nfsen-ng

nfsen-ng is an in-place replacement for the ageing nfsen.

Used components

• Front end: jQuery, dygraphs, FooTable, ion.rangeSlider
• Back end: RRDtool, nfdump tools

TOC

• nfsen-ng
  • Installation
  • Configuration
  • CLI
  • API
    • /api/config
    • /api/graph
    • /api/flows
    • /api/stats

Installation

Ubuntu 18.04 LTS:

# run following commands as root
# enable universe repository
add-apt-repository universe && sudo apt update
# install packages
apt install apache2 php7.2 php7.2-dev libapache2-mod-php7.2 pkg-config nfdump rrdtool librrd-dev
# enable apache modules
a2enmod rewrite deflate headers expires
# install rrd library for php
pecl install rrd 
# create rrd library mod entry for php
echo "extension=rrd.so" > /etc/php/7.2/mods-available/rrd.ini
# enable php mod
phpenmod rrd
# configure virtual host to read .htaccess files
vim /etc/apache2/apache2.conf # set AllowOverride All for /var/www
# restart httpd
service apache2 restart
# install nfsen-ng
cd /var/www/html # or wherever
git clone https://github.com/mbolli/nfsen-ng
chown -R www-data:www-data .
chmod +x nfsen-ng/backend/cli.php
# next step: configuration

Ubuntu 20.04 LTS:

# run following commands as root
# install packages
apt install apache2 git nfdump pkg-config php7.4 php7.4-dev libapache2-mod-php7.4 rrdtool librrd-dev
# enable apache modules
a2enmod rewrite deflate headers expires
# install rrd library for php
pecl install rrd 
# create rrd library mod entry for php
echo "extension=rrd.so" > /etc/php/7.4/mods-available/rrd.ini
# enable php mod
phpenmod rrd
# configure virtual host to read .htaccess files
vi /etc/apache2/apache2.conf # set AllowOverride All for /var/www
# restart apache web server
systemctl restart apache2
# install nfsen-ng
cd /var/www/html # or wherever
git clone https://github.com/mbolli/nfsen-ng
chown -R www-data:www-data .
chmod +x nfsen-ng/backend/cli.php
# next step: configuration

Ubuntu 22.04 LTS:

# run following commands as root
# install packages
apt install apache2 git nfdump pkg-config php8.1 php8.1-dev libapache2-mod-php8.1 rrdtool librrd-dev
# enable apache modules
a2enmod rewrite deflate headers expires
# install rrd library for php
pecl install rrd
# create rrd library mod entry for php
echo "extension=rrd.so" > /etc/php/8.1/mods-available/rrd.ini
# enable php mod
phpenmod rrd
# configure virtual host to read .htaccess files
vi /etc/apache2/apache2.conf # set AllowOverride All for /var/www
# restart apache web server
systemctl restart apache2
# install nfsen-ng
cd /var/www/html # or wherever
git clone https://github.com/mbolli/nfsen-ng
chown -R www-data:www-data .
chmod +x nfsen-ng/backend/cli.php
# next step: configuration

Debian 11 :

# run following commands as root
# install packages
apt install apache2 git nfdump pkg-config php php-dev libapache2-mod-php rrdtool librrd-dev
# enable apache modules
a2enmod rewrite deflate headers expires
# install rrd library for php
pecl install rrd
# create rrd library mod entry for php
echo "extension=rrd.so" > /etc/php/7.4/mods-available/rrd.ini
# enable php mod
phpenmod rrd
# configure virtual host to read .htaccess files
vi /etc/apache2/apache2.conf # set AllowOverride All for /var/www
# restart apache web server
systemctl restart apache2
# install nfsen-ng
cd /var/www/html # or wherever
git clone https://github.com/mbolli/nfsen-ng
chown -R www-data:www-data .
chmod +x nfsen-ng/backend/cli.php
# next step: configuration

CentOS 7:

# run following commands as root
# update packages
yum update
# enable EPEL repo
yum -y install epel-release
# install yum utils
yum install yum-utils
# install remi release
yum install http://rpms.remirepo.net/enterprise/remi-release-7.rpm
# enable the repository for PHP 7.2
yum-config-manager --enable remi-php72
# install packages
yum install git httpd mod_php nfdump php72 php72-php-devel php-devel php-pear php-pecl-rrd rrdtool rrdtool-devel
# configure virtual host to read .htaccess files
vim /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf # set AllowOverride All for /var/www/html
# start httpd service
systemctl start httpd
# enable httpd service
systemctl enable httpd
# install nfsen-ng
cd /var/www/html # or wherever
git clone https://github.com/mbolli/nfsen-ng
chown -R apache:apache .
chmod +x nfsen-ng/backend/cli.php
# next step: configuration

CentOS 8:

# run following commands as root
# update packages
dnf update
# enable EPEL repo and update epel-release package
dnf -y install epel-release && dnf -y update epel-release
# install dnf-utils
dnf -y install dnf-utils
# enable PowerTools repo
dnf config-manager --set-enabled PowerTools
# install packages
dnf -y install git httpd make mod_php nfdump php php-devel php-json php-pear rrdtool rrdtool-devel
# install rrd library for php
pecl install rrd
# create rrd library mod entry for php
echo "extension=rrd.so" > /etc/php.d/rrd.ini
# configure virtual host to read .htaccess files
vim /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf # set AllowOverride All for /var/www/html
# start httpd service
systemctl start httpd
# enable httpd service
systemctl enable httpd
# install nfsen-ng
cd /var/www/html # or wherever
git clone https://github.com/mbolli/nfsen-ng
chown -R apache:apache .
chmod +x nfsen-ng/backend/cli.php
# next step: configuration

Configuration

Note: nfsen-ng expects the profiles-data folder structure to be PROFILES_DATA_PATH/PROFILE/SOURCE/YYYY/MM/DD/nfcapd.YYYYMMDDHHII, e.g. /var/nfdump/profiles_data/live/source1/2018/12/01/nfcapd.201812010225.

The default settings file is backend/settings/settings.php.dist. Copy it to backend/settings/settings.php and start modifying it. Example values are in italic:

• general
  • ports: (array(80, 23, 22, ...)) The ports to examine. Note: If you use RRD as datasource and want to import existing data, you might keep the number of ports to a minimum, or the import time will be measured in moon cycles...
  • sources: (array('source1', ...)) The sources to scan.
  • db: (RRD) The name of the datasource class (case-sensitive).
• frontend
  • reload_interval: Interval in seconds between graph reloads.
• nfdump
  • binary: (/usr/bin/nfdump) The location of your nfdump executable
  • profiles-data: (/var/nfdump/profiles_data) The location of your nfcapd files
  • profile: (live) The profile folder to use
  • max-processes: (1) The maximum number of concurrently running nfdump processes. Note: Statistics and aggregations can use lots of system resources, even to aggregate one week of data might take more than 15 minutes. Put this value to > 1 if you want nfsen-ng to be usable while running another query.
• db If the used data source needs additional configuration, you can specify it here, e.g. host and port.
• log
  • priority: (LOG_INFO) see other possible values at [http://php.net/manual/en/function.syslog.php]

CLI

The command line interface is used to initially scan existing nfcapd.* files, or to administer the daemon.

Usage:

./cli.php [ options ] import

or for the daemon

./cli.php start|stop|status

• Options:

  • -v Show verbose output
  • -p Import ports data as well Note: Using RRD this will take quite a bit longer, depending on the number of your defined ports.
  • -ps Import ports per source as well Note: Using RRD this will take quite a bit longer, depending on the number of your defined ports.
  • -f Force overwriting database and start fresh

• Commands:

  • import Import existing nfdump data to nfsen-ng. Note: If you have existing nfcapd files, better do this overnight.
  • start Start the daemon for continuous reading of new data
  • stop Stop the daemon
  • status Get the daemon's status

• Examples:

  • ./cli.php -f import Imports fresh data for sources

  • ./cli.php -f -p -ps import Imports all data

  • ./cli.php start Starts the daemon

API

The API is used by the frontend to retrieve data.

/api/config

• URL /api/config

• Method: GET

• URL Params none

• Success Response:

  • Code: 200 Content:

    {
      "sources": [ "gate", "swi6" ],
      "ports": [ 80, 22, 23 ],
      "stored_output_formats": [], 
      "stored_filters": [],
      "daemon_running": true
    }

• Error Response:

  • Code: 400 BAD REQUEST Content:

    {"code": 400, "error": "400 - Bad Request. Probably wrong or not enough arguments."}

  OR

  • Code: 404 NOT FOUND Content:

    {"code": 404, "error": "400 - Not found. "}

• Sample Call:

  curl localhost/nfsen-ng/api/config

/api/graph

• URL /api/graph?datestart=1490484000&dateend=1490652000&type=flows&sources[0]=gate&protocols[0]=tcp&protocols[1]=icmp&display=sources

• Method:

  GET

• URL Params

  • datestart=[integer] Unix timestamp
  • dateend=[integer] Unix timestamp
  • type=[string] Type of data to show: flows/packets/bytes
  • sources=[array]
  • protocols=[array]
  • ports=[array]
  • display=[string] can be sources, protocols or ports

  There can't be multiple sources and multiple protocols both. Either one source and multiple protocols, or one protocol and multiple sources.

• Success Response:

  • Code: 200 Content:

    {"data": {
      "1490562300":[2.1666666667,94.396666667],
      "1490562600":[1.0466666667,72.976666667],...
    },"start":1490562300,"end":1490590800,"step":300,"legend":["swi6_flows_tcp","gate_flows_tcp"]}

• Error Response:

  • Code: 400 BAD REQUEST
    Content: json {"code": 400, "error": "400 - Bad Request. Probably wrong or not enough arguments."}

  OR

  • Code: 404 NOT FOUND
    Content: json {"code": 404, "error": "400 - Not found. "}

• Sample Call:

  curl -g "http://localhost/nfsen-ng/api/graph?datestart=1490484000&dateend=1490652000&type=flows&sources[0]=gate&protocols[0]=tcp&protocols[1]=icmp&display=sources"

/api/flows

• URL /api/flows?datestart=1482828600&dateend=1490604300&sources[0]=gate&sources[1]=swi6&filter=&limit=100&aggregate=srcip&sort=&output[format]=auto

• Method:

  GET

• URL Params

  • datestart=[integer] Unix timestamp
  • dateend=[integer] Unix timestamp
  • sources=[array]
  • filter=[string] pcap-syntaxed filter
  • limit=[int] max. returned rows
  • aggregate=[string] can be bidirectional or a valid nfdump aggregation string (e.g. srcip4/24, dstport), but not both at the same time
  • sort=[string] (will probably cease to exist, as ordering is done directly in aggregation) e.g. tstart
  • output=[array] can contain [format] = auto|line|long|extended and [IPv6]

• Success Response:

  • Code: 200 Content:

    [["ts","td","sa","da","sp","dp","pr","ipkt","ibyt","opkt","obyt"],
    ["2017-03-27 10:40:46","0.000","85.105.45.96","0.0.0.0","0","0","","1","46","0","0"],
    ...

• Error Response:

  • Code: 400 BAD REQUEST
    Content: json {"code": 400, "error": "400 - Bad Request. Probably wrong or not enough arguments."}

  OR

  • Code: 404 NOT FOUND
    Content: json {"code": 404, "error": "400 - Not found. "}

• Sample Call:

  curl -g "http://localhost/nfsen-ng/api/flows?datestart=1482828600&dateend=1490604300&sources[0]=gate&sources[1]=swi6&filter=&limit=100&aggregate[]=srcip&sort=&output[format]=auto"

/api/stats

• URL /api/stats?datestart=1482828600&dateend=1490604300&sources[0]=gate&sources[1]=swi6&for=dstip&filter=&top=10&limit=100&aggregate[]=srcip&sort=&output[format]=auto

• Method:

  GET

• URL Params

  • datestart=[integer] Unix timestamp
  • dateend=[integer] Unix timestamp
  • sources=[array]
  • filter=[string] pcap-syntaxed filter
  • top=[int] return top N rows
  • for=[string] field to get the statistics for. with optional ordering field as suffix, e.g. ip/flows
  • limit=[string] limit output to records above or below of limit e.g. 500K
  • output=[array] can contain [IPv6]

• Success Response:

  • Code: 200 Content:

    [
        ["Packet limit: > 100 packets"],
        ["ts","te","td","pr","val","fl","flP","ipkt","ipktP","ibyt","ibytP","ipps","ipbs","ibpp"],
        ["2017-03-27 10:38:20","2017-03-27 10:47:58","577.973","any","193.5.80.180","673","2.7","676","2.5","56581","2.7","1","783","83"],
        ...
    ]

• Error Response:

  • Code: 400 BAD REQUEST
    Content: json {"code": 400, "error": "400 - Bad Request. Probably wrong or not enough arguments."}

  OR

  • Code: 404 NOT FOUND
    Content: json {"code": 404, "error": "400 - Not found. "}

• Sample Call:

  curl -g "http://localhost/nfsen-ng/api/stats?datestart=1482828600&dateend=1490604300&sources[0]=gate&sources[1]=swi6&for=dstip&filter=&top=10&limit=100&aggregate[]=srcip&sort=&output[format]=auto"

More endpoints to come:

• /api/graph_stats