ftagent 1.1.3

Flowtriq DDoS Detection Agent — real-time traffic monitoring, incident detection, PCAP capture, and auto-mitigation

ftagent

Flowtriq DDoS Detection Agent — real-time traffic monitoring, attack detection, PCAP capture, and auto-mitigation for Linux servers.

A valid Flowtriq account and API key are required. Start a free 7-day trial at flowtriq.com.

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Requirements

• Linux (Ubuntu 20.04+, Debian 11+, CentOS 8+, or equivalent)
• Python 3.8+
• Root / sudo (required for raw packet capture)
• A Flowtriq account — sign up free

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Install

pip (recommended)

pip install ftagent[full]

The [full] extra installs all dependencies including scapy for packet capture and psutil for system metrics.

From source

git clone https://github.com/flowtriq/ftagent.git
cd ftagent
pip install -e .[full]

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Quick start

1. Get your API key

Log in to your Flowtriq dashboard → Nodes → Add Node → copy the API key shown.

2. Create the config

sudo mkdir -p /etc/ftagent
sudo cp packaging/config.example.json /etc/ftagent/config.json
sudo nano /etc/ftagent/config.json

Set api_key to your key and node_uuid to the Node UUID shown in your Flowtriq dashboard under Nodes. Both are required.

3. Run

sudo ftagent

Or with the Python module:

sudo python3 -m ftagent

The agent will register your node, establish a baseline, and begin monitoring. Your node will appear in the Flowtriq dashboard within 30 seconds.

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Install as a systemd service

sudo cp packaging/ftagent.service /etc/systemd/system/ftagent.service
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable ftagent
sudo systemctl start ftagent

# Check status
sudo systemctl status ftagent
sudo journalctl -u ftagent -f

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Configuration reference

Config file: /etc/ftagent/config.json

Key	Default	Description
api_key	—	Required. Your Flowtriq node API key
node_uuid	—	Required. Node UUID from your Flowtriq dashboard → Nodes
api_base	https://flowtriq.com/api/v1	API endpoint
interface	"auto"	Network interface to monitor (eth0, ens3, etc.) or "auto"
pcap_enabled	true	Enable PCAP capture during incidents
pcap_dir	/var/lib/ftagent/pcaps	Directory for PCAP files
pcap_max_packets	10000	Max packets per PCAP file
pcap_max_seconds	60	Max seconds per PCAP file
pcap_retention_days	7	Delete PCAPs older than N days
log_file	/var/log/ftagent.log	Log file path
log_level	"INFO"	Log level: DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, ERROR
dynamic_threshold	true	Auto-adjust detection threshold from traffic baseline
baseline_window_minutes	60	Rolling window for baseline calculation
threshold_multiplier	3.0	Alert when PPS exceeds baseline × multiplier
heartbeat_interval	30	Seconds between heartbeat pings
metrics_interval	10	Seconds between metrics reports

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CLI flags

sudo ftagent [options]

  --config PATH      Config file path (default: /etc/ftagent/config.json)
  --interface IFACE  Override interface from config
  --test             Trigger a synthetic detection event and exit
  --version          Show version

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How it works

1. Baseline — The agent collects traffic metrics for the configured baseline window and establishes a normal PPS/BPS range for the node.
2. Detection — Each 10-second metrics window is compared against the baseline. If PPS exceeds baseline × multiplier, an incident is opened.
3. Classification — Attack traffic is classified by protocol distribution, port patterns, packet size, and IP entropy to identify the attack family.
4. PCAP — A packet capture starts immediately when an incident opens, giving you forensic data for analysis.
5. Reporting — The incident is reported to Flowtriq which dispatches alerts to your configured channels (Discord, Slack, Teams, PagerDuty, etc.).
6. Mitigation — If you have mitigation rules configured, the agent executes approved firewall commands (iptables, Cloudflare WAF, etc.) immediately.
7. Resolution — When PPS drops back to baseline, the incident is closed, undo commands run, and the PCAP is uploaded.

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Docs

Full documentation: flowtriq.com/docs

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Support

• Docs: flowtriq.com/docs
• Issues: github.com/flowtriq/ftagent/issues
• Email: [e-mail]