There are several network monitoring tools available for different operating systems. In this article, we will discuss 10 Linux network monitoring tools that can be run from the terminal.
These tools are ideal for users who don’t use a GUI and prefer to manage the network via SSH.
1. iftop
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iftop network monitoring tool
Linux users are usually familiar with top—a system monitoring tool that allows us to know the processes running in real time on our system and easily manage them.
iftop is similar to the top application, but it specifically monitors the network, providing more detailed information about the network and all processes using the network.
2. vnstat
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vnstat network monitoring tool
vnstat is a network monitoring tool included by default in most Linux distributions. It allows us to control the traffic sent and received over a user-selected time period in real time.
3. IPTraf
iptraf monitoring tool for linux
IPTraf is a console-based Linux real-time network monitoring program. It collects various information passing through the network as an IP traffic monitor, including TCP flag information, ICMP details, TCP/UDP traffic faults, TCP connection packet, and byte counts. It also gathers details of all TCP, UDP, and other IP and non-IP protocol ICMP checksums errors, interface activities, and more.
4. Monitorix – System and Network Monitoring
monitorix system monitoring tool for linux
Monitorix is a lightweight free application designed for monitoring as many Linux/Unix servers and the system and network resources as possible.
It includes an HTTP web server for collecting system and network information regularly and displays them in graphs. It tracks average system load, memory allocation, disk health, system services, network ports, mail statistics (Sendmail, Postfix, Dovecot, etc.), MySQL statistics, and more. It’s designed to manage overall system performance, help detect faults, bottlenecks, unusual activities, and more.
5. dstat
dstat network monitoring tool
This tool is less known compared to the previous ones; however, it is included by default in some distributions.
6. bwm-ng
bwm-ng monitoring tool
It is one of the most simplified tools. It allows you to interactively obtain data from connections and, for ease of use by other devices, export them in certain formats as the data is obtained.
7. ibmonitor
ibmonitor tool for linux
Similar to the above, it displays filtered network traffic on connection interfaces and clearly distinguishes between inbound and outbound traffic.
8. Htop – Linux Process Tracking
htop linux processes monitoring tool
Htop is a more advanced, interactive,