Atlas: Open-Source Tool for Network Discovery, Visualization, and Monitoring

Introduction

Atlas is an open-source, full-stack containerized tool for dynamic network infrastructure scanning, analysis, and visualization. Leveraging Go for powerful backend scanning, FastAPI for a robust API, and React for an interactive frontend, Atlas provides a comprehensive view of your network. It excels at discovering Docker containers, local, and neighboring hosts, presenting all gathered data through rich, real-time dashboards. A live demo is available at atlasdemo.vnerd.nl.

Installation

Deploying Atlas is straightforward using Docker. The following command runs Atlas with essential capabilities and configurable environment variables:

docker run -d \
  --name atlas \
  --network=host \
  --cap-add=NET_RAW \
  --cap-add=NET_ADMIN \
  -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
  -e ATLAS_UI_PORT=8884 \
  -e ATLAS_API_PORT=8885 \
  -e FASTSCAN_INTERVAL=3600 \
  -e DOCKERSCAN_INTERVAL=3600 \
  -e DEEPSCAN_INTERVAL=7200 \
  -e SCAN_SUBNETS="192.168.1.0/24,10.0.0.0/24" \
  keinstien/atlas:latest

Key environment variables include ATLAS_UI_PORT (default 8888) for the UI, ATLAS_API_PORT (default 8889) for the API, and FASTSCAN_INTERVAL, DOCKERSCAN_INTERVAL, DEEPSCAN_INTERVAL for scan scheduling. SCAN_SUBNETS allows specifying multiple subnets for scanning.

Examples

Atlas performs three core functions:

• Scans Docker Containers: It inspects running Docker containers to extract IP addresses, MAC addresses, open ports, network names, and OS types, tracking each network interface separately.
• Scans Local & Neighboring Hosts: It detects reachable devices on the subnet, retrieving OS fingerprints, MACs, and open ports to build a complete infrastructure map.
• Visualizes Data in Real-Time: An interactive React-based HTML dashboard, served via Nginx, renders dynamic network graphs and tables, providing immediate insights.

You can also manage scan schedules dynamically through dedicated API endpoints:

• GET /api/scheduler/intervals - Get current scan intervals for all scan types.
• PUT /api/scheduler/intervals/{scan_type} - Update interval for a specific scan type (fastscan, dockerscan, or deepscan).
• GET /api/scheduler/status - Get scheduler status and current intervals.

For visual examples, the project's GitHub repository includes various screenshots showcasing desktop and mobile views of the dashboard, host tables, and log panels.

Why Use Atlas?

Atlas stands out as a powerful tool for several reasons:

• Comprehensive Scanning: It offers multi-interface and multi-subnet scanning, detecting both Docker containers and physical hosts with detailed information like multiple IPs/MACs per container and OS fingerprints.
• Real-time Visualization: Its dynamic React frontend provides interactive network graphs and tables, making complex network structures easy to understand at a glance.
• Flexible Deployment & Configuration: Easily deployable via Docker, Atlas allows for persistent data storage with SQLite and dynamic adjustment of scan intervals without container restarts.
• Automation: With scheduled auto-scans and a robust backend built in Go, Atlas automates the discovery and monitoring process, reducing manual effort.
• Open Source: Being open source, it benefits from community contributions and transparency, making it a reliable choice for infrastructure management.

Links

• GitHub Repository: https://github.com/karam-ajaj/atlas
• Live Demo: https://atlasdemo.vnerd.nl/
• Swagger API Docs: http://localhost:8888/api/docs (default local endpoint)
• Frontend UI: http://localhost:8888/ (default local endpoint)
• Author's GitHub: https://github.com/karam-ajaj
• License: MIT License