FreeBSD Install vnStat – A Console-Based Network Traffic Monitor

FreeBSD install vnstat – console-based network traffic monitor

The procedure is as follows for installing vnstat on FreeBSD Unix system.

Step 1 – Update ports tree or pkg database

You must update port tree by typing the following portsnap command:
# portsnap fetch update
For binary installation update pkg database:
# pkg update

Step 2 – Installing vnstat on FreeBSD

Type the following command to find out exact port location:
# cd /usr/ports
# whereis vnstat
We will see path:

/usr/ports/net/vnstat

Cd into that path and install the vnstat, run:
# cd /usr/ports/net/vnsta
# make install clean
# rehash
Alternatively, you can install the binary package using the pkg_add command on an older version of FreeBSD, enter:
# pkg_add -r -v vnstat
Use the pkg command on the latest version of FreeBSD version 11/12/13+:
# pkg install vnstat
Make sure you confirm installation when prompted. For instance:

Updating FreeBSD repository catalogue...
FreeBSD repository is up to date.
All repositories are up to date.
The following 15 package(s) will be affected (of 0 checked):

New packages to be INSTALLED:
	expat: 2.2.8
	fontconfig: 2.13.92_2,1
	freetype2: 2.10.4
	gettext-runtime: 0.21
	giflib: 5.2.1
	indexinfo: 0.3.1
	jbigkit: 2.1_1
	jpeg-turbo: 2.0.5
	libedit: 3.1.20191231,1
	libgd: 2.3.0,1
	png: 1.6.37
	sqlite3: 3.33.0,1
	tiff: 4.1.0
	vnstat: 2.6_1
	webp: 1.1.0

Number of packages to be installed: 15

The process will require 29 MiB more space.
6 MiB to be downloaded.

Proceed with this action? [y/N]: y
[1/15] Fetching vnstat-2.6_1.txz: 100%  108 KiB 110.6kB/s    00:01   
....
..
.....
vnstat has been installed.

A sample configuration file has been installed in /usr/local/etc/
Please add your default network interface in the 'Interface' line there
before starting vnstat service.

For more information about vnStat use "man vnstat" or visit:
http://humdi.net/vnstat/

Step 3 – Enabling vnstat service on FreeBSD

Type any one of the following command. Let us use the echo command:
# echo 'vnstat_enable="YES"' >> /etc/rc.conf
OR use the sysrc command:
# sysrc vnstat_enable=YES
vnstat: -> YES

How do I start/stop/restart vnstat service?

You can start/stop/restart the vnstat using the following syntax:
# service vnstat start
# service vnstat stop
# service vnstat restart

Step 4 – Configuring vnStat on your FreeBSD server or router/firewall

Now, vnstat has been installed. However, you need to configure /usr/local/etc/vnstat.conf file, enter:
## [ NOTE: cp only needed on an older version of FreeBSD such as FreeBSD 8.x/9.x ] ##
# cp /usr/local/etc/vnstat.conf.sample /usr/local/etc/vnstat.conf
# vi /usr/local/etc/vnstat.conf
Set default Ethernet interface on FreeBSD:

Interface "em0"

Set maximum bandwidth (Mbit) for all interfaces, use 0 to disable feature. In this example, set to 100Mbit:

MaxBandwidth 100

Save and close the file when using vi or vim.

Step 5 – Start the service to track information about interface(s)

All you have to do is type the following command:
# service vnstat start
And we will see confirmation on our screen:

Starting vnstat.
No interfaces found in database, adding available interfaces...
Interface "em0" added with 1000 Mbit bandwidth limit.
Interface "ue0" added with 1000 Mbit bandwidth limit.
-> 2 new interfaces found.
Limits can be modified using the configuration file. See "man vnstat.conf".
Unwanted interfaces can be removed from monitoring with "vnstat --remove".

Step 6 – How do I view network traffic?

Open the terminal and then simply type the vnstat command, run:
# vnstat
Here is what we see:

                      rx      /      tx      /     total    /   estimated
 em1:
       Nov '09      2.97 GiB  /   56.38 GiB  /   59.35 GiB
       Dec '09     35.29 MiB  /  604.47 MiB  /  639.76 MiB  /   20.71 GiB
     yesterday     39.43 MiB  /  418.21 MiB  /  457.64 MiB
         today     35.29 MiB  /  604.47 MiB  /  639.76 MiB  /     683 MiB

 em0:
       Nov '09    205.19 MiB  /  134.89 MiB  /  340.07 MiB
       Dec '09      1.53 MiB  /     938 KiB  /    2.45 MiB  /       0 KiB
     yesterday      1.56 MiB  /     769 KiB  /    2.31 MiB
         today      1.53 MiB  /     938 KiB  /    2.45 MiB  /      --    

Here is another outputs:

Fig.01: vnstat command in action on my FreeBSD box

See Daily Traffic, Enter:

$ vnstat -d
$ vnstat -d -i em1
For em1 Ethernet:

 em1  /  daily

         day         rx      |     tx      |    total    |   avg. rate
     ------------------------+-------------+-------------+---------------
      11/20/09     44.69 MiB |  654.44 MiB |  699.13 MiB |   66.29 kbit/s
      11/21/09     30.52 MiB |  322.34 MiB |  352.86 MiB |   33.46 kbit/s
      11/22/09     31.04 MiB |  313.65 MiB |  344.70 MiB |   32.68 kbit/s
      11/23/09    208.52 MiB |    7.04 GiB |    7.24 GiB |  703.35 kbit/s
      11/24/09     57.55 MiB |    1.00 GiB |    1.06 GiB |  102.95 kbit/s
      11/25/09    710.73 MiB |  705.73 MiB |    1.38 GiB |  134.30 kbit/s
      11/26/09     65.78 MiB |    1.52 GiB |    1.59 GiB |  154.01 kbit/s
      11/27/09     45.24 MiB |  641.35 MiB |  686.59 MiB |   65.10 kbit/s
      11/28/09     95.72 MiB |  280.59 MiB |  376.32 MiB |   35.68 kbit/s
      11/29/09     80.17 MiB |    1.77 GiB |    1.85 GiB |  179.37 kbit/s
      11/30/09    271.64 MiB |   10.62 GiB |   10.89 GiB |    1.06 Mbit/s
      12/01/09     44.13 MiB |  368.22 MiB |  412.35 MiB |   39.10 kbit/s
      12/02/09     45.46 MiB |  699.37 MiB |  744.83 MiB |   70.62 kbit/s
      12/03/09     54.18 MiB |    1.01 GiB |    1.06 GiB |  103.05 kbit/s
      12/04/09     44.90 MiB |  668.54 MiB |  713.43 MiB |   67.64 kbit/s
      12/05/09     28.79 MiB |  325.02 MiB |  353.81 MiB |   33.55 kbit/s
      12/06/09     55.02 MiB |    1.35 GiB |    1.41 GiB |  136.60 kbit/s
      12/07/09    276.27 MiB |   10.73 GiB |   11.00 GiB |    1.07 Mbit/s
      12/08/09     38.15 MiB |  343.64 MiB |  381.79 MiB |   36.20 kbit/s
      12/09/09     43.77 MiB |  625.01 MiB |  668.78 MiB |   63.41 kbit/s
      12/10/09     36.95 MiB |  348.90 MiB |  385.84 MiB |   36.58 kbit/s
      12/11/09     54.36 MiB |  320.11 MiB |  374.47 MiB |   35.51 kbit/s
      12/12/09    138.14 MiB |    1.41 GiB |    1.55 GiB |  150.33 kbit/s
      12/13/09     32.60 MiB |  410.92 MiB |  443.52 MiB |   42.05 kbit/s
      12/14/09    280.86 MiB |   10.51 GiB |   10.79 GiB |    1.05 Mbit/s
      12/15/09     49.07 MiB |  717.77 MiB |  766.83 MiB |   72.71 kbit/s
      12/16/09     39.99 MiB |  356.22 MiB |  396.22 MiB |   37.57 kbit/s
      12/17/09     54.12 MiB |  743.57 MiB |  797.69 MiB |   75.63 kbit/s
      12/18/09     39.43 MiB |  418.21 MiB |  457.64 MiB |   43.39 kbit/s
      12/19/09     35.33 MiB |  604.59 MiB |  639.92 MiB |   64.72 kbit/s
     ------------------------+-------------+-------------+---------------
     estimated        37 MiB |     644 MiB |     681 MiB |

See Traffic For Months, Enter:

vnstat -m
Sample outputs:

 em1  /  monthly

       month        rx      |     tx      |    total    |   avg. rate
    ------------------------+-------------+-------------+---------------
      Aug '09      2.24 GiB |   42.50 GiB |   44.74 GiB |  140.13 kbit/s
      Sep '09      1.68 GiB |   37.86 GiB |   39.54 GiB |  127.96 kbit/s
      Oct '09      2.12 GiB |   48.09 GiB |   50.21 GiB |  157.27 kbit/s
      Nov '09      2.97 GiB |   56.38 GiB |   59.35 GiB |  192.06 kbit/s
      Dec '09     35.33 MiB |  604.59 MiB |  639.92 MiB |   64.72 kbit/s
    ------------------------+-------------+-------------+---------------
    estimated      1.13 GiB |   19.50 GiB |   20.63 GiB |

Other Options:

Show traffic for the last 24 hours, enter:
$ vnstat -h
Display all time top10 traffic days, run:
$ vnstat -t
Want to display traffic for 7 days, current and previous week? Run:
$ vnstat -w
To see current transfer rate for the selected interface in real time until interrupted. Statistics will be shown after interruption if runtime was more than 10 seconds, run:
$ vnstat -l
Here is what wee see:

Monitoring em1...    (press CTRL-C to stop)

   rx:       28 kbit/s    25 p/s          tx:      108 kbit/s    22 p/s


 em1   /  traffic statistics

                           rx         |       tx
--------------------------------------+------------------------
  bytes                      729 KiB  |        3.95 MiB
--------------------------------------+------------------------
          max             236 kbit/s  |     1.84 Mbit/s
      average           72.00 kbit/s  |   399.80 kbit/s
          min               8 kbit/s  |        8 kbit/s
--------------------------------------+------------------------
  packets                       4254  |            4424
--------------------------------------+------------------------
          max                130 p/s  |         185 p/s
      average                 52 p/s  |          54 p/s
          min                  8 p/s  |           8 p/s
--------------------------------------+------------------------
  time                  1.35 minutes

Adding a new interface to the database

Pass the --add option along with -i as follows:
# vnstat --add -i wg0lnsg1
Confirmation from vnstat:

Adding interface "wg0lnsg1" for monitoring to database...

Restart the vnStat daemon if it is currently running in order to start monitoring "wg0lnsg1".

I added my FreeBSD wireguard client interface named wg0lnsg1. Now all we have to do is restart the service. Hence, run:
# service vnstat restart
Outputs:

Stopping vnstat.
Waiting for PIDS: 54546.
Starting vnstat.

How to delete or remove interface when using vnstat

The syntax is:
# vnstat --remove -i interface
# vnstat --remove -i em2

Summing up

You learned how to install, set up, and configure vnStat on FreeBSD to monitor various network traffic logs from the CLI. The vnstat is a client, and the vnstatd is a daemon for data retrieval, caching, and storage on FreeBSD.