doc::Smokeping::probes::TCPPing(3) SmokePingdoc::Smokeping::probes::TCPPing(3)



NAME
       Smokeping::probes::TCPPing - TCPPing Probe for SmokePing

SYNOPSIS
        *** Probes ***

        +TCPPing

        binary = /usr/bin/tcpping # mandatory
        forks = 5
        offset = 50%
        step = 300
        timeout = 15

        # The following variables can be overridden in each target section
        pings = 5
        port = 80

        # [...]

        *** Targets ***

        probe = TCPPing # if this should be the default probe

        # [...]

        + mytarget
        # probe = TCPPing # if the default probe is something else
        host = my.host
        pings = 5
        port = 80

DESCRIPTION
       Integrates TCPPing as a probe into smokeping. The variable binary must
       point to your copy of the TCPPing program. If it is not installed on
       your system yet, you can get it from
       http://www.vdberg.org/~richard/tcpping.  You can also get it from
       http://www.darkskies.za.net/~norman/scripts/tcpping.

       The (optional) port option lets you configure the port for the pings
       sent.  The TCPPing manpage has the following to say on this topic:

       The problem is that with the widespread use of firewalls on the modern
       Internet, many of the packets that traceroute(8) sends out end up being
       filtered, making it impossible to completely trace the path to the des-
       tination.  However, in many cases, these firewalls will permit inbound
       TCP packets to specific ports that hosts sitting behind the firewall
       are listening for connections on.  By sending out TCP SYN packets
       instead of UDP or ICMP ECHO packets, tcptraceroute is able to bypass
       the most common firewall filters.

       It is worth noting that tcptraceroute never completely establishes a
       TCP connection with the destination host. If the host is not listening
       for incoming connections, it will respond with an RST indicating that
       the port is closed. If the host instead responds with a SYN|ACK, the
       port is known to be open, and an RST is sent by the kernel tcptracer-
       oute is running on to tear down the connection without completing
       three-way handshake. This is the same half-open scanning technique that
       nmap(1) uses when passed the -sS flag.

VARIABLES
       Supported probe-specific variables:

       binary
           The location of your TCPPing script.

           Example value: /usr/bin/tcpping

           This setting is mandatory.

       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
           acqusition 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 dif-
           ferent from the one specified in the 'Database' section. Note that
           the step in the RRD files is fixed when they are originally gener-
           ated, 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:

       pings
           How many pings should be sent to each target, if different from the
           global value specified in the Database section. Note that the num-
           ber 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

       port
           The TCP port the probe should measure.

           Example value: 80

AUTHORS
       Norman Rasmussen <norman@rasmussen.org> Patched for Smokeping 2.x com-
       patibility by Anton Chernev <maznio@doom.bg>



2.4.2                             2008-07-24doc::Smokeping::probes::TCPPing(3)
