Monitor Network Traffic Mac

Question

I'm wondering how to go about monitoring network traffic on my Mac. Like the way activity monitor does it, showing the bytes / packets in and out.

I know it's a bit vague, but I'm unsure of the best place to start.

EDIT: I'm wanting to do this in code, not use an existing piece of software.

See the Mac OS X-related answer to this question: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1126790/how-to-get-network-adapter-stats-in-linux-mac-osx (i.e. use sysctl). — Jakob Borg, Apr 18 '10 at 14:01

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 18 '10 at 15:32

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I just found the open source project, MenuMeters. It's got exactly what I'm looking for.

answered Apr 18 '10 at 15:32

Tom Irving

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you just said that you want to do this in code and not existing tool/software. – Jack Apr 18 '10 at 16:16

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 18 '10 at 13:49

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You may want to look into programming with pcap. That's the library which drives tcpdump.

answered Apr 18 '10 at 13:49

Josh

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@calmh: Post your solution as an answer then so he can accept it. – Josh Apr 18 '10 at 15:02
It's in the question linked in the comment above. No need to repeat what has already been well answered by someone else. – Jakob Borg Apr 18 '10 at 18:41

Sairam Krish · Answer 3 · 2014-06-22T07:41:37.983

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There are lot of paid & freeware applications. But if you a command line person like me, Try this:

nettop //displays network usage per application with lot of details
nettop (press h) //displays help menu
nettop (press c) //collapse and display brief info on network usage

edited Jun 22 '14 at 07:41

answered Jun 22 '14 at 07:16

Sairam Krish

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score 0 · Answer 4 · edited Mar 21 '11 at 05:15

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Use tcpdump for quick-n-dirty low-level command-line monitoring, and wireshark for the kitchen sink.

OTOH, if you just want to know the number of bytes/packets (as opposed to their contents), try Net Monitor, which is commercial, unfortunately.

edited Mar 21 '11 at 05:15

titaniumdecoy

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answered Apr 18 '10 at 13:18

Marcelo Cantos

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I wrote my answer before the OP added the qualifier. – Marcelo Cantos Apr 18 '10 at 22:06

Monitor Network Traffic Mac

4 Answers4

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