vnstat mit Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, zypper installieren

Projektlinks

• Homepage
• Repository
• Upstream-Dokumentation
• Paketmanager-Seite

Befehle und Aliase

• vnstat
• vnstatd
• vnstati

Projektgeschichte

Teemu Toivola's changelog records vnStat 1.0 as the initial public release on 23 September 2002. Early releases added multiple-interface support, a new database structure, parseable output, daily and monthly estimates, FHS-compliant paths, 64-bit counter handling, an FAQ, and sample PPP scripts.

The project settled into its long-running home in March 2004, when version 1.3 moved the webpage to humdi.net and added a man page. Later releases broadened it from a cron-updated text tool into a service-oriented monitor: version 1.7 in April 2009 added daemon support, PNG image output, XML output, and BSD support; version 1.12 in August 2014 added example systemd, launchd, and upstart integration while deprecating cron update examples.

Version 2.0, released in October 2018, was a major internal transition: the old C-struct dump database was replaced with SQLite, with import support for legacy databases from versions 1.3 through 1.18. The 2.x series continued to add modern outputs and retention controls, including JSON/XML improvements, five-minute resolution data, query ranges, alerts, merge support, and image-output enhancements.

Adoptionsgeschichte

vnStat's adoption comes from its fit with always-on servers, routers, VPS hosts, and BSD/Linux machines where long-term interface totals matter more than packet-level inspection. The upstream README also documents an official container workflow and signed source-release verification, signs of a mature utility maintained for both traditional installations and containerized environments.

Wie es verwendet wird

Operators use `vnstat` for text queries, `vnstatd` as the background collector, and `vnstati` for image output. The README describes configurable retention at five-minute, hourly, daily, and yearly levels, plus total traffic and top-days listings; the changelog shows that JSON, XML, one-line, alert, and CGI-oriented outputs were added for scripts and dashboards.

Warum Paket-Nerds sich dafür interessieren

vnStat is package-nerd significant because it is boring in the best way: it gives reproducible traffic accounting without packet capture privileges or heavy monitoring infrastructure. It is a common answer when someone wants long-term bandwidth totals that survive reboots and can be queried from shell scripts.

Zeitleiste

• 2002-09-23: vnStat 1.0 initial public release.
• 2003-07-13: Version 1.1 adds multiple-interface support and a new database structure.
• 2004-03-08: Version 1.3 moves the webpage to humdi.net and includes a man page.
• 2009-04-12: Version 1.7 adds daemon support, PNG image output, XML output, and BSD support.
• 2014-08-30: Version 1.12 adds service-manager examples and deprecates cron update examples.
• 2018-10-21: Version 2.0 replaces the legacy database format with SQLite.
• 2025-02-08: Version 2.13 adds database merge support and more query/image-output improvements.

Related projects

• vnStat sits near tools such as `ifconfig`, `/proc/net/dev`, BSD interface counters, and graphing/reporting front ends. Its own suite includes `vnstatd` for collection and `vnstati` for image rendering.

Quellen

• vnStat CHANGES: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/vergoh/vnstat/master/CHANGES
• vnStat README: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/vergoh/vnstat/master/README.md
• vnStat homepage: https://humdi.net/vnstat/