NetKit - Network Toolkit

Container image packed with network troubleshooting tools for debugging Kubernetes clusters and Docker environments.

Quick Start

Docker

# Run interactively
docker run -it --rm ghcr.io/self-hosters-by-night/netkit:latest

# Run with host networking for advanced troubleshooting
docker run -it --rm --net=host --privileged ghcr.io/self-hosters-by-night/netkit:latest

Kubernetes

Quick Debug Pod

kubectl run netkit -it --rm --restart=Never --image=ghcr.io/self-hosters-by-night/netkit:latest --namespace=default

Deploy Pod

kubectl apply -f k8s/pod.yaml

Access the Pod

kubectl exec -it netkit -- bash

Building from Source

git clone https://github.com/self-hosters-by-night/netkit.git
cd netkit
docker build -t ghcr.io/self-hosters-by-night/netkit:latest .

Included Tools

Network Analysis & Monitoring

• bmon - Bandwidth monitor with real-time interface statistics
• iftop - Real-time network bandwidth usage per connection
• iotop - Monitor I/O usage by processes
• mtr-tiny - Network diagnostic tool combining ping and traceroute
• ngrep - Network packet analyzer with grep-like pattern matching
• tcpdump - Packet capture and analysis tool
• tshark - Command-line network protocol analyzer (Wireshark CLI)

Network Utilities

• bridge-utils - Ethernet bridge administration tools
• curl - Transfer data from/to servers (HTTP, FTP, etc.)
• dnsutils - DNS lookup utilities (dig, nslookup, host)
• ethtool - Display/change ethernet device settings
• httpie - Modern HTTP client with intuitive syntax
• iproute2 - Advanced IP routing utilities (ip, ss commands)
• net-tools - Basic networking tools (ifconfig, netstat, route)

Network Testing & Performance

• iperf3 - Network bandwidth measurement tool
• wrk - HTTP benchmarking tool
• netcat-openbsd - Network connection utility for reading/writing data
• socat - Multipurpose relay tool for bidirectional data transfer
• netstress - Network stress testing tool

IP & Network Calculation

• ipcalc-ng - IP address calculator and subnet planner
• iputils-arping - Send ARP requests to network hosts
• iputils-ping - Send ICMP echo requests (ping)
• iputils-tracepath - Trace network path to destination

Network Discovery & Security

• nmap - Network discovery and security auditing tool
• traceroute - Trace network route to destination
• tcptraceroute - Traceroute using TCP packets

Remote Access & Communication

• openssh-client - SSH client for secure remote connections
• telnet - Basic network protocol client
• whois - Query domain registration information
• mosquitto-clients - MQTT client tools (mosquitto_pub, mosquitto_sub)

System Monitoring

• htop - Interactive process viewer
• lsof - List open files and network connections
• sysstat - System performance monitoring tools

Directory Services

• ldap-utils - LDAP client utilities for directory operations

File Operations & Downloads

• aria2 - Multi-protocol download utility
• wget - Non-interactive network downloader
• unzip/zip - Archive compression/decompression tools
• nfs-common - NFS client utilities

Text Processing & Development

• jq - Command-line JSON processor
• yq - Command-line YAML processor
• less - Text file pager
• nano/vim - Text editors
• tree - Display directory structure in tree format

Session Management

• screen - Terminal multiplexer for persistent sessions
• tmux - Advanced terminal multiplexer

Kubernetes Integration

• kubectl - Kubernetes command-line tool
• location - IP geolocation lookup tool

Security Features

• Non-root user netkit with sudo access to privileged network tools
• Minimal attack surface with slim Debian base
• Kubernetes pod runs with restricted security context
• Only essential network capabilities (NET_RAW, NET_ADMIN) when needed

Common Use Cases

DNS Troubleshooting

# Test DNS resolution
dig google.com
nslookup kubernetes.default.svc.cluster.local
host _https._tcp.kubernetes.default.svc.cluster.local

Network Connectivity

# Test connectivity
ping 8.8.8.8
traceroute google.com
mtr --report-cycles 10 8.8.8.8

# Port scanning
nmap -p 80,443 google.com

Performance Testing

# Network performance (requires iperf3 server)
iperf3 -c <server-ip>

# HTTP benchmarking
wrk -t12 -c400 -d30s http://example.com/

Packet Analysis

# Capture packets
sudo tcpdump -i any -n host 8.8.8.8

# With tshark
sudo tshark -i any -n -f "host 8.8.8.8"

# Network grep
sudo ngrep -d any "GET" tcp port 80

Service Discovery

# Kubernetes service discovery
dig SRV _https._tcp.kubernetes.default.svc.cluster.local

# LDAP queries
ldapsearch -x -H ldap://ldap.example.com -b "dc=example,dc=com"

MQTT Testing

# Subscribe to MQTT topic
mosquitto_sub -h mqtt.example.com -t "sensor/temperature"

# Publish MQTT message
mosquitto_pub -h mqtt.example.com -t "sensor/temperature" -m "23.5"

Contributing

Feel free to submit issues and pull requests to improve this toolset.