How to install MTR (My Traceroute) on macOS
MTR s a great command-line tool for figuring out where a network is having problems between you and a host you are trying to reach.
With each version of the Mac OS the tools required to use it move. Here are the pieces and steps I assembled from various points on the interwebs.
Gather the pieces you need.
- MTR is available for free from BitWizard: ftp://ftp.bitwizard.nl/mtr/
- You will also need the latest XCode which you can download via the App Store on your computer
- Open XCode and go to Preferences -> Downloads and install “Command Line Tools”
Installing
To get things to compile on a Mac your instructions will diverge from the README slightly. On the command line:
export LDFLAGS="-lresolv" ./configure --prefix=/usr --without-gtk make sudo make install
BAM. You should be good to go. To try it out, type:
mtr hausinteractive.com
You should see a screen something like this:
These instructions were made on OS X 10.8. More recently, mtr’s default config stopped showing all of the hops by default, to which you can find the solution here.
Sources:
- MTR Software: BitWizard B.V.
- C Compiler Installation: John Martellaro for Mac Observer
- Compiling instructions for Mac OS X: Justus Beyer