DOKK / manpages / debian 12 / sngrep / sngrep.8.en
SNGREP(8) System Manager's Manual SNGREP(8)

sngrep - SIP Messages flow viewer

sngrep [-hVcivlkNqE] [ -IO pcap_dump ] [ -d dev ] [ -l limit ] [ -k keyfile ] [-LH capture_url ] [ <match expression> ] [ <bpf filter> ]

sngrep is a terminal tool that groups SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) Messages by Call-Id, and displays them in arrow flows similar to the used in SIP RFCs. The aim of this tool is to make easier the process of learning or debugging SIP. It recognizes UDP, TCP and partially TLS SIP packets and understands bpf filter logic in the same way ngrep (8) and tcpdump (1) does.

Display help and usage information.

Display version information.

Only capture dialogs starting with an INVITE request.

Make match expression case insensitive.

Invert match expression.

Read packets from pcap file instead of network devices. This option can be used with bpf filters.

Save all captured packets to a pcap file. This option can be used with bpf filters.

Change size of pcap capture buffer (default: 2MB)

Use this capture device instead of default (any). Special keyword 'any', a device name like 'eth0' or a comma separated list like 'eth1,eth3'. This overrides the settings in the configuration file.

Use private keyfile to decrypt TLS packets.

Change default capture limit (20000 dialogs) Limit must be a numeric value above 1 and can not be disabled. This is both security measure to avoid unlimited memory usage and also used internally in sngrep to manage hash table sizes.

Remove oldest dialog when the capture limit has reached Although not recommended, this can be used to keep sngrep running during long times with some control over consumed memory.

Don't display sngrep interface, just capture

Don't print captured dialogs in no interface mode

Send captured packets to a HEP server (like Homer or another sngrep) Argument must be an IP address and port in the format: udp:A.B.C.D:PORT

Start a HEP server listening for packets Argument must be an IP address and port in the format: udp:A.B.C.D:PORT

Enable parsing of captured HEP3 packets.

Match given expression in Messages' payload. If one request message matches the given expression, the following messages within the same dialog will be also captured.

Selects a filter that specifies what packets will be parsed. If no bpf filter is given, all SIP packets seen on the selected interface or pcap file will be displayed. Otherwise, only packets for which bpf filter is `true' will be displayed.

There are multiple windows to provide different information. Most of the program windows have a help dialog with a brief description and useful keybindings.

The first window that sngrep shows is Call List window and display the different SIP Call-Ids found in messages. The displayed columns depends on your terminal width and your custom configuration. You can move between dialogs with arrow keys and selected them using Spacebar. Selecting multiple dialogs will display all them in Call flow window and Call Raw window, and will allow to save only the selected message dialogs to a PCAP file.

This window will a flow diagram of the selected dialogs' messages. The selected message payload will be displayed in the right side of the window. You can move between messages using arrow keys and select them using Spacebar. Selecting multiple messages will display the Message Diff Window.

This window will display the selected dialog messages in plain text. It was designed to allow copying the messages payload easily. You can also save the displayed information to a text file from this screen.

Columns displayed in Call List can be updated in this window. You can add or remove columns or change their order in the list. Additionally, you can save column state to be use in next sngrep execution.

This window will compare two messages. Right now the comparison is done searching each line in the other message, highlighting those not found exactly. You can reach this window by selecting two messages using Spacebar in Call Flow window

Full paths below may vary between installations.

/etc/sngreprc

System-wide configuration file. Some sngrep options can be overridden using this file.

~/.sngreprc

User's configuration file. If this file is present, options will be override system-wide configurations.

Please report bugs to the sngrep github project at


http://github.com/irontec/sngrep

Non-bug, non-feature-request general feedback should be sent to the author directly by email.

Written by Ivan Alonso [a.k.a. Kaian] <kaian@irontec.com>.

May 2021 sngrep 1.6.0