BitMeterOS Network Bandwidth meter (for Linux, Mac & Windows)
How to install, run, and use the BitMeterOS bandwidth Meter.
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Contents:-
Introduction
Requirements
Installation Method
How to use BitMeterOS
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INTRODUCTION
Evening, all.
As y'all know by now, I'm a very enthusiastic 'Puppy' Linux user. When I first started out with Linux (Ubuntu) around 2 1/2 yrs ago, we were on a fairly tight 'data cap' here at home in the UK. It's not the case anymore, since we're now 'unlimited', but I still use this app out of habit, and because it's very neat for what it is.
I was hunting around for something to monitor this limited bandwidth, yet at the same time I wanted an app that would be lightweight in nature. I eventually found it here:-
...on the CodeBox website, which belongs to an absolute genius of a guy by the name of Rob Dawson. Rob codes everything he develops to be as small & lightweight as possible.....and most of what he produces is cross-platform in nature. Anyway, I thought I'd share it with y'all.
(There are also some Puppy-specific .pets, developed by our resident Forum 'coder', Geoffrey, with input from yours truly, which I'll explain a bit more about later on.)
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REQUIREMENTS:-
1) Any computer running Linux, Mac or Windows.
2) The BitMeterOS app itself.
That's all that's needed!
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INSTALLATION METHOD:-
1) First of all, download the relevant installer for your O/S and architecture, from here:-
a ) Version 0.7.6, as stated, is the oldest & most stable. This is a 'basic' version, which merely gives a main readout as a total of usage, whether internet traffic, or LAN traffic; it doesn't differentiate. This one is as reliable as they come....I've used it for a long time.
b ) Version 0.8.0, on the other hand, differentiates between Internet and LAN traffic, giving them as sub-totals, and a running 'total'. It's not quite as stable, however; Rob moved to a newer SQLite database for this one, and it's a bit temperamental. It may run for months quite happily, or it may throw a wobbly after a couple of weeks....it's unpredictable. It is, however, well worth trying.
2) Having downloaded the version of your choice, simply run the installer. This doesn't take long.....under Linux, this occupies around 900k-1 MB of disk space, so it's quite lean. The BitMeterOS shell-script lives in /var/lib.
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HOW TO USE BITMETEROS:-
BitMeter comprises of two items; a 'daemon' that runs continuously in the background, monitoring which ever network interface you're connected to, and a web interface, by means of which you view the information collected. This makes sense, in fact, since most data usage tends to be incurred in your browser anyway. It's set to auto-start at boot by default.
When it's installed, go into your browser, and enter the following into the address bar:-
localhost:2605/index.html
It makes sense to Bookmark this for future reference.
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You'll initially see the 'Monitor' tab open. This shows a graphical representation of data consumed against time.
'History' will enable you to view usage over a period of time (obviously, as far back as when it was first installed).
'Summary' enables you to see a running total of your data used. This updates in real time. 0.7.6 has a fixed 10-second update interval; 0.8.0 allows you to tailor this to your own preferences.
'Query' allows you to query amounts used over user-defined periods and times.
'Alerts' will allow you set an alert, to let you know when you're getting close to a given amount of data used.....handy for those amongst us who are on a limited 'data cap'.
The remaining two tabs, 'Calculator' and 'Preferences' are fairly self-explanatory. In 'Preferences', you can play around with the appearance of the app itself, and tailor your update intervals, amongst other things. If you change this last item, make sure you 'Save to server', not 'Save to Browser'; otherwise, you'll need to reset again the next time you use it.
If you'd like to see what the app looks like before deciding to try it, there's an interactive demonstration on Rob's website, here:-
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For Puppy, since I run several of the little darlings, I wanted to come up with a method for getting a combined total between Pups. I enlisted Geoffrey's help, as stated above, and between us we came up with a method for sym-linking each Pup's instance of BitMeterOS to a single, common 'bitmeter.db' database on a remote partition . And it worked beautifully..!
Rob himself paid us a visit on the Puppy Forums during the development thread, to see how we were getting on with it; I think he was quite impressed! Certainly, he gave us his blessing....and approval.
So, I'm also including a link to these packages (.pets and .debs) @ my MediaFire a/c, if any Puppy users would like to give them a try.
Deb packages:-
Pet packages:-
Obviously, the .debs will work fine for Ubuntu, Mint, or any of the Debian-based distros. Both .debs and .pets will work in Puppy. (Try the .pets first; some people have found they don't install for them. If that's the case, I guarantee the .debs definitely will.
The installer for the multi-Pup ones will ask which remote database you want to link to, if there's already one installed, or where to place it if it's the first one of a series you wish to set up.)
There is a method for doing this between 'regular' installs on multiple machines, outlined here:-
...but I could never get the hang of this, which is why we developed the above method for Puppy..! (One of the wonderful things about Linux, of course, since it's mostly script-based; you can figure just about anything out, given time, without too much trouble.) Those of you who are comfortable with the terminal will in all likelihood have this figured out in a matter of minutes.....
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And that's about it, really. If any of you decide to give this a try, I hope it proves to be of as much use to you as it has been to me over the last couple of years.
Enjoy.
Mike. 
Edited by Mike_Walsh, 04 November 2016 - 06:49 PM.
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