The AG Group is the leading developer of powerful, graphical, intuitive Macintosh-based network management software. Our mission is to debunk the myth that sophisticated network management tools are complex and expensive.
EtherHelp is an application specifically designed to help people who support and explain networks get a better idea of what is happening on a remote network without having to visit that location. The application works by capturing all network traffic, or a specified portion of that traffic, in the form of packets. Packets captured are saved in a “Packet Trace” file, which can then be forwarded to a vendor/consultant for analysis using EtherPeek™ , our protocol analysis software. Though EtherHelp is a Macintosh application, it is not limited to Macintosh or EtherTalk-only networks. EtherHelp captures ALL Ethernet traffic, no matter the protocol.
EtherHelp is a subset of EtherPeek, a full-featured product often likened to a phone tap in that it silently listens to all of the signals travelling on a wire without interrupting them. EtherHelp does the same thing, storing the resulting trace on disk for forwarding by electronic or traditional mail to network support personnel for analysis.
Beyond the ability to capture packets, EtherHelp borrows two other features from EtherPeek: filters and triggers. Filters allow a user to limit the packets captured to specific criteria. Triggers allow EtherHelp to stay poised for capture until a specific type of packet is present, whereupon capture begins. Filters and triggers are referred to in these programs as “settings”. If specifying certain packets for capture is important in troubleshooting a network problem, predefined filters can be selected by network support personnel using the “Save Settings” feature. End users then simply “Load Settings” before capture.
Note: EtherHelp is a limited tool. It will not allow the user to see the packets captured, inspect their contents, or extract statistical data about network performance and function. Packets captured with EtherHelp can be viewed only by using special versions of the EtherPeek application.
This document is intended to be a brief and basic guide to the use of EtherHelp. Please refer to the more detailed Reference Guide (included on this disk) for additional information.
How does it work?
EtherHelp acts like a phone tap. It lets you capture all packets being exchanged by computers on your Ethernet network. It puts the Ethernet hardware into a state which prevents any packet from being ignored (Promiscuous Mode). Every packet is received and put into memory. Once packets are stored into memory, EtherHelp can actually evaluate (filter) packet information and keep only those packets relevant to your problem.
Note: Because EtherHelp is a free utility, you will not be able to inspect packets or their contents. Packet display, traffic statistics, and other advanced features are only available in the retail version of EtherPeek. Please contact The AG Group at (510) 937-7900 for EtherPeek purchase information.
Hardware Requirements
EtherHelp runs on the following Macintosh computers:
All members of the Macintosh II Family
Macintosh SE/30
Powerbook Family
Macintosh LC
Macintosh Portable
Macintosh Quadra Family
You will need to be sure your Ethernet hardware is installed before you can capture packets with EtherHelp. The Macintosh must be equipped with at least one of the following supported Ethernet interface cards:
Dayna Communications DaynaPort SE/30, II, SI, LC, LCII, SCSI/Link
Dove FastNet IIIn
Farallon PhoneNet® IIN, SE30, EtherCard Series
Kinetics/Excelan EtherPort IIn
National Semiconductor EtherNODE-16NB/32NB
Network Resources Mac 1000 & 2000 Series
Novell EtherPort IIN, SE/30
Nuvotech NuvoLink II
Racal Interlan NIA310 Ethernet Card
Shiva EtherPort II, SE/30
Sonic Systems EtherTnt, EtherTwp
Technology Works Mac II Ethernet, EtherSC
3Com EtherLink NB
Tri-Data Systems LanWay E-10
Getting Started
Before continuing here, you must first install your Ethernet hardware and connect it to the network (for more info, see the Reference Guide). Launch EtherHelp by double clicking on its icon, or by selecting it and using the "Open…" command in the File menu. Once EtherHelp is running, you will see the Main Window which displays summary information about packets captured in the upper left corner.
Selecting the Ethernet card
If you have two or more Ethernet interface cards installed, EtherHelp can be configured to use one of the cards while the others are used for various networking activities. This allows you to run EtherHelp without disabling any of your other network services. Use the "Select Ethernet" item in the File menu to specify which Ethernet card EtherHelp should use to capture.
Start Capturing
You are now ready to start capturing network traffic. Click on the "Start Capture" button in the Main Window, or use the "Start Capture" command in the Capture menu. This will command the Ethernet interface card to receive all packets transmitted on your network. If there is any activity on your network and your hardware is connected correctly, you should begin to see the packet counters incrementing in the Main Window. The Start Capture button, after being selected, turns into the Stop Capture button.
Caution: If you had previously been using AppleTalk services, or any other network service (e.g. AppleShare, telnet), when you press the Start Capture button, you will receive a warning dialog box. You may want to cancel the Start Capture operation here. Cancelling allows you to save any work you may have had in progress using these other network services. For example, you may want to unmount AppleShare servers, quit telnet or wait until the PrintMonitor is done printing.
Stop Capturing
To stop EtherHelp from receiving packets on the network, press the Stop Capture button. You may also stop capture using the Stop Capture item in the Capture menu. Once the memory allocated to EtherHelp (default is 1MB) is full, the application will automatically stop capturing.
Saving Packets
Once capturing has stopped, you must save the packets captured for examination and comparison by EtherPeek. To save packets, use the "Save All Packets…" item in the File menu. A standard Macintosh window for saving files allows you to specify the filename to use for saving the packet information.
Saving and Restoring Settings
The settings file contains all the information required to set up filters and triggers. After you have set up your filters and triggers, Etherhelp will remember the settings each time it starts up. However, you can also save the settings to a separate file so that they can be selectively restored as required. In fact, you may have received an EtherHelp settings file from your vendor in order to streamline capture and subsequent diagnosis. A settings file is useful when different configurations of settings are repeatedly used for things like diagnostics and testing. To save and restore configuration settings, use the "Save Settings" and "Load Settings..." items from the File menu. Load Settings uses the Macintosh standard for opening files, with options for restoring filters, triggers or both. The Save Settings Window is identical to the Macintosh standard for saving files.
Filtering
EtherHelp provides filters which allow the user to eliminate the inconsequential or uninteresting packets from view (For a full explanation of filtering capabilities, please read the section on filtering in the Reference Guide). If you wish to enable capture filtering and select a predefined filter:
• Choose "Filters..." in the Capture menu to open the Filters window.
• At the top of the window, click the appropriate radio button to instruct EtherHelp to capture or not capture packets according to the filters
• Select one of the predefined filters listed in the window by clicking in the small check box preceding the filter you wish to enable
• Exit the window and start capturing packets. Only those packets that meet your selected criteria will then be captured
If you wish to edit one of the filters provided with EtherHelp, double-click on a filter name in the Filters window. The Filter Settings window will open, allowing you to specify a new filter name, and address, protocol, offset or error filter information. (Please see Reference section for a detailed explanation for setting specific filters.)
Quit
After saving the captured packets to disk, quit EtherHelp by selecting "Quit" in the File menu. EtherHelp will automatically re-initialize your Ethernet card to normal operation mode and will attempt to re-enable AppleTalk.
Problems or Questions
The AG Group has licensed the rights to distribute and use EtherHelp to approved consultants and network vendors. Please contact the licensed vendor or consultant from whom you obtained EtherHelp for any questions you may have about the utility. If you have questions concerning EtherPeek, our Ethernet network analysis tool, please contact us directly (see information below).
The AG Group, Inc. specializes in easy-to-use software tools for troubleshooting, optimizing, maintaining and expanding multivendor computer networks. While designed to take advantage of the intuitive, graphical interface of the Macintosh, our products can be used in virtually any heterogeneous networking environment.
If you are intrigued by EtherHelp and would like to learn more about our other network management tools, please contact us directly.
Phone number: (510) 937-7900
Fax number: (510) 937-2479
Mailing address: 2540 Camino Diablo, Suite 202, Walnut Creek, CA 94596
