Unable to start

[blackyzero]

Hello,

I tried to start the nfsen-ng, but there is no process after running this command:
# ./cli.php -v start 2020-12-23 14:04:44 CLI: Starting daemon... int(0) Daemon running, pid=27805

There is no log in syslog, kern or message.

Please advice how to fix the issue.
Thanks a lot.

[Dona21]

Hello @blackyzero

Did you import the data before using the daemon ?

Example with : ./cli.php -f -p -ps import

During the import you might get some hint if something goes wrong.

Referencing #50 and #30

Kind regards

[blackyzero]

Hi @Dona21 ,

No i didn't import. It's a fresh install of nfsen-ng.
Do i need to collect some data first before executing the command?

Thank you.

[Dona21]

Yes, you need to have some data collected already (nfcapd files) and yes, you should import it before using the daemon the first time. You can read through this and this #44 at first, maybe it helps you to get started

[NagaSambath]

Hi team, i'm also very new user with nfsen and i have done installation step but i don't know how to do on configuration step so could you give me some document what to do next?

[Dona21]

Hi @NagaSambath ,

Are you a new "nfsen" user or a new "nfsen-ng" user ? These are two different things. Maybe having a look at this and this might help to start.

Do you have nfcapd data available ? If not, you should start from there (as mentioned in the issue you are writing in . If you are missing nfcapd data, check the nfdump (and related nfcapd) github page (https://github.com/phaag/nfdump) before getting started with nfsen-ng.

[NagaSambath]

Do you have configuration step like installation step?

The installation step very good to follow. https://github.com/mbolli/nfsen-ng#installation

I just done installation step and i don't have nfcapd or .. yet. so do you have continues step after installation?

[Dona21]

The configuration step is straightforward and self explained in the settings.php file. That is all that need to me modified actually. However, "nfsen-ng" alone, does not do anything and it is useless if you have no idea how the other tool (nfdump) works. You need to acquire data first. Not sure you read the link I referenced. From that link :

nfsen-ng has nothing to do with the exporter part nor the collector part. The exporter could be a network device (software or hardware) and the collector in our case is "nfcapd" from "nfdump" suite.

To sum up, "nfsen-ng" will work only if you have collected data with your collector (nfcapd) which will collect data only if you have configured an exporter correctly.

This being said, before configuring nfsen-ng you need to configure an exporter and a collector. The exporter could be hardware or software but the collector needs to be "nfcapd" from "nfdump" project. From my previous message :

If you are missing nfcapd data, check the nfdump (and related nfcapd) github page (https://github.com/phaag/nfdump) before getting started with nfsen-ng.

[NagaSambath]

You mean i have to configure an exporter and collector on my switch and router by set point to my nfsen-ng server?

[Dona21]

Almost. The exporter could be configured on your switch or router but the collector needs to be nfcap (which generates the nfcapd files that nfsen-ng uses). Provided that you know how to configure a flow exporter, your next step would be to install nfdump (which contains nfcapd) on a machine and a configure it somehow to capture the data sent by your flow exporter (in your case very likely a physical device). The machine used to capture the flow data can be the same as the nfsen-ng machine but it does not need to be. nfdump and nfcapd -> https://github.com/phaag/nfdump. Before to be able to have a running instance of nfsen-ng you need to have captured nfcapd files and the ability to check their content with nfdump. You therefore need an understanding of these tools before.