When doing ifconfig from hour to hour I notice that the counters for RX/TX bytes transfers resets:
RX bytes:921640934 (921.6 MB) TX bytes:4001470884 (4.0 GB)
How come? I would like to keep track how much data i transfer from day to day but they keep resetting.
The issue is definitely the 32-bit integer answer provided above. I had the same problem. It's related to the operating system installed on the processor that can run it.
If you're running a 32-bit O/S on a 64-bit processor, you'll also be limited to the 4Gb cut-off.
2^32 = 4294967296
4294967296/1024/1024/1024 = 4
I was really frustrated that my (32-bit) file server couldn't keep track of the many Terabytes that it was transferring, so I built a little script to keep track of the data usage for it (both eth0 and wlan0):
getstats.sh is located in /usr/local/bin/system/
#! /bin/bash
# CHECK FOR FILE IN /USR/LOCAL/BIN/SYSTEM
# COPY ACTUAL FILES TO MAINTAIN DATA CONSISTENCY DURING CALCULATIONS
cp /sys/class/net/eth0/statistics/rx_bytes /usr/local/bin/system/rx_actual
cp /sys/class/net/eth0/statistics/tx_bytes /usr/local/bin/system/tx_actual
cp /sys/class/net/wlan0/statistics/rx_bytes /usr/local/bin/system/wlan_rx_actual
cp /sys/class/net/wlan0/statistics/tx_bytes /usr/local/bin/system/wlan_tx_actual
# BYTES FILES
if [ ! -e /usr/local/bin/system/rx_bytes ]; then # IF RX_BYTES DOESN'T EXIST
cp /usr/local/bin/system/rx_actual /usr/local/bin/system/rx_bytes # MAKE A NEW COPY FROM THE ACTUAL FILE
else
mv /usr/local/bin/system/rx_bytes /usr/local/bin/system/rx_bytes_old # IF IT DOES EXIST, RENAME IT
cp /usr/local/bin/system/rx_actual /usr/local/bin/system/rx_bytes # AND COPY IN A NEW ONE
fi
if [ ! -e /usr/local/bin/system/tx_bytes ]; then # REPEAT THIS FOR TX_BYTES
cp /usr/local/bin/system/tx_actual /usr/local/bin/system/tx_bytes
else
mv /usr/local/bin/system/tx_bytes /usr/local/bin/system/tx_bytes_old
cp /usr/local/bin/system/tx_actual /usr/local/bin/system/tx_bytes
fi
# BYTES FILES (WLAN0)
if [ ! -e /usr/local/bin/system/wlan_rx_bytes ]; then # IF RX_BYTES DOESN'T EXIST
cp /usr/local/bin/system/wlan_rx_actual /usr/local/bin/system/wlan_rx_bytes # MAKE A NEW COPY FROM THE ACTUAL FILE
else
mv /usr/local/bin/system/wlan_rx_bytes /usr/local/bin/system/wlan_rx_bytes_old # IF IT DOES EXIST, RENAME IT
cp /usr/local/bin/system/wlan_rx_actual /usr/local/bin/system/wlan_rx_bytes # AND COPY IN A NEW ONE
fi
if [ ! -e /usr/local/bin/system/wlan_tx_bytes ]; then # REPEAT THIS FOR TX_BYTES
cp /usr/local/bin/system/wlan_tx_actual /usr/local/bin/system/wlan_tx_bytes
else
mv /usr/local/bin/system/wlan_tx_bytes /usr/local/bin/system/wlan_tx_bytes_old
cp /usr/local/bin/system/wlan_tx_actual /usr/local/bin/system/wlan_tx_bytes
fi
# RUNNING TOTAL FILES
if [ ! -e /usr/local/bin/system/rx_running ]; then
cp /usr/local/bin/system/rx_bytes /usr/local/bin/system/rx_running
fi
if [ ! -e /usr/local/bin/system/tx_running ]; then
cp /usr/local/bin/system/tx_bytes /usr/local/bin/system/tx_running
fi
# RUNNING TOTAL FILES (WLAN0)
if [ ! -e /usr/local/bin/system/wlan_rx_running ]; then
cp /usr/local/bin/system/wlan_rx_bytes /usr/local/bin/system/wlan_rx_running
fi
if [ ! -e /usr/local/bin/system/wlan_tx_running ]; then
cp /usr/local/bin/system/wlan_tx_bytes /usr/local/bin/system/wlan_tx_running
fi
# OLD FILES
if [ ! -e /usr/local/bin/system/rx_bytes_old ]; then
cp /usr/local/bin/system/rx_bytes /usr/local/bin/system/rx_bytes_old
fi
if [ ! -e /usr/local/bin/system/tx_bytes_old ]; then
cp /usr/local/bin/system/tx_bytes /usr/local/bin/system/tx_bytes_old
fi
# OLD FILES (WLAN0)
if [ ! -e /usr/local/bin/system/wlan_rx_bytes_old ]; then
cp /usr/local/bin/system/wlan_rx_bytes /usr/local/bin/system/wlan_rx_bytes_old
fi
if [ ! -e /usr/local/bin/system/wlan_tx_bytes_old ]; then
cp /usr/local/bin/system/wlan_tx_bytes /usr/local/bin/system/wlan_tx_bytes_old
fi
# SET VARIABLES FOR CALCULATION
OLDRX=`cat /usr/local/bin/system/rx_bytes_old`
NEWRX=`cat /usr/local/bin/system/rx_bytes`
RUNRX=`cat /usr/local/bin/system/rx_running`
OLDTX=`cat /usr/local/bin/system/tx_bytes_old`
NEWTX=`cat /usr/local/bin/system/tx_bytes`
RUNTX=`cat /usr/local/bin/system/tx_running`
OLDWRX=`cat /usr/local/bin/system/wlan_rx_bytes_old`
NEWWRX=`cat /usr/local/bin/system/wlan_rx_bytes`
RUNWRX=`cat /usr/local/bin/system/wlan_rx_running`
OLDWTX=`cat /usr/local/bin/system/wlan_tx_bytes_old`
NEWWTX=`cat /usr/local/bin/system/wlan_tx_bytes`
RUNWTX=`cat /usr/local/bin/system/wlan_tx_running`
MAX=4294967296
# COMPARE AND DO MATH
if [ $NEWRX -lt $OLDRX ]; then # IF NEW VALUE IS LESS THAN OLD VALUE (max reached and LOOPED AROUND)
TOPRX=`expr $MAX - $OLDRX` # SUBTRACT THE OLD VALUE FROM THE MAX VALUE
USERX=`expr $TOPRX + $RUNRX` # ADD IT TO RUNNING TOTAL
$USERX=`expr $USERX + $NEWRX` # ADD THAT TO THE NEW VALUE
echo $USERX > /usr/local/bin/system/rx_running # OUTPUT THAT TO THE NEW RUNNING TOTAL
else # OTHERWISE (it hasn't looped around)
TOPRX=`expr $NEWRX - $OLDRX` # SUBTRACT THE OLD VALUE FROM THE NEW
USERX=`expr $RUNRX + $TOPRX` # ADD IT TO THE RUNNING VALUE
echo $USERX > /usr/local/bin/system/rx_running # OUTPUT THAT TO THE NEW RUNNING TOTAL
fi
if [ $NEWTX -lt $OLDTX ]; then # REPEAT ABOVE FOR UPLOADS
TOPTX=`expr $MAX - $OLDTX`
USETX=`expr $TOPTX + $RUNTX`
$USETX=`expr $USETX + $NEWTX`
echo $USETX > /usr/local/bin/system/tx_running
else
TOPTX=`expr $NEWTX - $OLDTX`
USETX=`expr $RUNTX + $TOPTX`
echo $USETX > /usr/local/bin/system/tx_running
fi
#COMPARE AND DO MATH (WLAN0)
if [ $NEWWRX -lt $OLDWRX ]; then # IF NEW VALUE IS LESS THAN OLD VALUE (max reached and LOOPED AROUND)
TOPWRX=`expr $MAX - $OLDWRX` # SUBTRACT THE OLD VALUE FROM THE MAX VALUE
USEWRX=`expr $TOPWRX + $RUNWRX` # ADD IT TO RUNNING TOTAL
$USEWRX=`expr $USEWRX + $NEWWRX` # ADD THAT TO THE NEW VALUE
echo $USEWRX > /usr/local/bin/system/wlan_rx_running # OUTPUT THAT TO THE NEW RUNNING TOTAL
else # OTHERWISE (it hasn't looped around)
TOPWRX=`expr $NEWWRX - $OLDWRX` # SUBTRACT THE OLD VALUE FROM THE NEW
USEWRX=`expr $RUNWRX + $TOPWRX` # ADD IT TO THE RUNNING VALUE
echo $USEWRX > /usr/local/bin/system/wlan_rx_running # OUTPUT THAT TO THE NEW RUNNING TOTAL
fi
if [ $NEWWTX -lt $OLDWTX ]; then # REPEAT ABOVE FOR UPLOADS
TOPWTX=`expr $MAX - $OLDWTX`
USEWTX=`expr $TOPWTX + $RUNWTX`
$USEWTX=`expr $USEWTX + $NEWWTX`
echo $USEWTX > /usr/local/bin/system/wlan_tx_running
else
TOPWTX=`expr $NEWWTX - $OLDWTX`
USEWTX=`expr $RUNWTX + $TOPWTX`
echo $USEWTX > /usr/local/bin/system/wlan_tx_running
fi
This will create a number of files in the system directory, however the Actual totals will be located in the following files:
/usr/local/bin/system/rx_running is the total bytes downloaded on eth0
/usr/local/bin/system/tx_running is the total bytes uploaded on eth0
/usr/local/bin/system/wlan_rx_running is the total bytes downloaded on wlan0
/usr/local/bin/system/wlan_tx_running is the total bytes uploaded on wlan0
Naturally, you'll want to update these values automatically. So I'd recommend running the script periodically (I do mine once a minute using cron with * * * * * chronic /usr/local/bin/system/getStats.sh
I went on after this to get other stats including load averages, CPU temperatures, Memory usage etc and output them to graphs using RRDTool.
This graph demonstrates the fact that a 32-bit OS (raspberry Pi2 running Jessie) can still give you usable transferred data that's greater the 4Gb:
P.S. chronic is a part of the moreutils package that allows you to run a command that will not output anything unless there's an error.
