Interface statistics
====================
+Overview
+========
+
This document is a guide to Linux network interface statistics.
-There are two main sources of interface statistics in Linux:
+There are three main sources of interface statistics in Linux:
- standard interface statistics based on
- :c:type:`struct rtnl_link_stats64 <rtnl_link_stats64>`; and
+ :c:type:`struct rtnl_link_stats64 <rtnl_link_stats64>`;
+ - protocol-specific statistics; and
- driver-defined statistics available via ethtool.
-There are multiple interfaces to reach the former. Most commonly used
-is the `ip` command from `iproute2`::
+Standard interface statistics
+-----------------------------
+
+There are multiple interfaces to reach the standard statistics.
+Most commonly used is the `ip` command from `iproute2`::
$ ip -s -s link show dev ens4u1u1
6: ens4u1u1: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state UP mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
`ip` supports JSON formatting via the `-j` option.
-Ethtool statistics can be dumped using `ethtool -S $ifc`, e.g.::
+Protocol-specific statistics
+----------------------------
+
+Some of the interfaces used for configuring devices are also able
+to report related statistics. For example ethtool interface used
+to configure pause frames can report corresponding hardware counters::
+
+ $ ethtool --include-statistics -a eth0
+ Pause parameters for eth0:
+ Autonegotiate: on
+ RX: on
+ TX: on
+ Statistics:
+ tx_pause_frames: 1
+ rx_pause_frames: 1
+
+Driver-defined statistics
+-------------------------
+
+Driver-defined ethtool statistics can be dumped using `ethtool -S $ifc`, e.g.::
$ ethtool -S ens4u1u1
NIC statistics:
and values via `ETHTOOL_GSTATS`. User space should use `ETHTOOL_GDRVINFO`
to retrieve the number of statistics (`.n_stats`).
+ethtool-netlink
+---------------
+
+Ethtool netlink is a replacement for the older IOCTL interface.
+
+Protocol-related statistics can be requested in get commands by setting
+the `ETHTOOL_FLAG_STATS` flag in `ETHTOOL_A_HEADER_FLAGS`. Currently
+statistics are supported in the following commands:
+
+ - `ETHTOOL_MSG_PAUSE_GET`
+
debugfs
-------
Statistics must persist across routine operations like bringing the interface
down and up.
+
+Kernel-internal data structures
+-------------------------------
+
+The following structures are internal to the kernel, their members are
+translated to netlink attributes when dumped. Drivers must not overwrite
+the statistics they don't report with 0.
+
+.. kernel-doc:: include/linux/ethtool.h
+ :identifiers: ethtool_pause_stats