Install eBPF using script

This topic guides you through the process of installing eBPF on a virtual machine using the Traceable Platform Agent (TPA) install script. eBPF (Extended Berkeley Packet Filter) enables efficient traffic capture directly from the Linux kernel, enabling high-performance traffic monitoring with minimal overhead. This installation method is suitable for environments where kernel-level visibility is required without external traffic routing or hardware-based solutions.

The installation script offers two modes of operation for eBPF:

• eBPF with TPA: This mode installs eBPF and Traceable Platform agent (TPA). There is no prerequisite to having TPA previously installed. If you are starting out, this is the mode you can start with. For production deployments, ebpf-only is the preferred mode.

• eBPF-Only: This mode installs only ebpf on the host. This mode has a prerequisite to having a Traceable Platform agent already deployed.

This topic will walk you through setting up both modes and provide the necessary steps to customize the eBPF deployment according to your environment's specific needs.

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Download

To download the script, go to Traceable's download site. Navigate to install → traffic-mirroring → linux → latest. Click on the install.sh script to download it, or enter the following command in your terminal:

curl -O https://downloads.traceable.ai/install/traffic-mirroring/linux/latest/install.sh

Provide the execute permission to the script. Enter the following command:

chmod +x install.sh

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Installation

The installation script is a utility that installs and configures traffic-mirroring components. It can be used as follows:

sudo ./install.sh Subcommand Arguments [Optional-Arguments]

The sub-commands for the script are:

mirror      Uses packet capture for data collection
ebpf        Uses eBPF for data collection
tpa-only    Install Traceable Platform Agent (TPA) only
ebpf-only   Install eBPF only
cleanup     Remove Traceable deployments
help        Prints help

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ebpf

The ebpf sub-command installs the Traceable Platform agent and eBPF and runs them as systemd services. For more details of this command (synopsis, example usages, argument descriptions), enter the following:

./install.sh ebpf help

The command has the following syntax:

./install.sh ebpf -e ENVIRONMENT -s SERVICE_NAME [-r REMOTE_ENDPOINT]
    [-P PORTS] [-S SSL_DIRS] [-E EXCLUDE_PROCESSES] [--mode MODE]
    [-R MAX_RETURN_PROBES] [--remote-cert-path ROOT_CA_CERT] [-t]
    [--tpa-loglevel TPA_LOGLEVEL] [--tpa-log-max-size-mb TPA_LOGSIZE] 
    [--tpa-log-max-backups TPA_LOGCOUNT] [--ebpf-loglevel EBPF_LOGLEVEL]
    [--ebpf-log-max-size-mb EBPF_LOGSIZE] [--ebpf-log-max-backups EBPF_LOGCOUNT] 
    [--no-download] [--enable-java-tls-capture] [--ebpf-max-memory EBPF_MAX_MEM]
    [--tpa-max-memory TPA_MAX_MEM] [--set-memory-accounting] 
    [--ebpf-request-per-second-limit EBPF_REQUEST_LIMIT] [--ebpf-max-connection EBPF_MAX_CONNECTION] 
    [--ebpf-go-memory-limit EBPF_GO_MEMORY_LIMIT] [--otlp-max-connection-age OTLP_MAX_CONNECTION_AGE]
    [--http-proxy HTTP_PROXY] [--https-proxy HTTPS_PROXY] [--no-proxy NO_PROXY]
    [--tpa-max-cpu TPA_MAX_CPU] [--ebpf-max-cpu EBPF_MAX_CPU]

The following table explains the usage of the command arguments:

Argument	Mandatory	Description
-s SERVICE	Yes	The service name for the mirrored traffic.
-e ENVIRONMENT	Yes	Environment name for the mirrored traffic.
-r REMOTE_ENDPOINT	No	Remote endpoint for Traceable Platform agent.
-P PORTS	No	Comma-separated list of ports that you wish to track.
-S SSL_DIRS	No	Comma-separated list of SSL directories.
-E EXCLUDE_PROCESSES	No	Comma-separated list of process names that you wish to exclude from tracking.
--mode MODE	No	Traffic type to be captured. MODE can take the following values: ingress: capture all ingress traffic for given PORTS. egress: capture all egress traffic for the given PORTS. ingress_and_egress: capture all ingress as well as egress traffic for given PORTS. The default value is ingress.
-R MAX_RETURN_PROBES	No	Maximum number of return probes.
-t | --token	No	Prompt for Traceable Token for authentication. Check token for more details.
--remote-cert-path PATH	No	Root CA used to sign certificate for the Traceable Platform.
--tpa-loglevel TAP_LOGLEVEL	No	Logging level for the Traceable service. The allowed values are info, warn, error, and debug. The default value is info.
--tpa-log-max-size-mb TPA_LOGSIZE	No	The maximum log file size in MB created by the Traceable service. The default value is 10 MB.
--tpa-log-max-backups TPA_LOGCOUNT	No	Maximum number of backup log files created by the Traceable service. The default value is 10.
--ebpf-loglevel EBPF_LOGLEVEL	No	Logging level for the eBPF service. The allowed values are info, warn, error, debug and trace. The default value is info.
--ebpf-log-max-size-mb EBPF_LOGSIZE	No	Maximum log file size in MB created by the eBPF service. The default value is 10 MB.
--ebpf-log-max-backups EBPF_LOGCOUNT	No	Maximum number of backup log files created by the eBPF service. The default value is 10.
--no-download	No	Use local packages to install Traceable and its components. For more information, see Airgapped installation.
--enable-java-tls-capture	No	Set it to true, if you wish to capture Java TLS traffic. The default value is false.
--ebpf-max-memory EBPF_MAX_MEM	No	Maximum memory limit for the eBPF service. Takes a memory size in bytes. If the value is suffixed with K, M, G, or T, the specified memory size is parsed as Kilobytes, Megabytes, Gigabytes, or Terabytes (with the base 1024), respectively. Alternatively, a percentage value may be specified, which is taken relative to the installed physical memory on the system.
--tpa-max-memory TPA_MAX_MEM	No	Maximum memory limit for the Traceable service. Takes memory size in bytes. If the value is suffixed with K, M, G, or T, the specified memory size is parsed as Kilobytes, Megabytes, Gigabytes, or Terabytes (with the base 1024), respectively. Alternatively, you can select the value as a percentage, which is taken relative to the installed physical memory on the system.
--set-memory-accounting	No	Set MemoryAccounting to true for the services. This is required on VMs where DefaultMemoryAccounting property is not enabled.
--ebpf-request-per-second-limit	No	Sets the maximum number of requests the eBPF tracer would capture in a second.
--ebpf-max-connection	No	Sets the maximum number of connections the eBPF tracer tracks at any given time.
--ebpf-go-memory-limit	No	This is the substitute for the GOMEMLIMIT environment variable. The argument expects input in k8 units. The default value is 0, which translates to no limit being set. Examples: 128974848, 129e6, 129M, 128974848000m, 123Mi
--otlp-max-connection-age	No	Sets the keepalive duration for the OTLP server in the Traceable Platform agent. The duration can be expressed as a string. The acceptable units are ns, us, s, m, and h. Example: 100ms = 100 milliseconds, 120s = 120 seconds, 120m = 120 minutes, 2h = 2 hours. The default value is infinity.
--http-proxy	No	Used for setting proxy URL for HTTP requests until overwritten by --no-proxy.
--https-proxy	No	Used for setting proxy URL for HTTPS requests until overwritten by --no-proxy.
--no-proxy	No	Specifies a string that contains comma-separated values specifying hosts that should be excluded from proxying.
--tpa-max-cpu TPA_MAX_CPU	No	Sets the maximum percentage of CPU that the Traceable Platform Agent (TPA) process is allowed to use. For example, --tpa-max-cpu 100% would limit the TPA process to one full CPU core. Setting --tpa-max-cpu 200% would allow it to use up to two cores.
--ebpf-max-cpu EBPF_MAX_CPU	No	Sets the maximum CPU percentage for the eBPF process. For example, --ebpf-max-cpu 100% allows the process to use up to one CPU core. With --ebpf-max-cpu 200%, two cores can be used.

ebpf examples

Following are a few examples of using the ebpf sub-command:

• If you wish to capture all the traffic, use the following command:

  ActionScript

  sudo ./install.sh ebpf -e myEnvironment -s myService -t

• If you wish to capture traffic from a specific process or a set of processes, use the following command. In the example below, data is captured from ports 8080 and 9001.

  ActionScript

  sudo ./install.sh ebpf -e myEnvironment -s myService -P 8080,9001 -t

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ebpf-only

The ebpf-only sub-command installs only the eBPF solution and runs them as systemctl services. For more details of this command (synopsis, example usages, argument descriptions), enter the following:

This mode requires that Traceable Platform agent is already installed.

./install.sh ebpf-only help

The command has the following syntax:

./install.sh ebpf-only -s SERVICE_NAME --tpa-endpoint ENDPOINT [-P PORTS]
    [-S SSL_DIRS] [-E EXCLUDE_PROCESSES] [-R MAX_RET_PROBES] [--mode MODE]
    [--tls-root-cert ROOT_CA_CERT] [--reporting-port REPORTING_PORT]
    [--remote-port REMOTE_PORT] [--exporter EXPORTER] [--loglevel LOGLEVEL]
    [--log-max-size-mb SIZE] [--log-max-backups COUNT] 
    [--no-download] [--enable-java-tls-capture] [--max-memory MAX_MEMORY]
    [--set-memory-accounting] [--request-per-second-limit REQUEST_LIMIT] [--max-connection MAX_CONNECTION]
    [--go-memory-limit GO_MEMORY_LIMIT] [--max-cpu MAX_CPU]

The following table explains the usage of the command arguments:

Argument	Mandatory	Description
-s SERVICE_NAME	Yes	The service name for the mirrored traffic.
--tpa-endpoint ENDPOINT	Yes	Endpoint of Traceable Platform Agent.
-P PORTS	No	Comma-separated list of ports that you wish to track.
-S SSL_DIRS	No	Comma-separated list of SSL directories.
-E EXCLUDE_PROCESSES	No	Comma-separated list of process names to be excluded from tracking.
-R MAX_RETURN_PROBES	No	Maximum number of return probes. The default value is 1.
--mode MODE	No	Traffic type to be captured. MODE can take the following values: ingress: capture all ingress traffic for given PORTS. egress: capture all egress traffic for the given PORTS. ingress_and_egress: capture all ingress as well as egress traffic for given PORTS. The default value is ingress.
--tls-root-cert ROOT_CA_CERT	No	Root CA used to sign certificate for Traceable Platform Agent. eBPF uses this to validate the Traceable Platform Agent's certificate. If this value is provided, eBPF uses TLS encryption for data sent to the Traceable Platform Agent.
--reporting-port REPORTING_PORT	No	Reporting endpoint port of Traceable Platform Agent. If --tls-root-cert is provided, the default value is 5443. Otherwise, the default value is 4317.
--remote-port REMOTE_PORT	No	Remote endpoint port of Traceable Platform Agent. If --tls-root-cert is provided, the default value is 5443. Otherwise, the default value is 5441.
--exporter EXPORTER	No	eBPF span exporter. Allowed values are ZIPKIN and OTLP. The default exporter is OTLP.
--loglevel LOGLEVEL	No	Logging level for the eBPF service. The allowed values are info, warn, error, debug and trace. The default value is info.
--log-max-size-mb SIZE	No	Maximum log file size in MB created by the eBPF service. The default value is 10 MB.
--log-max-backups COUNT	No	Maximum number of backup log files created by the eBPF service. The default value is 10.
--no-download	No	Use local packages to install Traceable and its components. For more information, see Airgapped installation.
--enable-java-tls-capture	No	Set it to true, if you wish to capture Java TLS traffic. The default value is false.
--max-memory MAX_MEMORY	No	Maximum memory limit for the Traceable service. Takes memory size in bytes. If the value is suffixed with K, M, G, or T, the specified memory size is parsed as Kilobytes, Megabytes, Gigabytes, or Terabytes (with the base 1024), respectively. Alternatively, you can select the value as a percentage, which is taken relative to the installed physical memory on the system.
--set-memory-accounting	No	set MemoryAccounting to true for the eBPF service. This is required on VMs where the DefaultMemoryAccounting property is not enabled.
--request-per-second-limit	No	Sets the maximum number of requests the eBPF tracer would capture in a second.
--max-connection	No	Sets the maximum number of connections the eBPF tracer tracks at any given time.
--go-memory-limit	No	This is the substitute for the GOMEMLIMIT environment variable. The argument expects input in k8 units. The default value is 0, which translates to no limit being set. Examples: 128974848, 129e6, 129M, 128974848000m, 123Mi.
--max-cpu MAX_CPU	No	Specifies the maximum CPU percentage for the eBPF. For instance, --max-cpu 100% limits the process to one core and --max-cpu 200% would use two cores. This parameter ensures that the eBPF process doesn't exceed your set CPU limit.

ebpf-only examples

Following are a few examples of using the ebpf-only sub-command:

• If your Traceable Platform agent is running on an IP address 10.120.0.3, and you wish to install the eBPF solution and send the mirrored traffic to the Traceable Platform agent, use the following command:

  ActionScript

  sudo ./install.sh ebpf-only -s myService --tpa-endpoint 10.120.0.3

• If your Traceable Platform agent is running with the TLS server on 10.120.0.3 and you have your root CA at /path/to/root/ca, then you can enable TLS encryption for the traffic sent from eBPF to the Traceable Platform agent. Enter the following command:

  ActionScript

  sudo ./install.sh ebpf-only -s myService --tpa-endpoint 10.120.0.3 --tls-root-cert /path/to/root/ca

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eBPF with centralized Traceable Platform agent

When you use the ebpf subcommand for installation, the eBPF and Traceable Platform Agent are deployed on the same machine. eBPF starts capturing traffic and sends it to the agent. To streamline the forwarding process, you may run a central agent to which all devices with eBPF can send mirrored traffic. This can be accomplished in two simple steps:

1. Run the installation script with the tpa-only subcommand on the virtual machine (VM) where you wish to install the central agent.

2. Run the installation script with the ebpf-only subcommand on all other VMs hosting your services.

If you wish to ensure secure communication between the VM capturing traffic and the central agent, follow these additional steps:

1. Enable the TLS server during installation with the tpa-only subcommand.

2. Use the same root CA certificate for all ebpf-only installations.

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Uninstallation

Enter the following command to uninstall. Note that the install script is used for both installation and uninstallation.

sudo ./install.sh cleanup