IO Ninja 5.1.1 Is Out!
Major release

• Sign in as Guest
• New regex-based log colorizer
• Auto-update of packet template checksum fields
• New command line client for IO Ninja hardware
• New plugin: Serial over SSH
• New plugin: Serial Tap over SSH
• New plugin: Ethernet Tap over SSH

Guest Login

The account subsystem is dedicated to keeping track of capabilities enabled on a particular account. At the same time, many capabilities in IO Ninja are FREE and always enabled for everyone. Moreover, some paid capabilities can be put on PROMOTION, which means they become temporarily free for the promotion's duration. For people who only use the free features of IO Ninja, registration of an IO Ninja account was nothing more than an annoying formality. Recognizing that, in version 5.1.1 we introduce the Guest login — now you can sign in without an account and use the free features of IO Ninja!

Log Colorizer

The new regex-based log colorizer fixes longtime issues with the now-deprecated "Regex Colorizer" layer plugin. Now, it's no longer necessary to attach a layer before colorizing the log. Changes in the colorization rules are applied instantly, without the need to rebuild the log. Also, the new engine is capable of processing an arbitrary number of colorization rules without a performance penalty, so you can create custom colorization libraries to suit your needs.

Packet Template Improvements

The Packet Template engine is one of the most advanced and unique features of IO Ninja that makes it really stand out among other terminal software tools. In version 5.1.x, this feature got a major boost — now, checksums, payload lengths, and other fields that need to be calculated before transmission are automatically updated. The stock packet template libraries got a major makeover, too — all fields have human-readable names now, and we added support for fixed-size packets and restructured the Modbus library.

Command Line Client for IO Ninja Hardware

Meet ioninja-hwc, a new tool for controlling IO Ninja hardware taps from the command line! This tool is the key to the long-requested feature of remote access to the Serial Tap and Ethernet Tap (see below). Another application of this tool is capturing packets via the Ethernet Tap directly from Wireshark. Finally, it can be used to facilitate access to IO Ninja hardware taps from your own programs.

Remote Capture with IO Ninja Taps over SSH

Over the years, we received lots of requests for remote capture via Serial Tap and Ethernet Tap. Our users wanted to be able to plug their hardware sniffer into a headless Raspberry Pi and capture remotely. If you were looking for such a feature — rejoice, because it's finally here with two new plugins: Serial Tap over SSH and Ethernet Tap over SSH!

We took things one step further and developed a remote serial terminal, too! Serial over SSH lets you control a remote serial port plugged into your Raspberry Pi or another Linux box.