here is a typical default trace, which pretty much emulates regular traceroute. the differences are:

• -p tcp specifies a tcp trace
• -s0 sets a null sourceport, which means random source ports. ctrace will actually generate a new random sourceport every packet. this can get you through packet filters by pure chance! ;) there's nothing like reliable results!
• -d110 sets pop3 as the destination port.
• -j8 says 'jump to the 8th hop'. this means that you don't have to see your ISP's network pop up at the speed of a snail for the 1000th time, as you do with most traceroute tools.
• -m15 sets a maximum of fifteen hops until giving up. in this case, it was a good idea, since port 110 on this host seems to be firewalled.
• -t www.pratyeka.org sets the target host (ips are also ok).
• -q2 sets two queries per hop (the minimum on 4.3BSD traceroute, but ctrace can do one query with no problem.)
• -w1 sets how long to wait for packets to time out (ie: give up on getting back a response). that's what the *'s represent at hops 14 and 15.

root@angkor:~# ctrace -p tcp -s0 -d110 -j8 -m15 -t www.pratyeka.org -q2 -w1
traceroute to pratyeka.org (pratye.fatcow.com), 15 hops max, xx byte packets
 8  c2-pos5-2.snjsca1.home.net (24.7.70.233)  0.198 ms 0.188 ms
 9  24.7.70.178 (24.7.70.178)  0.191 ms 0.196 ms
10  pos5-0-622M.cr1.SNV3.gblx.net (208.178.255.146)  0.183 ms 0.186 ms
11  pos2-1-622M.cr1.DEN2.gblx.net (208.49.91.29)  0.254 ms 0.229 ms
12  so0-3-0-622M.ar2.DEN2.gblx.net (208.49.91.41)  0.251 ms 0.249 ms
13  NetworkWebHosting.t3-2-1-1.ar2.DEN2.gblx.net (208.49.195.22)  0.239 ms 0.238 ms
14  * *
15  * *

here's a snazzier trace showing some of ctrace's other options off.

• -d is set to 53, DNS. -s is missing, so assumes default (random ports).
• -q3 sets us to three queries per ttl.
• -n disables DNS for the hops (gotta sort out the bug @ the top there, yet...)
• -A enables 'RTT averaging' mode, which is clearer and more human-friendly than the bunch of number traceroute normally spews.
• -E enables STDERR exit messaging.
• -S sets the SYN flag on the tcp packets we're tracing with.
• -f3 says 'give up after 3 failed hops'. this is great for those situations when a packet filter has you in its clutches, and you don't want to wait until the max TTL is reached.

root@angkor:~# ctrace -ptcp -d53 -j13 -t ns1.xnet.co.za -q3 -n -A -E -S -f3
traceroute to ns1.xnet.co.za (196.25.126.131), 35 hops max, xx byte packets
13  206.24.194.13  251.370 ms/avg.
14  166.63.157.154  278.163 ms/avg.
15  196.25.0.13  333.017 ms/avg.
16  196.25.0.81  465.823 ms/avg.
17  196.43.9.3  474.777 ms/avg.
18  196.25.0.57  485.663 ms/avg.
19  196.25.253.10  490.550 ms/avg.
20  196.25.2.82  497.963 ms/avg.
21  196.25.126.131  507.800 ms/avg.
Success. Reached target in 21 hops.

here's a web-bounced trace, new in release 0.9.

• -b r specifies a random bounce-host from the local database. (to specify a particular host instead, first view the database with -l, select a siteid, and then specify it after -b)

root@angkor:~# ctrace -b r -t pratyeka.org
Trying site AS2914-WILLAMET (http://www.wvi.com/cgi-bin/trace).
4.3BSD output detected.
traceroute to pratyeka.org (pratye.fatcow.com), 30 hops max, 40 byte packets
 1  wvi-gw.wvi.com (204.119.27.254)  1 ms  1 ms  1 ms
 2  salem2stay2.wvi.com (204.245.255.246)  11 ms  4 ms adweb2stay.wvi.com (204.245.255.254)  11 ms
 3  666.Hssi3-0-0.GW1.POR2.ALTER.NET (157.130.180.77)  89 ms  28 ms  14 ms
 4  121.at-1-0-0.XR2.POR3.ALTER.NET (146.188.200.182)  16 ms  27 ms  10 ms
 5  0.so-6-0-0.XL2.POR3.ALTER.NET (152.63.107.114)  23 ms  57 ms  37 ms
 6  0.so-0-0-0.TL2.POR3.ALTER.NET (152.63.107.153)  21 ms  49 ms  23 ms
 7  0.so-5-0-0.TL2.SLT4.ALTER.NET (152.63.2.41)  58 ms  41 ms  53 ms
 8  0.so-3-0-0.CL2.DEN4.ALTER.NET (152.63.89.233)  85 ms  137 ms  137 ms
 9  178.ATM7-0.GW3.DEN4.ALTER.NET (152.63.72.73)  102 ms  59 ms  69 ms
10  southwest-gw.customer.alter.net (157.130.161.66)  78 ms  80 ms  78 ms
11  www8.networkshosting.com (66.96.128.107)  74 ms  69 ms *

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