Generate Hilbert curve heatmaps of the IPv4 address space.
This software was inspired by https://xkcd.com/195/
See http://maps.measurement-factory.com/ for additional information and a gallery of examples.
- GD library
ipv4‐heatmap — Create a map of IPv4 address data
ipv4‐heatmap [−dhprm] [−A float] [−B float] [−a file] [−f font]
[−g seconds] [−k file] [−o file] [−s file] [−t string]
[−u string] [−y prefix] [−z bits] < iplist
ipv4‐heatmap is a program that generates a map of IPv4 address data using
a space‐filling Hilbert Curve. Inspiration for ipv4‐heatmap comes from
the xkcd comic (http://www.xkcd.org/195/).
The output of ipv4‐heatmap is a 4096x4096 PNG image. Each pixel in the
image represents a single /24 network and is assigned one of 256 colors.
Typically, the pixel color represents the number of hosts within the /24
belonging to a dataset or having some property, such as being pingable or
being the source of some traffic.
Pixel colors range from blue (1 host) to red (256 hosts), while black
represents no data (0 hosts). Of course, the colors and pixel values may
also be used to represent other properties of IPv4 addresses.
The map may be annotated by placing transparent text labels over specific
regions of address space.
ipv4‐heatmap also supports shading of areas specified by CIDR netblocks.
This is useful to show reserved and other special address space, for
example.
ipv4‐heatmap can also add an optional legend to the map.
ipv4‐heatmap uses the GD library (libgd) to create the map image.
The options are as follows:
−A logmin
Input data will be scaled logarithmically such that input values
less than or equal to logmin will be set to 1.
−B logmax
Input data will be scaled logarithmically such that input values
greater than or equal to logmax will be set to 255.
−a annotations
The annotations file contains a list of annotations for the map.
See ANNOTATIONS below for the format of this file.
−c color
The color of the annotations (those that appear inside the map).
Specified as 0xRRGGBB.
−d increase debugging levels.
−f font
Specifies the font to use for the legend and annotations. If
libgd was compiled with fontconfig support, then this can be a
fontconfig string such as "Times‐12:bold". Otherwise, you can
also specify the pathname to a True Type Font (.ttf) file.
−g seconds
This option enables animated GIF output mode. A new frame is
created for each seconds interval of the input data file. See
the ANIMATED GIFS below for additional details.
−h Attach a horizontal legend to the bottom of the map. Note that
the legend is drawn only if the −t option is given.
−k keyfile
Use keyfile to create the legend scale, rather than the built‐in
blue‐to‐red scale.
−m Use Morton (aka "Z") Curve ordering instead of Hilbert.
−o outfile
Output file name. If none is given, the image is saved as
map.png by default.
−p Include a section in the legend that shows the size of CIDR pre‐
fixes. Boxes and labels will be drawn to show the size of /8,
/12, /16, /20, and /24 prefixes.
−r Reverse the background and foreground colors.
−s shades
The shades file can be used to shade certain areas of the map
with specific colors and transparency levels. See SHADING below
for the format of this file.
−t title
Instructs ipv4‐heatmap to draw a legend for the map and place the
title string in the top (or right) section. You may use "\n" to
create multi‐line titles. By default the legend will be drawn
vertically and attached to the right side of the map. Use the −h
option to create a horizontal legend instead.
−u string
Instructs ipv4‐heatmap to draw a scale in the legend showing the
range of colors and their values. string will be placed above
the scale. Currently, ipv4‐heatmap always assumes the data rep‐
resents some kind of utilization and prints percentages from 0 to
100% next to the scale.
−y cidr
Specifies the CIDR netblock that should be rendered. The default
is to render the entire IPv4 space (0.0.0.0/0). The "slash"
value must be even so that the output image is square. The −y
and −z options together determine the size of the output image.
−z bits
Specifies the number of address space bits assigned to each pixel
in the output image. By default each pixel represents a /24 net‐
work, which corresponds to 8 host bits (i.e., 256 hosts). Spec‐
ify 0 here for one pixel per host address.
ipv4‐heatmap accepts three input modes:
1. Increment mode.
In this mode, the input consists of IPv4 addresses only, one address
per line. Each address in the list increments the pixel value for
the corresponding /24. In this mode, repeated addresses may lead to
false results because ipv4‐heatmap does not check for uniqueness of
the input values. It silently limits pixels to the maximum value.
The user should run the data through sort(1) and uniq(1) beforehand,
if necessary.
2. Exact mode.
In this mode, the input consists of two whitespace‐separated fields:
an IPv4 address and a color index. The color index is an integer in
the range 0‐‐255. Be careful with this mode because later addresses
may overwrite earlier ones in the same /24.
3. Logarithmic mode.
Very similar to Exact mode, except that the second column is loga‐
rithmically scaled to calculate the color index. In order to use
this mode the input must have two fields, and the −A logmin and −B
logmax command line options must be given. Color index k is calcu‐
lated from input value i according to this formula:
ln ( i / logmin)
k = 255 * ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
ln (logmax / logmin)
The annotations file consists of two or three TAB‐separated fields. The
first field is a CIDR prefix, and the second is the annotation string.
The annotation string is rendered within the boundary of that prefix,
centered both vertically and horizontally. The third field, if present,
is also rendered just below the annotation text in a fixed‐size 12‐point
font. If the third field is equal to the string "prefix" then the CIDR
prefix (from field 1) is rendered instead.
The annotations file might look like this, for example:
15.0.0.0/8 HP
16.0.0.0/8 DEC
17.0.0.0/8 Apple
The ipv4‐heatmap source code distribution should include a file named
iana‐labels.txt, which is based on the list of IPv4 assignments made by
IANA.
The font can be selected with the −f command line option. At this time,
however, the text color and transparency are hard‐coded in the
ipv4‐heatmap program.
Areas of the map can be "shaded" by using the −s shades option. This was
originally developed simply to highlight address space that is designated
reserved or unallocated, but is also a useful way to render complex map
data. The shades file consists of three TAB‐separated fields: prefix,
color, and alpha value.
The CIDR prefix specifies the area to be shaded. The color should be
specified has a hexadecimal value beginning with "0x". The alpha value
controls the transparency of the shaded area and is passed directly to
the GD library functions. An alpha value of 0 means full transparency,
while a value of 127 means no transparency (full opacity). Here is an
example that shows RFC 1918 address space in a light purple color:
10.0.0.0/8 0x7F7FFF 64
172.16.0.0/12 0x7F7FFF 64
192.168.0.0/16 0x7F7FFF 64
When the −g option is given, ipv4‐heatmap outputs an animated GIF image
file. This feature requires the gifsicle(1) program to be installed.
This feature also requires timestamps in the input data. Thus, use of
the −g option changes the input format. Each line of the input must
begin with a timestamp given in Unix epoch time. For example:
1234567890.123 192.168.1.1
1234567890.234 192.168.1.2
1234567891.456 192.168.1.3
Note that decimal time values are accepted, although the fractional sec‐
onds are ignored. ipv4‐heatmap Assumes that the input timestamps are
already sorted. A new output frame is generated every seconds seconds of
the input file.
Note that, currently, the data accumulates between frames. That is, any
pixels that are colored at the end of one frame will also be colored at
the start of the next frame.
ipv4‐heatmap uses a 12th‐order Hilbert Curve to represnet the entire IPv4
address space. Locating a particular IP address along the curve can be
confusing at first. Here is what a 2nd‐order Hilbert curve looks like:
0‐‐‐1 14‐‐15
| |
3‐‐‐2 13‐‐12
| |
4 7‐‐‐8 11
| | | |
5‐‐‐6 9‐‐‐10
The best way to understand how the Hilbert Curve works is to try drawing
your own!
IPv4 Heatmap
(C) 2011 The Measurement Factory, Inc
Licensed under the GPL, version 2
http://maps.measurement‐factory.com/
gifsicle(1)
ipv4‐heatmap was written by Duane Wessels of The Measurement Factory,
Inc. With contributions from: Roy Arends of Nominet UK.
Can’t draw IPv6 address maps.
The legends don’t look all that great. You can use an image editing pro‐
gram like The Gimp to rearrange the legend and add better‐looking text.