# Install silk with Homebrew

Collection of traffic analysis tools. Version 3.24.2 via Homebrew; verified 2026-05-14.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:silk
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install silk
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:silk
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 3.24.2
- **Source summary:** Collection of traffic analysis tools
- **Homepage:** <https://tools.netsa.cert.org/silk/>
- **Last updated:** 2026-05-14T21:28:11Z
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- flowcap (alias)
- mapsid (alias)
- num2dot (alias)
- rwaddrcount (alias)
- rwaggbag (alias)
- rwaggbagbuild (alias)
- rwaggbagcat (alias)
- rwaggbagtool (alias)
- rwallformats (alias)
- rwappend (alias)
- rwbag (alias)
- rwbagbuild (alias)
- rwbagcat (alias)
- rwbagtool (alias)
- rwcat (alias)
- rwcombine (alias)
- rwcompare (alias)
- rwcount (alias)
- rwcut (alias)
- rwdedupe (alias)
- rwfglob (alias)
- rwfileinfo (alias)
- rwfilter (alias)
- rwflowappend (alias)
- rwflowpack (alias)
- rwgeoip2ccmap (alias)
- rwgroup (alias)
- rwguess (alias)
- rwidsquery (alias)
- rwip2cc (alias)
- rwipfix2silk (alias)
- rwmatch (alias)
- rwnetmask (alias)
- rwp2yaf2silk (alias)
- rwpackchecker (alias)
- rwpcut (alias)
- rwpdedupe (alias)
- rwpdu2silk (alias)
- rwpmapbuild (alias)
- rwpmapcat (alias)
- rwpmaplookup (alias)
- rwpmatch (alias)
- rwpollexec (alias)
- rwptoflow (alias)
- rwrandomizeip (alias)
- rwreceiver (alias)
- rwrecgenerator (alias)
- rwresolve (alias)
- rwscan (alias)
- rwsender (alias)
- rwset (alias)
- rwsetbuild (alias)
- rwsetcat (alias)
- rwsetmember (alias)
- rwsettool (alias)
- rwsilk2ipfix (alias)
- rwsiteinfo (alias)
- rwsort (alias)
- rwsplit (alias)
- rwstats (alias)
- rwswapbytes (alias)
- rwtotal (alias)
- rwtuc (alias)
- rwuniq (alias)
- silk_config (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 3.24.2
## Project history and usage

SiLK, the System for Internet-Level Knowledge, is CERT NetSA's suite for collecting, storing, and analyzing large volumes of network flow data. It combines collection daemons with many command-line analysis tools for querying binary SiLK Flow repositories.

### Project history

The official credits describe SiLK as a CERT Network Situational Awareness project that grew out of earlier large-scale analysis work associated with Suresh Lakshman Konda. The public release notes list releases from SiLK 0.1 in December 2003 through 3.24.2 in May 2026.

The project has evolved from early NetFlow-oriented tooling into a broader flow-analysis suite with IPFIX, NetFlow v5/v9, PySiLK, plug-ins, IPsets, Bags, prefix maps, scan detection, and service packaging material.

### Adoption history

The official site positions SiLK for backbone, enterprise border, and mid-sized ISP traffic analysis, and the input records a Homebrew package. The official downloads page also documents RPM availability for recent releases, reflecting use by Unix and Linux operators.

### How it is used

Operators run packing tools such as flowcap and rwflowpack to collect IPFIX or NetFlow data into a SiLK data repository, then use analysis commands such as rwfilter, rwcut, rwstats, rwuniq, rwset, and rwbag in pipelines to answer security questions over historical flow data.

### Why package nerds care

Package nerds care because SiLK is a large, old-school Unix tool suite with dozens of executables, daemon/service configuration, C/Perl/Python components, generated manpages, and data-file compatibility concerns. Packaging it means making a full operational network-analysis environment available from a package manager.

### Timeline

- 2003: Official release notes list SiLK 0.1.
- 2008: Official release notes list SiLK 1.0.0.
- 2011: Official release notes list SiLK 3.0.0.
- 2017: Official release notes list SiLK 4.0.0 beta software while 3.x continues.
- 2026: Official downloads page lists SiLK 3.24.2.

### Related projects

- Related projects and components include YAF, libfixbuf, IPFIX, NetFlow, PySiLK, rwflowpack, flowcap, rwfilter, and the broader CERT NetSA Security Suite.

### Sources

- <https://tools.netsa.cert.org/silk/>
- <https://tools.netsa.cert.org/silk/credits.html>
- <https://tools.netsa.cert.org/silk/docs.html>
- <https://tools.netsa.cert.org/silk/download.html>
- <https://tools.netsa.cert.org/silk/releasenotes.html>
- source_facts.package-manager


## Security Notes

No matching local secret-handling manifest was found for silk. Nucleus package metadata is still published here so future coverage has a stable package URL.



## Configuration and credential file locations

These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.


## Configuration files

- Unix: ${SILK_CONFIG_FILE}, ${SILK_DATA_ROOTDIR}/silk.conf, /data/silk.conf, ${SILK_PATH}/share/silk/silk.conf, ${SILK_PATH}/share/silk.conf, /usr/share/silk/silk.conf, /usr/share/silk.conf, /etc/rwflowpack.conf, $prefix/etc/rwflowpack.conf

## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/silk.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/silk.yml)


## Sources

- pkg.so package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated configuration and credential file locations
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation
- cross-ecosystem install command graph