NetCube QuickStart

Note: Please read the ReleaseNotes for the version you are using.

The goal of this quick-start guide is to show you the basic steps to start using NetCube. Here are the topics covered:

• Dependencies
• Download and Installation
• Configuration and Use
• Run-time Options

Dependencies

NetCube depends on a few other packages in order to run:

• Python
• pycapy
• OpenGL
• pygame
• PyOpenGL
• setuptools

These packages and their dependencies will have to be installed in order for NetCube to run. As will be shown below, in most cases one only has to ensure that libpcap or winpcap (on Windows) is installed.

Download and Installation

Luckily, the Cheese Shop makes this part easy. NetCube is available via the easy_install method which will install the requisite Python libraries but note that platform-specific requirements must still be fulfilled. This means that your machine must already have OpenGL configured (this is pretty standard these days) and that libpcap or winpcap must be installed so that the pcapy library can capture network packets. To install using easy_install, execute:

easy_install NetCube

If you do not wish to get the easy_install script, then you have a couple options. You can download and install each of the prerequisites and then download and install the NetCube package from the project page or you can download just the NetCube project and use the included setup.py script to automatically install the prerequisites by executing:

python setup.py install

Configuration and use

Once NetCube has been installed the cube script will be installed on your system. Under Windows, one can access this as cube.exe or cubew.exe. The difference between the two is that cube.exe maintains a console window so any error messages can be seen. Additionally, this version is required to view the command help with the --help parameter. Note, however, that the command line options do work with both versions, it is just that the cubew version doesn't show the console.

Note that as of milestone:0.2.0 most of the parameters can be configured using the run-time preferences window (use the 'C' key to display this window).

The main parameters that you will want to look into are the -i and -l parameters. These have to do with selecting a device to capture from and by default NetCube will use the first device that it finds.

Here is the current list of command line options as of milestone:0.2.0:

usage: cube.py [options]

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -i INTERFACE, --interface=INTERFACE
                        read packets from INTERFACE
  -l, --list
  -f, --fullscreen      display in fullscreen mode
  -p, --promisc         put the interface into promiscuous mode
  -P, --nopromisc       DO NOT put the interface into promiscuous mode
  -r, --read            read packets previously captured to FILE
  -w, --write           write packets to FILE
  --filter              filter captured packets using FILTER
  --pointsize=SIZE      set the point size to SIZE pixels
  --linewidth=WIDTH     set the line width to WIDTH pixels
  --fps=FRAMES          attempt to display FRAMES frames per second
  --width=WIDTH         set display width to WIDTH pixels
  --height=HEIGHT       set display height to HEIGHT pixels
  -c, --colors          set the vertical gradient colors
  -t TTL, --ttl=TTL     set the lifetime of packet points (in seconds)
  --xcolor              set the x-axis color
  --ycolor              set the y-axis color
  --zcolor              set the z-axis color
  -s SPIN, --spin=SPIN  set the spin rate in degrees / second
  --xmin                x axis minimum address
  --xmax                x axis maximum address
  --ymin=x              y axis minimum port
  --ymax=x              y axis maximum port
  --zmin                z axis minimum address
  --zmax                z axis maximum address
  --xcidrip             x axis network range in CIDR (IP)
  --xcidrmask           x axis network range in CIDR (mask)
  --zcidrip             z axis network range in CIDR (IP)
  --zcidrmask           z axis network range in CIDR (mask)
  --xbounds             x axis bounds type (range, cidr, device)
  --zbounds             z axis bounds type (range, cidr, device)

Run-time Options

In addition to using the options in the configuration window, you can modify how the cube spins and take screenshots and stuff. Here's the run down:

Action	Key assignment
Open configuration window	C
Take a screenshot	P
Switch fullscreen mode	F
Slow down the cube*	-
Speed up the cube*	+
Speed up/Slow down a little bit*	Shift with +/-
Speed up/Slow down a lot*	Control with +/-
Stop the cube*	S
Rotate the cube (while stopped)*	Left, Right
Rotate a little bit*	Shift with Left/Right
Rotate a lot*	Control with Left/Right
Quit NetCube	Escape

*Note: Spin rate and rotation can not currently be controlled via the keyboard. The configuration UI must be used for this setting.