VnStat

vnStat is a lightweight network traffic monitor. It keeps a network traffic log on selectable interfaces. Through the command line the network traffic statistics can be shown.

Installation

Install vnstat from the official repositories.

Configuration

Setting the interfaces

First introduce every interface that needs to be logged to vnStat. For example a wired interface:

# vnstat -u -i eth0

Or a wireless interface:

# vnstat -u -i wlan0

When introducing an interface for the first time there will be an error message saying 'unable to read database'. If this message is followed by an info message saying 'a new database has been created' the interface is successfully introduced. If this is not the case check that the specified interface is valid.

Updating method

After introducing the interface(s) set one of the update methods.

Warning: Only use one of the methods, do not use them at the same time!

Cron

The first method is using Cron. A sample of Cron usage is provided with vnStat at /usr/share/doc/vnstat/examples/vnstat.cron.

Service

The second way is using systemd (and the provided service):

# systemctl start vnstat.service

Global settings

Other settings, like settings to control the daemon, can be done in /etc/vnstat.conf.

Usage

Query the network traffic:

# vnstat -q

Viewing live network traffic usage:

# vnstat -l

For all the other options, use:

# vnstat --help

Or for a complete list, use:

# vnstat --longhelp

See Also

VnStat Custom WebUI