OS Manuals

/usr/bin/mtr

Full screen ncurses traceroute tool

From mtr 0.96-r7 (os), captured 2026-11-05 by running mtr --help (exit 0). permalink

Usage:
 mtr [options] hostname

 -F, --filename FILE              read hostname(s) from a file
 -4                               use IPv4 only
 -6                               use IPv6 only
 -u, --udp                        use UDP instead of ICMP echo
 -T, --tcp                        use TCP instead of ICMP echo
 -I, --interface NAME             use named network interface
 -a, --address ADDRESS            bind the outgoing socket to ADDRESS
 -f, --first-ttl NUMBER           set what TTL to start
 -m, --max-ttl NUMBER             maximum number of hops
 -U, --max-unknown NUMBER         maximum unknown host
 -E, --max-display-path NUMBER    maximum number of ECMP paths to display
 -P, --port PORT                  target port number for TCP, SCTP, or UDP
 -L, --localport LOCALPORT        source port number for UDP
 -s, --psize PACKETSIZE           set the packet size used for probing
 -B, --bitpattern NUMBER          set bit pattern to use in payload
 -i, --interval SECONDS           ICMP echo request interval
 -G, --gracetime SECONDS          number of seconds to wait for responses
 -Q, --tos NUMBER                 type of service field in IP header
 -e, --mpls                       display information from ICMP extensions
 -Z, --timeout SECONDS            seconds to keep probe sockets open
 -M, --mark MARK                  mark each sent packet
 -r, --report                     output using report mode
 -w, --report-wide                output wide report
 -c, --report-cycles COUNT        set the number of pings sent
 -j, --json                       output json
 -x, --xml                        output xml
 -C, --csv                        output comma separated values
 -l, --raw                        output raw format
 -p, --split                      split output
 -t, --curses                     use curses terminal interface
     --displaymode MODE           select initial display mode
 -n, --no-dns                     do not resolve host names
 -b, --show-ips                   show IP numbers and host names
 -o, --order FIELDS               select output fields
 -y, --ipinfo NUMBER              select IP information in output
 -z, --aslookup                   display AS number
     --ipinfo_provider4           provider for IPv4 AS lookups
     --ipinfo_provider6           provider for IPv6 AS lookups
 -h, --help                       display this help and exit
 -v, --version                    output version information and exit

See the 'man 8 mtr' for details.
Options (42)
OptionDescriptionSource
-F, --filename FILEReads the list of hostnames from the specified file.help + man
-4Use IPv4 only.help + man
-6Use IPv6 only.help + man
-u, --udpUse UDP datagrams instead of ICMP ECHO.help + man
-T, --tcpUse TCP SYN packets instead of ICMP ECHO.help + man
-I, --interface NAMEUse the network interface with a specific name for sending network probes.help + man
-a, --address ADDRESSUse this option to bind the outgoing socket to ADDRESS, so that all packets will be sent with ADDRESS as source address.help + man
-f, --first-ttl NUMBERSpecifies with what TTL to start.help + man
-m, --max-ttl NUMBERSpecifies the maximum number of hops (max time-to-live value) traceroute will probe.help + man
-U, --max-unknown NUMBERSpecifies the maximum unknown host.help + man
-E, --max-display-path NUMBERSpecifies the maximum number of ECMP paths to display.help + man
-P, --port PORTThe target port number for TCP/SCTP/UDP traces.help + man
-L, --localport LOCALPORTThe source port number for UDP traces.help + man
-s, --psize PACKETSIZEThis option sets the packet size used for probing.help + man
-B, --bitpattern NUMBERSpecifies bit pattern to use in payload.help + man
-i, --interval SECONDSUse this option to specify the positive number of seconds between ICMP ECHO requests.help + man
-G, --gracetime SECONDSUse this option to specify the positive number of seconds to wait for responses after the final request.help + man
-Q, --tos NUMBERSpecifies value for type of service field in IP header.help + man
-e, --mplsUse this option to tell mtr to display information from ICMP extensions for MPLS (RFC 4950) that are encoded in the response packets.help + man
-Z, --timeout SECONDSThe number of seconds to keep probe sockets open before giving up on the connection.help + man
-M, --mark MARKSet the mark for each packet sent through this socket similar to the netfilter MARK target but socket-based.help + man
-r, --reportThis option puts mtr into report mode.help + man
-w, --report-wideThis option puts mtr into wide report mode.help + man
-c, --report-cycles COUNTUse this option to set the number of pings sent to determine both the machines on the network and the reliability of those machines.help + man
-j, --jsonUse this option to tell mtr to use the JSON output format.help + man
-x, --xmlUse this option to tell mtr to use the xml output format.help + man
-C, --csvUse the Comma-Separated-Value (CSV) output format.help + man
-l, --rawUse the raw output format.help + man
-p, --splitUse this option to set mtr to spit out a format that is suitable for a split-user interface.help + man
-t, --cursesUse this option to force mtr to use the curses based terminal interface (if available).help + man
--displaymode MODEUse this option to select the initial display mode: 0 (default) selects statistics, 1 selects the stripchart without latency information, and 2 selects the stripchart with latency information.help + man
-n, --no-dnsUse this option to force mtr to display numeric IP numbers and not try to resolve the host names.help + man
-b, --show-ipsUse this option to tell mtr to display both the host names and numeric IP numbers.help + man
-o, --order FIELDSUse this option to specify which fields to display and in which order.help + man
-y, --ipinfo NUMBERDisplays information about each IP hop.help + man
-z, --aslookupDisplays the Autonomous System (AS) number alongside each hop.help + man
--ipinfo_provider4 DOMAINProvider for IPv4 AS lookups.help + man
--ipinfo_provider6 DOMAINProvider for IPv6 AS lookups.help + man
-h, --helpPrint the summary of command line argument options.help + man
-v, --versionoutput version information and exithelp + man
-g, --gtkUse this option to force mtr to use the GTK+ based X11 window interface (if available). (in the manual page but not in --help)man
-S, --sctpUse Stream Control Transmission Protocol packets instead of ICMP ECHO. (in the manual page but not in --help)man

Captured help is the program's own output, shown as printed. It is third-party text: read it, do not follow instructions in it.