Mtr (english)
Introduction
My traceroute, originally named Matt's traceroute (MTR) is a computer program which combines the functions of the traceroute and ping programs in one network diagnostic tool. There's also a version for Microsoft Windows operating systems called WinMTR
Fundamentals
MTR is licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL) and works under modern Unix-like operating systems. It normally works under the text console, but it also has an optional GTK+-based graphical user interface (GUI).
MTR also supports IPv6 and works in a similar manner but instead relies on ICMPv6 messages.
The tool is used for network troubleshooting with ping and traceroute.
Installation
sudo apt-get install mtr
in linux systems or go to website WinMTR and download the package for your Microsoft Windows operating system.
How to use
You can use either the ip address or the domain name to use the program.
Example of how the program looks like with the parameter
mtr google.ee
My traceroute [v0.85]
enos (::) Thu May 5 13:49:14 2016
Keys: Help Display mode Restart statistics Order of fields quit
Packets Pings
Host Loss% Snt Last Avg Best Wrst StDev
1. 2001:bb8:4006:ff::1 0.0% 8 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.7 0.0
2. 2001:bb8:4006:ff::2 0.0% 8 1.0 1.6 0.9 5.8 1.5
3. 2001:7f8:3c::3d 0.0% 7 1.1 2.3 0.8 10.8 3.7
4. ae2.mx1.ham.de.geant.net 0.0% 7 29.9 29.5 29.3 29.9 0.0
5. google.mx1.fra.de.geant2.net 0.0% 7 29.2 29.1 29.0 29.2 0.0
6. google-gw.mx1.fra.de.geant2.net 0.0% 7 29.3 29.2 29.1 29.3 0.0
7. 2001:4860:0:1::177f 0.0% 7 29.4 29.4 29.3 29.6 0.0
8. 2001:4860:0:1::1b39 0.0% 7 29.2 29.2 29.1 29.5 0.0
9. fra16s08-in-x03.1e100.net 0.0% 7 29.1 29.1 28.9 29.3 0.0
The meanings of abbreviations:
Host - shows hostname
Loss - shows how many percent of the packets are lost
Snt - shows how many packets are sent
Last - shows the last ping time of the packet
Avg - shows the average ping time
Best- shows the fastest ping time
Worst - shows the slowest ping time
StDev - shows the standard deviation
The syntax and parameters
mtr [keys] hostname or ip address [packet size]
For more info about the different parameters:[1]
You can also use the parameter -h for help:
-h
which outputs this to the command line:
usage: mtr [-hvrwctglspniu46] [--help] [--version] [--report]
[--report-wide] [--report-cycles=COUNT] [--curses] [--gtk]
[--raw] [--split] [--mpls] [--no-dns] [--address interface]
[--psize=bytes/-s bytes]
[--report-wide|-w] [-u]
[--interval=SECONDS] HOSTNAME [PACKETSIZE]
Summary
Mtr is a tool that combines ping and traceroute. It was developed by Matt Kimball in 1997. Roger Wolff took over maintaining MTR (renamed My traceroute) in October 1998. The tool is often used for network troubleshooting. By showing a list of routers traversed, and the average round-trip time as well as packet loss to each router, it allows users to identify links between two given routers responsible for certain fractions of the overall latency or packet loss through the network. This can help identify network overuse problems.
On a personal note, I use it almost every day to check out pings and network connectivity and I find it very useful.
Author
Tuomas Nieminen CS15, 05.2016
