What are your recommended tools and frameworks for network development on Linux?

Question

What are your favourite network-tools, which you use to troubleshoot or design (as in conceptualize) your network-application code.

• Ethereal/Wireshark

• Nmap

• any particular simulators (e.g. ns)

• any special purpose sniffer

• any particular frameworks, (e.g. iptables)

I am looking at must have, and good/advantage to have tools/framework in ones profile/skill set. I think Wireshark and Nmap are must haves.

Answer 1

Below a few tools that I found useful:

• Wireshark: Interactively dump and analyze network traffic
• tcpdump: dump traffic on a network
• Nmap: Network exploration tool and security / port scanner
• iptables: administration tool for IPv4 packet filtering and NAT
• Netcat: TCP/IP swiss army knife
• Snort/Airsnort: Network-based Intrusion Detection System.
• Etherape: Graphical network traffic browser

To me, Wireshark/tcpdump, netcat are must have for someone involved into networking. Nmap, iptables/netfilter, Snort/Airsnort are more security oriented and thus more targeted to network administrators but if you are interested in security, it's nice to know/master them. Etherape is funny but you can live without it.