MTR (My Traceroute) Network Diagnostic Tool Guide

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Installation
• Basic Usage
• Output Formats
• Advanced Options
• Analysis Techniques
• Troubleshooting
• Best Practices

Overview

MTR combines the functionality of traceroute and ping into a single network diagnostic tool, providing continuous monitoring of network paths.

Key Features

• Real-time monitoring
• Packet loss statistics
• Latency measurement
• Path visualization
• Multiple output formats
• IPv4/IPv6 support
• DNS resolution control
• Custom packet sizes

Installation

Ubuntu (22.04/24.04)

# Install mtr
sudo apt update
sudo apt install mtr-tiny
 
# Full version with GTK interface
sudo apt install mtr

macOS

# Using Homebrew
brew install mtr

Basic Usage

Simple Tests

# Basic test
sudo mtr example.com
 
# Report mode
mtr -r example.com
 
# Specify count
mtr -c 50 example.com
 
# No DNS resolution
mtr -n example.com

Common Options

# Report with 100 packets
mtr -r -c 100 example.com
 
# Wide report format
mtr -w example.com
 
# Show IP addresses
mtr -b example.com
 
# Split addresses
mtr -z example.com

Output Formats

Report Formats

# Standard report
mtr --report example.com
 
# CSV output
mtr --csv example.com
 
# JSON output
mtr --json example.com
 
# XML output
mtr --xml example.com

Custom Fields

# Select specific fields
mtr --report \
    --no-dns \
    --show-ips \
    example.com
 
# Report with timestamps
mtr --report \
    --show-timestamps \
    example.com

Advanced Options

Packet Configuration

# Custom packet size
mtr -s 1000 example.com
 
# TCP instead of ICMP
mtr --tcp example.com
 
# UDP packets
mtr --udp example.com
 
# Custom port
mtr --port 443 example.com

Timing Options

# Custom interval
mtr -i 0.5 example.com
 
# Timeout value
mtr -t 1.0 example.com
 
# Max number of hops
mtr -m 30 example.com

Protocol Selection

# Force IPv4
mtr -4 example.com
 
# Force IPv6
mtr -6 example.com
 
# ICMP packets (default)
mtr --icmp example.com

Analysis Techniques

Network Troubleshooting

# Basic troubleshooting
mtr -r -c 100 -n example.com
 
# Loss pattern analysis
mtr --report \
    --show-timestamps \
    --csv \
    example.com
 
# Latency investigation
mtr -i 0.1 \
    --no-dns \
    --report \
    example.com

Performance Analysis

# Detailed statistics
mtr --report-wide \
    --show-ips \
    --csv \
    example.com
 
# Multiple target comparison
for host in host1.com host2.com; do
    mtr -n -r -c 50 $host > "$host.txt"
done

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. High Packet Loss

# Detailed loss analysis
mtr -r -c 200 \
    --show-timestamps \
    --csv \
    problem_host

2. Latency Issues

# Latency monitoring
mtr -i 0.1 \
    --no-dns \
    --report \
    slow_host

3. Path Problems

# Path analysis
mtr --report-wide \
    --show-ips \
    --no-dns \
    unreachable_host

Best Practices

Testing Guidelines

# Basic network test
mtr -r -c 100 \
    --no-dns \
    --report \
    target.com
 
# Long-term monitoring
mtr -r -c 1000 \
    --interval 1 \
    --csv \
    target.com

Documentation

# Save test results
mtr -r -c 100 target.com > report.txt
 
# Multiple format export
mtr --json target.com > report.json
mtr --csv target.com > report.csv

Quick Reference

Essential Commands

# Basic test
sudo mtr example.com
 
# Report mode
mtr -r example.com
 
# No DNS lookup
mtr -n example.com
 
# Wide report
mtr -w example.com

Common Options

-r    # Report mode
-n    # No DNS resolution
-c    # Packet count
-s    # Packet size
-i    # Interval
-t    # Timeout
-m    # Max hops

Example Scripts

Basic Network Analysis

#!/bin/bash
# Network path analysis
TARGET="example.com"
OUTPUT_DIR="mtr_reports"
 
mkdir -p "$OUTPUT_DIR"
 
# Run different test types
mtr -r -c 100 "$TARGET" > "$OUTPUT_DIR/standard.txt"
mtr --json "$TARGET" > "$OUTPUT_DIR/json.json"
mtr --csv "$TARGET" > "$OUTPUT_DIR/csv.csv"

Multiple Host Testing

#!/bin/bash
# Test multiple hosts
HOSTS=(
    "host1.com"
    "host2.com"
    "host3.com"
)
 
for host in "${HOSTS[@]}"; do
    echo "Testing $host..."
    mtr -r -c 50 "$host" > "${host}_report.txt"
done

Continuous Monitoring

#!/bin/bash
# Continuous network monitoring
TARGET="example.com"
INTERVAL=300 # 5 minutes
 
while true; do
    timestamp=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)
    mtr -r -c 60 "$TARGET" > "mtr_${timestamp}.txt"
    sleep $INTERVAL
done

Performance Comparison

#!/bin/bash
# Compare network paths
SOURCE_HOST="example.com"
TARGETS=(
    "8.8.8.8"
    "1.1.1.1"
)
 
for target in "${TARGETS[@]}"; do
    echo "Testing route to $target..."
    mtr -r -c 100 \
        --no-dns \
        --csv \
        "$target" > "${target}_analysis.csv"
done

---

Remember:

• Use sudo when needed
• Consider DNS resolution impact
• Choose appropriate packet counts
• Monitor for extended periods
• Document findings
• Compare multiple tests
• Use appropriate protocols

For detailed information, consult the man pages (man mtr).