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NAME
     sntop -- top-like console network status tool

SYNOPSIS
     sntop [options]

DESCRIPTION
     sntop (simple network top) is a console utility, in the spirit of top, that
     polls  a  list  of hosts at a regular interval to determine if they are on-
     line, displaying the results in a formatted table.  This list  is	read  on
     load  from a config file, sntoprc, located (by default) in ~/ or /etc.  The
     polling is done via ICMP ping (1)

     Optionally, the results can be used to generate an html page or ellicit the
     execution of a file.

     Interactive run-time commands exist:

     q - quit

     r - reload config file

     w - toggle html page generation

     any other key - force a refresh

COMMAND-LINE PARAMETERS
     -d, --daemon - daemon mode: make sntop capable  of  running  in  the  back-
     ground.  note, it wont automatically fork into the background.

     -o, --once - poll and display results once, then exit

     -c, --nocolor - toggle the use of ncurses color for pretty formatting

     -p,  --ping  -  use 'ping' in lieu of 'fping'. note, ping (in particular on
     DOWN hosts) is slower than fping -- the performance of sntop will suffer.

     -w, --html - generate html output of results

     -s, --secure - secure mode.  command keys are disabled. SIGINT must be used
     to terminate the program.	this allows sntop to run nicely on spare  termi-
     nals  galore.   something	like the following in /etc/passwd can facilitate
     that:

     sntop:x:123:123:sntop:/:/usr/local/bin/sntop -s

     -e <file>, --wfile=file - output html to <file> instead of sntop.html

     -f <file>, --conf=file - read conf data from <file> instead of  ~/.sntoprc.
     note,  sntop  will still try to read from /etc/sntoprc if <file> fails.  if
     both fail, sntop will exit.

     -r <time>, --refresh=time - refresh every <time> seconds instead of 180

     -a <file>, --alarm=file - alarm mode: execute <file> when a site first goes
     DOWN

     -l <file>, --log=file - log mode: execute <file> whenever the status  of  a
     site changes

     -b <bytes>, --byte=bytes - Number of bytes of ping data to send

     -v, --version - display version information and exit

     -h, --help - display command-syntax help and exit

Command Execution Syntax
     In  alarm or log mode a file is executed on the occurence of change in sta-
     tus of a given host.  sntop will fork and exec the specified file,  passing
     as arguments information about the event. those arguments are:

     <display name of host> <host name/IP> <status>

     <display  name of host> the 'display' name (first sntop collumn) of the ma-
     chine, ie "MyBox"

     <host name/IP> the explicit hostname or  IP  address  of  the  machine,  ie
     "snaggle" or "192.168.55.12"

     <status>  the  new  status of the machine, "UP" or "DOWN," this would obvi-
     ously always be DOWN for alarm mode

     Note, DOWN hosts will be logged in both modes upon load (ie,  if  they  are
     down  when  sntop	loads,	<file>	is executed).  No action is taken in any
     modes for hosts that originate as UP -- thus, the default status is UP.  We
     execute an external file to remain in the UNIX tradition --  small,  simple
     programs  that  do one thing damn well.  Thus, a logging option is not even
     provided -- a two-line shell script will do fine, there.  However, the pos-
     sibilities are powerful: administrator paging, for instance.  See	alarm.sh
     for an example script.

FILES
     ~/.sntoprc default config file location

     /etc/sntoprc if a user's config is not found, this system-wide one is read

     /usr/man/man1/sntop.1.gz the man page

     alarm.sh sample alarm-execute script

     /usr/local/bin/sntop the sntop executable

CONFIG FILE
     An  example  config file, sntoprc.EXAMPLE, is included in the standard dis-
     tribution.  However, the config file syntax is simple.  Entries are  RETURN
     terminated.   Trailing  whitespace is ignored.  '#' signifies a comment and
     can be used inline.  By default, upto 32 characters will be read, per line.
     All entries should be a single word, except comments. The syntax:

     Display Name

     IP or host

     Display Comments

     Example:

     Jimi

     192.168.23.1

     linux/sparc; firewall, http, ftp

     sntop will first attempt to read the config file from  ~/.sntoprc	(or  an-
     other  location  specified  by  -f).  If that fails, the system config file
     will be read from /etc/sntoprc. If both fail, sntop will exit.

AUTHORS
     sntop was written by Robert M.  Love  <rml@tech9.net>  and  Christopher  M.
     Rivera <cmrivera@ufl.edu>.  Send us bug reports, suggestions, and hardware.

SEE ALSO
     top (1), ping (1), fping (1)

				  March 6, 2001 			SNTOP(1)

Want to link to this manual page? Use this URL:
<https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=sntop&sektion=1&manpath=FreeBSD+Ports+15.1.quarterly>

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