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How to show network TCP statistics and counters

The nstat command can be used to retrieve information about network connection statistics and relevant counters.

Using the tool is easy, just run it without any parameters to see relevant counters.

# nstat
#kernel
IpInReceives                    865                0.0
IpInDelivers                    864                0.0
IpOutRequests                   1073               0.0
TcpInSegs                       864                0.0
TcpOutSegs                      1074               0.0
Ip6InReceives                   1                  0.0
Ip6InMcastPkts                  1                  0.0
Ip6InOctets                     382                0.0
Ip6InMcastOctets                382                0.0
Ip6InNoECTPkts                  1                  0.0
TcpExtTCPHPHits                 490                0.0
TcpExtTCPPureAcks               30                 0.0
TcpExtTCPHPAcks                 451                0.0
TcpExtTCPSACKReorder            1                  0.0
TcpExtTCPBacklogCoalesce        48                 0.0
TcpExtTCPSackShiftFallback      1                  0.0
TcpExtTCPRcvCoalesce            190                0.0
TcpExtTCPOFOQueue               8                  0.0
TcpExtTCPAutoCorking            106                0.0
TcpExtTCPOrigDataSent           909                0.0
TcpExtTCPKeepAlive              22                 0.0
TcpExtTCPDelivered              910                0.0
TcpExtTCPAckCompressed          1                  0.0
IpExtInOctets                   205502             0.0
IpExtOutOctets                  285260             0.0
IpExtInNoECTPkts                866                0.0

Now there is something special with this tool, that is maintains history. So each time you run the tool, it will show you the difference between the current and the previous run. Also, if you are just interesting in information about the TCP connections, then we need to fine-tune the output. One could use grep for this, but it is better to perform the specific query right away.

Show TCP counters

Relevant counters can be shown by providing the --reset option. This resets the history, so that when you run the command again, all counters are shown. Or in other words, the cumulative values of the counters.

nstat --reset Tcp*

Show all TCP counters

To retrieve all counters, including those with a value of zero, add the --zeros option.

# nstat --reset --zeros Tcp*
#kernel
TcpActiveOpens                  339                0.0
TcpPassiveOpens                 4218               0.0
TcpAttemptFails                 32                 0.0
TcpEstabResets                  29                 0.0
TcpInSegs                       2583671            0.0
TcpOutSegs                      3480725            0.0
TcpRetransSegs                  325                0.0
TcpInErrs                       0                  0.0
TcpOutRsts                      178703             0.0
TcpInCsumErrors                 0                  0.0
TcpExtSyncookiesSent            0                  0.0
TcpExtSyncookiesRecv            0                  0.0
TcpExtSyncookiesFailed          0                  0.0
TcpExtEmbryonicRsts             8                  0.0
TcpExtPruneCalled               0                  0.0
TcpExtRcvPruned                 0                  0.0
TcpExtOfoPruned                 0                  0.0
TcpExtOutOfWindowIcmps          0                  0.0
TcpExtLockDroppedIcmps          0                  0.0
TcpExtArpFilter                 0                  0.0
TcpExtTW                        2989               0.0

Got another method to retrieve relevant information? Let it know!

Learn more about nstat

This article uses the nstat command to achieve its tasks. Want to learn how to use it or additional options that may be available?

» Mastering the tool

Installation and usage of nstat

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