etherstat(1M) etherstat(1M)
NAME
etherstat - display network interface statistics
SYNOPSIS
/usr/sbin/etherstat [-z] [-e] [-v] [-i] [-t interval] [-d] [interface]
DESCRIPTION
This command supports Ethernet, Token Ring and FDDI controllers.
The etherstat command can be used to obtain the following statistical
information about the network interface:
- the MAC address of the interface
- the hardware and firmware version of the interface, provided it can
be read
- statistical information about packets sent or received via the
interface
- information about the link layer interface
The network interface is the communication controller of a computer
and sets up the connection to a certain network. A computer can have
more than one interface if it is connected to more than one network or
network segment.
The etherstat command displays information on all configured inter-
faces. The interfaces are referred to by name. Names can be specified
as follows:
- The name of the interface type followed by a digit, to request
statistics for a specific interface (board) of the specified type.
- The name of the interface type without any option, to request
statistics for all interfaces (boards) of the specified type.
These names are not always the same, depending on the hardware being
used, and may change in later hardware versions, e.g.
lcf0 = FDDI (RM600-xx)
lce0 = Ethernet (RM600)
et0 = Ethernet (RM400-10)
The names of the interfaces actually configured can be output with the
netstat -i command.
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etherstat(1M) etherstat(1M)
The entire set of Ethernet statistics can only be output with the eth-
erstat command if the Ethernet board was configured using the
ifconfig(1M) command or via the menu system. Configuration is normally
done at system startup, otherwise only the options -e, -v, -i, and -t
work.
The information that the command etherstat supplies is fetched by the
command from the controller via the network driver.
OPTIONS
no argument
The following is output for each configured interface (provided
that the counter is supported or makes sense):
- the name of the interface (et0 or lce1) according to the
specific device (/dev/dlpi/et0 or /dev/dlpi/lce1)
- the MAC address of the interface
- receiver overflows:
how often the receive buffer overflowed
- receiver CRC errors:
how many CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check) errors occurred during
reception
- receiver alignment errors:
how many alignment errors were found during reception
- receiver short pocket errors:
how many short packets were received
- receiver queue full:
how many packets were thrown away by the driver or ullc
because of memory bottlenecks
- receiver packets for unknown sap:
number of packets received for protocols which do not run on
this computer (usually broadcast packets).
- good packets received:
how many packets were received without error
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etherstat(1M) etherstat(1M)
- transmitter underflows:
number of packets which could not be sent fast enough
- transmitter collisions:
how many collisions occurred
- transmitter excessive (16) collisions:
(valid only for Ethernet) how many packets could not be sent
because they had at least 16 collisions
- transmitter heartbeat (SQE) check failures:
(valid only for Ethernet) how many SQE check errors were found
(these errors occur if the connection between the host and the
transceiver is faulty)
- good packets transmitted:
how many packets were transmitted without error
The information output is values which have accumulated since
system startup or since the last time the etherstat command
was issued with the -z argument.
-z generates the same output as described above but subsequently
deletes the information. This permits you to obtain values valid
for a certain period of time (this argument is no longer sup-
ported by all interfaces).
-e outputs only the Ethernet addresses of the Ethernet interfaces.
-v outputs information on the hardware and firmware versions of the
Ethernet interfaces.
-i outputs information about some link layer parameters of the Eth-
ernet interfaces.
-t interval
outputs statistics every interval seconds. This argument can only
be be specified if no other options have been selected.
-d more debugging if calls at the DLPI interfaces fail.
interface
is specified if only information about this interface is desired.
You may, for example, specify one of the following for interface:
lce0, lce1.
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The statistics available depend on the controller type. Certain
statistics are not available on some interfaces. Statistics are only
output once for each interface specified, even when entered more than
once in the parameter list.
The etherstat command does not function for the loopback interface lo0
as no statistics are maintained for this interface.
EXAMPLES
1) You would like all information concerning existing Ethernet inter-
faces.
Input:
etherstat
Output:
lce0 (08-00-14-11-28-82):
0 receiver overflows
0 receiver CRC errors
0 receiver alignment errors
0 receiver queue full
0 receiver packets for unknown sap
64543 good packets received
0 transmitter underflows
35 transmitter collisions
0 transmitter excessive (16) collisions
0 transmitter heartbeat (SQE) check failures
4823 good packets transmitted
No errors were reported at interface /lce0 during reception. 64543
packets were received without error. No errors were reported during
transmission. 4823 packets were sent without error.
2) The system administrator would like information about the Ethernet
addresses of the existing interface. Enter the following:
etherstat -e
The system responds by displaying the following:
lce0: 08-00-14-02-24-8a
3) The system administrator would like information about the hardware
and firmware versions of the boards.
etherstat -v
The system responds by displaying the following:
lce0: 2
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etherstat(1M) etherstat(1M)
SEE ALSO
ifconfig(1M), netstat(1M).
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