1 iperf3: A TCP, UDP, and SCTP network bandwidth measurement tool
2 ================================================================
3
4 Summary
5 -------
6
7 iperf is a tool for active measurements of the maximum achievable
8 bandwidth on IP networks. It supports tuning of various parameters
9 related to timing, protocols, and buffers. For each test it reports
10 the measured throughput / bitrate, loss, and other parameters.
11
12 This version, sometimes referred to as iperf3, is a redesign of an
13 original version developed at NLANR/DAST. iperf3 is a new
14 implementation from scratch, with the goal of a smaller, simpler code
15 base, and a library version of the functionality that can be used in
16 other programs. iperf3 also has a number of features found in other tools
17 such as nuttcp and netperf, but were missing from the original iperf.
18 These include, for example, a zero-copy mode and optional JSON output.
19 Note that iperf3 is *not* backwards compatible with the original iperf.
20
21 Primary development for iperf3 takes place on CentOS Linux, FreeBSD,
22 and macOS. At this time, these are the only officially supported
23 platforms, however there have been some reports of success with
24 OpenBSD, NetBSD, Android, Solaris, and other Linux distributions.
25
26 iperf3 is principally developed by ESnet / Lawrence Berkeley National
27 Laboratory. It is released under a three-clause BSD license.
28
29 For more information see: https://software.es.net/iperf
30
31 Source code and issue tracker: https://github.com/esnet/iperf
32
33 Obtaining iperf3
34 ----------------
35
36 Downloads of iperf3 are available at:
37
38 https://downloads.es.net/pub/iperf/
39
40 To check out the most recent code, clone the git repository at:
41
42 https://github.com/esnet/iperf.git
43
44 Building iperf3
45 ---------------
46
47 ### Prerequisites: ###
48
49 None.
50
51 ### Building ###
52
53 ./configure; make; make install
54
55 (Note: If configure fails, try running `./bootstrap.sh` first)
56
57 Invoking iperf3
58 ---------------
59
60 iperf3 includes a manual page listing all of the command-line options.
61 The manual page is the most up-to-date reference to the various flags and parameters.
62
63 For sample command line usage, see:
64
65 https://fasterdata.es.net/performance-testing/network-troubleshooting-tools/iperf/
66
67 Using the default options, iperf is meant to show typical well
68 designed application performance. "Typical well designed application"
69 means avoiding artificial enhancements that work only for testing
70 (such as splice()'ing the data to /dev/null). iperf does also have
71 flags for "extreme best case" optimizations, but they must be
72 explicitly activated.
73
74 These flags include:
75
76 -Z, --zerocopy use a 'zero copy' sendfile() method of sending data
77 -A, --affinity n/n,m set CPU affinity
78
79 Bug Reports
80 -----------
81
82 Before submitting a bug report, please make sure you're running the
83 latest version of the code, and confirm that your issue has not
84 already been fixed. Then submit to the iperf3 issue tracker on
85 GitHub:
86
87 https://github.com/esnet/iperf/issues
88
89 In your issue submission, please indicate the version of iperf3 and
90 what platform you're trying to run on (provide the platform
91 information even if you're not using a supported platform, we
92 *might* be able to help anyway). Exact command-line arguments will
93 help us recreate your problem. If you're getting error messages,
94 please include them verbatim if possible, but remember to sanitize any
95 sensitive information.
96
97 If you have a question about usage or about the code, please do *not*
98 submit an issue. Please use one of the mailing lists for that.
99
100 Changes from iperf 2.x
101 ----------------------
102
103 (Note that iperf2 is no longer being developed by its original
104 maintainers. However, beginning in 2014, another developer began
105 fixing bugs and enhancing functionality, and generating releases of
106 iperf2. Both projects (as of late 2017) are currently being developed
107 actively, but independently. The continuing iperf2 development
108 project can be found at https://sourceforge.net/projects/iperf2/.)
109
110 New options:
111
112 -V, --verbose more detailed output than before
113 -J, --json output in JSON format
114 -Z, --zerocopy use a 'zero copy' sendfile() method of sending data
115 -O, --omit N omit the first n seconds (to ignore slowstart)
116 -T, --title str prefix every output line with this string
117 -F, --file name xmit/recv the specified file
118 -A, --affinity n/n,m set CPU affinity (Linux and FreeBSD only)
119 -k, --blockcount #[KMG] number of blocks (packets) to transmit (instead
120 of -t or -n)
121 -L, --flowlabel set IPv6 flow label (Linux only)
122
123 Changed flags:
124
125 -C, --linux-congestion set congestion control algorithm (Linux only)
126 (-Z in iperf2)
127
128
129 Deprecated options:
130
131 Not planning to support these iperf2 flags. If you really miss these
132 options, please submit a request in the issue tracker:
133
134 -d, --dualtest Do a bidirectional test simultaneously
135 -r, --tradeoff Do a bidirectional test individually
136 -T, --ttl time-to-live, for multicast (default 1)
137 -x, --reportexclude [CDMSV] exclude C(connection) D(data) M(multicast)
138 S(settings) V(server) reports
139 -y, --reportstyle C report as a Comma-Separated Values
140
141 Also deprecated is the ability to set the options via environment
142 variables.
143
144 Known Issues
145 ------------
146
147 A set of known issues is maintained on the iperf3 Web pages:
148
149 https://software.es.net/iperf/dev.html#known-issues
150
151 Links
152 -----
153
154 This section lists links to user-contributed Web pages regarding
155 iperf3. ESnet and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory bear no
156 responsibility for the content of these pages.
157
158 * Installation instructions for Debian Linux (by Cameron Camp
159 <cameron (a] ivdatacenter.com>):
160
161 http://cheatsheet.logicalwebhost.com/iperf-network-testing/
162
163 Copyright
164 ---------
165
166 iperf, Copyright (c) 2014-2018, The Regents of the University of
167 California, through Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (subject
168 to receipt of any required approvals from the U.S. Dept. of
169 Energy). All rights reserved.
170
171 If you have questions about your rights to use or distribute this
172 software, please contact Berkeley Lab's Technology Transfer
173 Department at TTD (a] lbl.gov.
174
175 NOTICE. This software is owned by the U.S. Department of Energy.
176 As such, the U.S. Government has been granted for itself and others
177 acting on its behalf a paid-up, nonexclusive, irrevocable,
178 worldwide license in the Software to reproduce, prepare derivative
179 works, and perform publicly and display publicly. Beginning five
180 (5) years after the date permission to assert copyright is obtained
181 from the U.S. Department of Energy, and subject to any subsequent
182 five (5) year renewals, the U.S. Government is granted for itself
183 and others acting on its behalf a paid-up, nonexclusive,
184 irrevocable, worldwide license in the Software to reproduce,
185 prepare derivative works, distribute copies to the public, perform
186 publicly and display publicly, and to permit others to do so.
187
188 This code is distributed under a BSD style license, see the LICENSE
189 file for complete information.
190