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How to use MTR command in Linux

How to use MTR command in Linux

Introduction​

In this article, you will learn how to use MTR command in Linux.

My Traceroute, also known as MTR, is a tool that evaluates the state of a network connection through the use of the traceroute and ping commands.

My traceroute is a computer programme that was initially known as Matt's traceroute. It is a network diagnostic utility that combines the capabilities of the traceroute and ping computer programmes into a single application.

MTR examines routers along the route path by putting a cap on the number of hops that individual packets are allowed to take and then listening for responses about when those packets expire.

Install MTR on Linux​

With the following command, you will install MTR on different operating systems.

MTR on Debian/Ubuntu​
# apt-get install mtr

MTR on Fedora/CentOS​
# yum install mtr

MTR on Arch/Manjaro​
# pacman -S mtr

MTR on BSD​
# pkg install mtr

Use of MTR​

Installing MTR on your web server and running it against your local machine will help you gain a deeper comprehension of the performance problems that are affecting your network.​

MTR can be used to perform real-time scans as well as scans in a summary format.

Execute mtr with a domain, server IP, or server hostname, and you will be able to view real-time performance statistics.

# mtr domain.com

# mtr Server\_IP

How to use MTR command in Linux

During the scan, you will have the following options that are available to you:

  • Help – Display open command options for the current MTR testing
  • Display mode – Change how data on packets and pings are shown
  • Restart statistics – Start the test over again
  • Order of fields – Change the order of the columns that are open (press Enter to leave)
  • quit – Stop MTR

You can always copy the results. We suggest that you wait until you have sent at least 50 packages to get an accurate estimate.

# mtr -rw yourdomain.com -c 100

  • -c or --report-cycles – Set how many pings are sent to each hope to test its stability. (each cycle lasts one second)
  • -r or --report – Run the test in the background, and when it's done, print out the results.
  • -w or --report-wide – Make sure that the results list full hostnames instead of???

If you do not specify a number with the -c option, MTR will stop functioning after it has sent 10 packets.

To put MTR outcomes into a CSV file, do the following:

# mtr -rwC yourdomain.com -c 100 > mtr-results.csv

Output options:

  • -l or --raw
  • -C or --csv (separator is a semi-colon “;”)
  • -j or --json
  • -x or --xml

Conclusion​

Hopefully, you have learned how to use MTR command in Linux.

Also Read: How to Use Iperf to Test Network Performance

Thank You 🙂