Man page - tcpreplay(1)

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Manual

tcpreplay

NAME
SYNOPSIS
DESCRIPTION
OPTIONS
OPTION PRESETS
FILES
EXIT STATUS
AUTHORS
COPYRIGHT
BUGS
NOTES

NAME

tcpreplay - Replay network traffic stored in pcap files

SYNOPSIS

tcpreplay [ -flags ] [ -flag [ value ]] [ --option-name [[=| ] value ]] <pcap_file(s)> | <pcap_dir(s)>

tcpreplay is a tool for replaying network traffic from files saved with tcpdump or other tools which write pcap(3) files.

DESCRIPTION

The basic operation of tcpreplay is to resend all packets from the input file(s) at the speed at which they were recorded, or a specified data rate, up to as fast as the hardware is capable.

Optionally, the traffic can be split between two interfaces, written to files, filtered and edited in various ways, providing the means to test firewalls, NIDS and other network devices.

For more details, please see the Tcpreplay Manual at: http://tcpreplay.appneta.com

OPTIONS

-d number , --dbug = number Enable debugging output. This option may
appear up to 1 times. This option takes an integer number as its
argument. The value of number is constrained to being:

in the range 0 through 5

The default number for this option is:
0

If configured with --enable-debug, then you can specify a verbosity
level for debugging output. Higher numbers increase verbosity.

-q , --quiet Quiet mode.

Print nothing except the statistics at the end of the run

-T string , --timer = string Select packet timing mode: select, ioport,
gtod, nano. This option may appear up to 1 times. The default string
for this option is:
gtod

Allows you to select the packet timing method to use:

nano - Use nanosleep() API

select - Use select() API

ioport - Write to the i386 IO Port 0x80

gtod [default] - Use a gettimeofday() loop

--maxsleep = number Sleep for no more then X milliseconds between
packets. This option takes an integer number as its argument. The
default number for this option is:
0

Set a limit for the maximum number of milliseconds that tcpreplay will
sleep between packets. Effectively prevents long delays between
packets without effecting the majority of packets. Default is
disabled.

-v , --verbose Print decoded packets via tcpdump to STDOUT. This option
may appear up to 1 times.

-A string , --decode = string Arguments passed to tcpdump decoder. This
option may appear up to 1 times. This option must appear in
combination with the following options: verbose.

When enabling verbose mode ( -v ) you may also specify one or more
additional arguments to pass to tcpdump to modify the way packets are
decoded. By default, -n and -l are used. Be sure to quote the
arguments like: -A "-axxx" so that they are not interpreted by
tcpreplay. Please see the tcpdump(1) man page for a complete list of
options.

-K , --preload-pcap Preloads packets into RAM before sending.

This option loads the specified pcap(s) into RAM before starting to
send in order to improve replay performance while introducing a startup
performance hit. Preloading can be used with or without --loop . This
option also suppresses flow statistics collection for every iteration,
which can significantly reduce memory usage. Flow statistics are
predicted based on options supplied and statistics collected from the
first loop iteration.

-c string , --cachefile = string Split traffic via a tcpprep cache file.
This option may appear up to 1 times. This option must appear in
combination with the following options: intf2. This option must not
appear in combination with any of the following options: dualfile.

If you have a pcap file you would like to use to send bi-directional
traffic through a device (firewall, router, IDS, etc) then using
tcpprep you can create a cachefile which tcpreplay will use to split
the traffic across two network interfaces.

-2 , --dualfile Replay two files at a time from a network tap. This
option may appear up to 1 times. This option must appear in
combination with the following options: intf2. This option must not
appear in combination with any of the following options: cachefile.

If you captured network traffic using a network tap, then you can end
up with two pcap files- one for each direction. This option will
replay these two files at the same time, one on each interface and
inter-mix them using the timestamps in each.

-i string , --intf1 = string Client to server/RX/primary traffic output
interface. This option may appear up to 1 times. This option is a
member of the intf1 class of options.

Required network interface used to send either all traffic or traffic
which is marked as ’primary’ via tcpprep. Primary traffic is usually
client-to-server or inbound (RX) on khial virtual interfaces.

-I string , --intf2 = string Server to client/TX/secondary traffic output
interface. This option may appear up to 1 times.

Optional network interface used to send traffic which is marked as
’secondary’ via tcpprep. Secondary traffic is usually server-to-client
or outbound (TX) on khial virtual interfaces. Generally, it only makes
sense to use this option with --cachefile.

-w string , --write = string Pcap file to receive traffic outputs. This
option may appear up to 1 times. This option is a member of the intf1
class of options. This option must not appear in combination with any
of the following options: intf2.

Optional pcap file name used to receive traffic.

--include = string Send only selected packet numbers. This option may
appear up to 1 times. This option must not appear in combination with
any of the following options: exclude.

Override default of processing all packets stored in the capture file
and only send packets that are part of a supplied list of packet
numbers.

-x P:1-5,9,15,72-
would skip packets 1 through 5, the 9th and 15th packet, and packets 72
until the end of the file

--exclude = string Send all but selected packet numbers. This option may
appear up to 1 times. This option must not appear in combination with
any of the following options: include.

Override default of processing all packets stored in the capture file
and only send packets that are NOT part of a supplied list of packet
numbers.

-x P:1-5,9,15,72-
would skip packets 1 through 5, the 9th and 15th packet, and packets 72
until the end of the file

--listnics List available network interfaces and exit.

-l number , --loop = number Loop through the capture file X times. This
option may appear up to 1 times. This option takes an integer number
as its argument. The value of number is constrained to being:

greater than or equal to 0

The default number for this option is:
1

--loopdelay-ms = number Delay between loops in milliseconds. This option
must appear in combination with the following options: loop. This
option must not appear in combination with any of the following
options: loopdelay-ns. This option takes an integer number as its
argument. The value of number is constrained to being:

greater than or equal to 0

The default number for this option is:
0

--loopdelay-ns = number Delay between loops in nanoseconds. This option
must appear in combination with the following options: loop. This
option must not appear in combination with any of the following
options: loopdelay-ms. This option takes an integer number as its
argument. The value of number is constrained to being:

greater than or equal to 0

The default number for this option is:
0

By default, tcpreplay will use loop delay with microsecond accuracy
(loopdelay-ms). In order to use loop delay with nanosecond accuracy
you need to use nano packet timing mode.

--pktlen Override the snaplen and use the actual packet len. This
option may appear up to 1 times.

By default, tcpreplay will send packets based on the size of the
"snaplen" stored in the pcap file which is usually the correct thing to
do. However, occasionally, tools will store more bytes then told to.
By specifying this option, tcpreplay will ignore the snaplen field and
instead try to send packets based on the original packet length. Bad
things may happen if you specify this option.

-L number , --limit = number Limit the number of packets to send. This
option may appear up to 1 times. This option takes an integer number
as its argument. The value of number is constrained to being:

greater than or equal to 1

The default number for this option is:
-1

By default, tcpreplay will send all the packets. Alternatively, you
can specify a maximum number of packets to send.

--duration = number Limit the number of seconds to send. This option may
appear up to 1 times. This option takes an integer number as its
argument. The value of number is constrained to being:

greater than or equal to 1

The default number for this option is:
-1

By default, tcpreplay will send all the packets. Alternatively, you
can specify a maximum number of seconds to transmit.

-x string , --multiplier = string Modify replay speed to a given multiple.
This option may appear up to 1 times. This option must not appear in
combination with any of the following options: pps, mbps, oneatatime,
topspeed.

Specify a value to modify the packet replay speed. Examples:
2.0 will replay traffic at twice the speed captured
0.7 will replay traffic at 70% the speed captured

-p string , --pps = string Replay packets at a given packets/sec. This
option may appear up to 1 times. This option must not appear in
combination with any of the following options: multiplier, mbps,
oneatatime, topspeed.

Specify a value to regulate the packet replay to a specific
packet-per-second rate. Examples:
200 will replay traffic at 200 packets per second
0.25 will replay traffic at 15 packets per minute

-M string , --mbps = string Replay packets at a given Mbps. This option
may appear up to 1 times. This option must not appear in combination
with any of the following options: multiplier, pps, oneatatime,
topspeed.

Specify a floating point value for the Mbps rate that tcpreplay should
send packets at.

-t , --topspeed Replay packets as fast as possible. This option must
not appear in combination with any of the following options: mbps,
multiplier, pps, oneatatime.

-o , --oneatatime Replay one packet at a time for each user input. This
option must not appear in combination with any of the following
options: mbps, pps, multiplier, topspeed.

Allows you to step through one or more packets at a time.

--pps-multi = number Number of packets to send for each time interval.
This option must appear in combination with the following options: pps.
This option takes an integer number as its argument. The value of
number is constrained to being:

greater than or equal to 1

The default number for this option is:
1

When trying to send packets at very high rates, the time between each
packet can be so short that it is impossible to accurately sleep for
the required period of time. This option allows you to send multiple
packets at a time, thus allowing for longer sleep times which can be
more accurately implemented.

--unique-ip Modify IP addresses each loop iteration to generate unique
flows. This option must appear in combination with the following
options: loop.

Ensure IPv4 and IPv6 packets will be unique for each --loop iteration.
This is done in a way that will not alter packet CRC, and therefore
will generally not affect performance. This option will significantly
increase the flows/sec over generated over multiple loop iterations.

--unique-ip-loops = string Number of times to loop before assigning new
unique ip. This option may appear up to 1 times. This option must
appear in combination with the following options: unique-ip.

Number of --loop iterations before a new unique IP is assigned. Default
is 1. Assumes both --loop and --unique-ip .

--netmap Write packets directly to netmap enabled network adapter.

This feature will detect netmap capable network drivers on Linux and
BSD systems. If detected, the network driver is bypassed for the
execution duration, and network buffers will be written to directly.
This will allow you to achieve full line rates on commodity network
adapters, similar to rates achieved by commercial network traffic
generators. Note that bypassing the network driver will disrupt other
applications connected through the test interface. See INSTALL for more
information.

This feature can also be enabled by specifying an interface as
’netmap:<intf>’ or ’vale:<intf>. For example ’netmap:eth0’ specifies
netmap over interface eth0.

--nm-delay = number Netmap startup delay. This option takes an integer
number as its argument. The default number for this option is:
10

Number of seconds to delay after netmap is loaded. Required to ensure
interfaces are fully up before netmap transmit. Requires netmap option.
Default is 10 seconds.

--no-flow-stats Suppress printing and tracking flow count, rates and
expirations.

Suppress the collection and printing of flow statistics. This option
may improve performance when not using --preload-pcap option, otherwise
its only function is to suppress printing.

The flow feature will track and print statistics of the flows being
sent. A flow is loosely defined as a unique combination of a 5-tuple,
i.e. source IP, destination IP, source port, destination port and
protocol.

If --loop is specified, the flows from one iteration to the next will
not be unique, unless the packets are altered. Use --unique-ip or
tcpreplay-edit to alter packets between iterations.

--flow-expiry = number Number of inactive seconds before a flow is
considered expired. This option must not appear in combination with
any of the following options: no-flow-stats. This option takes an
integer number as its argument. The value of number is constrained to
being:

greater than or equal to 0

The default number for this option is:
0

This option will track and report flow expirations based on the flow
idle times. The timestamps within the pcap file are used to determine
the expiry, not the actual timestamp of the packets are replayed. For
example, a value of 30 suggests that if no traffic is seen on a flow
for 30 seconds, any subsequent traffic would be considered a new flow,
and thereby will increment the flows and flows per second (fps)
statistics.

This option can be used to optimize flow timeout settings for flow
products. Setting the timeout low may lead to flows being dropped when
in fact the flow is simply slow to respond. Configuring your flow
timeouts too high may increase resources required by your flow product.

Note that using this option while replaying at higher than original
speeds can lead to inflated flows and fps counts.

Default is 0 (no expiry) and a typical value is 30-120 seconds.

-P , --pid Print the PID of tcpreplay at startup.

--stats = number Print statistics every X seconds, or every loop if ’0’.
This option takes an integer number as its argument. The value of
number is constrained to being:

greater than or equal to 0

Note that timed delays are a "best effort" and long delays between
sending packets may cause equally long delays between printing
statistics.

-W , --suppress-warnings suppress printing warning messages.

--xdp Write packets directly to AF_XDP enabled network adapter.

This feature will detect AF_XDP capable network drivers on Linux
systems that have ’libxdp-dev’ and ’libbpf-dev’ installed. If detected,
the network stack is bypassed and packets are sent directly to an eBPF
enabled driver directly. This will allow you to achieve full line
rates on commodity network adapters, similar to rates achieved by
commercial network traffic generators.

--xdp-batch-size = number The maximum number of packets that can be
submitted to the AF_XDP TX ring at once. This option takes an integer
number as its argument. The value of number is constrained to being:

in the range 1 through 4096

The default number for this option is:
25

Higher values may improve performance at the cost of accuracy

-V , --version Print version information.

-h , --less-help Display less usage information and exit.

-H , --help Display usage information and exit.

-! , --more-help Pass the extended usage information through a pager.

--save-opts [= cfgfile ] Save the option state to cfgfile . The default
is the last configuration file listed in the OPTION PRESETS section,
below. The command will exit after updating the config file.

--load-opts = cfgfile , --no-load-opts Load options from cfgfile . The
no-load-opts form will disable the loading of earlier config/rc/ini
files. --no-load-opts is handled early, out of order.

OPTION PRESETS

Any option that is not marked as not presettable may be preset by loading values from configuration ("RC" or ".INI") file(s). The homerc file is " $$/ ", unless that is a directory. In that case, the file " .tcpreplayrc " is searched for within that directory.

FILES

See OPTION PRESETS for configuration files.

EXIT STATUS

One of the following exit values will be returned:
0 (EXIT_SUCCESS) Successful program execution.

1 (EXIT_FAILURE) The operation failed or the command syntax was not
valid.

66 (EX_NOINPUT) A specified configuration file could not be loaded.

70 (EX_SOFTWARE) libopts had an internal operational error. Please
report it to autogen-users@lists.sourceforge.net. Thank you.

AUTHORS

Copyright 2013-2024 Fred Klassen - AppNeta Copyright 2000-2012 Aaron Turner For support please use the tcpreplay-users@lists.sourceforge.net mailing list. The latest version of this software is always available from: http://tcpreplay.appneta.com/

COPYRIGHT

Copyright (C) 2000-2024 Aaron Turner and Fred Klassen all rights reserved. This program is released under the terms of the GNU General Public License, version 3 or later.

BUGS

Please send bug reports to: tcpreplay-users@lists.sourceforge.net

NOTES

This manual page was AutoGen -erated from the tcpreplay option definitions.