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Netis/cloud-probe

Free

A Software Probe for network packet capturing and forwarding in Cloud/Kubernetes and Virtualized environment.

FreeFree tier
Type
Open Source
Company
Netis
Visit Website GitHub (38 stars)

About Netis/cloud-probe

Netis Cloud Probe (formerly known as Packet Agent) is an open-source project that enables packet capture on one device and forwarding to another device for analysis, solving the lack of TAP/SPAN capabilities in physical or virtual environments such as clouds and Kubernetes. It provides low-overhead, high-performance packet capture tools including cpworker (the capture and forwarding agent), cpdaemon (management daemon), and an optional Cloud Probe Manager (CPM) for UI-based policy configuration and statistics visualization. The tool supports various encapsulation methods like GRE, VXLAN, and ZMQ, and is optimized for minimal CPU utilization while maximizing throughput.

Key Features

Capture packets from network interfaces using libpcap with configurable snaplen and buffer size
Forward captured packets via GRE, VXLAN, or ZMQ encapsulation to remote analysis devices
Low CPU overhead and high forwarding rates (e.g., 2680 Mbps at 49% CPU utilization for ZMQ output)
Management daemon (cpdaemon) for lifecycle control of capture agents
Optional Cloud Probe Manager (CPM) provides a web UI for configuration and real-time statistics
RESTful API support for integration with external management systems
Support for physical, virtual, and Kubernetes environments without TAP/SPAN hardware

Pros & Cons

Pros
  • Open source and free to use
  • High performance with low CPU utilization compared to earlier versions
  • Supports multiple encapsulation formats (GRE, VXLAN, ZMQ)
  • Works in cloud, Kubernetes, and virtualized environments without dedicated hardware
  • Modular architecture with separate capture, management, and UI components
  • Active community and GitHub repository with documentation and examples
Cons
  • Requires manual configuration via JSON files; no built-in GUI (CPM is a separate product)
  • Documentation is primarily developer-oriented; may be challenging for non-technical users
  • Advanced features like CPM require contacting Netis for support or self-development
  • Limited to packet capture and forwarding; does not provide deep packet inspection or analytics built-in
  • Only supports Linux environments (based on libpcap and GRE/VXLAN)

Best For

Network traffic monitoring in environments lacking TAP or SPAN port capabilitiesPacket analysis and troubleshooting in cloud and Kubernetes clustersCapturing traffic from virtual switches (e.g., Open vSwitch) that do not support SPANRemote packet capture for security auditing and network forensicsPerformance testing and bandwidth measurement across distributed systems

FAQ

What is Netis Cloud Probe?
Netis Cloud Probe (formerly known as Packet Agent) is an open-source project for capturing packets on one device and forwarding them to another device for analysis, solving the lack of TAP/SPAN capabilities in cloud and virtualized environments.
What encapsulation methods does it support?
It supports GRE, VXLAN, and ZMQ encapsulation for forwarding captured packets to remote analysis devices.
Is there a graphical user interface?
The tool includes cpworker and cpdaemon as command-line tools. A separate Cloud Probe Manager (CPM) provides a web UI but is not bundled with the open-source project; it can be obtained by contacting Netis or developed independently.
How do I capture packets with Cloud Probe?
Create a JSON configuration file specifying the capture interface, snaplen, buffer size, and output method (e.g., GRE to a remote IP), then run the cpworker binary with the -c flag pointing to the configuration file.
What are the performance characteristics?
Version 0.9.0 achieves up to 2680 Mbps forwarding rate using ZMQ output with 49% CPU utilization, representing a significant improvement over version 0.8.7 in both throughput and CPU efficiency.