How to run an MTR/Traceroute

When experiencing latency, packet loss, or intermittent connectivity problems to a server, an MTR (My Traceroute) report is one of the most useful diagnostic tools available. MTR combines the functionality of traceroute and ping into a single continuous report, showing the path packets take to the destination, the latency at each hop, and any packet loss along the route.

Please run an MTR against the affected server IP (without port) and provide the full text output when opening a support ticket. This allows us to quickly identify whether the issue is local, on an intermediate ISP, or on our network.

Running MTR on Linux

Most modern Linux distributions include mtr in their repositories. If it is not already installed:

# Debian / Ubuntu
sudo apt update && sudo apt install mtr-tiny

# RHEL / CentOS / Rocky / Alma
sudo dnf install mtr
# or on older systems
sudo yum install mtr

# Arch
sudo pacman -S mtr

Basic usage (recommended for support tickets):

mtr -rwzbc 200 <destination-ip>

Explanation of useful flags:

• -r / --report: Generate a report instead of the interactive display
• -w / --wide: Wide report mode (shows full hostnames)
• -z / --aslookup: Display AS numbers (helps identify network owners)
• -b / --show-ips: Show both IP and hostname
• -c 200: Send 200 cycles (roughly 3–4 minutes). You can increase this for longer tests

Example:

mtr -rwzbc 200 192.0.2.10

Alternative compact report:

mtr --report --report-cycles 200 --aslookup --show-ips 192.0.2.10

Once finished, copy the entire terminal output and paste it into your support ticket.

Optional advanced usage:

• TCP-based MTR (useful when ICMP is rate-limited): mtr -T -P 25565 -rwzbc 100 <ip>
• UDP mode: mtr -u ...
• IPv6: mtr -6 ...

Running MTR on Windows (WinMTR)

1. Download WinMTR from SourceForge.
2. Extract the archive and run the appropriate executable (WinMTR_x64.exe on most modern systems).
3. Enter the target IP address in the Host field. Do not include a port.
4. Click Start and let it run for at least 2 minutes (preferably longer if the issue is intermittent).
5. Click Copy Text to Clipboard and paste the results into your ticket, or attach a screenshot.

Running MTR on macOS

macOS does not include MTR by default. The easiest method is via Homebrew:

brew install mtr

Then run the same command as on Linux:

sudo mtr -rwzbc 200 <destination-ip>

(sudo is required because raw sockets are used.)

Alternatively, you can follow the guide at macappstore.org/mtr, but the Homebrew method is generally cleaner for system administrators.

What to Look For in the Results

• Packet loss appearing only at the final hop is often normal (many servers rate-limit ICMP).
• Packet loss or high latency that starts at an intermediate hop and continues to the destination usually indicates a problem along the path.
• Sudden increases in latency or loss that appear and disappear can point to congested or unstable links.

Providing a full MTR report (especially with AS numbers) allows us to pinpoint the problematic network segment much faster.