diff --git a/scripts/lua/if_stats.lua b/scripts/lua/if_stats.lua
index f4989a9306..6f4572a680 100644
--- a/scripts/lua/if_stats.lua
+++ b/scripts/lua/if_stats.lua
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ if ifstats.stats and ifstats.stats_since_reset then
 end
 
 local ext_interfaces = {}
-if recording_utils.isAvailable() and not interface.isPacketInterface() then
+if recording_utils.isAvailable() and recording_utils.isSupportedZMQInterface(ifid) then
    ext_interfaces = recording_utils.getExtInterfaces()
 end
 
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ if (isAdministrator()) then
       end
       ntop.setCache('ntopng.prefs.ifid_'..ifstats.id..'.traffic_recording.disk_space', tostring(disk_space))
 
-      if not interface.isPacketInterface() then
+      if recording_utils.isSupportedZMQInterface(ifid) then
         local ext_ifname
         if not isEmptyString(_POST["custom_name"]) then
           -- param check
@@ -197,8 +197,9 @@ if (isAdministrator()) then
       if record_traffic then
         local config = {}
         config.max_disk_space = disk_space
-        if not interface.isPacketInterface() then 
-          config.zmq_endpoint = "tcp://127.0.0.1:5556" -- TODO
+        if recording_utils.isSupportedZMQInterface(ifid) then 
+          config.zmq_endpoint = recording_utils.getZMQProbeAddr(ifid)
+          recording_utils.stop(ifstats.id) -- stop before starting as the interface can be changed
         end
         if recording_utils.createConfig(ifstats.id, config) then
           recording_utils.restart(ifstats.id)
@@ -295,7 +296,9 @@ if is_packetdump_enabled then
    end
 end
 
-if recording_utils.isAvailable() and (interface.isPacketInterface() or not table.empty(ext_interfaces)) then
+if recording_utils.isAvailable() and (interface.isPacketInterface() or 
+   (recording_utils.isSupportedZMQInterface(ifid) and not table.empty(ext_interfaces))) then
+
    if(page == "traffic_recording") then
       print("<li class=\"active\"><a href=\""..url.."&page=traffic_recording\"><i class=\"fa fa-caret-square-o-right fa-lg\"></i></a></li>")
    else
@@ -1198,7 +1201,7 @@ elseif(page == "traffic_recording") then
           <input id="csrf" name="csrf" type="hidden" value="]] print(ntop.getRandomCSRFValue()) print [[" />
     ]]
 
-    if not interface.isPacketInterface() then
+    if recording_utils.isSupportedZMQInterface(ifid) then
       local ext_ifname = ntop.getCache('ntopng.prefs.ifid_'..ifid..'.traffic_recording.ext_ifname')
       if isEmptyString(ext_ifname) then
         for ifname,_ in pairs(ext_interfaces) do
diff --git a/scripts/lua/modules/recording_utils.lua b/scripts/lua/modules/recording_utils.lua
index d4bdc75da0..8ff4b392a2 100644
--- a/scripts/lua/modules/recording_utils.lua
+++ b/scripts/lua/modules/recording_utils.lua
@@ -29,9 +29,55 @@ local function executeWithOuput(c)
   return s
 end
 
+function recording_utils.isSupportedZMQInterface(ifid)
+  local ifname = getInterfaceName(ifid)
+  -- localhost in collectore mode is accepted
+  local zmq_prefix_any = "tcp://*"
+  local zmq_prefix_loh = "tcp://127.0.0.1"
+  if (ifname:sub(1, #zmq_prefix_any) == zmq_prefix_any or
+      ifname:sub(1, #zmq_prefix_loh) == zmq_prefix_loh) and
+      ifname:sub(-1) == "c" then
+    return true
+  end
+  return false
+end
+
+local function getZMQPort(addr)
+  local values = split(addr, ':')
+  if #values == 3 then
+    local port = split(values[3], 'c')
+    return port[1]
+  end
+  return nil
+end
+
+function recording_utils.getZMQProbeAddr(ifid)
+  local port = getZMQPort(getInterfaceName(ifid))
+  if port == nil then
+    port = "5556"
+  end
+  return "tcp://127.0.0.1:"..port
+end
+
+function recording_utils.isSupportedZMQInterface(ifid)
+  local ifname = getInterfaceName(ifid)
+  local zmq_prefix = "tcp://"
+  if ifname:sub(1, #zmq_prefix) == zmq_prefix and ifname:sub(-1) == "c" then
+    return true
+  end
+  return false
+end
+
+function recording_utils.isSupportedInterface(ifid)
+  if interface.isPacketInterface() or 
+     recording_utils.isSupportedZMQInterface(ifid) then
+    return true
+  end
+  return false
+end
+
 function recording_utils.isAvailable()
-  if isAdministrator() and 
-     -- interface.isPacketInterface() and 
+  if isAdministrator() and
      not ntop.isWindows() and
      not ntop.isnEdge() and
      ntop.exists(ntopng_config_tool) and 
@@ -298,6 +344,7 @@ function recording_utils.createConfig(ifid, params)
   end
   if config.zmq_endpoint ~= nil then
     f:write("--zmq="..config.zmq_endpoint.."\n")
+    f:write("--zmq-probe-mode\n")
     f:write("--zmq-export-flows\n")
   end
   -- Ignored by systemd, required by init.d