small linux vm to test network connectivity

[iaco]

i'm searching for a really small linux distribution to run in a VM (ideally a live one that boots from iso) that has the minimum tools to check network connections:

- ip or ifconfig to set ip address

- ping

- tcpdump to see what comes through the virtual wire

so far i've tried damn small linux and tiny core: they're fine but both lacks tcpdump

what do you use when you have to debug network connections?

[EdWilts]

Have you looked at NST?  It's on my whiteboard of things to look at...  The ISO is 1.4GB.

http://www.networksecuritytoolkit.org/nst/index.html

[iaco]

quite interesting, but i little overkill

i've just found this

http://rescuecd.pld-linux.org/

89MB iso

text mode only

if has tcpdump and a lot of other interesting networking utilities

just tested on ESX, it can run in as little as 40MB of ram and with tcpdump i correctly identified the vlan the vm was onto

[AlbertWT]

Hi mate,

Care to share the command line here ?

[iaco]

just boot the iso and at the prompt

#tcpdump -i eth0

you will see all the broadcast traffic that hits your vm's network (mainly arp requests)

[firewallenginee]

PLD RescueCD is the small linux distribution that I’m looking for with powerful tool such as tcpdump, nmap and lot more.

Correct me if I'm wrong. With live cd that boots from iso, we can't save the ip configuration. In the other words, every time we reboot the system, we have to reconfigure it.

I know it's easy as ifconfig ethx ip, but it's quite tedious especially if you have a lot of guests in your virtual lab.

Please let me know if there is any small, power linux with the following features:

1. Small
2. Can be install in the hard disk
3. With powerful tools such as nmap, tcpdump

Thanks

[maishsk]

You could also try this one..

http://virtuallymikebrown.com/2012/02/05/a-small-virtual-machine-for-a-test-lab/

[firewallenginee]

Thanks maishsk, I really like Damn Small Linux (DSL) since the size is very small and it uses very minimal resources (CPU, RAM & hard disk space). Unfortunately, my favorite packet capture tool, tcpdump is not there. I’m not sure how to install it in DSL as I’m new to this distro and still searching for a way to install it.

Any help would be highly appreciated. Thanks

[muddin]

Please have  a look..

http://www.comlab.uni-rostock.de/research/tools.html