From 7f35a34eb50111bbd48f5dd6ea783102cd8d3723 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: David Schweikert Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 23:17:07 +0100 Subject: [PATCH] Improve README and INSTALL --- INSTALL | 2 ++ README | 60 +++++++++++++---------------------------------------- README.1992 | 43 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 3 files changed, 59 insertions(+), 46 deletions(-) create mode 100644 README.1992 diff --git a/INSTALL b/INSTALL index dab08fc..e23597f 100644 --- a/INSTALL +++ b/INSTALL @@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ Basic Installation These are generic installation instructions. + --> See the README file for fping-specific instructions. <-- + The `configure' shell script attempts to guess correct values for various system-dependent variables used during compilation. It uses those values to create a `Makefile' in each directory of the package. diff --git a/README b/README index 50c9446..1889bdc 100644 --- a/README +++ b/README @@ -5,60 +5,28 @@ but much better performing when pinging multiple hosts. fping has a long long story: Roland Schemers did publish a first version of it in 1992 and it has established itself since then as a standard tool. - Current maintainer: David Schweikert Website: http://www.fping.org +Installation +------------ +If you want to install fping from source, proceed as follows: -Original author: Roland Schemers (schemers@stanford.edu) -Previous maintainer: RL "Bob" Morgan (morgan@stanford.edu) -IPv6 Support: Jeroen Massar (jeroen@unfix.org / jeroen@ipng.nl) - to enable IPV6 compile with -DIPV6 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -Original README (from 1992!) +1. Run ./configure with the correct arguments + (see: ./configure --help) - fping - A tool to quickly ping N number of hosts to determine - their reachability. +2. Run make; make install - Roland J. Schemers III - Stanford University - schemers@Stanford.EDU +3. Make fping either setuid, or, if under Linux: - fping is a ping(1) like program which uses the Internet Control - Message Protocol (ICMP) echo request to determine if a host is - up. fping is different from ping in that you can specify any - number of hosts on the command line, or specify a file containing - the lists of hosts to ping. Instead of trying one host until it - timeouts or replies, fping will send out a ping packet and move - on to the next host in a round-robin fashion. If a host replies, - it is noted and removed from the list of hosts to check. If a host - does not respond within a certain time limit and/or retry limit it - will be considered unreachable. + sudo setcap cap_net_raw+ep fping -Site - Stanford University has a large TCP/IP network with over 16,000 - assigned IP addresses and over 100 IP subnets. - -Problem and Issues - - With a large a number of IP addresses in use, its becomes more and - more time consuming to check on which IP addresses are actively - in use, and which critical machines (routers, bridges, servers, etc) - are reachable. One example is we have a program which goes through - all of our routers arp caches looking for IP addresses that are in - use. After finding a list of IP addresses that aren't in any arp - caches fping can then be used to see if these IP addresses really - aren't being used, or are just behind the routers. Checking 2500 - hosts (99% of which are unreachable) via ping can take hours. - - fping was written to solve the problem of pinging N number of hosts - in an efficient manner. By sending out pings in a round-robin fashion - and checking on responses as they come in at random, a large number of - hosts can be checked at once. - - Unlike ping, fping is meant to be used in scripts and its - output is easy to parse. +Credits +------- +Original author: Roland Schemers (schemers@stanford.edu) +Previous maintainer: RL "Bob" Morgan (morgan@stanford.edu) +IPv6 Support: Jeroen Massar (jeroen@unfix.org / jeroen@ipng.nl) + to enable IPV6 compile with -DIPV6 diff --git a/README.1992 b/README.1992 new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a1020cd --- /dev/null +++ b/README.1992 @@ -0,0 +1,43 @@ +Original README (from 1992) + + fping - A tool to quickly ping N number of hosts to determine + their reachability. + + Roland J. Schemers III - Stanford University + schemers@Stanford.EDU + + fping is a ping(1) like program which uses the Internet Control + Message Protocol (ICMP) echo request to determine if a host is + up. fping is different from ping in that you can specify any + number of hosts on the command line, or specify a file containing + the lists of hosts to ping. Instead of trying one host until it + timeouts or replies, fping will send out a ping packet and move + on to the next host in a round-robin fashion. If a host replies, + it is noted and removed from the list of hosts to check. If a host + does not respond within a certain time limit and/or retry limit it + will be considered unreachable. + +Site + Stanford University has a large TCP/IP network with over 16,000 + assigned IP addresses and over 100 IP subnets. + +Problem and Issues + + With a large a number of IP addresses in use, its becomes more and + more time consuming to check on which IP addresses are actively + in use, and which critical machines (routers, bridges, servers, etc) + are reachable. One example is we have a program which goes through + all of our routers arp caches looking for IP addresses that are in + use. After finding a list of IP addresses that aren't in any arp + caches fping can then be used to see if these IP addresses really + aren't being used, or are just behind the routers. Checking 2500 + hosts (99% of which are unreachable) via ping can take hours. + + fping was written to solve the problem of pinging N number of hosts + in an efficient manner. By sending out pings in a round-robin fashion + and checking on responses as they come in at random, a large number of + hosts can be checked at once. + + Unlike ping, fping is meant to be used in scripts and its + output is easy to parse. +