Ntop - ArchWiki

# Ntop

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Ntop is a network traffic probe based on libcap, that offers RMON-like network traffic statistics accessible via a web browser.

Ntop's final release was in 2012 and is currently unmaintained. It has been succeeded by ntopng (ntopngAUR).

## Installation and configuration

Install the ntop package. The first run of ntop, you must set the admin password:

    # ntop

The factual accuracy of this article or section is disputed.

Reason: The previous default `/etc/conf.d/ntop` does not exist anymore. A configuration file may be passed via the `@file` option, but that must be picked up (e.g. via Systemd#Drop-in_snippets) from the systemd service file, which - as a second point - does not work due to FS#41849. (Discuss in Talk:Ntop#Configuration)

Next, you need to edit the configuration file (`/etc/conf.d/ntop`) to adapt on your needs. Below is an example configuration, with the focus on the host to get as much as information from the hosts connections:

    /etc/conf.d/ntop

    # Parameters to be passed to ntop.
    NTOP_ARGS="-K -W 2323 -i enp1s0,wlp2s0 -M -s -4 -6 -s -u ntop -c -r 30 --w3c -t 3 -a /var/log/ntop/http.log -O /var/log/ntop/ -q --skip-version-check 0"

    # Location of the log file.
    NTOP_LOG="/var/log/ntop/ntop.log"

Before starting and possibly enabling the `ntop` service, you may have to edit its ntop command options:

    /etc/systemd/system/ntop.d/options.conf

    [Service]
    ExecStart=
    ExecStart=/usr/bin/ntop options

## Tips and tricks

### Web interface

To access ntop's web interface, enter http://127.0.0.1:3000/ into your web browser. To make changes to the server, you will need to enter your username (default = admin) and password.

If ntop is not just used locally on your machine, but network wide by multiple users, you'd be better off by allowing SSL connections (https) only.

    # ntop -W 4223

On firefox, the self-signed certificat should be a problem. Page will not be shown like that.

Additional paramethers are allowed. Now direct our browser to https://127.0.0.1:4223/.

You can also provide ntop with your own SSL certificate. Simply put it in ntop's config directory and name it ntop-cert.pem

    # cd /usr/share/ntop
    # openssl req -x509 -nodes -days 365
      \-subj '/C=US/L=Portland/CN=swim'
      \-newkey rsa:1024 -keyout ntop-cert.pem -out ntop-cert.pem

Instead of make a self-signed certificat who will make your page unable to print on firefox, you should look at letsencrypt service. This service will make a free well recognized certificat for your domain. Then you will have to copy privkey.pem and fullchain.pem inside ntop-cert.pem:

    # cat /etc/letsencrypt/live/<your domain>/privkey.pem /etc/letsencrypt/live/>your domain>/fullchain.pem > /usr/share/ntop/ntop-cert.pem

you can also copy your private key in the same place.

### Group and user

In order for the -u parameter to work properly and to make your ntop setup a bit more secure, you should create your own group and user for it.

    # useradd -M -s /usr/bin/false ntop
    # passwd -l ntop

Note: The `passwd` command here is optional, but recommended, as it will render the system more secure regarding your sshd.

## Troubleshooting

### **ERROR** RRD: Disabled - unable to create base directory (err 13, /var/lib/ntop/rrd)

Directory `/var/lib/ntop/rrd/` may not exist. Create it and make sure it belongs to user nobody.

### Please enable make sure that the ntop html/ directory is properly installed

If you receive this warning while trying to access the web interface, edit `/etc/conf.d/ntop` to include your IP and restart the daemon. For example:

    NTOP_ARGS="-i enp1s0 -w 127.0.0.1:3000"

This is the IP you will use to access the web interface.

Category:

- Networking

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