How to Use the RIPE Atlas Toolkit¶
Configuration¶
For most features, Magellan will work out-of-the-box, but if you’d like to customise the experience, or if you want to use this tool to create a measurement of your own, then you’ll need to configure it.
Thankfully, configuration is easy by way of the configure
command::
$ ripe-atlas configure --help
Options¶
Option | Arguments | Explanation |
---|---|---|
--editor |
Invoke ${EDITOR} to edit the configuration directly | |
--set |
path=value | Permanently set a configuration value so it can be used in the future. |
--init |
Create a configuration file and save it
into your home directory at:
${HOME}/.config/ripe-atlas-tools/rc |
Examples¶
Create a standard configuration file. Note that this typically isn’t necessary:
$ ripe-atlas configure --init
Invoke your editor of choice to manually fiddle with the configuration file:
$ ripe-atlas configure --editor
Set an arbitrary value within the configuration file. You can use dot-separated notation to dictation the value you wish to change:
$ ripe-atlas configure --set authorisation.create=YOUR_API_KEY
Quick Measurement Information¶
For the impatient, and for those looking to see how they might write their own
plugins, we have a simple go
command::
$ ripe-atlas go <measurement-id>
This will open a web browser and take you to the detail page for the measurement id provided.
Measurement Querying¶
A querying tool for finding existing measurements in the RIPE Atlas database. You can request a table-formatted list of measurements based on search-string lookups, type, start time, etc.
Options¶
Option | Arguments | Explanation |
---|---|---|
--search |
A free-form string | This could match the target or description. |
--status |
One of: scheduled, stopped, ongoing | The measurement status. |
--af |
One of: 4, 6 | The address family. |
--type |
One of: ping, traceroute, dns, sslcert, ntp, http | The measurement type. |
--field |
One of: status, target, url, type, id, description | The field(s) to display. Invoke multiple times for multiple fields. The default is id, type, description, and status. |
--ids-only |
Display a list of measurement ids matching your filter criteria. | |
--limit |
An integer | The number of measurements to return. The number must be between 1 and 1000 |
--started-before |
An ISO timestamp | Filter for measurements that started before a specific date. The format required is YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS |
--started-after |
An ISO timestamp | Filter for measurements that started after a specific date. The format required is YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS |
--stopped-before |
An ISO timestamp | Filter for measurements that stopped before a specific date. The format required is YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS |
--stopped-after |
An ISO timestamp | Filter for measurements that stopped after a specific date. The format required is YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS |
Examples¶
Get a list of measurements:
$ ripe-atlas measurements
Filter that list by status=ongoing
:
$ ripe-atlas measurements --status ongoing
Further filter it by getting measurements that conform to IPv6:
$ ripe-atlas measurements --status ongoing --af 6
Get that same list, but strip out everything but the measurement ids:
$ ripe-atlas measurements --status ongoing --af 6 --ids-only
Limit that list to 200 entries:
$ ripe-atlas measurements --status ongoing --af 6 --limit 200
Get that list, but show only the id, url and target fields:
- $ ripe-atlas measurements –status ongoing –af 6
- –field id –field url –field target
Filter for measurements of type dns
that started after January 1, 2015:
$ ripe-atlas measurements --type dns --started-after 2015-01-01
Probe Querying¶
Just like the measurements
command, but for probes, and a lot more powerful.
You can use this command to find probes within an ASN, prefix, or geographical
region, and then aggregate by country, ASN, and/or prefix.
Options¶
Option | Arguments | Explanation |
---|---|---|
--limit |
An integer | Return limited number of probes. |
--field |
One of: status, description, address_v6, address_v4, asn_v4, is_public, asn_v6, id, prefix_v4, prefix_v6, is_anchor, country, coordinates | The field(s) to display. Invoke multiple times for multiple fields. The default is id, asn_v4, asn_v6, country, and status. |
--aggregate-by |
country, asn_v4, asn_v6, prefix_v4, prefix_v6 | Aggregate list of probes based on all specified aggregations. Multiple aggregations supported. |
--all |
Fetch ALL probes. That will give you a loooong list. | |
--max-per-aggregation |
An integer | Maximum number of probes per aggregated bucket. |
--ids-only |
Print only IDs of probes. Useful to pipe it to another command. | |
--asn |
An integer | Filter the list by an ASN |
--asnv4 |
An integer | Filter the list by an ASN |
--asnv6 |
An integer | Filter the list by an ASN |
--prefix |
A prefix string | Filter the list by a prefix |
--prefixv4 |
A prefix string | Filter the list by a prefix |
--prefixv6 |
A prefix string | Filter the list by a prefix |
--location |
A free-form string | The location of probes as a string i.e. ‘Amsterdam’ |
--center |
A pair of geographic coordinates | Location as <lat>,<lon>-string, i.e. “48.45,9.16” |
--radius |
An integer | Radius in km from specified center/point. |
--country |
A two-letter ISO country code | The country in which the probes are located. |
Examples¶
Get a list of probes within ASN 3333:
$ ripe-atlas probes --asn 3333
Further filter that list to show only probes in ASN 3333 from the Netherlands:
$ ripe-atlas probes --asn 3333 --country nl
Change the limit from the default of 25 to 200:
$ ripe-atlas probes --asn 3333 --limit 200
Aggregate the probes by country, and then by ASN:
$ ripe-atlas probes --asn 3333 --aggregate-by country --aggregate-by asn
Show the id, url, target, description, and whether the probe is public or not:
$ ripe-atlas probes --asn 3333 --field id --field url --field description \
--field is_public
Result Reporting¶
A means to generate a simple text-based report based on the results from a
measurement. Typically, this is used to get the latest results of a measurement
in a human-readable format, but with the --start-time
and --stop-time
options, you can get results from any time range you like. It’s possible to generate the report by automatically fetching the results from the API, by reading a local file, or by reading standard input.
Options¶
Option | Arguments | Explanation |
---|---|---|
--auth |
RIPE Atlas key alias | One of the RIPE Atlas key alias configured for results fetching. |
--probes |
A comma-separated list of probe ids | Limit the report to only results obtained from specific probes. |
--probe-asns |
A comma-separated list of ASNs | Limit the report to only results obtained from probes belonging to specific ASNs. |
--renderer |
One of: dns, http, ntp, ping, raw, ssl_consistency, sslcert, traceroute, traceroute_aspath, aggregate_ping | The renderer you want to use. If this isn’t defined, an appropriate renderer will be selected. |
--from-file |
A file path | The source of the data to be rendered. Conflicts with specifying a measurement_id to fetch from the API. |
--aggregate-by |
One of: status, prefix_v4, prefix_v6, country, rtt-median, asn_v4, asn_v6 | Tell the rendering engine to aggregate the results by the selected option. Note that if you opt for aggregation, no output will be generated until all results are received. |
--start-time |
An ISO timestamp | The start time of the report. The format should conform to YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS |
--stop-time |
An ISO timestamp | The stop time of the report. The format should conform to YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS |
Examples¶
Get the latest results of measurement 1001:
$ ripe-atlas report 1001
The same, but specifically request the ping renderer:
$ ripe-atlas report 1001 --renderer ping
Aggregate those results by country:
$ ripe-atlas report 1001 --aggregate-by country
Get results from the same measurement, but show all results from the first week of 2015:
$ ripe-atlas report 1001 --start-time 2015-01-01 --stop-time 2015-01-07
Get results from the first day of 2015 until right now:
$ ripe-atlas report 1001 --start-time 2015-01-01
Pipe the contents of an arbitrary file file into the renderer. The rendering engine will be guessed from the first line of input:
$ cat /path/to/file/full/of/results | ripe-atlas report
The same, but point Magellan to a file deliberately rather than using a pipe:
$ ripe-atlas report --from-file /path/to/file/full/of/results
Result Streaming¶
Connect to the streaming API and render the results in real-time as they come in.
Options¶
Option | Arguments | Explanation |
---|---|---|
--auth |
RIPE Atlas key alias | One of the RIPE Atlas key alias configured for results fetching. |
--limit |
A number < 1000 | The maximum number of results you want
to stream. The default is to stream
forever until you hit Ctrl+C . |
--renderer |
One of: dns, http, ntp, ping, raw, ssl_consistency, sslcert, traceroute, traceroute_aspath, aggregate_ping | The renderer you want to use. If this isn’t defined, an appropriate renderer will be selected. |
Examples¶
Stream the results from measurement #1001:
$ ripe-atlas stream 1001
Limit those results to 500:
$ ripe-atlas stream 1001 --limit 500
Specify a renderer:
$ ripe-atlas stream 1001 --renderer ping
Combine for fun and profit:
$ ripe-atlas stream 1001 --renderer ping --limit 500
Measurement Creation¶
The most complicated command we have, this will create a measurement (given a plethora of options) and begin streaming the results back to you in a standardised rendered form.
It’s invoked by using a special positional argument that dictates the type of measurement you want to create. This also unlocks special options, specific to that type. See the examples for more information.
Options¶
All measurements share a base set of options.
Option | Arguments | Explanation |
---|---|---|
--renderer |
One of: dns, http, ntp, ping, raw, ssl_consistency, sslcert, traceroute, traceroute_aspath, aggregate_ping | The renderer you want to use. If this isn’t defined, an appropriate renderer will be selected. |
--dry-run |
Do not create the measurement, only show its definition. | |
--auth |
An API key | The API key you want to use to create the measurement. |
--af |
One of: 4, 6 | The address family, either 4 or 6. The default is a guess based on the target, favouring 6. |
--description |
A free-form string | The description/name of your new measurement. |
--target |
A domain or IP | The target, either a domain name or IP address. If creating a DNS measurement, the absence of this option will imply that you wish to use the probe’s resolver. |
--no-report |
Don’t wait for a response from the measurement, just return the URL at which you can later get information about the measurement. | |
--interval |
An integer | Rather than run this measurement as
a one-off (the default), create this
measurement as a recurring one, with
an interval of n seconds between
attempted measurements. This option
implies --no-report . |
--from-area |
One of: WW, West, North-Central, South-Central, North-East, South-East | The area from which you’d like to select your probes. |
--from-country |
A two-letter ISO country code | The country from which you’d like to select your probes. |
--from-prefix |
A prefix string | The prefix from which you’d like to select your probes. |
--from-asn |
An ASN number | The ASN from which you’d like to select your probes. |
--from-probes |
A comma-separated list of probe ids | Probes you want to use in your measurement. |
--from-measurement |
A measurement id | A measurement id which you want to use as the basis for probe selection in your new measurement. This is a handy way to re-create a measurement under conditions similar to another measurement. |
--probes |
An integer | The number of probes you want to use. |
--include-tag |
A tag name | Include only probes that are marked with this tag. Note that this option may be repeated. |
--exclude-tag |
A tag name | Exclude probes that are marked with this tag. Note that this option may be repeated. |
Ping-Specific Options¶
Option | Arguments | Explanation |
---|---|---|
--packets |
An integer | The number of packets sent |
--size |
An integer | The size of packets sent |
--packet-interval |
An integer |
Traceroute-Specific Options¶
Option | Arguments | Explanation |
---|---|---|
--packets |
An integer | The number of packets sent |
--size |
An integer | The size of packets sent |
--protocol |
One of: ICMP, UDP, TCP | The protocol used. For DNS measurements, this is limited to UDP and TCP, but traceroutes may use ICMP as well. |
--timeout |
An integer | The timeout per-packet |
--dont-fragment |
Don’t Fragment the packet | |
--paris |
An integer | Use Paris. Value must be between 0 and 64.If 0, a standard traceroute will be performed. |
--first-hop |
An integer | Value must be between 1 and 255. |
--max-hops |
An integer | Value must be between 1 and 255. |
--port |
An integer | Destination port, valid for TCP only. |
--destination-option-size |
An integer | IPv6 destination option header. |
--hop-by-hop-option-size |
An integer | IPv6 hop by hop option header. |
DNS-Specific Options¶
Option | Arguments | Explanation |
---|---|---|
--query-class |
One of: IN, CHAOS | The query class. The default is “IN” |
--query-type |
One of: A, SOA, TXT, SRV, SSHFP, TLSA, NSEC, DS, AAAA, CNAME, DNSKEY, NSEC3, PTR, HINFO, NSEC3PARAM, NS, MX, RRSIG, ANY | The query type. The default is “A” |
--query-argument |
A string | The DNS label to query. |
--set-cd-bit |
Set the DNSSEC Checking Disabled flag (RFC4035) | |
--set-do-bit |
Set the DNSSEC OK flag (RFC3225) | |
--set-nsid-bit |
Include an EDNS name server. ID request with the query. | |
--udp-payload-size |
An integer | May be any integer between 512 and 4096 inclusive. |
--set-rd-bit |
Set the Recursion Desired flag. | |
--retry |
An integer | Number of times to retry. |
SSL Certificate-Specific Options¶
Option | Arguments | Explanation |
---|---|---|
--port |
An integer | The port to query |
HTTP-Specific Options¶
Option | Arguments | Explanation |
---|---|---|
--header-bytes |
An integer | The maximum number of bytes to retrieve from the header |
--version |
A string | The HTTP version to use |
--method |
A string | The HTTP method to use |
--path |
A string | The path on the webserver |
--query-string |
A string | An arbitrary query string |
--user-agent |
A string | An arbitrary user agent |
--body-bytes |
An integer | The maximum number of bytes to retrieve from the body |
--timing-verbosity |
One of: 0, 1, 2 | The amount of timing information you want returned. 1 returns the time to read, to connect, and to first byte, 2 returns timing information per read system call. 0 (default) returns no additional timing information. |
NTP-Specific Options¶
Option | Arguments | Explanation |
---|---|---|
--packets |
An integer | The number of packets sent |
--timeout |
An integer | The timeout per-packet |
Examples¶
The simplest of measurements. Create a ping with 50 probes to example.com:
$ ripe-atlas measure ping --target example.com
The same, but don’t actually create it, just show what would be done:
$ ripe-atlas measure ping --target example.com --dry-run
Be more specific about which address family you want to target:
$ ripe-atlas measure ping --target example.com --af 6
Ask for 20 probes from Canada:
$ ripe-atlas measure ping --target example.com --probes 20 --from-country ca
Or ask for 20 Canadian probes that definitely support IPv6:
$ ripe-atlas measure ping --target example.com --probes 20 \
--from-country ca --include-tag system-ipv6-works
Rather than creating a one-off create a recurring measurement:
$ ripe-atlas measure ping --target example.com --interval 3600
Moving onto DNS measurements, do a lookup for example.com. Since we’re not
specifying --target
here, this implies that we want to use the probe’s
resolver:
$ ripe-atlas measure dns --query-argument example.com
Getting a little more complicated, let’s set a few special bits and make a more complex query:
$ ripe-atlas measure dns --query-type AAAA --query-argument example.com \
--set-nsid-bit --set-rd-bit --set-do-bit --set-cd-bit
Shortcuts¶
If you’re creating a lot of measurements in a short time, typing out
ripe-atlas measure traceroute
a whole bunch of times can be tiresome, so
we’ve added a few shortcut scripts for you:
Where you’d typically write | You could use this instead |
---|---|
ripe-atlas measure ping |
aping |
ripe-atlas measure traceroute |
atraceroute |
ripe-atlas measure dns |
adig |
ripe-atlas measure sslcert |
asslcert |
ripe-atlas measure http |
ahttp |
ripe-atlas measure ntp |
antp |
So for example, these two commands are the same:
$ ripe-atlas measure ping --target example.com
$ aping --target example.com
If you want to streamline your typing process even more than this, we recommend
the use of your shell’s alias
feature, which is both powerful and
customisable for your needs.