TraceProto 1.1.0beta5 fixes a problem with the icmp tracing.
12-04-2004
Skippysaurus
TraceProto is a traceroute replacement that allows tracing using user specified protocols and ports. Version 1.1.0beta4 is the last new-feature beta before 1.1.0 is released.
New features include Autonomous System number lookups, timestamp options, new environmental variables to control behavior, and a new curses interface. As of 1.1.0beta3 uses libcap to limit superuser privileges where libcap is available. Fixes a minor memory leak problem.
10-12-2004
Skippysaurus
TraceProto 0.9.2beta0 fails to die gracefully when given a trace target that does not exist or that does not have a DNS A record. The patch causes TraceProto to die gracefully rather than dumping in this situation. This will be corrected in the next release.
The bug effects earlier versions as well and the should correct it in them as well though it may need to be manually applied to the earlier versions.
The patch is available here.
This will probably be the last release of the 0.9.x series. There are only a few tweaks remaining before TraceProto will be ready for the big 1.0.x. If you want to be able to say that you contributed to TraceProto "back when" then now is the time. We still need bug reports and beta testers. Also let us know what platforms you've gotten TraceProto to compile on and if it took any unusual measure to do so.
The 0.9.2beta0 release impliments a random offset for the starting port if the user doesn't specify one. The default start is port 10240 and the offset varies from 0 to 255.
A new command line flag has also been added to allow the user more options when running a continuous trace. The new flag (-I) is followed by a number of time to repeat the trace after which TraceProto prints whatever hop stats that the user requests and exits. Its a very useful flag for when you want a picture of the network over time but don't want to worry about forgetting that TraceProto is running.
7-28-2004
Skippysaurus
The latest release of TraceProto is 0.9.1beta0. Several new features have been added including a new output style for easy scripting. Both the install and the documentation have been improved and a privilege drop has been added for improved security.
We still need beta testers and bug reports. Also, reports of successful compiles any platforms available would be useful.
7-23-2004
Skippysaurus
Development of the server daemon version of TraceProto has begun. TraceProtoD will listen as a separate daemon or as an inet service and will accept incoming connections. Using the existing connection TraceProtoD will trace back to the originating client and report back to the client in an appropriate format over the same connection. This should bypass any firewalls between the two since it will be using the pre-established connection.
Needless to say, there will be some challenges involved in its development. Initial reseach seems to be possitive and it looks like we won't need to implement a full network stack just for TraceProtoD.
We hope.
8-14-2004
Skippysaurus