hop

This allows the user to specify the number of packets sent out for each increment of the TTL. This must be a number between 1 and 10. The default is 3 packets per hop.

-f

Set the don't-fragment bit in the IP header. Can be used in conjunction with the -P flag to determine at which hop the MTR changes.

-F interface

Specify the network interface to use. Note that it is quite possible to specify the wrong interface needed to reach the target.

-A

Do Autonomous System number lookups.

-i port_incr_pattern

This flag governs the source and destination increment patterns. The pattern is a combination of one or two letters from the set [sSdDnN] where the meanings are:

s decrement the source port with each packet

S increment the source port with each packet (the default for the source port)

d decrement the destination port with each packet

D increment the destination port with each packet

n use a static source port

N use a static destination port (the default for the destination port)

Note that if contradictory options are given, the last one seen is used (ie. -i Ss is the same as -i s). Note also that -i nN may cause traceproto problems in determining which response is for which packet.

-o output_style

The default output style is designed to be reasonable legible and space conscious. There are other output styles available:

s the standard output (default). Prints the hop number, the response protocol and type, the response machine name if available, and the response IP address on the first line. The next line is a list of the response times as they arrive.

g graphical output. The first line is the same as the standard output, but the response time is printed one line per response with a variable length ascii bar indicating the relative response time.

c classic output. An output style (almost) identical to the original traceroute.

n no individual hop output. Stats will still print at whatever level is set. (Note that -o n -a 0 is possible, but silly.)

m minimal output. Prints the hop number and a single character indicating the response type. Response times are not noted.

p scriptable output. Prints the hop number, ip, return packet type, and time for each packet sent.

C (n)curses output.

-t flags

Sets the tcp flags to use.

S SYN (default)

A ACK

R RST

U URG

P PUSH

F FIN

E ECE

C CWR

Use -t SEC to test connections with Explicit Congestion Notification enabled.

-R

Reverse trace. Starts at the max TTL and decrements the TTL for each hop.

-h

A brief usage message summarizing the options.

-v

Version info.

The easiest way to invoke traceproto is simply to give it a target machine by name or IP address. The default behavior is to trace using tcp and destination port 80. Given the current state of the Internet this is the most likely to succeed though it certainly won't be appropriate for every situation.

traceproto assumes that the user has some understanding of the protocols involved; users who are unfamiliar with them may find that traceproto's options or output are hard to decipher. Information on how the protocols function is widely available on the Internet and is recommended reading for the traceproto user.

There are a fair number of options for traceproto and there will probably be even more in the future. Many are contradictory or illogical in combination, but unless a combination is actually problematic, traceproto will usually allow it to be specified. Combinations that are illogical are generally ignored in a sensible manner; contradictions are usually resolved using the option furthest to the right on the command line.

There are a number of environmental variables that can be set to effect traceproto's behavior. These variables override the default behavior; in turn they are themselves are overridden by their equivalent command line flags.

TP_TIMESTAMP_STYLE

Sets the format for the time-stamp printed by the -T flag. Note that there is no equivalent command line flag for this variable.

std The std day/alpha-month/year:hour:minute:second format.

us US Style date of numeric-month/day/year:hour:minute:second format.

descend Descending time format: year/month/day:hour:minute:second.

epoch Number of seconds since the unix epoch.

TP_DEFAULT_IF

Sets the default interface. Is overridden by the -F flag. Setting this variable causes traceproto to print a message about which interface it is using, since traceproto will attempt to send the traces out that interface whether or not it is the correct interface needed to reach the specified destination.

TP_OUTPUT_STYLE

Sets the default output style for traceproto. Is overridden using the -o flag.

std The standard output style. The same as '-o s'.

graphical The graphical output style. The same as '-o g'.

classic The classic output style. The same as '-o c'.

none No output. The same as '-o n'.

minimal Minimal output. The same as '-o m'.

scriptable Output suitable for use in scripting. The same as '-o p'.

curses (N)Curses output. The same as '-o C'.

RA_SERVER

and

TP_RA_SERVER

Sets the default server to to Autonomous System number lookups. Mimics the NANOG traceroute behavior.

traceroute(8), hping2(8), tcptraceroute(1), mtr(8), lft(8).

None known at this time. Please report any bugs found.