vnStat - a network traffic monitor for Linux and BSD

Jay Taylor's notes

vnStat - a network traffic monitor for Linux and BSD

Tags: monitoring linux bandwidth humdi.net

Clipped on: 2018-08-23

vnStat

vnStat is a console-based network traffic monitor for Linux and BSD that keeps a log of network traffic for the selected interface(s). It uses the network interface statistics provided by the kernel as information source. This means that vnStat won't actually be sniffing any traffic and also ensures light use of system resources.

This program is open source / GPL'ed and can be installed either as root or as a single user. Better instructions are included in the README. Feel free to send comments by email (remove the spamfilter) or try contacting me from irc (Vergo @ IRCNet).

Features

quick and simple to install and get running
gathered statistics persists through system reboots
can monitor multiple interfaces at the same time
several output options
- summary, hourly, daily, monthly, weekly, top 10 days
- optional png image output (using libgd)
months can be configured to follow billing period
light, minimal resource usage
same low cpu usage regardless of traffic
can be used without root permissions
online color configuration editor

Downloads

vnstat-1.18.tar.gz (sig) - source for Linux and BSD (236.8 KiB)
- Man pages:
  - vnstat [html] [pdf] [ps]
  - vnstatd [html] [pdf] [ps]
  - vnstati [html] [pdf] [ps]
  - vnstat.conf [html] [pdf] [ps]
- CHANGES - changelog
- FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions
- image output demo

Git repository: github.com/vergoh/vnstat
- Latest development version: master.zip

Links

Similar programs:

vnStat related:

Screenshots

Since vnStat doesn't have/need a fancy GUI, all 'screenshots' are console captures. Examples of the image output can be found from the cgi demo page.

$ vnstat --help
 vnStat 1.18 by Teemu Toivola

         -q,  --query          query database
         -h,  --hours          show hours
         -d,  --days           show days
         -m,  --months         show months
         -w,  --weeks          show weeks
         -t,  --top10          show top10
         -s,  --short          use short output
         -u,  --update         update database
         -i,  --iface          select interface (default: eth0)
         -?,  --help           short help
         -v,  --version        show version
         -tr, --traffic        calculate traffic
         -ru, --rateunit       swap configured rate unit
         -l,  --live           show transfer rate in real time

See also "--longhelp" for complete options list and "man vnstat".

$ vnstat
Database updated: Sat Aug  1 22:50:01 2009

   eth1 since 11/20/08

          rx:  3.32 TiB      tx:  2.81 TiB     total:  6.13 TiB

   monthly
                     rx      |     tx      |    total    |   avg. rate
     ------------------------+-------------+-------------+---------------
       Jul '09    609.40 GiB |  282.21 GiB |  891.61 GiB |    2.79 Mbit/s
       Aug '09     16.95 GiB |   10.46 GiB |   27.40 GiB |    2.80 Mbit/s
     ------------------------+-------------+-------------+---------------
     estimated    552.14 GiB |  340.70 GiB |  892.83 GiB |

   daily
                     rx      |     tx      |    total    |   avg. rate
     ------------------------+-------------+-------------+---------------
     yesterday     19.19 GiB |    8.63 GiB |   27.82 GiB |    2.70 Mbit/s
         today     16.95 GiB |   10.46 GiB |   27.40 GiB |    2.80 Mbit/s
     ------------------------+-------------+-------------+---------------
     estimated     17.81 GiB |   10.99 GiB |   28.80 GiB |

(with 2 interfaces)
$ vnstat

                      rx      /      tx      /     total    /   estimated
 Internet (eth1):
       Jul '09     31.90 GiB  /   28.05 GiB  /   59.95 GiB
       Aug '09    281.04 MiB  /   99.45 MiB  /  380.49 MiB  /   12.05 GiB
     yesterday      1.23 GiB  /  473.23 MiB  /    1.69 GiB
         today    281.04 MiB  /   99.45 MiB  /  380.49 MiB  /     397 MiB

 Local (eth0):
       Jul '09     25.13 GiB  /  116.94 GiB  /  142.07 GiB
       Aug '09    234.75 MiB  /    5.03 GiB  /    5.26 GiB  /  170.76 GiB
     yesterday    520.55 MiB  /    2.21 GiB  /    2.72 GiB
         today    234.75 MiB  /    5.03 GiB  /    5.26 GiB  /    5.51 GiB

$ vnstat -h
 eth0                                                                     19:36
  ^                                 t
  |                                 t
  |                                 t
  |                                 t
  |                                rt           t        t        t
  |            t                   rt           t  t  t  t  t     t
  |   t     t  t     t  t  t     t rt  t  t     t  t  t  t  t     t     t  t
  |   t  t  t  t  t  t  t  t  t  t rt  t  t  t  t  t  t  t  t  t  t  t  t  t
  |   t  t  t  t  t  t  t  t  t  t rt  t  t  t  t  t  t  t  t  t  t  t  t  t
  |   t rt  t  t rt  t  t rt  t  t rt rt  t rt rt  t rt rt  t rt rt  t rt rt
 -+--------------------------------------------------------------------------->
  |  20 21 22 23 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

 h   rx (KB)    tx (KB)  ][  h   rx (KB)    tx (KB)  ][  h   rx (KB)    tx (KB)
20      1,245      6,079 ][ 04      1,186      5,193 ][ 12      2,301      8,135
21      1,671      5,245 ][ 05      1,303      6,999 ][ 13      1,512      9,351
22      1,177      6,188 ][ 06      9,530     14,294 ][ 14      1,319      7,273
23      1,393      7,301 ][ 07      1,453      6,760 ][ 15      1,482      5,061
00      1,451      4,850 ][ 08      1,352      7,066 ][ 16      1,473      8,597
01      1,355      6,632 ][ 09      1,588      4,843 ][ 17        987      4,314
02      1,385      6,757 ][ 10      1,535      9,041 ][ 18      1,896      7,099
03      1,678      6,225 ][ 11      1,411      8,035 ][ 19      2,014      6,373

$ vnstat -d

 eth1  /  daily

         day         rx      |     tx      |    total    |   avg. rate
     ------------------------+-------------+-------------+---------------
      07/03/09     10.90 GiB |    6.39 GiB |   17.29 GiB |    1.68 Mbit/s
      07/04/09     21.21 GiB |    5.65 GiB |   26.87 GiB |    2.61 Mbit/s
      07/05/09     10.58 GiB |    6.67 GiB |   17.25 GiB |    1.67 Mbit/s
      07/06/09     49.90 GiB |    9.69 GiB |   59.59 GiB |    5.79 Mbit/s
      07/07/09     28.09 GiB |    7.58 GiB |   35.68 GiB |    3.46 Mbit/s
      07/08/09     17.60 GiB |    6.83 GiB |   24.43 GiB |    2.37 Mbit/s
      07/09/09     20.80 GiB |   15.64 GiB |   36.44 GiB |    3.54 Mbit/s
      07/10/09     16.10 GiB |   11.14 GiB |   27.24 GiB |    2.64 Mbit/s
      07/11/09      9.79 GiB |    4.96 GiB |   14.76 GiB |    1.43 Mbit/s
      07/12/09      9.36 GiB |    9.60 GiB |   18.97 GiB |    1.84 Mbit/s
      07/13/09     11.26 GiB |    8.16 GiB |   19.42 GiB |    1.89 Mbit/s
      07/14/09     32.65 GiB |    9.56 GiB |   42.21 GiB |    4.10 Mbit/s
      07/15/09     35.32 GiB |   15.55 GiB |   50.88 GiB |    4.94 Mbit/s
      07/16/09     20.71 GiB |   15.24 GiB |   35.95 GiB |    3.49 Mbit/s
      07/17/09     15.10 GiB |   15.34 GiB |   30.44 GiB |    2.95 Mbit/s
      07/18/09     14.23 GiB |    5.20 GiB |   19.44 GiB |    1.89 Mbit/s
      07/19/09     23.59 GiB |    6.73 GiB |   30.32 GiB |    2.94 Mbit/s
      07/20/09     36.36 GiB |    7.53 GiB |   43.90 GiB |    4.26 Mbit/s
      07/21/09     28.11 GiB |    6.06 GiB |   34.16 GiB |    3.32 Mbit/s
      07/22/09     20.80 GiB |   15.36 GiB |   36.16 GiB |    3.51 Mbit/s
      07/23/09     18.20 GiB |   10.71 GiB |   28.91 GiB |    2.81 Mbit/s
      07/24/09     13.07 GiB |    6.25 GiB |   19.33 GiB |    1.88 Mbit/s
      07/25/09      9.74 GiB |    6.38 GiB |   16.11 GiB |    1.56 Mbit/s
      07/26/09     11.51 GiB |    6.66 GiB |   18.17 GiB |    1.76 Mbit/s
      07/27/09     16.68 GiB |    9.18 GiB |   25.86 GiB |    2.51 Mbit/s
      07/28/09     17.06 GiB |    6.61 GiB |   23.67 GiB |    2.30 Mbit/s
      07/29/09     23.19 GiB |    7.21 GiB |   30.41 GiB |    2.95 Mbit/s
      07/30/09      9.34 GiB |    7.79 GiB |   17.13 GiB |    1.66 Mbit/s
      07/31/09     19.19 GiB |    8.63 GiB |   27.82 GiB |    2.70 Mbit/s
      08/01/09     17.13 GiB |   10.50 GiB |   27.63 GiB |    2.81 Mbit/s
     ------------------------+-------------+-------------+---------------
     estimated     17.94 GiB |   11.00 GiB |   28.94 GiB |

$ vnstat -m

 eth1  /  monthly

      month         rx      |      tx      |    total     |   avg. rate
    ------------------------+--------------+--------------+---------------
     Nov '08      74.94 GiB |    96.48 GiB |   171.42 GiB |  554.76 kbit/s
     Dec '08     279.32 GiB |   276.05 GiB |   555.37 GiB |    1.74 Mbit/s
     Jan '09     324.34 GiB |   413.38 GiB |   737.72 GiB |    2.31 Mbit/s
     Feb '09     273.73 GiB |   362.49 GiB |   636.22 GiB |    2.21 Mbit/s
     Mar '09     353.50 GiB |   270.03 GiB |   623.53 GiB |    1.95 Mbit/s
     Apr '09     361.74 GiB |   365.01 GiB |   726.74 GiB |    2.35 Mbit/s
     May '09     345.62 GiB |   440.43 GiB |   786.05 GiB |    2.46 Mbit/s
     Jun '09     758.45 GiB |   359.30 GiB |     1.09 TiB |    3.62 Mbit/s
     Jul '09     609.40 GiB |   282.21 GiB |   891.61 GiB |    2.79 Mbit/s
     Aug '09      17.13 GiB |    10.50 GiB |    27.63 GiB |    2.81 Mbit/s
    ------------------------+--------------+--------------+---------------
    estimated    556.15 GiB |   340.85 GiB |   897.00 GiB |

$ vnstat -t

 eth1  /  top 10

    #      day          rx      |     tx      |    total    |   avg. rate
   -----------------------------+-------------+-------------+---------------
    1   06/24/09      80.56 GiB |   10.47 GiB |   91.03 GiB |    8.84 Mbit/s
    2   06/09/09      49.11 GiB |   21.65 GiB |   70.76 GiB |    6.87 Mbit/s
    3   06/15/09      38.01 GiB |   28.77 GiB |   66.78 GiB |    6.48 Mbit/s
    4   06/26/09      53.03 GiB |   10.57 GiB |   63.60 GiB |    6.17 Mbit/s
    5   07/06/09      49.90 GiB |    9.69 GiB |   59.59 GiB |    5.79 Mbit/s
    6   06/25/09      47.32 GiB |   10.11 GiB |   57.43 GiB |    5.58 Mbit/s
    7   02/20/09      19.15 GiB |   37.55 GiB |   56.70 GiB |    5.50 Mbit/s
    8   02/02/09      20.65 GiB |   34.03 GiB |   54.68 GiB |    5.31 Mbit/s
    9   01/14/09      20.00 GiB |   32.99 GiB |   52.99 GiB |    5.14 Mbit/s
   10   04/26/09      32.37 GiB |   19.22 GiB |   51.59 GiB |    5.01 Mbit/s
   -----------------------------+-------------+-------------+---------------

$ vnstat -w

 eth1  /  weekly

                      rx      |     tx      |    total    |   avg. rate
   ---------------------------+-------------+-------------+---------------
    last 7 days    114.11 GiB |   56.58 GiB |  170.69 GiB |    2.38 Mbit/s
      last week    137.79 GiB |   58.96 GiB |  196.75 GiB |    2.73 Mbit/s
   current week    102.60 GiB |   49.92 GiB |  152.52 GiB |    2.49 Mbit/s
   ---------------------------+-------------+-------------+---------------
      estimated    121.38 GiB |   59.06 GiB |  180.44 GiB |

$ vnstat -tr
3103 packets sampled in 5 seconds
Traffic average for eth1

      rx          50.41 KiB/s           289 packets/s
      tx          82.11 KiB/s           331 packets/s

$ vnstat -l
Monitoring eth0...    (press CTRL-C to stop)

   rx:        0 kbit/s     1 p/s          tx:        4 kbit/s     2 p/s


 eth0  /  traffic statistics

                           rx         |       tx
--------------------------------------+------------------
  bytes                       21 KiB  |          36 KiB
--------------------------------------+------------------
          max              60 kbit/s  |       72 kbit/s
      average            3.36 kbit/s  |     5.76 kbit/s
          min               0 kbit/s  |        0 kbit/s
--------------------------------------+------------------
  packets                        262  |             272
--------------------------------------+------------------
          max                 94 p/s  |          94 p/s
      average                  5 p/s  |           5 p/s
          min                  0 p/s  |           0 p/s
--------------------------------------+------------------
  time                    50 seconds