VNSTAT(1) User Manuals VNSTAT(1)NAMEvnstat - a console-based network traffic monitor
SYNOPSISvnstat [ -Ddhlmqrstuvw? ] [ --cleartop ] [ --config file ] [ --create
] [ --days ] [ --delete ] [ --dbdir directory ] [ --debug ] [ --disable
] [ --enable ] [ --exportdb ] [ --help ] [ --hours ] [ --importdb file
] [ -i interface ] [ --iface interface ] [ --iflist ] [ --json mode ] [
--live mode ] [ --locale locale ] [ --longhelp ] [ --months ] [ --nick
nickname ] [ --oneline ] [ --query ] [ --rateunit ] [ --rebuildtotal ]
[ --reset ] [ -ru ] [ --savemerged ] [ --short ] [ --showconfig ] [
--style number ] [ --sync ] [ --testkernel ] [ --top10 ] [ -tr time ] [
--traffic time ] [ --update ] [ --version ] [ --weeks ] [ --xml mode ]
DESCRIPTION
vnStat is a console-based network traffic monitor. It keeps a log of
hourly, daily and monthly network traffic for the selected inter‐
face(s). However, it isn't a packet sniffer. The traffic information is
read from the proc(5) or sys filesystems depending on availability.
That way vnStat can be used even without root permissions on most sys‐
tems.
The implementation is divided into two commands. The purpose of the
vnstat command is to provide an interface for querying the traffic
information stored in network interface specific databases where as the
daemon vnstatd(1) is responsible for data retrieval and storage.
Although the daemon process is constantly running as a service, it is
actually spending most of the time sleeping between data updates.
OPTIONS--cleartop
Remove all top 10 entries.
--config file
Use file as configuration file instead of using normal configu‐
ration file search functionality.
--create
Create database for interface specified with -i or --iface
option.
-d, --days
Show traffic statistics on a daily basis for the last 30 days.
--dbdir directory
Use directory as database directory instead of using the direc‐
tory specified in the configuration file or the hardcoded
default if no configuration file is available.
-D, --debug
Show additional debug output.
--delete
Delete the database for the interface specified with -i or
--iface and stop monitoring it.
--enable, --disable
Enable or disable updates for selected interface. Useful for
interfaces that aren't always available, like ppp0. If the
interface goes down it should be disabled in order to avoid
errors. Add something like vnstat-r --disable -i ppp0 to the
script that's executed when the interface goes down and vnstat--enable -i ppp0 to the up script. These two options aren't
needed when the daemon is used.
--exportdb
Instead of showing the database with a formatted output, this
output will dump the whole database in a plain text based
architeture independent format. The output can be imported back
using the --importdb option and can be used for moving a data‐
base from one host to another. See the --importdb documentation
below for an example. Using the output for scripting is possible
but the outputs of --xml and --json are likely to be more suit‐
able. The dump uses ; as field delimeter.
active;1 activity status
interface;eth0 name for the interface
nick;inet nick (if given)
created;1023895272 creation date in Unix time
updated;1065467100 when the database was updated
totalrx;569605 all time total received MiB
totaltx;2023708 all time total transmitted MiB
currx;621673719 latest rx value in /proc
curtx;981730184 latest tx value in /proc
totalrxk;644 total rx KiB counter
totaltxk;494 total tx KiB counter
btime;1059414541 system boot time in Unix time
Then follows 30 lines like the following
d;0;1078696800;559;7433;68;557;1
where d = days, 0 = day number in database (0 is today),
1077314401 date in Unix time, 559 = rx MiB, 7433 = tx MiB, 68 =
rx KiB, 557 = tx KiB and 1 tells that vnStat has filled this
value and it is in use.
m;0;1078092000;48649;139704;527;252;1 (x12)
t;0;1078351200;5979;47155;362;525;1 (x10)
h;0;1078699800;118265;516545 (x24)
m = months, t = top 10 and h = hours, all other fields are in
the same order as in days except hours that doesn't have a sepa‐
rate KiB value. For hours the forth and fifth fields have values
in KiB.
-h, --hours
Show traffic statistics on a hourly basis for the last 24 hours.
--importdb file
Import a database from file which was previously exported using
the --exportdb option. This can be used to transfer a database
between different architectures and hosts, as the database is
architecture dependant and not compatible between different
architectures. First dump the database on one host, e.g. with
vnstat-i ppp0 --exportdb >ppp0db.txt and then import the text
file on a different host using vnstat-i ppp0 --importdb
ppp0db.txt
-i, --iface interface
Select one specific interface and apply actions to only it. For
queries, it is possible to merge the information of two or more
interfaces using the interface1+interface2+... syntax.
--iflist
Show list of currently available interfaces.
--json mode
Show database content for selected interface or all interfaces
in json format. All traffic values in the output are in KiB. An
optional mode parameter can be used for limiting the output to
only selected information. Everything is shown by default. Set‐
ting mode to 'h' will output only hours, 'd' days, 'm' months
and 't' the top 10.
-l, --live mode
Display current transfer rate for the selected interface in real
time until interrupted. Statistics will be shown after interrup‐
tion if the runtime was more than 10 seconds. An optional mode
parameter can be used to select between the displaying of pack‐
ets per second (mode 0) and transfer counters (mode 1) during
execution. --style can also be used to affect the layout of the
output.
--locale locale
Use locale instead of using the locale setting specified in the
configuration file or the system default if no configuration
file is available.
--longhelp
Show complete options list.
-m, --months
Show traffic statistics on a monthly basis for the last 12
months.
--nick nickname
Set the selected interfaces nickname as an alias the will be
displayed in queries. Usage of -u is required to save the change
and the daemon may not be running during the set operation.
--oneline
Show traffic summary for selected interface using one line with
a parseable format. The output contains 15 fields with ; used as
field delimeter. The 1st field contains the version information
of the output that will be changed in future versions of vnStat
if the field structure changes. The following fields in order 2)
interface name, 3) timestamp for today, 4) rx for today, 5) tx
for today, 6) total for today, 7) average traffic rate for
today, 8) timestamp for current month, 9) rx for current month,
10) tx for current month, 11) total for current month, 12) aver‐
age traffic rate for today, 13) all time total rx, 14) all time
total tx, 15) all time total traffic.
-q, --query
Force database query mode.
-r, --reset
Reset the internal counters in the database for the selected
interface. Use this if the interface goes down and back up, oth‐
erwise that interface will get some extra traffic to its data‐
base. Not needed when the daemon is used.
--rebuildtotal
Reset the total traffic counters and recount those using
recorded months.
-ru, --rateunit
Swap the configured rate unit. If rate has been configured to be
shown in bytes then rate will be shown in bits if this option is
present. In the same way, if rate has been configured to be
shown in bits then rate will be shown in bytes when this option
is present. Alternatively 0 or 1 can be given as parameter for
this option in order to select between bytes (0) and bits (1)
regardless of the configuration file setting.
--savemerged
Write the end result of a database merge to the file mergeddb
that can then be used as a new database if renamed. Top 10 traf‐
fic days isn't included in the merge and will start empty in the
new database. The merge interface syntax is documented in -i,
--iface option.
-s, --short
Use short output mode. This mode is also used if more than one
database is available.
--style number
Modify the content and style of outputs. Set number to 0 for a
more narrow output, 1 for enabling bar column, 2 for same as
previous but with average traffic rate visible in summary and
weekly outputs and 3 for enabling average traffic rate in all
outputs where it is supported. 4 disables the use of terminal
control characters in -l / --live mode.
--sync Synchronize internal counters in the database with interface
counters for the selected interface. Use this if the system is
rebooted but interface counters aren't reseted. Such can occur
when suspend to ram/disk is used. Not needed when the daemon is
used.
--testkernel
Test if the kernel boot time information always stays the same
like it should or if it's shifting.
-t, --top10
Show all time top 10 traffic days.
-tr time
Calculate how much traffic goes through the selected interface
during the given time seconds. The time will be 5 seconds if a
number parameter isn't specified.
-u, --update
Update all enabled databases or only the one specified with -i
parameter. Not supported when the daemon is running.
-v, --version
Show current version.
-w, --weeks
Show traffic for 7 days, current and previous week.
--xml mode
Show database content for selected interface or all interfaces
in xml format. All traffic values in the output are in KiB. An
optional mode parameter can be used for limiting the output to
only selected information. Everything is shown by default. Set‐
ting mode to 'h' will output only hours, 'd' days, 'm' months
and 't' the top 10.
-?, --help
Show a command option summary.
FILES
/var/lib/vnstat/
This directory contains all databases the program uses. Files
are named according to the monitored interfaces. A backup copy
of each database is kept in a file starting with a . (dot char‐
acter) and otherwise named according to the original file.
/etc/vnstat.conf
Config file that will be used unless $HOME/.vnstatrc exists. See
vnstat.conf(5) for more information.
EXAMPLESvnstat Display traffic summary for the default interface or multiple
interfaces when more than one is monitored.
vnstat-i eth0+eth1+eth3
Display traffic summary for a merge of interfaces eth0, eth1 and
eth3.
vnstat-i eth2 --xml
Output all information about interface eth2 in xml format.
vnstat--json
Output all information of all monitored interfaces in json for‐
mat.
vnstat-u -i eth0
Force a database update for interface eth0 or create the data‐
base if it doesn't exist. This is usually the first command used
after a fresh install if the daemon isn't used.
vnstat-u -i eth0 --nick local
Give interface eth0 the nickname "local". That information will
be later later visible as a label when eth0 is queried. The
database will also be updated when this command is executed or
created if the database doesn't exist.
vnstat-i eth2 --delete
Delete database of interface eth2 and stop monitoring it.
RESTRICTIONS
Updates needs to be executed at least as often as it is possible for
the interface to generate enough traffic to overflow the kernel inter‐
face traffic counter. Otherwise, it is possible that some traffic won't
be seen. This isn't an issue for 64-bit kernels but at least one update
every hour is always required in order to provide proper input. With
32-bit kernels, the maximum time between two updates depends on how
fast the interface can transfer 4 GiB. Calculated theoretical times
are:
10 Mbit: 54 minutes
100 Mbit: 5 minutes
1000 Mbit: 30 seconds
However, for 1000 Mbit interfaces updating once every minute is usually
a usable solution if faster updates can't be used.
Estimated traffic values are likely to be somewhat inaccurate if daily
traffic is low because only the MiB counter is used to calculate the
estimate.
Virtual and aliased interfaces cannot be monitored because the kernel
doesn't provide traffic information for that type of interfaces. Such
interfaces are usually named eth0:0, eth0:1, eth0:2 etc. where eth0 is
the actual interface being aliased.
AUTHOR
Teemu Toivola <tst at iki dot fi>
SEE ALSOvnstatd(1), vnstati(1), vnstat.conf(5), proc(5), ifconfig(8), units(7)version 1.14 APRIL 2015 VNSTAT(1)
