InterMapper Flows for Mac OS X

InterMapper Flows is a NetFlow collector that has been integrated into the InterMapper user interface. Using InterMapper Flows, it is easy to determine which device(s) are sending traffic into the network, and the major protocol(s) in that traffic. For more information about InterMapper Flows, please visit our web site at: http://dartware.com/support/tech_notes/imflows/index.html

InterMapper Flows is an add-on to InterMapper. After installing InterMapper, you simply download and install the InterMapper Flows software and it automatically becomes active.

InterMapper Flows does not have its own graphical user interface. Instead, you can access flow information either through the built-in InterMapper client or InterMapper RemoteAccess. Right-clicking on any device on an InterMapper map allows you to open the "Flows Window" to see information about its traffic.

Installation Instructions

InterMapper Flows for MacOS X is shipped as a Mac OS X Installer package (.pkg file) which contains the necessary programs and support files. Here are the instructions for installing InterMapper Flows if you are directly in front of the computer.

Download and install the current version of InterMapper, if you haven't already done this.
Double-click the InterMapper Flows "pkg" file and follow the instructions. You will need to be an Administrator password to install this software.
The installer will install the InterMapper Flows daemon and configuration files. By default, a database of 10 GBytes will be installed.
InterMapper Flows automatically begins listening for flow records. Note that you may need to open a firewall port (default is UDP 2055).
You will need a serial number to run InterMapper Flows for more than one hour. If you have already purchased, use the serial number you have received. If you are trying it out, you can get an evaluation serial number.

Getting Started

The fastest way to get working with InterMapper Flows is to watch the video at this URL:

http://dartware.com/downloads/viewvideo.html?file=imflows

What is Installed and Where

After running the InterMapper Flows installer, the following files will be on your disk:

/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.proquesys.NetSAW2.plist - The launchctl configuration file
/Library/Application Support/ns2flows - The default directory of all the configuration and log files
/Library/Application Support/ns2flows/SESSIONDB - The default directory for the database of flow information. This can be moved to a different drive via the InterMapper Flows Settings.
/Library/Application Support/ns2flows/netsaw.conf - The configuration file for InterMapper Flows
/Library/Application Support/ns2flows/ns2flowslog.txt - The log file for InterMapper Flows normal operation
/usr/local/bin/ns2flows.machO - The binary for the InterMapper Flows daemon

Starting/Stopping InterMapper Flows and Uninstalling the Software

The best way to uninstall InterMapper Flows is to use the Uninstaller built into the Installer GUI. To use it:

Download and launch the InterMapper Flows installer.
The initial pane of the installer has an option for uninstalling the software.
An uninstall will remove the daemon but will not delete the database. If you wish to remove InterMapper Flows completely, you should also delete the /Library/Application Support/ns2flows directory.

The MacOS X launchctl facility controls InterMapper Flows.

To start InterMapper Flows from the command line, type:

sudo launchctl start com.proquesys.NetSAW2

To stop InterMapper Flows from the command line, type:

sudo launchctl stop com.proquesys.NetSAW2

It isn't usually necessary, but you may need to load the plist file with this command:

sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.proquesys.NetSAW2.plist

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