/gen_icmp

Erlang interface to ICMP sockets

Primary LanguageErlangBSD 3-Clause "New" or "Revised" LicenseBSD-3-Clause

Package Version Hex Docs

gen_icmp aspires to be a simple interface for using ICMP and ICMPv6 sockets in Erlang, just like gen_tcp and gen_udp do for their protocol types; incidentally messing up Google searches for whomever someday writes a proper gen_icmp module.

gen_icmp uses procket to get a raw socket and abuses gen_udp for the socket handling. gen_icmp should work on Linux and BSDs.

For a simple example of sending a ping, also see:

https://github.com/msantos/procket/blob/master/src/icmp.erl

EXPORTS

open() -> {ok, Socket}
open(SocketOptions) -> {ok, Socket}
open(RawOptions, SocketOptions) -> {ok, Socket}

    Types   Socket = pid()
            RawOptions = [ RawOption ]
            RawOption = options()
            SocketOptions = SocketOpt
            SocketOpt = [ {active, true} | {active, once} |
                {active, false} | inet | inet6 ]

    By default, the ICMP socket is opened in {active,false} mode. No
    packets will be received by the socket. setopts/2 can be used
    to place the socket in {active,true} mode.

    See the procket README for the raw socket options and for
    instructions on setting up the setuid helper.

    gen_icmp first attempts to natively open the socket and falls
    back to forking the setuid helper program if beam does not have
    the appropriate privileges.  Privileges to open a raw socket can
    be given by, for example, running as root or, on Linux, granting
    the CAP_NET_RAW capability to beam:

        setcap cap_net_raw=ep /usr/local/lib/erlang/erts-5.8.3/bin/beam.smp

    Only the owning process will receive ICMP packets (see
    controlling_process/2 to change the owner). The process owning the
    raw socket will receive all ICMP packets sent to the host.

    Messages sent to the controlling process are:

    {icmp, Socket, Address, TTL, Packet}

    Where:

        * Socket is the pid of the gen_icmp process

        * Address is a tuple representing the IPv4 or IPv6 source address

        * TTL is the IP TTL
            * IPv4: TTL taken from the IP header
            * IPv6: the socket's hop limit returned from
              getsockopt(IPV6_UNICAST_HOPS) (this is not the packet's
              TTL, it is the socket's max TTL)

        * Packet is the complete ICMP packet including the ICMP headers

close(Socket) -> ok | {error, Reason}

    Types   Socket = pid()
            Reason = posix()

    Close the ICMP socket.

send(Socket, Address, Packet) -> ok | {error, Reason}

    Types   Socket = pid()
            Address = tuple()
            Packet = binary()
            Reason = not_owner | posix()

    Like the gen_udp and gen_tcp modules, any process can send ICMP
    packets but only the owner will receive the responses.

recv(Socket, Length) -> {ok, {Address, Packet}} | {error, Reason}
recv(Socket, Length, Timeout) -> {ok, {Address, Packet}} | {error, Reason}

    Types   Socket = socket()
            Length = int()
            Address = ip_address()
            Packet = [char()] | binary()
            Timeout = int() | infinity
            Reason = not_owner | posix()

    This function receives a packet from a socket in passive mode.

    The optional Timeout parameter specifies a timeout in
    milliseconds. The default value is infinity.

controlling_process(Socket, Pid) -> ok

    Types   Socket = pid()
            Pid = pid()

    Change the process owning the socket. Allows another process to
    receive the ICMP responses.

setopts(Socket, Options) ->

    Types   Socket = pid()
            Options = list()

    For options, see the inet man page. Simply calls inet:setopts/2
    on the gen_udp socket.

    setopts/2 can be used to toggle the socket between passive and
    active mode:

        {ok, Socket} = gen_icmp:open(), % socket is {active,false}
        ok = gen_icmp:setopts(Socket, [{active, true}]),
        % do stuff with the socket
        ok = gen_icmp:setopts(Socket, [{active, false}]).

ping(Host) -> Responses
ping(Host, Options) -> Responses
ping(Socket, Hosts, Options) -> Responses

    Types   Socket = pid()
            Host = Address | Hostname | Hosts
            Address = ReplyAddr = tuple()
            Hostname = string()
            Hosts = [ tuple() | string() ]
            Options = [ Option ]
            Option = {id, Id} | {sequence, Sequence} | {timeout, Timeout} | {data, Data} |
                {timestamp, boolean()} | {ttl, TTL} | {filter, Filter} | inet | inet6
            Id = uint16()
            Sequence = uint16()
            Timeout = non_neg_integer() | infinity
            TTL = uint8()
            Data = binary()
            Filter = binary()
            Responses = [ Response ]
            Response = {ok, Host, Address, ReplyAddr, Details, Payload}
                | {error, ICMPError, Host, Address, ReplyAddr, Details, Payload}
                | {error, Error, Host, Address}
            Details = {Id, Sequence, TTL, Elapsed}
            Elapsed = int() | undefined
            Payload = binary()
            ICMPError = unreach_host | timxceed_intrans
            Error = timeout | inet:posix()

    ping/1 is a convenience function to send a single ping
    packet. The argument to ping/1 can be either a hostname or a
    list of hostnames.

    To prevent the process mailbox from being flooded with ICMP
    messages, ping/3 will put the socket into {active,false} mode
    after completing.

    The ping/3 function blocks until either an ICMP ECHO REPLY is
    received from all hosts or Timeout is reached.

    Id and sequence are used to differentiate ping responses. Usually,
    the sequence is incremented for each ping in one run.

    A list of responses is returned. If the ping was successful,
    the elapsed time in milliseconds is included (calculated by
    subtracting the current time from the time we sent in the ICMP
    ECHO packet and returned to us in the ICMP ECHOREPLY payload)
    where:

        Host: the provided hostname

        Address: the resolved IPv4 or IPv6 network address represented
        as a 4 or 8-tuple used in the ICMP echo request

        ReplyAddr: the IPv4 or IPv6 network address originating the
        ICMP echo reply

    The timeout is set for all ICMP packets and is set after all
    packets have been sent out.

    ping/1 and ping/2 open and close an ICMP socket for the user. For
    best performance, ping/3 should be used instead, with the socket
    being maintained between runs.

    By default only one address per hostname is pinged. To
    enable pinging all addresses per hostname pass {multi, true}
    to options.

    A ping payload contains an 8 byte timestamp in microseconds. When
    creating a custom payload, the first 8 bytes of the ICMP echo
    reply payload will be used for calculating the elapsed time. To
    disable this behaviour, use the option {timestamp,false} (the
    elapsed time in the return value will be set to 0).

    The timeout defaults to 5 seconds.

    ICMPv6 sockets can restrict which ICMPv6 types are received by the
    socket using the filter option.  The filter argument is a binary
    generated using the icmp6_filter functions described below.

    The default filter allows: ICMP6_ECHO_REPLY, ICMP6_DST_UNREACH,
    ICMP6_PACKET_TOO_BIG, ICMP6_TIME_EXCEEDED and ICMP6_PARAM_PROB.
    Note: ping/3 does not restore the original filter on the socket.

echo(Id, Sequence) -> Packet

    Types   Id = uint16()
            Sequence = uint16()
            Packet = binary()

    Creates an ICMP echo packet with an 8 byte timestamp and a
    payload consisting of ASCII 32 to 79.

echo(Id, Sequence, Payload) -> Packet

    Types   Id = uint16()
            Sequence = uint16()
            Payload = binary()
            Packet = binary()

    Creates an ICMP echo packet with the results of erlang:now() used
    as the timestamp and a user specified payload (which should pad the
    packet to 64 bytes).


packet(Header, Payload) -> Packet

    Types   Header = [ #icmp{} | Options ]
            Options = [ Opts ]
            Opts = [{type, Type} | {code, Code} | {id, Id} | {sequence, Sequence} |
                        {gateway, Gateway} | {mtu, MTU} | {pointer, Pointer} |
                        {ts_orig, TS_orig} | {ts_recv, TS_recv} | {ts_tx, TS_tx} ]
            Type = uint8() | ICMP_type
            Code = uint8() | ICMP_code
            ICMP_type = echoreply | dest_unreach | source_quench | redirect | echo |
                time_exceeded | parameterprob | timestamp | timestampreply | info_request |
                info_reply | address | addressreply
            ICMP_code = unreach_net | unreach_host | unreach_protocol | unreach_port |
                unreach_needfrag | unreach_srcfail | redirect_net | redirect_host |
                redirect_tosnet | redirect_toshost | timxceed_intrans | timxceed_reass
            Id = uint16()
            Sequence = uint16()
            Payload = binary()
            Packet = binary()

    Convenience function for creating arbitrary ICMP packets. This
    function will calculate the ICMP checksum and insert it into the
    packet.

filter(Socket) -> {ok, Filter} | unsupported
filter(Socket, Filter) -> ok | unsupported

    Types   Socket = pid()
            Filter = binary()

    Sets or retrieves an ICMPv6 filter on a socket. For ICMPv4
    sockets, the atom 'unsupported' is returned.

    Filters can be generated by using the icmp6_filter functions.

icmp6_filter_setblockall() -> binary()
icmp6_filter_setpassall() -> binary()
icmp6_filter_setpass(Type, Filter) -> binary()
icmp6_filter_setblock(Type, Filter) -> binary()
icmp6_filter_willpass(Type, Filter) -> true | false
icmp6_filter_willblock(Type, Filter) -> true | false

    Types   Type = icmp_type()
            Filter = binary()

    Generate a ICMPv6 filter that can be set on a socket using
    filter/2.

    For example, to generate a filter that allowed only
    ICMP6_ECHO_REPLY messages:

        {ok, Socket} = gen_icmp:open([inet6]),
        Filter = gen_icmp:icmp6_filter_setpass(echo_reply,
                    gen_icmp:icmp6_filter_setblockall()),
        ok = gen_icmp:filter(Socket, Filter).

Traceroute

tracert is an Erlang traceroute implementation built using gen_icmp.

host(Host) -> Path
host(Host, Options) -> Path
host(Socket, Host, Options) -> Path

    Types   Socket = pid()
            Host = Address | Hostname
            Address = tuple()
            Hostname = string()
            Options = [ Option ]
            Option = {protocol, Protocol}
                | {max_hops, uint()}
                | {timeout, uint()}
                | {setuid, bool()}
                | {saddr, Address}
                | {sport, uint16()}
            Protocol = icmp | udp
            Path = [ {Address, MicroSeconds, {Protocol, binary()}
                | timeout ]

    Perform a traceroute to a destination. ICMP and UDP probes are
    supported. ICMP probes are the default.

    max_hops is the maximum TTL (default: 30)

    Set the time in milliseconds to wait for a response using the
    timeout option (default: 1000 ms).  WARNING: if the response
    arrives after the timeout, tracert will insert spurious entries
    into the path.

    tracert will not spawn the setuid helper if the {setuid, false}
    option is used. In this case, beam must either be running as
    root or have the cap_net_raw privileges under Linux.

    The {sport, Port} option sets the initial source port for UDP
    probes. The port will be incremented by 1 for each subsequent
    probe (default: random high port).  For ICMP probes, the ICMP
    ID field will be set to this value.

    The return value is an ordered list of tuples:

        Address: the source address responding to the probe

        MicroSeconds: time elapsed between the probe and receiving
        the response

        Protocol: icmp or udp

        Protocol data: a binary representing the received packet
        contents

path(Path) -> Reasons

    Types   Path = [ {Address, MicroSeconds, {Protocol, binary()} ]
            Reasons = [ {Address, MicroSeconds, Reason} ]
            Reason = ICMP | UDP | timeout
            ICMP = timxceed_intrans | echo_reply | ...
            UDP = unreach_port | ...

    Convert the list of binaries returned by host/1,2,3 to atoms
    representing the ICMP response codes and UDP errors.

COMPILING

rebar3 do clean, compile, ct

Also see the README for procket for additional setup (the procket executable needs superuser privileges).

EXAMPLE

Simple ping interface

1> gen_icmp:ping("www.google.com").
[{ok,"www.google.com",
     {173,194,64,99},
     {173,194,64,99},
     18411,0,50,
     <<" !\"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNO">>}]

2> gen_icmp:ping(["www.google.com", {192,168,213,4}, "193.180.168.20", {192,0,32,10}]).
[{error,timeout,"193.180.168.20",{193,180,168,20}},
 {error,unreach_host,
        {192,168,213,4},
        {192,168,213,4},
        {192,168,213,54},
        {18411,2,undefined},
        <<69,0,0,84,0,0,64,0,64,1,15,29,192,168,213,54,192,168,
          213,4,...>>},
 {ok,{192,0,32,10},
     {192,0,32,10},
     {192,0,32,10},
     {18411,1,103},
     <<" !\"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNO">>},
 {ok,"www.google.com",
     {173,194,77,99},
     {173,194,77,99},
     {18411,0,50},
     <<" !\"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNO">>}]

IPv6

1> gen_icmp:ping("google.com", [inet6]).
[{ok,"google.com",
     {9735,63664,16395,2054,0,0,0,4098},
     {9735,63664,16395,2054,0,0,0,4098},
     {18411,0,64,62},
     <<" !\"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNO">>}]

2> tracert:host("google.com", [inet6]).

Re-using the ICMP ping socket

Keeping the ICMP socket around between runs is more efficient:

{ok, Socket} = gen_icmp:open(),
P1 = gen_icmp:ping(Socket, [{10,1,1,1}, "www.google.com"], []),
P2 = gen_icmp:ping(Socket, [{10,2,2,2}, "www.yahoo.com"], []),
gen_icmp:close(Socket).

Working with ICMP sockets

{ok, Socket} = gen_icmp:open().

% By default, the ICMP socket is in passive mode
ok = gen_icmp:setopts(Socket, [{active, true}]),

% ICMP host unreachable, empty payload (should contain an IPv4 header
% and the first 8 bytes of the packet data)
Packet = gen_icmp:packet([{type, 3}, {code, 0}], <<0:160, 0:64>>).

gen_icmp:send(Socket, {127,0,0,1}, Packet),

% Put the socket back into passive mode
ok = gen_icmp:setopts(Socket, [{active, false}]).

Setting Up an ICMP Ping Tunnel

ptun is an example of using gen_icmp to tunnel TCP over ICMP.

To compile ptun:

make eg

Host1 (1.1.1.1) listens for TCP on port 8787 and forwards the data over ICMP:

erl -noshell -pa ebin deps/*/ebin -eval 'ptun:server({2,2,2,2},8787)' -s erlang halt

Host2 (2.2.2.2) receives ICMP echo requests and opens a TCP connection to 127.0.0.1:22:

erl -noshell -pa ebin deps/*/ebin -eval 'ptun:client({1,1,1,1},22)' -s erlang halt

To use the proxy on host1:

ssh -p 8787 127.0.0.1

Traceroute

  • ICMP traceroute

      1> Path = tracert:host({8,8,8,8}).
      [{{216,239,46,191},
       36149,
       {icmp,<<11,0,111,150,0,0,0,0,69,128,0,84,0,0,64,...>>}},
       {{216,239,47,189},
       51459,
       {icmp,<<11,0,111,150,0,0,0,0,69,128,0,84,0,0,...>>}},
       {{8,8,8,8},
       34946,
       {icmp,<<0,0,170,0,219,104,0,0,32,33,34,35,36,...>>}}]
    
      2> tracert:path(Path).
      [{{216,239,46,191},62815,timxceed_intrans},
       {{216,239,47,189},44244,timxceed_intrans},
       {{8,8,8,8},34825,echoreply}]
    
  • UDP traceroute

      1> Path = tracert:host({8,8,8,8}, [{protocol, udp}]).
    
  • IPv6 traceroute

      1> Path = tracert:host("google.com", [inet6]).
    

TODO

  • tests: do not depend on list order

  • handle rfc 4884 (Extended ICMP to Support Multi-Part Messages)

  • handle ICMP router renumbering messages

  • IPv6: handle socket ancillary data (RFC 3542)

    • retrieve the packet TTL rather than using the IPV6_UNICAST_HOPS