[SOLVED] Going round in circles with vnstat

Lysander666 · 01-26-2019, 03:39 AM

I am using the Slackbuild of vnstat and I can't get it to work. I'm trying to get it to work with my wireless card.

--iflist

gives me

Code:

root@lysurfer_viii:~# vnstat --iflist
Available interfaces: wlan0 lo eth0 (65535 Mbit)

When I attempted to start vntstat or add an interface I kept being told there was no file called /var/lib/vnstat so I created it. Now, when I try to add an interface I get:

Code:

root@lysurfer_viii:~# vnstat --add -i wlan0
Error: Unable to open database "/var/lib/vnstat/vnstat.db": No such file or directory
The vnStat daemon should have created the database when started.
Check that it is configured and running. See also "man vnstatd".

Do I have to create this database file as well?

I have also created a .vnstatrc in my home folder, copied from /etc/vnstat.conf

Ian M · 01-26-2019, 05:04 AM

Have you started the vnstat daemon before running vnstat? The daemon creates the database and needs to be running for vnstat to work, see the slackbuild page for more info https://slackbuilds.org/repository/1...?search=vnstat

Lysander666 · 01-26-2019, 08:23 AM

OK great, you were right. I had to use

Code:

#chmod +x /etc/rc.d/rc.vnstat

then

Code:

#/etc/rc.d/rc.vnstat start

I also added a startup to rc.local:

Code:

  # Start vnstat
  if [ -x /etc/rc.d/rc.vnstat ]; then
    /etc/rc.d/rc.vnstat start
  fi

Of course all this I would have known if I'd actually looked at the SBo page properly.

I'm on a capped connection here, hence why I need it. Amazing how much data is gobbled through streaming. This was just from a four min YouTube video:

Code:

lysander@lysplorer_iv:/etc/rc.d$ vnstat -i wlan0
Database updated: 2019-01-26 14:20:00

   wlan0 since 2019-01-26

          rx:  29.40 MiB      tx:  1.06 MiB      total:  30.46 MiB

   monthly
                     rx      |     tx      |    total    |   avg. rate
     ------------------------+-------------+-------------+---------------
       2019-01     29.40 MiB |    1.06 MiB |   30.46 MiB |   115.00 bit/s
     ------------------------+-------------+-------------+---------------
     estimated     33.21 MiB |     --      |   33.21 MiB |

   daily
                     rx      |     tx      |    total    |   avg. rate
     ------------------------+-------------+-------------+---------------
         today     29.40 MiB |    1.06 MiB |   30.46 MiB |    4.95 kbit/s
     ------------------------+-------------+-------------+---------------
     estimated     49.22 MiB |    1.78 MiB |   51.00 MiB |
lysander@lysplorer_iv:/etc/rc.d$

Anyway, thank you. I'll keep an eye on this.

Not sure what I should pay attention to though - 'total' or the 'estimated'.

CTM · 01-28-2019, 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lysander666

Not sure what I should pay attention to though - 'total' or the 'estimated'.

The total is the amount you've actually transferred; the estimate is the amount you'll transfer assuming you maintain the average transfer rate shown in the final column. Average transfer rates are only stable under certain conditions (as noted in the vnstat FAQ) and isn't meaningful in any real sense for a wireless adapter in a laptop, so I wouldn't worry too much about it: just monitor the total and make sure you don't exceed (or get too close to) your cap.