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Network Management and Automation Tools

Ping Connectivity Testing

Tools for testing basic network reachability, latency, and packet loss.

  • Ping – Sends ICMP echo requests to measure reachability and round-trip delay.
  • TCPing – Tests reachability of TCP ports via TCP-based echo when ICMP blocked.
  • arping – Sends ARP request to check if host or device is operational on local subnet.
  • Ping.pe – Web-based ping reachability and latency testing from global locations.
  • Globalping.io – Similar to ping.pe, offers worldwide ping and traceroute diagnostics.
  • MTR – Combines traceroute and ping for continuous path and latency analysis.
  • WinMTR – Windows GUI version of MTR for real-time path and latency diagnostics.
  • PingPlotter – Display latency, packet loss, and jitter over time with graphical traceroute.

Traceroute and MTU Tools

For understanding network routing paths and Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) issues.

  • Traceroute – Display each routing hop and latency from source to destination.
  • Tracert – Windows equivalent of traceroute using ICMP packets only.
  • TCPtraceroute – Uses TCP SYN packets to trace network path via specific TCP port.
  • TraceTCP – Windows tool for TCP port-based traceroute diagnostics.
  • Paris Traceroute – Show routing via multi-path load balancing topologies.
  • Ping -f -l – Sends unfragmented packets to estimate MTU size (Windows syntax).
  • mturoute – Probes network path to discover hop-by-hop MTU.
  • Tracepath – Linux tool to trace path and estimate MTU.

Packet Capture and Traffic Analysis

Capture, inspect, and analyze traffic for security and performance analysis.

  • Wireshark – GUI-based, full-feature packet capture and protocol analyzer.
  • tcpdump – Command-line network packet sniffer and filter.
  • TShark – CLI version of Wireshark.
  • CloudShark – Browser-based tool for analyzing packet captures.
  • Cisco EPC – Cisco alternate to tcpdump for packet capture on switches and routers.
  • Cisco IP SLA – Monitor performance metrics across Cisco devices.
  • Cisco debug – CLI command for real-time debugging on Cisco devices.
  • Cisco ASA Packet Tracer – Simulates packet flow through ASA firewalls.
  • cURL – CLI tool used for application layer testing (HTTP, FTP, etc)
  • Wget – Download content for connectivity testing or automation.

Network Documentation and IP Management

For managing IP allocations and documenting network topologies.

  • NetBox – Web-based tool for enterprise data center network documentation.
  • Infoblox – Enterprise IPAM/DNS/DHCP web-based automation management platform.
  • phpIPAM – Open-source web-based IP address management.
  • Visio / Visio Viewer – Feature rich Microsoft diagramming tool for network design.
  • Draw.io – Open source web-based diagramming platforms for basic drawings.
  • Lucidchart – Web-based diagramming platform alternate to Visio with similar features.
  • Obsidian – Personal markdown-based note-taking with local storage and linking notes.
  • Notion – All-in-one collaboration workspace for notes, tasks, and wikis.
  • OneNote – Microsoft notebook style for organizing freeform notes and media.
  • Confluence – Web-based collaboration tool for team documentation and knowledge sharing.
  • Google Sheets – Cloud-based spreadsheet application for data entry, analysis, and sharing.
  • GitHub / GitLab – Repositories for storing configs, diagrams, and code.
  • Oxidized – Automates network device config backups.
  • Slack – Team messaging for collaborative documentation.

Performance Testing

For measuring bandwidth, speed, and end-to-end network performance.

  • Speedtest.net – Web-based service for testing real-time download/upload speeds.
  • iPerf3 – CLI tool measuring bandwidth between hosts.
  • iPerf2 – Windows-based CLI tool for iperf that measures bandwidth between hosts.
  • webpagetest.org – Analyzes website loading performance metrics online.
  • Waveform – web-based performance toot that measures load latency to test bufferbloat.

Log Management

Log collection, storage, and analysis for incident detection and compliance.

  • Graylog – Open-source log aggregation, storage, and search with real-time analysis and alerting.
  • rsyslog /syslog-ng – Basic syslog server for collecting, processing, and forwarding logs.
  • Elastic Stack (ELK) – Elasticsearch, Logstash, and Kibana for indexing, search, and visuals.
  • Splunk – Enterprise log ingestion, indexing, advanced analytics, and custom dashboards.
  • Cisco Error Message Decoder – Cisco tool for decoding logs and error codes for troubleshooting.
  • Azure Monitor – Observability platform for collecting and analyzing metrics, logs, and alerts.
  • AWS CloudWatch – AWS service for monitoring metrics, logs, and events with alerts and dashboards.
  • VPC Flow Logs – AWS network flow telemetry that logs metadata from VPC network interfaces.
  • AI for Log Analysis – AI-powered tools for detecting anomalies in log data such as Splunk AI/ML.

Wireless Network Analysis

Site survey, signal strength, and channel usage analysis for wireless troubleshooting.

  • NetSpot – Heatmapping and Wi-Fi site survey tool.
  • Acrylic Wi‑Fi Analyzer – Windows tool for spectrum and signal analysis.
  • inSSIDer – GUI tool for visualizing Wi-Fi performance.
  • WLAN Pi – Portable Linux-based Wi-Fi analysis tool.
  • Kismet – Wireless network packet sniffer and IDS.

Network Discovery

Find devices, open ports, topologies, and BGP information.

  • Nmap – Command-line scanner for hosts, ports, and services.
  • Zenmap – GUI version of Nmap.
  • Nessus – Security scanner for vulnerability assessments.
  • CDP / LLDP – Protocols for discovering directly connected devices.
  • Angry IP Scanner – Lightweight IP and port scanner with GUI.
  • bgp.tools – Web lookup for BGP routes and ASN data.
  • PathSolutions – Diagnostic tool for identifying the root cause of network problems.

DNS and Domain Tools

Commands for resolving, querying, and testing DNS performance.

  • NSLookup – Basic query tool to verify DNS resolution is working.
  • Dig – Advanced DNS query and debug utility.
  • DNSperf – Benchmarks DNS internet server performance.

Network Automation and IaC

Automate network configuration, testing, and deployment.

  • Python / Bash / PowerShell – Scripting languages for network automation.
  • Netmiko – Python package for Cisco device automation.
  • Napalm – Python package for multivendor device automation.
  • Nornir – Python automation framework ansible alternative for network devices.
  • Ansible – Agentless automation using SSH for network and server tasks.
  • Terraform – Declarative infrastructure provisioning tool.
  • Jinja2 – Template engine for config generation in automation scripts.
  • WSL – Runs Linux tools natively inside Windows.
  • EEM – Embedded Event Manager for reactive automation on Cisco.
  • VS Code + Cisco Plugin – Code editor with network config syntax support.
  • Git – Version control system to track infrastructure changes.
  • ipcalc-ng – CLI tool to calculate and subnet IP addresses.

Network Simulation Tools

Design, test, and simulate network environments before production deployment.

  • Cisco CML – Cisco Modeling Labs for network simulation.
  • Packet Tracer – Educational tool for learning Cisco networking.
  • GNS3 / EVE‑NG – Emulates full networks using real OS images.
  • PyATS / Genie – Cisco deployment validation and testing framework.
  • Batfish – Configuration validation engine for multi-vendor environments.
  • DevNet Sandbox – Cisco-hosted labs for testing and learning.
  • Postman – API testing tool often used in network automation.
  • ZeroTier – Virtual overlay network for secure remote connectivity.

Remote Access and Terminal Emulators

Connect securely to remote devices using various protocols.

  • SecureCRT – Commercial terminal with SSH/Telnet and scripting.
  • PuTTY / mPuTTY – Lightweight SSH and Telnet clients.
  • MobaXterm – Feature-rich SSH/X11 terminal suite.
  • mRemoteNG – Connection manager supporting multiple remote protocols.
  • Tera Term – Open-source terminal emulator for serial/Telnet/SSH.
  • OpenSSH – Standard SSH client/server tools.
  • RDP – Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol for GUI access.
  • Wireless Console – Access to device console via wireless connection.
  • Tftpd64 – TFTP/FTP/DHCP server for device firmware and IOS upgrades.
  • WinSCP – GUI tool for secure file transfers (SFTP/SCP).

Text Processing and Search

Parse and manipulate configs, logs, and outputs efficiently.

  • Notepad++ – Lightweight editor with regex and syntax highlighting.
  • grep / sed / awk / cut – Linux CLI tools for pattern matching and text manipulation.
  • regex / regexr – Tools and websites to creat and test regular expressions.
  • AstroGrep – GUI tool to search files using regex on Windows.