vnStat
vnStat is a lightweight (command line) network traffic monitor. It monitors selectable interfaces and stores network traffic logs in a database for later analysis.
Installation
Install vnstat from the official repositories.
Configuration
Pick a preferred network interface and edit the Interface
variable in the /etc/vnstat.conf
accordingly. To the list all interfaces available to vnstat, use vnstat --iflist
.
To start monitoring a particular interface you must initialize a database first. Each interface needs its own database. The command to initialize one for the eth0
interface is:
# vnstat -u -i eth0
Start Systemd Service
After introducing the interface(s) and checking the config file. You can start the monitoring process via systemd
# systemctl start vnstat.service
To make this service permanent use
# systemctl enable vnstat.service
Usage
Query the network traffic:
# vnstat -q
Viewing live network traffic usage:
# vnstat -l
To find more options, use:
# vnstat --help