> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://wireblast.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Quickstart
> Traffic on the wire in about a minute. No spare NIC needed.
Run it with no arguments. That's the whole trick.
```bash theme={null}
sudo wireblast
```
A four-step wizard opens: pick an interface, pick a traffic pattern, fill in the settings, press enter. You can leave every field at its default and still get a sensible, safe run.
The defaults are deliberately cautious: **100 kpps**, not line rate, and **30 seconds**. An accidental run neither saturates a link nor runs forever.
## No spare interface? Use a veth pair
You don't need two servers to try this. A `veth` pair and a network namespace give you a sender and a receiver on one machine, and nothing you do can touch your real network.
```bash theme={null}
sudo ip netns add wblab
sudo ip link add wb0 type veth peer name wb1
sudo ip link set wb1 netns wblab
sudo ip addr add 10.99.0.1/24 dev wb0
sudo ip link set wb0 up
sudo ip netns exec wblab ip addr add 10.99.0.2/24 dev wb1
sudo ip netns exec wblab ip link set wb1 up
```
Now send across it:
```bash theme={null}
sudo wireblast -i wb0 --dst-ip 10.99.0.2 --packet-size 512 --pps 100k -d 10s
```
And when you're done, `sudo ip netns del wblab` removes the whole thing.
The [namespace lab guide](/guides/namespace-lab) builds this out into a full sender and receiver, with the exact numbers to expect.
## The first attach takes a few seconds
On a physical NIC, the first thing you'll see is this:
```text theme={null}
attaching XDP to eno2 and waiting for the link...
link came back after 11.8s
```
It looks broken. It isn't. Attaching a native XDP program makes the driver reinitialise its queues, which drops carrier while the link renegotiates. On a 10G Intel NIC that's typically 8 to 11 seconds.
Two things soften it. The run clock doesn't start until the link is back, so a 30-second run gives you 30 seconds of traffic. And it only happens once: the XDP program stays attached, so pressing `r` to run again restarts in about two seconds.
Virtual interfaces like `veth` skip this entirely.
## Watching it run
The dashboard updates four times a second. Rates sit at the top of each column because they're what you actually watch. Totals sit below.
| Key | What it does |
| --------- | ------------------------------------------------ |
| `space` | Pause and resume transmitting |
| `+` / `-` | Change the rate by 10% |
| `g` | Cycle the graph: packets/sec, bits/sec, off |
| `r` | Zero the visible counters |
| `?` | Every key, plus a short explanation of L1 and L2 |
| `q` | Stop cleanly and quit |
When the run finishes you get a summary and a menu: `r` to run it again, `e` to edit settings, `p` to change pattern, `q` to quit. Wireblast also remembers what you ran, so the next `sudo wireblast` starts prefilled.
## The same run, as one command
Everything in the wizard is a flag:
```bash theme={null}
sudo wireblast -i eno2 --dst-ip 192.0.2.10 --packet-size 512 --pps 100k -d 10s
```
Add `--start` to skip the wizard but keep the dashboard, or `--no-tui` to skip both and print plain text for a script:
```text theme={null}
ran for 0:10
tx: 1 M packets, 512.03 MB, 99.95 kpps, L1 425.38 Mbit/s, L2 409.39 Mbit/s, avg frame 512B
udp 1 M, tcp 0, other 0
```
Two bit rates, both correct, measuring different things. [Reading the numbers](/concepts/numbers) explains which one you want.
## Next
Benchmark a link, run IMIX, replay a capture, stress a firewall.
Sender on one machine, receiver on the other, and how to tell they agree.
Wireblast transmits only by default. Here's how to turn receiving on safely.
The complete command-line reference.