Verifying Network Connectivity in Client Mode Using the Network Test Tool in the Command Line

You can run the tool in client mode to check the quality of the network connectivity between two client computers and to measure the bandwidth utilization for data transfer.

When the tool runs in client mode, the client where you run the tool (source client) attempts to initiate a connection with a client that you designate as the listening server. After the connection is established, the source client sends buffers to the listening server to verify data transmission. During the connectivity check, you can also specify parameters for data transmission, such as the buffer count and buffer delay.

Before You Begin

• If you plan to run the tool on a Macintosh client, run the following command before using the tool:

  export DYLD\_LIBRARY\_PATH=\/opt\/*Software\_Installation\_Directory*\/Base

• If a Commvault firewall separates the listening server from the source client, make sure that the following ports are open:

  • On the listening server, the port that is used to communicate control information with the source client (-SrvPort in the command), and the server-side port where you are testing connectivity (-PortServer in the command).

  • On the source client, the client-side port where you are testing connectivity (-PortClient in the command).

• When the server is not directly reachable from the client (for example, in environments with a load balancer or NAT) the client cannot reach the actual server hostname. In such cases, the CvNetworkTestTool should be configured so that the server listens on the loopback address (127.0.0.1), and the NAT or load balancer IP/hostname is used in the -SrvHostName field from the client side.

Procedure

From the command prompt, go to the Software_Installation_Directory/Base directory, and then run the following command:

 
CvNetworkTestTool -client -SrvHostName [hostname | IPAddr] -SrvPort  port_number -SrvClientName servername -FirstBufferDelay delay -InterBufferDelay delay -BuffsizeClientToServer kilobytes -BuffsizeServerToClient kilobytes -BufferCount count -PortServer port_number -PortClient port_number -log  location

Where:

• -client runs the tool in client mode.

• -SrvHostName specifies the hostname or IP address of the client acting as the listening server.

• (Optional) -SrvPort specifies the port number on the client acting as the listening server. This port is used to communicate control information with the source client. If not specified, port number 25000 is used.

• (Optional) -SrvClientName specifies the name of the client acting as the listening server.

  Note

  If you have to pass -SrvClientName on the client end to test for tunnel speed using a firewall connection, pass -BindIP as 127.0.0.1

• (Optional) -FirstBufferDelay specifies the number of seconds to wait before sending or receiving the first buffer. The default delay is 0 seconds.

• (Optional) -InterBufferDelay specifies the number of milliseconds to wait before sending or receiving each buffer. The default delay is 0 milliseconds.

• (Optional) -BuffsizeClientToServer specifies the number of kilobytes to transmit from the source client to the listening server. The default client-to-server buffer size is 16 kilobytes.

• (Optional) -BuffsizeServerToClient specifies the number of kilobytes to transmit from the listening server to the source client. The default server-to-client buffer size is 16 kilobytes.

• (Optional) -BufferCount specifies the number of buffers of random data to send or receive from the listening server. The default buffer count is 1000.

• (Optional) -PortServer specifies the server-side port to test. The default port is 25001.

• (Optional) -PortClient specifies the client-side port to test. The default port is 25002.

• (Optional) -log specifies the location of the log file. If you want to redirect the output to a separate file, specify the following: -logLog_Location > OutputFile_Location.

Examples:

• On Windows:

  CvNetworkTestTool -client -SrvHostName myserver.mydomain.com -SrvPort 25025 -SrvClientName myserver -FirstBufferDelay 5 -InterBufferDelay 1000 -BuffSizeClientToServer 15 -BuffSizeServerToClient 5 -BufferCount 10 -log C:\client.log
  

• On UNIX, Linux, and Macintosh:

  ./CvNetworkTestTool -client -SrvHostName myserver.mydomain.com -SrvPort 25025 -SrvClientName myserver -FirstBufferDelay 5 -InterBufferDelay 1000 -BuffSizeClientToServer 15 -BuffSizeServerToClient 5 -BufferCount 10 -log logs/client.log
  

Tip: During the connectivity check, you can stop the data transmission by pressing the Esc key.

Result

The command returns the result of the data transfer attempt between the source client and listening server with the given buffer size.