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.TH "SURICATA" "1" "2025-09-15" "8.0.1" "Suricata"
.SH NAME
suricata \- Suricata
.SH SYNOPSIS
.sp
\fBsuricata\fP [OPTIONS] [BPF FILTER]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.sp
\fBsuricata\fP is a high performance Network IDS, IPS and Network Security
Monitoring engine. Open Source and owned by a community run non\-profit
foundation, the Open Information Security Foundation (OISF).
.sp
\fBsuricata\fP can be used to analyze live traffic and pcap files. It can
generate alerts based on rules. \fBsuricata\fP will generate traffic logs.
.sp
When used with live traffic \fBsuricata\fP can be passive or active. Active
modes are: inline in a L2 bridge setup, inline with L3 integration with
host firewall (NFQ, IPFW, WinDivert), or out of band using active responses.
.SH OPTIONS
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-h
Display a brief usage overview.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-V
Displays the version of Suricata.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-c <path>
Path to configuration file.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-\-include <path>
Additional configuration files to include. Multiple additional
configuration files can be provided and will be included in the
order specified on the command line.  These additional configuration
files are loaded as if they existed at the end of the main
configuration file.
.sp
Example including one additional file:
.INDENT 7.0
.INDENT 3.5
.sp
.nf
.ft C
\-\-include /etc/suricata/other.yaml
.ft P
.fi
.UNINDENT
.UNINDENT
.sp
Example including more than one additional file:
.INDENT 7.0
.INDENT 3.5
.sp
.nf
.ft C
\-\-include /etc/suricata/other.yaml \-\-include /etc/suricata/extra.yaml
.ft P
.fi
.UNINDENT
.UNINDENT
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-T
Test configuration.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-v
Increase the verbosity of the Suricata application logging by
increasing the log level from the default. This option can be
passed multiple times to further increase the verbosity.
.INDENT 7.0
.IP \(bu 2
\-v: INFO
.IP \(bu 2
\-vv: PERF
.IP \(bu 2
\-vvv: CONFIG
.IP \(bu 2
\-vvvv: DEBUG
.UNINDENT
.sp
This option will not decrease the log level set in the
configuration file if it is already more verbose than the level
requested with this option.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-r <path>
Run in pcap offline mode (replay mode) reading files from pcap file. If
<path> specifies a directory, all files in that directory will be processed
in order of modified time maintaining flow state between files.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-\-pcap\-file\-continuous
Used with the \-r option to indicate that the mode should stay alive until
interrupted. This is useful with directories to add new files and not reset
flow state between files.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-\-pcap\-file\-recursive
Used with the \-r option when the path provided is a directory.  This option
enables recursive traversal into subdirectories to a maximum depth of 255.
This option cannot be combined with \-\-pcap\-file\-continuous.  Symlinks are
ignored.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-\-pcap\-file\-delete
Used with the \-r option to indicate that the mode should delete pcap files
after they have been processed. This is useful with pcap\-file\-continuous to
continuously feed files to a directory and have them cleaned up when done. If
this option is not set, pcap files will not be deleted after processing.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-\-pcap\-file\-buffer\-size <value>
Set read buffer size using \fBsetvbuf\fP to speed up pcap reading. Valid values
are 4 KiB to 64 MiB. Default value is 128 KiB. Supported on Linux only.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-i <interface>
After the \-i option you can enter the interface card you would like
to use to sniff packets from.  This option will try to use the best
capture method available. Can be used several times to sniff packets from
several interfaces.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-\-pcap[=<device>]
Run in PCAP mode. If no device is provided the interfaces
provided in the \fIpcap\fP section of the configuration file will be
used.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-\-af\-packet[=<device>]
Enable capture of packet using AF_PACKET on Linux. If no device is
supplied, the list of devices from the af\-packet section in the
yaml is used.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-\-af\-xdp[=<device>]
Enable capture of packet using AF_XDP on Linux. If no device is
supplied, the list of devices from the af\-xdp section in the
yaml is used.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-q <queue id>
Run inline of the NFQUEUE queue ID provided. May be provided
multiple times.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-s <filename.rules>
With the \-s option you can set a file with signatures, which will
be loaded together with the rules set in the yaml.
.sp
It is possible to use globbing when specifying rules files.
For example, \fB\-s \(aq/path/to/rules/*.rules\(aq\fP
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-S <filename.rules>
With the \-S option you can set a file with signatures, which will
be loaded exclusively, regardless of the rules set in the yaml.
.sp
It is possible to use globbing when specifying rules files.
For example, \fB\-S \(aq/path/to/rules/*.rules\(aq\fP
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-l <directory>
With the \-l option you can set the default log directory. If you
already have the default\-log\-dir set in yaml, it will not be used
by Suricata if you use the \-l option. It will use the log dir that
is set with the \-l option. If you do not set a directory with
the \-l option, Suricata will use the directory that is set in yaml.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-D
Normally if you run Suricata on your console, it keeps your console
occupied. You can not use it for other purposes, and when you close
the window, Suricata stops running.  If you run Suricata as daemon
(using the \-D option), it runs at the background and you will be
able to use the console for other tasks without disturbing the
engine running.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-\-runmode <runmode>
With the \fI\-\-runmode\fP option you can set the runmode that you would
like to use. This command line option can override the yaml runmode
option.
.sp
Runmodes are: \fIworkers\fP, \fIautofp\fP and \fIsingle\fP\&.
.sp
For more information about runmodes see \fI\%Runmodes\fP in the user guide.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-F <bpf filter file>
Use BPF filter from file.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-k [all|none]
Force (all) the checksum check or disable (none) all checksum
checks.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-\-user=<user>
Set the process user after initialization. Overrides the user
provided in the \fIrun\-as\fP section of the configuration file.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-\-group=<group>
Set the process group to group after initialization. Overrides the
group provided in the \fIrun\-as\fP section of the configuration file.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-\-pidfile <file>
Write the process ID to file. Overrides the \fIpid\-file\fP option in
the configuration file and forces the file to be written when not
running as a daemon.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-\-init\-errors\-fatal
Exit with a failure when errors are encountered loading signatures.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-\-strict\-rule\-keywords[=all|<keyword>|<keywords(csv)]
Applies to: classtype, reference and app\-layer\-event.
.sp
By default missing reference or classtype values are warnings and
not errors. Additionally, loading outdated app\-layer\-event events are
also not treated as errors, but as warnings instead.
.sp
If this option is enabled these warnings are considered errors.
.sp
If no value, or the value \(aqall\(aq, is specified, the option applies to
all of the keywords above. Alternatively, a comma separated list can
be supplied with the keyword names it should apply to.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-\-disable\-detection
Disable the detection engine.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-\-disable\-hashing
Disable support for hash algorithms such as md5, sha1 and sha256.
.sp
By default hashing is enabled. Disabling hashing will also disable some
Suricata features such as the filestore, ja3, and rule keywords that use hash
algorithms.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-\-dump\-config
Dump the configuration loaded from the configuration file to the
terminal and exit.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-\-dump\-features
Dump the features provided by Suricata modules and exit. Features
list (a subset of) the configuration values and are intended to
assist with comparing provided features with those required by
one or more rules.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-\-build\-info
Display the build information the Suricata was built with.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-\-list\-app\-layer\-protos
List all supported application layer protocols.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-\-list\-keywords=[all|csv|<kword>]
List all supported rule keywords.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-\-list\-runmodes
List all supported run modes.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-\-set <key>=<value>
Set a configuration value. Useful for overriding basic
configuration parameters. For example, to change the default log
directory:
.INDENT 7.0
.INDENT 3.5
.sp
.nf
.ft C
\-\-set default\-log\-dir=/var/tmp
.ft P
.fi
.UNINDENT
.UNINDENT
.sp
This option cannot be used to add new entries to a list in the
configuration file, such as a new output. It can only be used to
modify a value in a list that already exists.
.sp
For example, to disable the \fBeve\-log\fP in the default
configuration file:
.INDENT 7.0
.INDENT 3.5
.sp
.nf
.ft C
\-\-set outputs.1.eve\-log.enabled=no
.ft P
.fi
.UNINDENT
.UNINDENT
.sp
Also note that the index values may change as the \fBsuricata.yaml\fP
is updated.
.sp
See the output of \fB\-\-dump\-config\fP for existing values that could
be modified with their index.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-\-engine\-analysis
Print reports on analysis of different sections in the engine and
exit. Please have a look at the conf parameter engine\-analysis on
what reports can be printed
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-\-unix\-socket=<file>
Use file as the Suricata unix control socket. Overrides the
\fIfilename\fP provided in the \fIunix\-command\fP section of the
configuration file.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-\-reject\-dev=<device>
Use \fIdevice\fP to send out RST / ICMP error packets with
the \fIreject\fP keyword.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-\-pcap\-buffer\-size=<size>
Set the size of the PCAP buffer (0 \- 2147483647).
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-\-netmap[=<device>]
Enable capture of packet using NETMAP on FreeBSD or Linux. If no
device is supplied, the list of devices from the netmap section
in the yaml is used.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-\-pfring[=<device>]
Enable PF_RING packet capture. If no device provided, the devices in
the Suricata configuration will be used.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-\-pfring\-cluster\-id <id>
Set the PF_RING cluster ID.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-\-pfring\-cluster\-type <type>
Set the PF_RING cluster type (cluster_round_robin, cluster_flow).
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-d <divert\-port>
Run inline using IPFW divert mode.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-\-dag <device>
Enable packet capture off a DAG card. If capturing off a specific
stream the stream can be select using a device name like
\(dqdag0:4\(dq. This option may be provided multiple times read off
multiple devices and/or streams.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-\-napatech
Enable packet capture using the Napatech Streams API.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-\-erf\-in=<file>
Run in offline mode reading the specific ERF file (Endace
extensible record format).
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-\-simulate\-ips
Simulate IPS mode when running in a non\-IPS mode.
.UNINDENT
.SH OPTIONS FOR DEVELOPERS
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-u
Run the unit tests and exit. Requires that Suricata be configured
with \fI\-\-enable\-unittests\fP\&.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-U, \-\-unittest\-filter=REGEX
With the \-U option you can select which of the unit tests you want
to run. This option uses REGEX. Example of use: suricata \-u \-U
http
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-\-list\-unittests
Lists available unit tests.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-\-fatal\-unittests
Enables fatal failure on a unit test error. Suricata will exit
instead of continuing more tests.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-\-unittests\-coverage
Display unit test coverage report.
.UNINDENT
.SH SIGNALS
.sp
Suricata will respond to the following signals:
.sp
SIGUSR2
.INDENT 0.0
.INDENT 3.5
Causes Suricata to perform a live rule reload.
.UNINDENT
.UNINDENT
.sp
SIGHUP
.INDENT 0.0
.INDENT 3.5
Causes Suricata to close and re\-open all log files. This can be
used to re\-open log files after they may have been moved away by
log rotation utilities.
.UNINDENT
.UNINDENT
.SH FILES AND DIRECTORIES
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B /usr/local/etc/suricata/suricata.yaml
Default location of the Suricata configuration file.
.TP
.B /usr/local/var/log/suricata
Default Suricata log directory.
.UNINDENT
.SH EXAMPLES
.sp
To capture live traffic from interface \fIeno1\fP:
.INDENT 0.0
.INDENT 3.5
.sp
.nf
.ft C
suricata \-i eno1
.ft P
.fi
.UNINDENT
.UNINDENT
.sp
To analyze a pcap file and output logs to the CWD:
.INDENT 0.0
.INDENT 3.5
.sp
.nf
.ft C
suricata \-r /path/to/capture.pcap
.ft P
.fi
.UNINDENT
.UNINDENT
.sp
To capture using \fIAF_PACKET\fP and override the flow memcap setting from the \fIsuricata.yaml\fP:
.INDENT 0.0
.INDENT 3.5
.sp
.nf
.ft C
suricata \-\-af\-packet \-\-set flow.memcap=1gb
.ft P
.fi
.UNINDENT
.UNINDENT
.sp
To analyze a pcap file with a custom rule file:
.INDENT 0.0
.INDENT 3.5
.sp
.nf
.ft C
suricata \-r /pcap/to/capture.pcap \-S /path/to/custom.rules
.ft P
.fi
.UNINDENT
.UNINDENT
.SH BUGS
.sp
Please visit Suricata\(aqs support page for information about submitting
bugs or feature requests.
.SH NOTES
.INDENT 0.0
.IP \(bu 2
Suricata Home Page
.INDENT 2.0
.INDENT 3.5
\fI\%https://suricata.io/\fP
.UNINDENT
.UNINDENT
.IP \(bu 2
Suricata Support Page
.INDENT 2.0
.INDENT 3.5
\fI\%https://suricata.io/support/\fP
.UNINDENT
.UNINDENT
.UNINDENT
.SH COPYRIGHT
2016-2025, OISF
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