X Ping Plug-in - Technical Reference (2024)

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["Geneos > Netprobe"]["Technical Reference"]

Introduction

The Geneos X Ping plugin checks the network path to aspecified target node and the availability of the node.It sends ICMP or TCP packets to the target host andmeasures the time it takes to reply. If no replyreceived after a defined time interval, the target nodeis assumed to be down or unreachable. The target hostdoes not need to run any special software to providethe replies.

Multiple hosts can be monitored by one X Pingplugin.

Views

View

Headline Legend

Name	Description
localInterface	Name of the local interface used tosend the packets.
sourceNode	The source IP address to be used in theoutbound packets.

Table Legend

Name	Description
targetNode	Name of the host that the ping requestsare sent to.
targetAddress	IP address of the target host.
serviceName	If the plugin is configuredto use ICMP, then this shows ICMP_ECHO. If it is configured to use TCP,this shows the TCP service name that is usedto send the echo packets. Defaults to ECHO(port 7), but can be configured to be anyport/service.
servicePort	If the plugin is configured to use ICMP,then this shows 0. Otherwise, it shows the serviceport number used.
turnaroundTime	Time in ms that a packet takes to travel tothe target host and back.
status	Status of the targetNode. Possible values are the following: `REACHABLE` — a reply is received within atimeout period that has a default value of five seconds. `UNREACHABLE` — no reply is received. `LISTENING` — the node has a process listening on that port.
failurePercent	Failure percentage from the initial packet sent up to the last (initial sampling up to the latest sampling).

Plugin Configuration

Basic Configuration

Field	Description
Target nodes	Name or the IP address of the target node thatis being monitored. Mandatory: Yes
Recv interfaces	Specifies a comma-separated list of network interface namesto be used. On UNIX machines, interface names can be found using thecommand `ifconfig -a`. Example namesare `eth0` or `ce0`. On Windows machines, interface names can be listedby running Netprobe using the `-ifconfig`command-line option. A Windows interface name willlook similar to the following: `\Device\NPF_{BDFE3EAC-0275-440A-923C-C9C4CE3B37F2}` Mandatory: Yes
Send interface	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

Advanced Configuration

Field	Description
Source IP	The Source IP address to be used in the outboundtest packets. Mandatory:No Default:Defaults to the default IP address onthe card.
Timeout	Period within where areply to a packet that was sent out is expected. If a reply isnot received within this period, then the packet isconsidered lost. Packets are only fired on sample. This means thatif a packet is considered lost, then the next packetfire would occur at the next sample. Packetswill not be re-fired as soon as the timeout has beenreached. Note:With the allowablePacketLoss setting,multiple packets may be lost before the pluginreports that the particular target isunreachable. See Examplefor timeout and allowablePacketLoss. Mandatory:No Default:`5` seconds
Allowable packet loss	Maximum number of consecutive packetsthat can be lost without setting the status to `UNREACHABLE`. For example, if the allowable packet loss is set to `3`,then the plugin will ignore up to three consecutivepackets being lost. If the fourth packet is lost, then the status becomes `UNREACHABLE`. See Examplefor timeout and allowablePacketLoss Mandatory:No Default:`3`
Protocol	Type of protocol to use. Possible values are `TCP` or `ICMP`. ICMPis more likely to pass through routers andfirewalls. If TCP is chosen, please see TCPProtocol for more information. Mandatory:No Default:`echo`
ICMP payload size	Size of the payload to send with ICMP (ping)packets. The payload is an optional element in thepacket sent to the target host, and is echoed back inthe reply. Mandatory:No Default:0 (no payload sent)<![CDATA[]]>
Check target host has changed IP	Forces X Ping to detect if the underlying IPaddress of a host name has changed. This will restartthe packet capture engine so X Ping will continue toping the correct host. In between restarts there is apotential for losing packets. Note: Restarting the packet captureengine will affect all X-Set plugins as they toomight miss packets. Mandatory:No Default:false

Example for timeout and allowablePacketLoss

Sample period: 4 seconds

Timeout period: 2 seconds

allowablePacketLoss: 3 (default)

0 sec [sample] Fire packet.1 sec2 sec Timeout has occurred. Packet is considered lost. (Total lost: 1)3 sec4 sec [sample] Re-fire packet.5 sec6 sec Timeout has occurred. Packet is considered lost. (Total lost: 2)7 sec8 sec [sample] Re-fire packet.9 sec10 sec Timeout has occurred. Packet is considered lost. (Total lost: 3)11 sec12 sec [sample] Re-fire packet.13 sec14 sec Timeout has occurred. Packet is considered lost. (Total lost: 4)15 sec16 sec [sample] Re-fire packet. (report 'UNREACHABLE')

TCPProtocol

If TCP is chosen as the protocol, then you need to define the port number that packets are sent to, and optionally, the name of the service. If the name of the service is provided, then it will be displayed in the dataview. Otherwise, only the port number is shown.

Field	Description
Name	Name of service to ping. Mandatory: No
Port	Port number of the service to ping. Mandatory: Yes

Field

Description

Name

Name of service to ping.

Mandatory: No

Port

Port number of the service to ping.

Mandatory: Yes

Permissions

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, analternative to running the Netprobe as root isby setting the CAP_NET_RAW and CAP_NET_ADMIN Linux capabilities on the Netprobe binary using the following command:

setcap cap_net_raw,cap_net_admin+eip <netprobe binary>

When running the Netprobe with set capabilities, the lib64 folder in the Netprobe directory should be inthe ld.so trusted paths. Otherwise, the runtimelibraries will not load properly. For guidance, see Run Netprobe under elevated privileges in Linux in Quickstart: Linux and other platforms.

Third Party Libraries

Windows Vista/Server 2003: Version 4.0.2 of the Winpcap packet capture library (http://www.winpcap.org/install/default.htm) must be installed on the host.

Windows 10 does not require Winpcap library.

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

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