How to Install Vnstat on Linux Mint

Vnstat is a network traffic monitoring tool that you can use to monitor how much bandwidth you are using. If you ever wanted to track the bandwidth usage on desktop then vnstat is the right choice to keep track of bandwidth. This console based app is lightweight, very easy to install and use.

In this tutorial you will learn how to install Vnstat on Linux mint via terminal and Software Manager.

Install Vnstat via Terminal

Step 1 - Update your system

Before you install vnstat, make sure your system is up to date. Update your system by using the command below

sudo apt update

Step 2 - Install Vnstat

Once you have updated your system, enter the command below to install vnstat on your system.

sudo apt install vnstat

Step 3 - Verify Vnstat Installation

After installing vnstat, check if vnstat got installed correctly, to do this simply use the --version command

vnstat --version

And you should see the version of vnstat on console

Step 4 - Enable Vnstat process

Next, you need to enable vnstat process. This step is important if you want vnstat to start automatically once you boot your system.

systemctl enable vnstat

Install Vnstat via Software Manager

Vnstat can be also be installed via software manager on Linux mint, follow the steps below to learn how to do this.

1. Open Dashboard Menu

2.  Launch Software Manager

Software manager is located in Administration category, simply go to administration category and click over Software manager. You can also type Software Manager on the search box of the menu.

And click Software Manager

3. Install Vnstat

Next, type vnstat in the search box of Software manager and click the first result that comes up, then simply click the install button and the installation should start right away.

Useful Vnstat commands

Bandwidth usage for x mins

To see how much bandwidth has been used for let's say 5 mins use the -5 parameter

vnstat -5

Bandwidth usage daily

To see how much bandwidth has been used for the whole day use -d parameter

vnstat -d

Bandwidth usage monthly

To see how much bandwidth has been used monthly use the -m parameter

vnstat -m

Full list of commands

To get the full list of commands of Vnstat use the --longhelp parameter

vnstat --longhelp

And you should see the whole list of commands

Conclusion

By now you should know what Vnstat is and how to install it on Linux Mint.