The sys admin's daily grind: socket statistics
Short Cut
Most sys admins use netstat to find out about the status of network sockets, but Charly knows a good shortcut.
A bunch of parameters control the behavior of netstat. Administrators can also happily combine options so that some netstat calls look like an armadillo has rolled across the keyboard. With ss (like socket statistics), there is an even more specific tool for this purpose. It comes from the iproute2 package [1] – just like its siblings bridge, rtacct, rtmon, tc, ctstat, lnstat, nstat, routef, routel, rtstat, and ip.
Because a running Linux uses several hundred or more ports, ss comes with plenty of filters. I mostly need the -t and -u parameters, which restrict the results to TCP or UDP sockets. Other parameters limit the list to raw, Datagram Congestion Control Protocol (DCCP), package, and Unix domain sockets.
Caution: The tool only displays TCP sockets for existing connections by default (established or close_wait). If I also want to see sockets in the lists status – as I usually do – I have to type ss -ta. If I only want the tool to pay attention to listening TCP sockets and suppress all others, I use ss -lt. If I add -p here, I can also see which process opened the socket. I need to use root privileges for this; otherwise, -p has no effect.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Red Hat Releases RHEL 10 Early
Red Hat quietly rolled out the official release of RHEL 10.0 a bit early.
-
openSUSE Joins End of 10
openSUSE has decided to not only join the End of 10 movement but it also will no longer support the Deepin Desktop Environment.
-
New Version of Flatpak Released
Flatpak 1.16.1 is now available as the latest, stable version with various improvements.
-
IBM Announces Powerhouse Linux Server
IBM has unleashed a seriously powerful Linux server with the LinuxONE Emperor 5.
-
Plasma Ends LTS Releases
The KDE Plasma development team is doing away with the LTS releases for a good reason.
-
Arch Linux Available for Windows Subsystem for Linux
If you've ever wanted to use a rolling release distribution with WSL, now's your chance.
-
System76 Releases COSMIC Alpha 7
With scores of bug fixes and a really cool workspaces feature, COSMIC is looking to soon migrate from alpha to beta.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 6.0 Available for Installation
The latest release of OpenMandriva has arrived with a new kernel, an updated Plasma desktop, and a server edition.
-
TrueNAS 25.04 Arrives with Thousands of Changes
One of the most popular Linux-based NAS solutions has rolled out the latest edition, based on Ubuntu 25.04.
-
Fedora 42 Available with Two New Spins
The latest release from the Fedora Project includes the usual updates, a new kernel, an official KDE Plasma spin, and a new System76 spin.