nstrace

Last published : Sep 25, 2026
Configuration for nstrace operations resource.
Related information

Properties

(click to see Operations )
Name Data Type Permissions Description
nf <Integer> Read-write Number of files to be generated in cycle. Default value: 24 Minimum value = 1 Maximum value = 100
time <Integer> Read-write Time per file (sec). Default value: 3600 Minimum value = 1
size <Integer> Read-write Size of the captured data. Set 0 for full packet trace. Default value: 164 Minimum value = 0 Maximum value = 1514
mode <String[]> Read-write Capturing mode for trace. Mode can be any of the following values or combination of these values: RX Received packets before NIC pipelining (Filter does not work when RX capturing mode is ON) NEW_RX Received packets after NIC pipelining TX Transmitted packets TXB Packets buffered for transmission IPV6 Translated IPv6 packets C2C Capture C2C message NS_FR_TX TX/TXB packets are not captured in flow receiver. MPTCP MPTCP master flow HTTP_QUIC HTTP-over-QUIC stream data and stream events Default mode: NEW_RX TXB . Default value: DEFAULT_MODE Possible values = TX, TXB, RX, IPV6, NEW_RX, C2C, NS_FR_TX, APPFW, MPTCP, PolicyBased, HTTP_QUIC
pernic <String> Read-write Use separate trace files for each interface. Works only with cap format. Default value: DISABLED Possible values = ENABLED, DISABLED
filename <String> Read-write Name of the trace file.
fileid <String> Read-write ID for the trace file name for uniqueness. Should be used only with -name option.
filter <String> Read-write Filter expression for nstrace. Maximum length of filter is 255 and it can be of following format: <expression> [<relop> <expression>] <relop> = ( ;; | || ) <expression> =: CONNECTION.<qualifier>.<qualifier-method>.(<qualifier-value>) <qualifier> = SRCIP <qualifier-method> = [ EQ | NE ] <qualifier-value> = A valid IPv4 address. example = CONNECTION.SRCIP.EQ(127.0.0.1) <qualifier> = DSTIP <qualifier-method> = [ EQ | NE ] <qualifier-value> = A valid IPv4 address. example = CONNECTION.DSTIP.EQ(127.0.0.1) <qualifier> = IP <qualifier-method> = [ EQ | NE ] <qualifier-value> = A valid IPv4 address. example = CONNECTION.IP.EQ(127.0.0.1) <qualifier> = SRCIPv6 <qualifier-method> = [ EQ | NE ] <qualifier-value> = A valid IPv6 address. example = CONNECTION.SRCIPv6.EQ(2001:db8:0:0:1::1) <qualifier> = DSTIPv6 <qualifier-method> = [ EQ | NE ] <qualifier-value> = A valid IPv6 address. example = CONNECTION.DSTIPv6.EQ(2001:db8:0:0:1::1) <qualifier> = IPv6 <qualifier-method> = [ EQ | NE ] <qualifier-value> = A valid IPv6 address. example = CONNECTION.IPv6.EQ(2001:db8:0:0:1::1) <qualifier> = SRCPORT <qualifier-method> = [ EQ | NE | GT | GE | LT | LE | BETWEEN ] <qualifier-value> = A valid port number. example = CONNECTION.SRCPORT.EQ(80) <qualifier> = DSTPORT <qualifier-method> = [ EQ | NE | GT | GE | LT | LE | BETWEEN ] <qualifier-value> = A valid port number. example = CONNECTION.DSTPORT.EQ(80) <qualifier> = PORT <qualifier-method> = [ EQ | NE | GT | GE | LT | LE | BETWEEN ] <qualifier-value> = A valid port number. example = CONNECTION.PORT.EQ(80) <qualifier> = VLANID <qualifier-method> = [ EQ | NE | GT | GE | LT | LE | BETWEEN ] <qualifier-value> = A valid VLAN ID. example = CONNECTION.VLANID.EQ(0) <qualifier> = CONNID <qualifier-method> = [ EQ | NE | GT | GE | LT | LE | BETWEEN ] <qualifier-value> = A valid PCB dev number. example = CONNECTION.CONNID.EQ(0) <qualifier> = PPEID <qualifier-method> = [ EQ | NE | GT | GE | LT | LE | BETWEEN ] <qualifier-value> = A valid core ID. example = CONNECTION.PPEID.EQ(0) <qualifier> = SVCNAME <qualifier-method> = [ EQ | NE | CONTAINS | STARTSWITH | ENDSWITH ] <qualifier-value> = A valid text string. example = CONNECTION.SVCNAME.EQ("name") <qualifier> = LB_VSERVER.NAME <qualifier-method> = [ EQ | NE | CONTAINS | STARTSWITH | ENDSWITH ] <qualifier-value> = LB vserver name. example = CONNECTION.LB_VSERVER.NAME.EQ("name") <qualifier> = CS_VSERVER.NAME <qualifier-method> = [ EQ | NE | CONTAINS | STARTSWITH | ENDSWITH ] <qualifier-value> = CS vserver name. example = CONNECTION.CS_VSERVER.NAME.EQ("name") <qualifier> = INTF <qualifier-method> = [ EQ | NE ] <qualifier-value> = A valid interface id in the form of x/y. example = CONNECTION.INTF.EQ("x/y") <qualifier> = SERVICE_TYPE <qualifier-method> = [ EQ | NE ] <qualifier-value> = ( SVC_HTTP | FTP | TCP | UDP | SSL | SSL_BRIDGE | SSL_TCP | NNTP | RPCSVR | RPCSVRS | RPCCLNT | SVC_DNS | ADNS | SNMP | RTSP | DHCPRA | ANY| MONITOR | MONITOR_UDP | MONITOR_PING | SIP_UDP | SVC_MYSQL | SVC_MSSQL | FIX | SSL_FIX | PKTSTEER | SVC_AAA | SERVICE_UNKNOWN ) example = CONNECTION.SERVICE_TYPE.EQ(ANY) <qualifier> = TRAFFIC_DOMAIN_ID <qualifier-method> = [ EQ | NE | GT | GE | LT | LE | BETWEEN ] <qualifier-value> = A valid traffic domain ID. example = CONNECTION.TRAFFIC_DOMAIN_ID.EQ(0) eg: start nstrace -filter "CONNECTION.SRCIP.EQ(127.0.0.1) || (CONNECTION.SVCNAME.NE("s1") ;; CONNECTION.SRCPORT.EQ(80))" The filter expression should be given in double quotes. common use cases: Trace capturing full sized traffic from/to ip 10.102.44.111, excluding loopback traffic start nstrace -size 0 -filter "CONNECTION.IP.NE(127.0.0.1) ;; CONNECTION.IP.EQ(10.102.44.111)" Trace capturing all traffic to (terminating at) port 80 or 443 start nstrace -size 0 -filter "CONNECTION.DSTPORT.EQ(443) || CONNECTION.DSTPORT.EQ(80)" Trace capturing all backend traffic specific to service service1 along with corresponding client side traffic start nstrace -size 0 -filter "CONNECTION.SVCNAME.EQ("service1")" -link ENABLED Trace capturing all traffic through NetScaler interface 1/1 start nstrace -filter "CONNECTION.INTF.EQ("1/1")" Trace capturing all traffic specific through vlan 2 start nstrace -filter "CONNECTION.VLANID.EQ(2)" Trace capturing all frontend (client side) traffic specific to lb vserver vserver1 along with corresponding server side traffic start nstrace -size 0 -filter "CONNECTION.LB_VSERVER.NAME.EQ("vserver1")" -link ENABLED .
link <String> Read-write Includes filtered connection's peer traffic. Default value: DISABLED Possible values = ENABLED, DISABLED
nodes <Integer[]> Read-write Nodes on which tracing is started. Minimum value = 0 Maximum value = 32
filesize <Integer> Read-write File size, in MB, treshold for rollover. If free disk space is less than 2GB at the time of rollover, trace will stop . Default value: 1024 Minimum value = 0 Maximum value = 10240
traceformat <String> Read-write Format in which trace will be generated . Default value: 0 Possible values = NSCAP, PCAP
merge <String> Read-write Specify how traces across PE's are merged . Default value: 0 Possible values = ONSTOP, ONTHEFLY, NOMERGE
doruntimecleanup <String> Read-write Enable or disable runtime temp file cleanup. Default value: ENABLED Possible values = ENABLED, DISABLED
tracebuffers <Integer> Read-write Number of 16KB trace buffers. Default value: 5000 Minimum value = 1000
skiprpc <String> Read-write skip RPC packets. Default value: DISABLED Possible values = ENABLED, DISABLED
skiplocalssh <String> Read-write skip local SSH packets. Default value: DISABLED Possible values = ENABLED, DISABLED
capsslkeys <String> Read-write Capture SSL Master keys. Master keys will not be captured on FIPS machine. Warning: The captured keys can be used to decrypt information that may be confidential. The captured key files have to be stored in a secure environment. Default value: DISABLED Possible values = ENABLED, DISABLED
capdroppkt <String> Read-write Captures Dropped Packets if set to ENABLED. Default value: DISABLED Possible values = ENABLED, DISABLED
inmemorytrace <String> Read-write Logs packets in appliance's memory and dumps the trace file on stopping the nstrace operation. Default value: DISABLED Possible values = ENABLED, DISABLED
nodeid <Integer> Read-write Unique number that identifies the cluster node. Minimum value = 0 Maximum value = 31
state <String> Read-only Current running state of trace. Default value: 0 Possible values = RUNNING, STOPPED
scope <String> Read-only Scope of started trace, local or cluster level. Default value: 0 Possible values = CLUSTER, LOCAL
tracelocation <String> Read-only Directory where current trace files are saved.
_nextgenapiresource <String> Read-only .

Operations

(click to see Properties )
  • START
  • STOP
  • GET (ALL)
Some options that you can use for each operations:
  • Getting warnings in response: NITRO allows you to get warnings in an operation by specifying the 'warning' query parameter as 'yes'. For example, to get warnings while connecting to the NetScaler appliance, the URL is as follows:
    http:// <netscaler-ip-address> /nitro/v1/config/login?warning=yes
    If any, the warnings are displayed in the response payload with the HTTP code '209 X-NITRO-WARNING'.
  • Authenticated access for individual NITRO operations: NITRO allows you to logon to the NetScaler appliance to perform individual operations. You can use this option instead of creating a NITRO session (using the login object) and then using that session to perform all operations,
    To do this, you must specify the username and password in the request header of the NITRO request as follows:
    X-NITRO-USER: <username>
    X-NITRO-PASS: <password>
    Note: In such cases, make sure that the request header DOES not include the following:
    Cookie:NITRO_AUTH_TOKEN= <tokenvalue>
*Note: * Mandatory parameters are marked in red and placeholder content is marked in green

start

URL: http:// <netscaler-ip-address> /nitro/v1/config/nstrace? action=start HTTP Method: POST
Request Headers:
Cookie:NITRO_AUTH_TOKEN= <tokenvalue>
Content-Type:application/json
Request Payload:
{"nstrace":{
"nf":<Integer_value>,
"time":<Integer_value>,
"size":<Integer_value>,
"mode":<String[]_value>,
"pernic":<String_value>,
"filename":<String_value>,
"fileid":<String_value>,
"filter":<String_value>,
"link":<String_value>,
"nodes":<Integer[]_value>,
"filesize":<Integer_value>,
"traceformat":<String_value>,
"merge":<String_value>,
"doruntimecleanup":<String_value>,
"tracebuffers":<Integer_value>,
"skiprpc":<String_value>,
"skiplocalssh":<String_value>,
"capsslkeys":<String_value>,
"capdroppkt":<String_value>,
"inmemorytrace":<String_value>
}}
Response: HTTP Status Code on Success: 200 OK
HTTP Status Code on Failure: 4xx <string> (for general HTTP errors) or 5xx <string> (for NetScaler-specific errors). The response payload provides details of the error

stop

URL: http:// <netscaler-ip-address> /nitro/v1/config/nstrace? action=stop HTTP Method: POST
Request Headers:
Cookie:NITRO_AUTH_TOKEN= <tokenvalue>
Content-Type:application/json
Request Payload:
{"nstrace":{
}}
Response: HTTP Status Code on Success: 200 OK
HTTP Status Code on Failure: 4xx <string> (for general HTTP errors) or 5xx <string> (for NetScaler-specific errors). The response payload provides details of the error

get (all)

URL: http:// <netscaler-ip-address> /nitro/v1/config/nstrace Query-parameters: args http:// <netscaler-ip-address> /nitro/v1/config/nstrace? args=nodeid: <Integer_value>
Use this query-parameter to get nstrace resources based on additional properties.
HTTP Method: GET
Request Headers:
Cookie:NITRO_AUTH_TOKEN= <tokenvalue>
Accept:application/json
Response: HTTP Status Code on Success: 200 OK
HTTP Status Code on Failure: 4xx <string> (for general HTTP errors) or 5xx <string> (for NetScaler-specific errors). The response payload provides details of the error
Response Header:
Content-Type:application/json
Response Payload:
{ "nstrace": [ {
nodeid:<Integer_value>"state":<String_value>,
"scope":<String_value>,
"tracelocation":<String_value>,
"nf":<Integer_value>,
"time":<Integer_value>,
"size":<Integer_value>,
"mode":<String[]_value>,
"traceformat":<String_value>,
"pernic":<String_value>,
"filename":<String_value>,
"fileid":<String_value>,
"filter":<String_value>,
"link":<String_value>,
"nodes":<Integer[]_value>,
"merge":<String_value>,
"doruntimecleanup":<String_value>,
"tracebuffers":<Integer_value>,
"skiprpc":<String_value>,
"skiplocalssh":<String_value>,
"capsslkeys":<String_value>,
"capdroppkt":<String_value>,
"inmemorytrace":<String_value>,
"_nextgenapiresource":<String_value>
}]}