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><H1
><A
NAME="CONFIG"
>Configuring IPTraf</A
></H1
><P
>   IPTraf can be easily configured
with the <I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
><A
HREF="config.html"
>Configure...</A
></I
> item in the
  main menu. The configuration is stored in the
  <TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>/var/local/iptraf/iptraf.cfg</TT
> file. If the file is not found, IPTraf uses
  the default settings. Any changes to the configuration immediately get
  stored in the configuration file.</P
><DIV
CLASS="FIGURE"
><A
NAME="AEN1942"
></A
><P
><IMG
SRC="iptraf-configmenu.png"></P
><P
><B
>Figure 1. The IPTraf configuration menu</B
></P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT1"
><H1
CLASS="SECT1"
><A
NAME="TOGGLES"
>Toggles</A
></H1
><DIV
CLASS="SECT2"
><H2
CLASS="SECT2"
><A
NAME="AEN1947"
>Reverse DNS Lookups</A
></H2
><P
>  Activating reverse lookup
  causes IPTraf to find out the name of the hosts with the addresses
  in the IP packets. When this option is enabled, IPTraf's
  IP traffic monitor starts the rvnamed DNS lookup server to help resolve
  IP addresses in the background while allowing IPTraf to
  continue capturing packets.</P
><P
>  This option is off by default.</P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT2"
><H2
CLASS="SECT2"
><A
NAME="AEN1951"
>TCP/UDP Service Names</A
></H2
><P
>&#13;  This option, when on, causes IPTraf to display the TCP/UDP service names
  (<TT
CLASS="COMPUTEROUTPUT"
>smtp</TT
>, <TT
CLASS="COMPUTEROUTPUT"
>www</TT
>,
  <TT
CLASS="COMPUTEROUTPUT"
>pop3</TT
>, etc.) instead of their numeric ports (25, 80,
  110, etc). The number-to-name mappings will depend on the systems
  services database file (usually <TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>/etc/services</TT
>).
   Should there be no corresponding service name for the
  port number, the numeric form will still be displayed.&#13;</P
><P
>  This setting is off by default.</P
><DIV
CLASS="NOTE"
><P
></P
><TABLE
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><TH
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><B
>Note</B
></TH
></TR
><TR
><TD
>&nbsp;</TD
><TD
ALIGN="LEFT"
VALIGN="TOP"
><P
> Reverse lookup and service name lookup take some
 time and may impact performance and increase the chances of dropped
 packets. Performance and results are best (albeit more cryptic) with both
 these settings off.</P
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
></DIV
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT2"
><H2
CLASS="SECT2"
><A
NAME="AEN1962"
>Force promiscuous</A
></H2
><P
>&#13;  If this option is enabled, your LAN interfaces will capture all packets
  on your LAN. Using this option enables you
  to see all TCP connections and packets passing your LAN segment, even if
  they're not from or for your machine. When this option is active
  in the statistics windows, the Activity indicators will show a
  good estimate of the load on your LAN segment.</P
><P
>  When this option is disabled, you'll
  only receive information about packets coming from and entering your
  machine.</P
><P
>  The setting of this option affects all LAN (
  Ethernet, FDDI, some Token Ring) interfaces on your machine, if you have more than one.</P
><P
>  The interface's promiscuous flag is set only when a facility is started,
  and turned off when it exits. However, if promiscuous
  mode was already set when a facility was started, it remains set on exit.</P
><P
>  If multiple instances of IPTraf are started, the promiscuous setting
  is restored only upon exit of the last facility.</P
><DIV
CLASS="NOTE"
><P
></P
><TABLE
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><TD
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><IMG
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HSPACE="5"
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><TH
ALIGN="LEFT"
VALIGN="CENTER"
><B
>Note</B
></TH
></TR
><TR
><TD
>&nbsp;</TD
><TD
ALIGN="LEFT"
VALIGN="TOP"
><P
>   Do not use other programs that change the interface's promiscuous flag at
  the same time you're using IPTraf. The programs can interfere with
  each other's expected operations. While IPTraf tries to obtain the
  initial setting of any promiscuous flags for restoration
  upon exit, other programs may not be as well-behaved, and they may
  turn off the promiscuous flags while IPTraf is still monitoring.</P
></TD
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></DIV
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT2"
><H2
CLASS="SECT2"
><A
NAME="AEN1972"
>Color</A
></H2
><P
>  Turn this on with color monitors. Turn it off with
  black-and- white monitors or non-color terminals (like xterms). Changes
  to this setting will take effect the next time the program is started.</P
><P
>  Color is on by default on consoles and color xterms, off on non-color terminals like xterms and VT100s.</P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT2"
><H2
CLASS="SECT2"
><A
NAME="AEN1976"
>Logging</A
></H2
><P
>  When this option is active, IPTraf will log information to a
  disk file, which can be examined or analyzed later. Since IPTraf
  2.4.0, IPTraf prompts you for the name of the file to which to write the
  logs. It will provide a default name, which you are free to accept
  or change. The IP traffic monitor and LAN station monitor will
  generate a log file name that is based on what instance they are (first,
  second, and so on). The general interface statistics' default log file
  name is constant, because it listens to all interfaces at once, and only
  one instance can run at one time.</P
><P
>  The other facilities generate a log file name based
  on the interface they're listening on.</P
><P
>  See the descriptions on the facilities above for the default log file names.</P
><P
>  Press Enter to accept the log file name, or Ctrl+X to cancel. Canceling will turn logging off for that session.</P
><P
>  The IP traffic monitor will write the following pieces of information to its log file:</P
><P
></P
><UL
COMPACT="COMPACT"
><LI
STYLE="list-style-type: disc"
><P
>Start of the traffic monitor</P
></LI
><LI
STYLE="list-style-type: disc"
><P
>Receipt of the first TCP packet for a connection. If that packet is a
    SYN, (SYN) will be indicated in the log entry. (Of course, the traffic
    monitor may start in the middle of established connections. It
    will still count those packets. This also explains why some connection
    entries may become idle if the traffic monitor is started in the
    middle of a half-closed connection, and miss the first FIN.
    Such entries time out in a while.)</P
></LI
><LI
STYLE="list-style-type: disc"
><P
>Receipt of a FIN (with average flow rate)</P
></LI
><LI
STYLE="list-style-type: disc"
><P
>ACK of a FIN</P
></LI
><LI
STYLE="list-style-type: disc"
><P
>Timeouts of TCP entries (with average flow rate)</P
></LI
><LI
STYLE="list-style-type: disc"
><P
>Reset connections (with average flow rate)</P
></LI
><LI
STYLE="list-style-type: disc"
><P
>Everything that appears in the bottom window of the traffic monitor</P
></LI
><LI
STYLE="list-style-type: disc"
><P
>Stopping of the traffic monitor</P
></LI
></UL
><P
>  Each log entry includes the date and time the entry was written. Logging
  is also affected by the defined filters.</P
><P
>  Log files can grow very fast, so be prepared with plenty of
  free space and delete unneeded logs. Log write errors are not indicated.</P
><P
>  Copies of the interface statistics, TCP/UDP statistics, packet
  size statistics, and LAN host statistics are also written
  to the log files at regular intervals. See <I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>Log
Interval...</I
> in this chapter.</P
><P
>  IPTraf closes and reopens the active log file when it receives a
  <TT
CLASS="COMPUTEROUTPUT"
>USR1</TT
> signal. This is useful in cases where a facility is run for
  long periods of time but the log files have to be cleared or moved.</P
><P
>  To clear or move an active log file, rename it first. IPTraf will
  continue to write to the file despite the new name. Then use the UNIX
  kill command to send the running IPTraf process a <TT
CLASS="COMPUTEROUTPUT"
>USR1</TT
> signal. IPTraf
  will then close the log file and open another with the
  original name. You can then safely remove or delete the renamed file.</P
><P
>  Do not delete an open log file. Doing so will only result in a file just
  as large but filled with null characters (ASCII code 0).</P
><P
>  Logging comes disabled by default. The <TT
CLASS="COMPUTEROUTPUT"
>USR1</TT
> signal is caught only if
  logging is enabled, it is ignored otherwise.</P
><P
> A valid specification of <TT
CLASS="COMPUTEROUTPUT"
>-L</TT
> on the command line with automatically
 enable logging for that particular session.  The saved configuration setting is not affected.</P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT2"
><H2
CLASS="SECT2"
><A
NAME="AEN2013"
>Activity mode</A
></H2
><P
>  Toggles activity indicators in the interface and LAN statistics
  facilities between kilobits per second (kbits/s) or kilobytes per second
  (kbytes/s).</P
><P
>  The default setting is kilobits per second.</P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT2"
><H2
CLASS="SECT2"
><A
NAME="AEN2017"
>Source MAC addrs in traffic monitor</A
></H2
><P
>  When enabled, the IP traffic monitor retrieves the packets' source MAC
  addresses if they came in on an Ethernet, FDDI, or PLIP interface. The
  addresses appear in the lower window for non-TCP
  packets, while for TCP connections, they can be viewed by pressing M.</P
><P
>  No such information is displayed
  if the network interface doesn't use MAC addresses (such
  as PPP interfaces).</P
><P
>  This can be used to determine the actual source of the packets on your local LAN.</P
><P
>  The traffic monitor also logs the MAC addresses with this option
  enabled. The default setting is off.</P
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