ftagent 1.6.4

Flowtriq DDoS Detection Agent — real-time L3/L4/L7 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

The fastest way to get running is the built-in setup wizard and service installer. No manual config editing needed.

1. Get your API key

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

2. Run the setup wizard

sudo ftagent --setup

This creates /etc/ftagent/config.json with your API key, Node UUID, and sane defaults. It will prompt you for each value.

3. Install as a service

sudo ftagent --install-service
sudo systemctl enable --now ftagent

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

Manual config (alternative)

If you prefer to create the config manually:

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

Set api_key and node_uuid to the values from your Flowtriq dashboard.

Verify connectivity

sudo ftagent --test

This sends a test heartbeat to confirm the agent can reach the Flowtriq API.

Check service 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]

  --setup            Interactive setup wizard (creates config)
  --install-service  Install systemd service unit
  --config PATH      Config file path (default: /etc/ftagent/config.json)
  --test             Test API connectivity and exit
  --version          Show version

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How it works

1. Baseline: The agent collects traffic metrics and establishes a normal PPS/BPS range for the node.
2. L3/L4 Detection: Each metrics window is compared against the baseline. If PPS exceeds baseline x multiplier, an incident is opened.
3. L7 Detection: When enabled, the agent tails your web server access log (nginx, Apache, Caddy, LiteSpeed, HAProxy) and detects HTTP floods via request rate spikes, IP concentration, endpoint targeting, and error rate analysis.
4. Classification: Attack traffic is classified by protocol distribution, TCP flags, port patterns, packet size, and IP entropy.
5. PCAP: A packet capture starts immediately when an incident opens, giving you forensic data for analysis.
6. Reporting: The incident is reported to Flowtriq which dispatches alerts to your configured channels (Discord, Slack, Teams, PagerDuty, etc.).
7. Mitigation: If you have mitigation rules configured, the agent executes approved firewall commands (iptables, Cloudflare WAF, etc.) immediately.
8. Resolution: When traffic returns 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]