VNSTAT(1) User Manuals VNSTAT(1)
NAME
vnStat - a console-based network traffic monitor
SYNOPSIS
vnstat [ -Ddhlmqrstuvw? ] [ --cleartop ] [ --config file ] [ --days ] [ --delete ] [ --dbdir directory ] [ --debug ] [ --disable ] [
--dumpdb ] [ --enable ] [ --help ] [ --hours ] [ -i interface ] [ --iface interface ] [ --iflist ] [ --live mode ] [ --locale locale ] [
--longhelp ] [ --months ] [ --nick nickname ] [ --oneline ] [ --query ] [ --rateunit ] [ --rebuildtotal ] [ --reset ] [ -ru ] [ --save-
merged ] [ --short ] [ --showconfig ] [ --style number ] [ --sync ] [ --testkernel ] [ --top10 ] [ -tr time ] [ --traffic time ] [ --update
] [ --version ] [ --weeks ] [ --xml ]
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 analyzed from the proc(5) and sys filesystems depending on avail-
ability. That way vnStat can be used even without root permissions on most systems.
OPTIONS
--cleartop
Remove all top10 entries.
--config file
Use file as config file instead of using normal config file search function.
-d, --days
Show traffic for days.
--dbdir directory
Use directory as database directory instead of using the directory 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 selected interface and stop monitoring it.
--dumpdb
Instead of showing the database with a formated output, this output will dump the whole database in a format that should be easy to
parse with most script languages. Use this for example with PHP, Perl or Python to make a custom webpage. 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 = top10 and h = hours, all other fields are in the same order as in days except hours that doesn't have a separate KiB
value. For hours the forth and fifth fields have values in KiB.
--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 exe-
cuted 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.
-h, --hours
Show traffic for the last 24 hours.
-i, --iface interface
Select one specific interface and apply actions to only it.
--iflist
Show list of currently available interfaces.
-l, --live mode
Display current transfer rate for the selected interface in real time until interrupted. Statistics will be shown after interruption
if the runtime was more than 10 seconds. An optional mode parameter can be used to select between the displaying of packets per sec-
ond (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 for 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.
--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) average 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, otherwise
that interface will get some extra traffic to its database.
--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. Top10 traffic days
isn't included in the merge and will start empty in the new database.
-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.
--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 top10 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 included.
-u, --update
Update all enabled databases or only the one specified with -i parameter.
-v, --version
Show current version.
-w, --weeks
Show traffic for 7 days, current and previous week.
--xml Show database content for selected interface or all interfaces in xml format. All traffic values in the output are in KiB.
-?, --help
Show a command summary.
FILES
/var/lib/vnstat/
This directory contains all databases the program uses. Files are named according to the monitored interfaces.
/etc/vnstat.conf
Config file that will be used unless $HOME/.vnstatrc exists. See vnstat.conf(5) for more information.
EXAMPLES
vnstat Display traffic summary for the default interface.
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 -u -i eth0
Force a database update for interface eth0 or create the database if it doesn't exist. This is usually the first command used after
a fresh install.
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 wrap the kernel interface
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 still a working option.
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 ALSO
vnstatd(1), vnstati(1), vnstat.conf(5), proc(5), ifconfig(8), units(7)
version 1.11 JUNE 2011 VNSTAT(1)