X Route

Introduction Copied

Geneos X Route plugin checks the network path to a specified target node, the latency introduced by each hop and the availability of the node. It sends ICMP or UDP packets to the target host and measures the time it takes to reply and the hops that make up the full network path to the target node. The target host does not need to run any special software to provide the replies.

A number of expected routes can be preset, so that the route name is shown as a headline variable. e.g. Primary Route and Backup Route could be defined, so that when the messages are routers via the Backup Route, the operator is made aware.

X Route is also useful to ensure security, where only designated routed are considered secure.

Views Copied

View Copied

The X Route plugin produces a single view as follows:

Headline Legend

Table Legend

Plugin Configuration Copied

The following parameters can be configured for this plugin:

var-recvInterfaces Copied

Specifies a comma-separated list of network interface names to be used.

On UNIX machines, interface names can be found using the command “ifconfig -a”. Example names are “eth0” or “ce0”.

On Windows machines, interface names can be listed by running Netprobe using the “-ifconfig” command-line option. A Windows interface name will look similar to the following:

Mandatory: Yes

sendInterface Copied

The name of the network interface to be used to send packets (e.g. hme0). Usually the same as recvInterface parameter, but can be set to a different value in certain network configurations.

Mandatory: Yes

targetNode Copied

The name or the IP address of the target node at the end of the network path that is being monitored. This must not be the node that the NetProbe is running on.

Mandatory: Yes

var-nameResolution Copied

Boolean. When set true will use DNS to resolve the IP addresses of the route nodes.

Mandatory: No

Default: TRUE

protocol Copied

The type of protocol to use. Can be UDP or ICMP. ICMP is more likely to pass through routers and firewalls.

Mandatory: No

Default: ICMP

var-maxHops Copied

The maximum number of hops that the route can take. Maximum allowed is 63.

Mandatory: No

Default: 20

var-maxNumberOfProbes Copied

The maximum number of test packets sent to each hop. Maximum allowed is 7.

Mandatory: No

Default: 3

var-timeAllowed Copied

The timeout interval for a reply from a hop.

Mandatory: No

Default: 3

routes Copied

Routes to targetNode. The routeName headline variable shows the route used. When a route is not one of the set routes, the routeName headline variable is shown as UNKNOWN.

Mandatory: No

routes > route > var-name Copied

The name of the route.

Mandatory: Yes

routes > route > routeNodes Copied

List of hops IP addresses or names that describe a route. A valid value can be an IP address or a wildcard (*).

Mandatory: Yes

routes > route > routeNodes > routeNode Copied

A hop on a route. A valid value can be an IP address or a wildcard (*).

Mandatory: Yes

routes > route > var-matchExactHops Copied

Set this false to enable Loose Matching for the route. If Loose Matching is enabled then completely wild routeNodes (i.e. \*.\*.\*.\*) will match zero or more hops.

e.g. The Route *\*.\*.\*.\*, 1.2.3.4, \*.\*.\*.\** will match any route that passes through 1.2.3.4 no matter how long.

Mandatory: No

Default: False

var-sourceIP Copied

The Source IP address to be used in the outbound test packets.

Mandatory: No

Default: Defaults to the default IP address on the card.

checkTargetHostHasChangedIp Copied

Forces X Route to detect if the underlying IP address of a host name has +changed. This will restart the packet capture engine so X Route will +continue to check the correct host. In between restarts there is a +potential for losing packets.

Note

Restarting the packet capture engine will affect all X-Set plugins as they too might miss packets.

Mandatory: No

Default: False

Permissions Copied

The plugin needs to open network devices, so you should run the Netprobe using root or administrator permission on Unix and Windows, respectively.

On Linux kernel versions 2.6.24 and higher, an alternative to running the Netprobe as root is by setting the CAP_NET_RAW and CAP_NET_ADMIN Linux capabilities on the Netprobe binary using the following command:

When running the Netprobe with set capabilities, the lib64/startup folder in the Netprobe directory should be in the ld.so trusted paths. Otherwise, the runtime libraries will not load properly. For guidance, see Run Netprobe under elevated privileges in Linux.

Third Party Libraries Copied

Windows: The Npcap packet capture library needs to be installed on the host. If Npcap is not installed using WinPcap API-compatible mode, then the Npcap installation directory must be added in the PATH environment variable or the DLL_PATH registry variable.

Unix: The shared library libpcap.so needs to be in the netprobe/lib64 directory. It is recommended to use libpcap.so version 1.0.0 or later.

Note: As the Netprobe needs to be run as root, the LD_LIBRARY_PATH is ignored for security reasons.