Linux: Show network traffic - how it works
In this practical tip, we will show you how to display your network traffic in Linux. There are a wide variety of command line tools and small programs that can analyze your network.
Linux: Show network traffic with Etherape
- Open a terminal window and install the etherape package with the "sudo apt-get install etherape" command (without the quotation marks).
- Now start Etherape either via the menu or directly via the terminal with the command "sudo etherape".
- Click on "Acquisition" in the Etherape menu and select your connection type (eg WLAN) under "Interfaces". Then click on "Start".
- Depending on the volume transferred, current connections are shown with thick connecting lines. Passive connections are represented by thin strips. You can tell the different types of logs by color.
- Alternatively, you can also install the Wireshark program. With the command "sudo apt-get install wireshark" you get this program for network analysis on your Linux system.
View network traffic from the terminal
- Open a terminal window and install the command line tool with the command "sudo apt-get install ethstatus" (without quotes).
- Start the tool with the following command: "ethstatus -i interface name -S speed specification". In an example it could look like this: "ethstatus -i wlan0 -S 6m".
- Alternatively, you can also install netstat or iftop.
Also read how to change access rights on Linux.