nettraffic

Prints a one-line network traffic on standard output

How to use

To get started, simply grant a permission to execute the file, and you can run it anywhere via command line.

Usage: nettraffic [OPTION]
Options:
  -i  (%ifname%)      Specify which network interface to monitor. Required.
  -a  (up|dn|total)   Shows which data to display. Prints both if not used.
  -u  (K|KB|M|MB)     Units to show the data in. Automatic if not specified"
  -e  (0|1|2|3|4)     Level of units displayed. (0 for none, 1 for K, 2 for KB, 3 for K/s, 4 for KB/s). Default if 4.
  -l                  Choose whether or not to display the label (up or down).
  -s  (%string%)      A separator to divide between up and down. Default is none.
  -U  (%string%)      The label for upstream data traffic. Default is up if -l is used.
  -D  (%string%)      The label for downstream data traffic. Default is dn if -l is used.
  -t  (%integer%)     Set the interval for the data update. Default is 1.
  -v                  Prints version number.
  -h                  Prints help.

Example

Using the minimum requirements

$ nettraffic -i wlp2s0

---

0.0B/s 0.0B/s
0.7KB/s 0.2KB/s
53.0KB/s 13.6KB/s

Displaying total data stream instead of individual up and down

$ nettraffic -i wlp2s0 -a total -u K

---

0.0KB/s
73.4KB/s
32.5KB/s

Using labels and separator

$ nettraffic -i wlp2s0 -l -s "|"

---

0.0B/s dn | 0.0B/s up
56.7KB/s dn | 32.2KB/s up
0.2MB/s dn | 0.0MB/s up

Using custom labels

$ nettraffic -i wlp2s0 -l -D " ^" -U " v"

---

0.0B/s ^ 0.0B/s v
78.1KB/s ^ 11.4KB/s v
0.1MB/s ^ 0.1MB/s v

Using custom interval

$ nettraffic -i wlp2s0 -t 3

---

will essentially display the traffic every 3 seconds

Using different unit levels

$ nettraffic -i wlp2s0 -u K -e 1

---

0.0K 0.0K
12.1K 11.4K
114.9K 21.0K

Using different unit levels (another example)

$ nettraffic -i wlp2s0 -a dn -e 3 -l -D " down"

---

0.0B/s down
43.2KB/s down
0.3MB/s down

Simplest output

$ nettraffic -i wlp2s0 -a up -e 1

---

0.0B
53.5KB
0.2MB

Using it for polybar

Display both up and down traffic

[module/nettraf]
type = custom/script
exec = nettraffic -i wlp2s0 -l -U  -D 
tail = true
interval = 1
format = <label>
label = %output%

Display traffic separately

[module/ntrf]
type = custom/script
tail = true
interval = 1
format = <label>
label = %output%

[module/ntdn_text]
inherit = module/ntrf
exec = nettraffic -i wlp2s0 -a dn -e 1

[module/ntup_text]
inherit = module/ntrf
exec = nettraffic -i wlp2s0 -a up -e 1

Changelog

20170118

• Added level of units displayed. 0 for none, 1 for K or M, 2 for KB or MB, 3 for K/s or M/s, and 4 for KB/s or MB/s
• Removed space between value and unit
• Reduced threshold for automatic unit
• Modified help (-h)

20170101

• Added option to use custom interval (-t )
• Added in-line help (-h)
• Added version number as well as a flag to display it (-v)
• Changed the default threshold for auto unit/suffix
• The script will now be executed in /bin/sh instead of /bin/bash

20161224

• Initial Release