--- title: "X Mcast" description: "" url: "https://docs.itrsgroup.com/docs/geneos/7.11.0/collection/x-mcast/index.html" --- ## Introduction The Geneos X Mcast plugin monitors multicast traffic and displays statistics such as the data rate and packet rate, for a list of user-defined multicast groups. This plugin differs from the X Multicast plugin in that it can monitor for multicast data without necessarily subscribe for it, and also does not need to read and discard data so is slightly more efficient. The Netprobe host must be able to "listen" for the required multicast traffic (i.e. it should be on the same network segment as a host already subscribing to the required multicast data). ## Views ### View The X Mcast plugin produces a single view, with one row per configured multicast session. **Headline Legend**
Name Description
totalDataRecvRate Data receive rate for all monitored sessions.
totalPktRecvRate Packet receive rate for all monitored sessions.
**Table Legend**
Name Description
name The session name, as configured by the user.
port The session port, as configured by the user.
dataRecvRate Data received in Kb/s, averaged over the sample interval.
pktRecvRate Packets received per second, averaged over the sample interval.
tmSinceLastPkt Number of seconds since the last packet was received.
srcHost The IP address of the host which sent the last packet.
## Plugin Configuration The X Mcast plugin listens to all multicast data received by a host, matching the destination host and ports with those configured by the user. Plugin configuration is placed in the x-mcast configuration section. ### var-recvInterfaces Specifies a comma-separated list of network interface names on which to monitor multicast data. On UNIX machines, interface names can be found using the command "ifconfig -a". Example names are "eth0" or "ce0". On Windows machines, interface names can be listed by running Netprobe using the "-ifconfig" command-line option. A Windows interface name will look similar to the following: ``` \Device\NPF_{BDFE3EAC-0275-440A-923C-C9C4CE3B37F2} ``` Mandatory: Yes ### sessions Specifies the list of (at least one) multicast sessions that this plugin will monitor. Mandatory: Yes ### sessions > session > var-name The name of the multicast session - this is the name which will be displayed in the view (as the row name). Session names should be unique within each plugin instance. Mandatory: Yes ### sessions > session > connection Specifies the multicast address and port for the session - multicast packets received for this connection will be added to the monitoring statistics for this session. Mandatory: Yes ## Permissions The plugin needs to open network devices, so you should run the Netprobe using root or administrator permission on Unix and Windows, respectively. On Linux kernel versions 2.6.24 and higher, an alternative to running the Netprobe as root is by setting the `CAP_NET_RAW` and `CAP_NET_ADMIN` Linux capabilities on the Netprobe binary using the following command: ``` setcap cap_net_raw,cap_net_admin+eip ``` When running the Netprobe with set capabilities, the `lib64/startup` folder in the Netprobe directory should be in the `ld.so` trusted paths. Otherwise, the runtime libraries will not load properly. For guidance, see [Run Netprobe under elevated privileges in Linux](https://docs.itrsgroup.com/docs/geneos/7.11.0/collection/netprobe/installation/quickstart-linux-and-other-platforms/index.html#run-netprobe-under-elevated-privileges-in-linux). ## Third Party Libraries Windows: The Npcap packet capture library needs to be installed on the host. If Npcap is not installed using WinPcap API-compatible mode, then the Npcap installation directory must be added in the `PATH` environment variable or the `DLL_PATH` registry variable. Unix: The shared library `libpcap.so` needs to be in the `netprobe/lib64` directory. It is recommended to use `libpcap.so` version 1.0.0 or later. Note: As the Netprobe needs to be run as root, the `LD_LIBRARY_PATH` is ignored for security reasons.