Packet Shell is a software tool that allows users to remotely access and interact with multiple networking devices through a single interface. It simplifies the management of network devices and provides secure and efficient communication channels between devices and users.
As a software review, pksh, the Packet Shell, is an excellent hack of the Unix tcsh shell for packets, bytes, hosts and protocols counting. Its main purpose is to include passive network monitoring functionalities into a shell.
pksh is more than a shell; it is a pcap-based network sniffer, just like the popular tcpdump and ntop. It also acts as a query language for network monitoring and a rendering engine that displays in a form readable for humans and system administrators all traffic on LAN segments.
pksh has specific goals, which are to provide, in the short period, just another useful network monitoring tool oriented to character-based terminals and offering the same level of information ntop already gives via its embedded Web interface. It allows you to have a vision of your network completely different from that offered by other network sniffers without losing in accuracy and usability.
In the middle period, pksh plans to develop a robust, well defined and widely used network library, to be implemented as a wrapper around the pcap library, for the purpose of collecting and relate information and data about packets, bytes, hosts and protocols as viewed over LAN segments.
pksh is to be integrated as a main component of the ntop's family of technologies and products for network monitoring. In the long period, the plan is to move ntop over that library, freeing the application from interacting with the network interfaces and allowing it to concentrate on implementing only a network console oriented to Web browsers.
With the extension built-ins mechanism the tcsh shell natively offers, pksh demonstrates how easy it is to implement a general purpose CLI for completely different application domains, being the network monitoring activities just an example.
In summary, pksh is an impressive software that offers a lot of functionalities to those that need network monitoring. Its integration into ntop's family of technologies is a plus, and its plans for the future attest to a program with longevity and the potential to grow into something more significant.
pksh is more than a shell; it is a pcap-based network sniffer, just like the popular tcpdump and ntop. It also acts as a query language for network monitoring and a rendering engine that displays in a form readable for humans and system administrators all traffic on LAN segments.
pksh has specific goals, which are to provide, in the short period, just another useful network monitoring tool oriented to character-based terminals and offering the same level of information ntop already gives via its embedded Web interface. It allows you to have a vision of your network completely different from that offered by other network sniffers without losing in accuracy and usability.
In the middle period, pksh plans to develop a robust, well defined and widely used network library, to be implemented as a wrapper around the pcap library, for the purpose of collecting and relate information and data about packets, bytes, hosts and protocols as viewed over LAN segments.
pksh is to be integrated as a main component of the ntop's family of technologies and products for network monitoring. In the long period, the plan is to move ntop over that library, freeing the application from interacting with the network interfaces and allowing it to concentrate on implementing only a network console oriented to Web browsers.
With the extension built-ins mechanism the tcsh shell natively offers, pksh demonstrates how easy it is to implement a general purpose CLI for completely different application domains, being the network monitoring activities just an example.
In summary, pksh is an impressive software that offers a lot of functionalities to those that need network monitoring. Its integration into ntop's family of technologies is a plus, and its plans for the future attest to a program with longevity and the potential to grow into something more significant.
What's New
Version 0.2.2: N/A