The ICFA-NTF Current Ping Plot Graphs - Implementation Notes
Created on 08/21/97 12:10 PM; Last Updated on 10/17/2001
Current Software Version is 4.4

Introduction

This document is for people installing this tool at collecting sites.

This tool is a Perl 5 CGI script to graph the monitoring results for remote sites being pinged. It provides a Web form that enables the user to select the hosts and period of time of interest. It reads the measurements that meet the form values and generates the corresponding graphs (in gif format) that are encapsulated in a Web page. For a given host it produces 2 graphs, one for the 100 bytes ping data and the other for the 1000 bytes ping data. In each graph there is the plot of the mean round trip time and the packet loss percentage. The default behavior when the user does not select any period of time is to show the graph of the current day's measurements.

The package is designed to be secure and exportable to other sites.  Configuration options (e.g. where to find or put various files) are the only that may change from site to site. The idea is that collection sites can install this package and provide some analysis of the data they have collected without relying on the analysis sites.

It requires Perl 5, the cgi-lib library (written by Steve Brenner), gnuplot and ppmtogif installed in your system..

To view an example point your browser here.

Configuration

The script is designed so that a small number of changes will customize the script at each site. The intent is that once a site has installed the script and done the customization, future updates to the script should require minimal work to re-customize for the site. Customization is accomplished by editing a configuration file (ping_data_plot.cf) which is commented to help in understanding the purposes of the configuration variables set in there. This file contains the locations and names (file paths and names) of input data files and output temporay names of the script (ping_data_plot.pl).

Some changes may be required within the script itself (ping_data_plot.pl). These are to edit:

Files Needed

The tool uses the following files, directories, and names.

Required Files Purpose
ping_data_plot.pl The  CGI script.
ping_data_plot.cf The configuration file for ping_data_plot.pl.
cgi-lib Steve Brenner's cgi-lib.
mon-lib.pl A set of utility subroutines.
gnuplot gnuplot utility
ppmtogif ppmtogif utility
Names Purpose
stats_dir The directory where the script will find the ping data measurements.
sites_fn Location of the file containing the list of monitored hosts
site_name Your site name
site_logo Your site logo
this_script Location of ping_data_plot pl script
dest_pref Location where you store the gif files
temp_area Location where you store temporary files
gnuplot gnuplot path in your system
ppmtogif ppmtogif path in your system
oldfiles Garbage collection: temporary files older than oldfiles seconds are deleted
max_days If defined is the maximum value you can set as time interval - OPTIONAL
graph_tool The url where analysis site graph tool is located
 

Installation

Contact your Webmaster to make sure yourWeb server has access to Perl 5 and that Steve Brenner's cgi-lib is installed and available and where they are located.

Verify that gnuplot and ppmtogif are installed on your system.

Copy and save mon-lib.pl so it is accessible and executable (in Unix mon-lib.pl can be made executing using the command chmod a+x mon-lib.pl) by the Web server.

Copy the configuration file ping_data_plot.cf to the proper location and edit it to customize the above mentioned variables.

Copy the perl script ping_data_plot.pl to the appropriate directory. Edit the Perl 5 path on your Web server and the configuration file path (ping_data_plot.cf). Set the correct file permissions (e.g. in Unix by using the command chmod a+x ping_data_plot.pl)

The RTT frequency can be plotted from a direct link from the ping_data_plot.pl script as a part of the site specific settings at the head of that file. If desired copy the perl script frequency.pl to the appropriate directory. Set the correct file permissions (e.g. in Unix by using the command chmod a+x frequency.pl)

Warning

On Versions prior to 4.0 it has been observed that it was not always possible to print the graphs from Web browsers. This fault is now believed to be fixed.

Version History

Version history is described here


Last updated on 15 February 2001, Back to the PPNCG Home page