MRTG

What MRTG is

MRTG is free software for monitoring network traffic and creating HTML pages with PNG graphs. It can track router traffic, selected SNMP variables, or information supplied by an external program. Graphs show daily, seven-day, five-week, and twelve-month periods, while consolidated logs retain relevant traffic data for two years. MRTG includes an SNMP implementation written in Perl and supports SNMPv2c 64-bit counters. Configuration tools can identify router interfaces by IP address, description, or Ethernet address. The generated pages can be customized, and built-in hooks support using RRDtool. MRTG is available for Linux, Windows, and self-hosted use. Unix downloads are tar.gz files; Windows downloads are zip files. It is distributed under the GNU General Public License, with stated limits on claiming authorship and relicensing. Support options listed by the project include user, announcement, and developer mailing lists, plus Usenet and IRC.

Who it suits

MRTG suits people who need to monitor router traffic or other SNMP and program-supplied data. Its user and developer discussion options may help both operators and people modifying or building software connected to MRTG.

Limits

The free plan is MRTG software under the GNU GPL. The license states restrictions on claiming authorship and relicensing it.

Getting started

1. Visit the MRTG website.
2. Choose a download for your system; Unix downloads are tar.gz files and Windows downloads are zip files.
3. Use the configuration tools to identify router interfaces by IP address, description, or Ethernet address.
4. Configure the data source, such as router traffic, an SNMP variable, or external-program data.
5. Set the generated webpage appearance and use the RRDtool hooks if needed.

Verdict

MRTG combines network traffic collection with configurable graph pages and long-term consolidated logs. Its monitoring options and platform-specific downloads are useful facts to weigh alongside its GPL terms.