I need software to supervise my internet bandwith

[xinloiemnham2]

Sorry about my English, it's so bad.
As I 've written on the title, can someone show me a software to supervise my internet bandwith.
I want to know how much I 've downloaded and uploaded while surfing the network and do anything through internet.
I've search on google and find out ntop, I 've installed it, but I can't run it, in terminal:

Sat Aug 9 07:36:42 2008 NOTE: Interface merge enabled by default
Sat Aug 9 07:36:42 2008 Initializing gdbm databases
Sat Aug 9 07:36:42 2008 **ERROR** ....open of /var/lib/ntop/prefsCache.db failed: File open error
Sat Aug 9 07:36:42 2008 Possible solution: please use '-P <directory>'
Sat Aug 9 07:36:42 2008 **FATAL_ERROR** GDBM open failed, ntop shutting down...
Sat Aug 9 07:36:42 2008 CLEANUP[t3055118784]: ntop caught signal 2
Sat Aug 9 07:36:42 2008 THREADMGMT[t3055118784]: ntop RUNSTATE: SHUTDOWN(7)
Sat Aug 9 07:36:42 2008 CLEANUP[t3055118784] catching thread is MAIN
Sat Aug 9 07:36:42 2008 CLEANUP: Running threads
Sat Aug 9 07:36:42 2008 CLEANUP: Locking purge mutex (may block for a little while)
Sat Aug 9 07:36:42 2008 CLEANUP: Locked purge mutex, continuing shutdown
Sat Aug 9 07:36:42 2008 CLEANUP: Continues
Sat Aug 9 07:36:42 2008 PLUGIN_TERM: Unloading plugins (if any)
Sat Aug 9 07:36:42 2008 CLEANUP: Clean up complete
Sat Aug 9 07:36:42 2008 THREADMGMT[t3055118784]: ntop RUNSTATE: TERM(8 )
Sat Aug 9 07:36:42 2008 ===================================
Sat Aug 9 07:36:42 2008 ntop is shutdown...
Sat Aug 9 07:36:42 2008 ===================================

Please help me. Thanks.

[ad_267]

vnstat works well. It's command line only though.

sudo apt-get install vnstat
sudo vnstat -u -i eth0
man vnstat
vnstat

[xinloiemnham2]

Thank you, I'll try it.

[ad_267]

I should mention that this line sets up vnstat and assumes that your internet is on eth0

sudo vnstat -u -i eth0

You might have to change it to suit you if you have wireless or dial up.

[xinloiemnham2]

thanks, I typed :

sudo vnstat -u -i eth1

but error:

Error:
Unable to read database "/var/lib/vnstat/eth1".
-> A new database has been created.

then what I do now, this program is not GUI so it's difficult for newbie.

[SkonesMickLoud]

thanks, I typed :

but error:

then what I do now, this program is not GUI so it's difficult for newbie.

Sorry that this question's been sitting here for a week.

The "error" you saw is normal. It's simply a cryptic way of saying "I see you've never run me before, I'll set up a log file for you." It's not an error at all.

IMO the best way to check the output of vnstat is to use Conky. You can see how to set up Conky with these threads:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.p...ighlight=conky
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=281865

And how to add the output of vnstat to your Conky here:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.p...=vnstat&page=2

If you don't want to set up Conky, just type:

vnstat

Into a terminal.

[ad_267]

Sorry I didn't see you had edited your post to ask for help. Yes you can use conky if you want which is what I do. You can also go to applications - accessories - terminal and then just enter "vnstat". Type "man vnstat" to get more information on how to use different options. Eg you can type "vnstat -d" to get information for days, "vnstat -h" for hours etc.

[dfmalh]

Hi, I am new to vnstat, and I have a few questions.

• What is the "cron job"? ...is this the file that is created at the setup of vnstat that stores all the information, e.g. the amout of data send and received?

• Do I have to run "vnstat -u -i eth0/eth1 everytime I start the PC? If so, is it fine to add it to my "Sessions" that load on startup?

I would like to include the information in my desktop conky... can you please explain the commands below, or correct me where I am wrong?

Down: ${execi 300 vnstat | grep "today" | awk '{print $2 $3}'} 
Up: ${execi 300 vnstat | grep "today" | awk '{print $5 $6}'}

• execi: create a task executing the function "vnstat"

• 300: a time interval? every 300 sec?

• ...now the command is piped to find "today" ,and

• ...again piped to give/print the output of $2 and $3 (e.g. in top line of the code)

• This will give the amount of data downloaded today

In my outpu, where/which is $2, $3, $5 and $6?

Here is an example of my output when I run "vnstat"

laptop:~$ vnstat

                     rx      /     tx      /    total    /  estimated
 eth1:
         today    510.44 MB  /   82.93 MB  /  593.38 MB  /     896 MB

 eth0: Not enough data available yet.

...and here is an example of my output when I run "vnstat -i eth1 -d
"

 eth1  /  daily

    day         rx      |     tx      |  total
------------------------+-------------+----------------------------------------
   10.04.    510.44 MB  |   82.93 MB  |  593.38 MB   %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%:::
------------------------+-------------+----------------------------------------
 estimated      771 MB  |     124 MB  |     895 MB

Thanks for your help.

[dfmalh]

Hi again,

I was also wondering if I want to display the downloads for e.g. eth1, do I change my code from:

Down: ${execi 300 vnstat | grep "today" | awk '{print $2 $3}'

to

Down: ${execi 300 vnstat -i eth1 -d | grep "today" | awk '{print $2 $3}'

Thanks for you help.

[dfmalh]

Another stupid question....

For what does the rx and tx stand for? The total is obvious...

Thanks.