netstat -i output buggy on SUSE EL9??!!

bhakta · 07-30-2007, 07:55 AM

We are facing some issues with the output of the "netstat -i" command on SUSE Linux Enterprise 9 with net-tools package 1.60-543.8.

Expected Output

Code:

# netstat -i
Kernel Interface table
Iface MTU Met  RX-OK RX-ERR RX-DRP RX-OVR  TX-OK TX-ERR TX-DRP TX-OVR Flags
lo      0   0   345336185      0      0      0   345336185      0      0      0 BLRU
eth0 1500   0 972633     17     20    120 628711    217      0      0 BRU

Actual Output with SUSE Linux Enterprise 9 with net-tools version 1.60-543.8

Code:

# netstat -i
Kernel Interface table
Iface MTU Met  RX-OK RX-ERR RX-DRP RX-OVR  TX-OK TX-ERR TX-DRP TX-OVR Flags
lo      0   0345336185      0      0      0345336185      0      0      0 BLRU
eth0 1500   0 972633     17     20    120 628711    217      0      0 BRU

As you see for some rows the columns for Met and RX-OK are merged and also that of RX-OVR and TX-OK! This output is causing some trouble in our programs as there is no space between columns. I am not sure whether it is OS issue or net-tools package issue. Please help me.

bhakta

farslayer · 07-31-2007, 08:24 AM

For a bug in Suse Enterprise Linux I would think you would contact Suse directly, since that is a supported OS.. even without support they would be interested in a bug report.

bhakta · 07-31-2007, 11:38 PM

Hi,

I have solved this issue. It is not SUSE issue, it is with netstat command itself on any platform! If the number of digits in the output reaches above 8 in any column the output does not contain spaces between columns. I solved it by using alternative command options "netstat -i -e" where the output is transposed. Here even when the digits are more it still keeps a space. Later I used some grep and awk to get what I want.

Bhakta.