MTR (My Traceroute) is a powerful network diagnostic tool that combines the features of both ping and traceroute. It provides a real-time view of the route packets take to a destination and gives detailed performance statistics for each hop along the path.
In this guide, we’ll walk through the steps to install and run MTR on a CentOS 7 server.
Step 1: Update the System
Before installing new packages, make sure your system is up to date:
sudo yum update -y
Step 2: Install MTR
Install the MTR utility using the YUM package manager:
sudo yum install mtr -yThis command will download and install MTR and its dependencies.
Step 3: Run MTR
You can run MTR in real-time by typing:
mtr google.comThis opens an interactive terminal display showing live network latency and packet loss to each hop.
Step 4: Generate a Static MTR Report
If you want to generate a one-time, non-interactive report, use the –report option:
mtr --report google.comThis command will perform a brief diagnostic and display a summarized report.
Step 5: Save the MTR Report to a File
To save the output for documentation or later review, redirect the result to a text file:
mtr --report google.com > mtr-report.txtYou can then open or share mtr-report.txt for analysis.
Conclusion
In this tutorial, you learned how to install and use MTR on CentOS 7. This utility is highly effective for diagnosing network issues, identifying slow hops, and evaluating overall connectivity. Whether you’re managing a local server or troubleshooting remote connections, MTR should be part of your toolkit.
