The general usage information as RBridge reports by itself is:
$ sudo rbridge -h
This is RBridge 8.159 (created 2019/03/08)
Copyright (C) 2019 by Inlab Networks GmbH, Germany
All rights reserved / Alle Rechte vorbehalten
usage:
rbridge [options] start|stop|restart|status|control
options:
[-c <conf>] load specific configuration file
[-d] debug mode
specials:
rbridge -h show this help and usage information
rbridge -N show nodeid and exit immediately
rbridge -r show release and exit immediately
rbridge -s <if> scan LAN for RBridges
Using the -c option you may specify a different configuration file for “rbridge start” and “rbridge restart”. The -d option enters debugging mode (“rbridge start” and “rbridge restart” stay in foregound in that case). Example:
# rbridge -c /home/rbridge/remote-office.conf start
#
The command “rbridge start” starts RBridge on the local machine. This requires root privileges, so it needs to be invoked as super user (root) or by using sudo. If there’s no interface specified, or if there’s no configuration file at all, RBridge will start as a registry which requires no licensing. If RBridge is already running, an appropriate message is shown.
$ sudo rbridge start
RBridge: no or invalid license, trial restrictions apply
RBridge: going to background ...
$
$ sudo rbridge start
RBridge: this is a registry, no license required
RBridge: going to background ...
$
# rbridge start
RBridge: valid license
RBridge: going to background ...
#
# rbridge start
RBridge: already running with PID 99295
#
The command “rbridge stop” terminates a running RBridge and requires also root privileges.
$ sudo rbridge stop
RBridge: shutdown of PID 932 complete
$
$ sudo rbridge stop
RBridge: not running
$
$ rbridge stop
RBridge: root permissions required, exiting.
$
The command “rbridge restart” restarts a running RBridge. Technically it’s the same as executing a “rbridge stop” followed by a “rbridge start”.
$ sudo rbridge restart
RBridge: shutdown of PID 939 complete
RBridge: valid license
RBridge: going to background ...
$
The command “rbridge status” reports if RBridge is currently running or not. If it’s currently running, the PID of RBridge is displayed. This command requires super user privileges.
# rbridge status
RBridge: running with PID 950
#
# rbridge status
RBridge: not running
#
This command enters the RBridge CLI (command line interface) and allows you to enter several one-word commands talking to the currently running RBridge. Typing EOF (control-D) terminates the CLI session. Command line editing using the arrow keys is supported.
$ sudo rbridge ctl
RBridge: connected to PID 1049
RBridge> help
the following commands are available:
copyright show Copyright information
hash show forwarding table and MAC filters
help (or ?) show this help information
license show licensing information
log show current log
nodeid show nodeid
registry show current registry entries
uptime show uptime
startuplog show startup log
status show general status
stop stop immediately
version show version
type EOF to exit.
RBridge> ... bye
$
The available one-word commands are:
The RBridge copyright information is shown.
$ sudo rbridge ctl
RBridge: connected to PID 13206
RBridge> copyright
This is RBridge 8.193 (created 2019/03/12)
Copyright (C) 2019 by Inlab Networks GmbH, Germany
All rights reserved / Alle Rechte vorbehalten
RBridge>
This shows the internal forwarding table and the contents of the deny and allow filters.
RBridge> hash
forwarding table:
00:0c:29:38:89:a3 en0
00:0c:29:6f:57:c0 en0
80:fa:5b:15:6d:14 REMOTE_PEER
00:0c:29:80:81:43 en0
00:03:ba:27:87:33 en0
00:3e:e1:c0:f0:9a en0
f4:03:43:f0:fc:d2 en0
00:00:5e:00:02:31 en0
34:38:af:59:e5:83 en0
local_rbridge.deny:
local_rbridge.allow:
remote_rbridge.deny:
remote_rbridge.allow:
RBridge>
The current licensing status is shown.
RBridge with a valid RBRFNL license looks like this:
RBridge> license
valid license (serial=IN1903102)
RBridge>
An RBridge endpoint within the 30 day trial period looks like this:
RBridge> license
30 day testing period running, 11 days and 6 hours remaining
this RBridge endpoint will terminate in 2496 seconds
RBridge>
This shows the most recent log entries. Log messages are being sent to the syslog() as well, but RBridge keeps also its own log message buffer in parallel.
RBridge> log
2019/03/14 13:15:55 5 started (MACOS)
2019/03/14 13:15:56 4 no registry_linkname specified
2019/03/14 13:15:56 5 2097152 keys avaible in /Users/rbridge/keymaterial64mb.bin
2019/03/14 13:15:56 5 67108864 bytes true random key material ready in memory (2097152 keys)
2019/03/14 13:15:57 6 BPF device /dev/bpf2 opened successfully
2019/03/14 13:15:57 6 binding to en0 interface succeeded
2019/03/14 13:15:57 6 BPF buffer length 4096 for interface en0 accepted
2019/03/14 13:15:57 6 promiscuous mode on interface en0 activated
2019/03/14 13:15:57 6 file descriptor 5 ready for interface en0
2019/03/14 13:16:00 5 link ESTABLISHED to nodeid b8:27:eb:dd:49:a9
RBridge>
This displays the nodeid of an RBridge running in bridging mode. The nodeid equals to the MAC address of the interface being forwarded. An RBridge running as a registry doesn’t have a nodeid (and does not need one).
RBridge> nodeid
Node-ID (en0 MAC) is f0:18:98:e8:20:ad
RBridge>
and on a RBridge registry:
RBridge> nodeid
no nodeid available
RBridge>
This shows the current registry information on a RBridge in registry mode.
RBridge> registry
f0:18:98:e8:20:ad 7 active 2a02:810d:2440:36ec:c9c7:2b5e:7496:e724,439
f0:18:98:e8:20:ad 8 active ::ffff:188.194.44.128,439
RBridge>
This shows the RBridge uptime in seconds.
RBridge> uptime
uptime is 3992 seconds
RBridge>
This shows the separately saved log messages recorded directly after startup. Initially “log” and “startuplog” show the same information.
This shows the general status including all the various packet counters.
RBridge> status
AES encryption is ENABLED (true random key material)
link ESTABLISHED to nodeid b8:27:eb:dd:49:a9
current peer address: fe80::8674:ce10:3b0:1963%en1,439
packet counter value: 2061
registry_1 address: ::ffff:37.200.99.14,439
registry_2 address: 2a00:1158:3::ba,439
current kernel statistics: 2087 packets received, 0 dropped
191129 bytes locally received from en0 in 2087 packets
170378 bytes locally received from en0 in 1998 packets (and forwarded)
198656 bytes received remotely in 1279 packets
194688 bytes received remotely in 1217 packets (and forwarded)
RBridge>
The RBridge endpoint is immediately stopped. This also terminates the CLI frontend.
$ sudo rbridge ctl
RBridge: connected to PID 13339
RBridge> stop
RBridge: no peer available
$
This shows the RBridge release information.
$ sudo rbridge ctl
RBridge: connected to PID 13344
RBridge> version
this is RBridge 8.194 (created 2019/03/14)
RBridge>
The command “rbridge -N” displays the nodeid of an RBridge in bridging mode. The nodeid is defined to be the MAC address of the interface that connects to the local LAN for RBridge bridging.
The nodeid basically serves two purposes:
An RBridge running as a registry doesn’t have a nodeid. RBridge does not need to be running in the background for this command. This command should be invoked with root privileges, if rbridge.conf is readable for the invoking user it also works with normal privileges.
# rbridge -N
f0:18:98:e8:20:ae
#
The command “rbridge -r” displays the release (version) number of the installed RBridge. Root permissions are not required.
$ sudo ./rbridge -r
8.191
$
The command “rbridge -s
$ sudo rbridge -s en0
scanning for RBridges on en0 (00:3e:e1:c0:f0:9a) ... done:
f0:18:98:e8:20:ad
one active RBridge found.
$ sudo rbridge -s eth0
scanning for RBridges on eth0 (b8:27:eb:dd:49:a9) ... done:
no active RBridge found.
Since the reported nodeids are actually MAC addresses, you – or your network administrator – may look up the forwarding tables of your switches to further identify the exact location of an unknown RBridge. Also, the MAC address tells you more about the associated vendor (e.g. “Apple, Inc.” for MAC address f0:18:98:e8:20:ad as in the example above).