Manual for man records - MAR fields explained

elof2 at sentor.se elof2 at sentor.se
Wed May 27 07:43:58 EDT 2015


Hi Carter.

Ok, so I run the same command twice, once with xml and once without:

# ra -Zb -M man xml -A -nr argus.log -
<?xml version ="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!--Generated by ra(3.0.8) QoSient, LLC-->
<ArgusDataStream
   xmlns:xsi = "http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
   xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation = 
"http://qosient.com/argus/Xml/ArgusRecord.3.0.xsd"
   BeginDate = "2015-05-26T10:39:41.298236" CurrentDate = 
"2015-05-27T11:46:10.400186"
   MajorVersion = "3" MinorVersion = "0" InterfaceType = "DLT_NULL" 
InterfaceStatus = "Up"
   ArgusSourceId = "10.200.17.10"  NetAddr = "0.0.0.0"  NetMask = 
"0.0.0.0">

  <ArgusManagementRecord  StartTime = "2015-05-26T10:58:41.177579" Flags = 
"         " Proto = "man" PktsRcvd = "0" Records = "0" BytesRcvd = "0" 
PktsDropped = "0" State = "STA"></ArgusManagementRecord>
  <ArgusManagementRecord  StartTime = "2015-05-26T10:58:41.177511" Flags = 
"         " Proto = "man" PktsRcvd = "0" Records = "0" BytesRcvd = "0" 
PktsDropped = "0" State = "CON"></ArgusManagementRecord>
  <ArgusManagementRecord  StartTime = "2015-05-26T10:59:41.171511" Flags = 
"         " Proto = "man" PktsRcvd = "0" Records = "0" BytesRcvd = "0" 
PktsDropped = "0" State = "CON"></ArgusManagementRecord>
  <ArgusManagementRecord  StartTime = "2015-05-26T11:00:41.165508" Flags = 
"         " Proto = "man" PktsRcvd = "0" Records = "0" BytesRcvd = "0" 
PktsDropped = "0" State = "CON"></ArgusManagementRecord>
  <ArgusManagementRecord  StartTime = "2015-05-26T11:01:41.159511" Flags = 
"         " Proto = "man" PktsRcvd = "0" Records = "0" BytesRcvd = "0" 
PktsDropped = "0" State = "CON"></ArgusManagementRecord>
  <ArgusManagementRecord  StartTime = "2015-05-26T11:02:41.153510" Flags = 
"         " Proto = "man" PktsRcvd = "0" Records = "0" BytesRcvd = "0" 
PktsDropped = "0" State = "CON"></ArgusManagementRecord>
  Totalrecords 6         TotalMarRecords 7         TotalFarRecords 0 
TotalPkts 0        TotalBytes 0
</ArgusDataStream>

# ra -Zb -M man -A -nr argus.log -
       StartTime      Flgs  Proto            SrcAddr  Sport Dir 
DstAddr  Dport  SrcPkts  DstPkts     SrcBytes     DstBytes         State
10:58:41.177579              man                  0      0 
0      0        0        0            0            0           STA
10:58:41.177511              man                  0      0 
26      1        0        0            0            0           CON
10:59:41.171511              man                  0      0 
25      1        0        0            0            0           CON
11:00:41.165508              man                  0      0 
25      1        0        0            0            0           CON
11:01:41.159511              man                  0      0 
25      1        0        0            0            0           CON
11:02:41.153510              man                  0      0 
25      1        0        0            0            0           CON
  Totalrecords 6         TotalMarRecords 7         TotalFarRecords 0 
TotalPkts 0        TotalBytes 0


In the xml output I understand the values.
So I guess the problem here is how (and what) ra output in standard mode.

In xml we have 8 values:
StartTime = "2015-05-26T11:02:41.153510"
Flags = "         "
Proto = "man"
PktsRcvd = "0"
Records = "0"
BytesRcvd = "0"
PktsDropped = "0"
State = "CON"

But in normal ra output we have more, in my example:
11:02:41.153510
"           "
man
0
0 
25
1
0
0
0
0
CON


The sniffer interface see no traffic at all, so the xml output show 
all zeroes. Good.
I expect all zeroes in the normal ra output as well, but it is not. 
Confusing.

1.
What is the "25" and the "1" values? Just random garbage?

2. 
I don't know if there is anything to figure out for v3.0.9.
Couldn't you just list which MAR field is mapped to what what FAR field? 
Then we have a conversion map for the few times we need it.

3.
Please then copy this MAR->FAR field conversion map into the ra manual.

4.
When ra operates in normal output mode, couldn't you please make it print 
blanks in all non-mapped fields on MAR rows? Blank values better indicates 
that there are no information there to be found than zeroes (or random 
garbage).

5.
Apart from adding the MAR->FAR field conversion map to the ra manual, 
I think you should also add the following notes to the -M section:

     man     - print management records. Xml output mode is recommended
               (-M man xml), but if using normal output mode, see the
               MAR->FAR field conversion map below.

/Elof


On Tue, 26 May 2015, Carter Bullard wrote:

> If you printed the records out in xml, you should get a bit of an explanation.
>     ra -M man xml
> The man records have quite a bit of information, but the fields don't necessarily conform to the standard fields for FAR records.  Saddr, sport, etc ... What are the equivalents in the MAR records ???  Nothing really, so we haven't described what the fields are suppose to mean, as it's a bit up in the air since argus-3.0.6 when we made significant changes and changed the default output.
>
> Something we should figure out for 3.0.9 ???
>
> Carter
>
>
>> On May 26, 2015, at 11:23 AM, elof2 at sentor.se wrote:
>>
>>
>> Hi Carter!
>>
>> In the ra manual I find:
>>
>> -M man  =  print management records
>>
>>
>> ...but nowhere can I find any documentation as to what the values in the MAR records mean.
>>
>>
>> Example:
>> ra -AZb -nr out.log -M man
>>      StartTime      Flgs  Proto            SrcAddr  Sport Dir            DstAddr  Dport  SrcPkts  DstPkts     SrcBytes     DstBytes         State
>> 10:53:41.106578              man                  0      0                      0      0        0        0            0            0           STA
>> 10:53:41.106508              man                  0      0                     31      1        0        0            0            0           CON
>> 10:54:41.201507              man                  0      0                     30      1        0        0            0            0           CON
>> 10:55:41.195511              man                  0      0                     29      1        0        0            0            0           CON
>> Totalrecords 4         TotalMarRecords 5         TotalFarRecords 0        TotalPkts 0        TotalBytes 0
>>
>> I removed the out.log file and waited 6 minutes before running the command again.
>>
>> ra -AZb -nr out.log -M man
>>      StartTime      Flgs  Proto            SrcAddr  Sport Dir            DstAddr  Dport  SrcPkts  DstPkts     SrcBytes     DstBytes         State
>> 11:08:41.117577              man                  0      0                      0      0        0        0            0            0           STA
>> 11:08:41.117510              man                  0      0                     25      1        0        0            0            0           CON
>> 11:09:41.111507              man                  0      0                     25      1        0        0            0            0           CON
>> 11:10:41.105505              man                  0      0                     25      1        0        0            0            0           CON
>> 11:11:41.200512              man                  0      0                     25      1        0        0            0            0           CON
>> 11:12:41.194504              man                  0      0                     25      1        0        0            0            0           CON
>> Totalrecords 6         TotalMarRecords 7         TotalFarRecords 0        TotalPkts 0        TotalBytes 0
>>
>> Argus is monitoring a NIC that currently has no link, so zero packets has been seen.
>>
>> MAR records are generated, just as they should.
>>
>> I'm curious as to what the 31, 30, 29 and 25, 25, 25, 25, 25 might be.
>> And 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 in the Dport field...
>> ...and why they are not all 0, since argus see no packets at all.
>>
>>
>> Could you please explain all the fields (and then paste the explaination into the ra manpage)? :-)
>>
>> /Elof
>>
>



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