iperf is a tool for active measurements of the maximum achievable bandwidth on IP networks. It supports tuning of various parameters related to timing, protocols, and buffers. For each test it reports the measured throughput / bitrate, loss, and other parameters.
This version, sometimes referred to as iperf3, is a redesign of an original version developed at NLANR/DAST. iperf3 is a new implementation from scratch, with the goal of a smaller, simpler code base, and a library version of the functionality that can be used in other programs. iperf3 also has a number of features found in other tools such as nuttcp and netperf, but were missing from the original iperf. These include, for example, a zero-copy mode and optional JSON output. Note that iperf3 is not backwards compatible with the original iperf.
Primary development for iperf3 takes place on CentOS Linux, FreeBSD, and macOS. At this time, these are the only officially supported platforms, however there have been some reports of success with OpenBSD, NetBSD, Android, Solaris, and other Linux distributions.
iperf3 is principally developed by ESnet / Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. It is released under a three-clause BSD license.
For more information see: https://software.es.net/iperf
Source code and issue tracker: https://github.com/esnet/iperf
Downloads of iperf3 are available at:
https://downloads.es.net/pub/iperf/
To check out the most recent code, clone the git repository at:
https://github.com/esnet/iperf.git
None.
./configure; make; make install
(Note: If configure fails, try running ./bootstrap.sh first)
iperf3 includes a manual page listing all of the command-line options. The manual page is the most up-to-date reference to the various flags and parameters.
For sample command line usage, see:
https://fasterdata.es.net/performance-testing/network-troubleshooting-tools/iperf/
Using the default options, iperf is meant to show typical well designed application performance. "Typical well designed application" means avoiding artificial enhancements that work only for testing (such as splice()'ing the data to /dev/null). iperf does also have flags for "extreme best case" optimizations, but they must be explicitly activated.
These flags include:
-Z, --zerocopy use a 'zero copy' sendfile() method of sending data
-A, --affinity n/n,m set CPU affinity
Before submitting a bug report, please make sure you're running the latest version of the code, and confirm that your issue has not already been fixed. Then submit to the iperf3 issue tracker on GitHub:
https://github.com/esnet/iperf/issues
In your issue submission, please indicate the version of iperf3 and what platform you're trying to run on (provide the platform information even if you're not using a supported platform, we might be able to help anyway). Exact command-line arguments will help us recreate your problem. If you're getting error messages, please include them verbatim if possible, but remember to sanitize any sensitive information.
If you have a question about usage or about the code, please do not submit an issue. Please use one of the mailing lists for that.
(Note that iperf2 is no longer being developed by its original maintainers. However, beginning in 2014, another developer began fixing bugs and enhancing functionality, and generating releases of iperf2. Both projects (as of late 2017) are currently being developed actively, but independently. The continuing iperf2 development project can be found at https://sourceforge.net/projects/iperf2/.)
New options:
-V, --verbose more detailed output than before
-J, --json output in JSON format
-Z, --zerocopy use a 'zero copy' sendfile() method of sending data
-O, --omit N omit the first n seconds (to ignore slowstart)
-T, --title str prefix every output line with this string
-F, --file name xmit/recv the specified file
-A, --affinity n/n,m set CPU affinity (Linux and FreeBSD only)
-k, --blockcount #[KMG] number of blocks (packets) to transmit (instead
of -t or -n)
-L, --flowlabel set IPv6 flow label (Linux only)
Changed flags:
-C, --linux-congestion set congestion control algorithm (Linux only)
(-Z in iperf2)
Deprecated options:
Not planning to support these iperf2 flags. If you really miss these options, please submit a request in the issue tracker:
-d, --dualtest Do a bidirectional test simultaneously
-r, --tradeoff Do a bidirectional test individually
-T, --ttl time-to-live, for multicast (default 1)
-x, --reportexclude [CDMSV] exclude C(connection) D(data) M(multicast)
S(settings) V(server) reports
-y, --reportstyle C report as a Comma-Separated Values
Also deprecated is the ability to set the options via environment variables.
A set of known issues is maintained on the iperf3 Web pages:
https://software.es.net/iperf/dev.html#known-issues
This section lists links to user-contributed Web pages regarding iperf3. ESnet and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory bear no responsibility for the content of these pages.
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Installation instructions for Debian Linux (by Cameron Camp [email protected]):
iperf, Copyright (c) 2014-2018, The Regents of the University of California, through Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (subject to receipt of any required approvals from the U.S. Dept. of Energy). All rights reserved.
If you have questions about your rights to use or distribute this software, please contact Berkeley Lab's Technology Transfer Department at [email protected].
NOTICE. This software is owned by the U.S. Department of Energy. As such, the U.S. Government has been granted for itself and others acting on its behalf a paid-up, nonexclusive, irrevocable, worldwide license in the Software to reproduce, prepare derivative works, and perform publicly and display publicly. Beginning five (5) years after the date permission to assert copyright is obtained from the U.S. Department of Energy, and subject to any subsequent five (5) year renewals, the U.S. Government is granted for itself and others acting on its behalf a paid-up, nonexclusive, irrevocable, worldwide license in the Software to reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute copies to the public, perform publicly and display publicly, and to permit others to do so.
This code is distributed under a BSD style license, see the LICENSE file for complete information.
PC iPerf v.2.0.5 (08 Jul 2010) pthreads v3.1.3 x64 (2016-04-21)
Rpi iPerf v.2.0.5 (08 Jul 2010) pthreads v3.0.7 (2019-01-22 compiled for armv7l Linux)
See iperf_tests.xlsx for more details
2019-02-20 (B2) IN THE LAB; WIRED; no RF TENT; @2452MHz; Adaura Att=[5,20,20,5] ie. 10dB att, RSSI=-35dBm (UDP60M; chn9) Adaura Eth connected; AP moved RSSI Signal level = -39dBm (iwconfig RPi)
ID TEST IPERF version TCP/UDP Direction Option Reverse Config PC Config Rpi DispPC Tput (Mb/s) DispRPi Tput (Mb/s) PER (%) Jitter (ms)
1 T2PRN_01 iperf2 TCP Tx=Pc;Rx=Rpi + TCPack iperf -c 192.168.1.100 -i1 -t20 iperf -s -i1 -t20
2 T2PRN_01 iperf2 TCP Tx=Pc;Rx=Rpi + TCPack
3 T2RPN_01 iperf2 TCP Tx=Rpi;Rx=Pc + TCPack iperf -s -i1 -t20 iperf -c 192.168.1.160 -i1 -t20
4 T2RPN_01 iperf2 TCP Tx=Rpi;Rx=Pc + TCPack
5 U2PRN_50_01 iperf2 UDP Tx=Pc;Rx=Rpi iperf -c 192.168.1.100 -u -b60M -i10 -t20 -V -fm iperf -s -u -i10 -V -fm 51 52 13 0.35 <== iPERF2 SEEMS NEEDED TO HAVE GOOD OUTPUTS IN THIS UDP CONFIG from PC to RPi !?
6 U2PRN_50_01 iperf2 UDP Tx=Pc;Rx=Rpi but iPerf2 seems unstable on the Rpi as an iperf server!
7 U2RPN_50_01 iperf2 UDP Tx=Rpi;Rx=Pc iperf -s -u -i1 -t20 iperf -c 192.168.1.160 -u -b60M -i1 -t20
8 U2RPN_50_01 iperf2 UDP Tx=Rpi;Rx=Pc
11 T3PRN_01 iperf3 TCP Tx=Pc;Rx=Rpi + TCPack iperf3 -c 192.168.1.100 -i10 -t20 -V -T[IPTA] -fm iperf3 -s -i10 -V -fm 39.2 send / 39.2 rec 38.7 send / 38.7 rec <== SEEMS RELIABLE for TCP from PC to Rpi (but can prefer -J option for JSON output)
12 T3PRN_01 iperf3 TCP Tx=Pc;Rx=Rpi + TCPack use "iperf3 -c XX -V -iN -tN -J" and "iperf3 -s -V -J"
13 T3RPN_01 iperf3 TCP Tx=Rpi;Rx=Pc + TCPack iperf3 -s -i10 -V -fm iperf3 -c 192.168.1.160 -i10 -t20 -V -T[IPTA] -fm 0 send / 29.3 rec 29.6 send / 29.4 rec <== SEEMS RELIABLE for TCP from Rpi to PC iif looking at Rpi side only (but can prefer -J option for JSON output)
14 T3RPN_01 iperf3 TCP Tx=Rpi;Rx=Pc + TCPack Issue for send value on the PC server side (does not recover the value from Rpi?)
11 T3PRN_01 iperf3 TCP Tx=Pc;Rx=Rpi + TCPack Reverse iperf3 -s -i10 -V -fm iperf3 -c 192.168.1.160 -i10 -t20 -R -V -T[IPTA] -fm 38.5 send / 0 rec 38.7 send / 38.7 rec
12 T3PRN_01 iperf3 TCP Tx=Pc;Rx=Rpi + TCPack Reverse Issue for received value on the PC server side (does not recover the value from Rpi?)
13 T3RPN_01 iperf3 TCP Tx=Rpi;Rx=Pc + TCPack Reverse iperf3 -c 192.168.1.100 -i10 -t20 -R -V -T[IPTA] -fm iperf3 -s -i10 -V -fm 30.3 send / 30.0 rec 29.8 send / 29.5 rec <== SEEMS RELIABLE for TCP from Rpi to PC (but can prefer -J option for JSON output)
14 T3RPN_01 iperf3 TCP Tx=Rpi;Rx=Pc + TCPack Reverse
15 U3PRN_50_01 iperf3 UDP Tx=Pc;Rx=Rpi iperf3 -c 192.168.1.100 -u -b60M -i10 -t20 -V -T[IPTA] -fm iperf3 -s -i10 -V -fm 59.8 58.8 (54 each 10s) 9.2 2.91 <== NOT RELIABLE FOR SUMMARY! Summary report issues… Must remove lost packets if we look at status?
16 U3PRN_50_01 iperf3 UDP Tx=Pc;Rx=Rpi Avoid this config iPerf, often buggy (note that values each s is also wrong after the first X seconds, when -iX is precised at PC client with max 10s)
17 U3RPN_50_01 iperf3 UDP Tx=Rpi;Rx=Pc iperf3 -s -i10 -V -fm iperf -c 192.168.1.160 -u -b60M -i10 -t20 -V -T[IPTA] -fm 0 34.8 0.01 0.63 <== SEEMS RELIABLE for UDP from Rpi to PC iif looking at Rpi side only (but can prefer -J option for JSON output)
18 U3RPN_50_01 iperf3 UDP Tx=Rpi;Rx=Pc Issue for received value on the PC server side (does not recover the value from Rpi?)
19 U3RPR_50_01 iperf3 UDP Tx=Pc;Rx=Rpi Reverse iperf3 -s -i10 -V -fm iperf3 -c 192.168.1.160 -u -b60M -i10 -t20 -R -V -T[IPTA] -fm 59.9, Jitter 0 60.1 (54 each 10s) 9.3 1.13 <== NOT RELIABLE FOR SUMMARY! Summary report issues… Must remove lost packets if we look at status?
20 U3RPR_50_01 iperf3 UDP Tx=Pc;Rx=Rpi Reverse Avoid this config iPerf, often buggy (note that values each s is also wrong after the first X seconds, when -iX is precised at PC client with max 10s)
21 U3PRR_50_01 iperf3 UDP Tx=Rpi;Rx=Pc Reverse iperf3 -c 192.168.1.100 -u -b60M -R -i10 -t20 -V -T[IPTA] -fm iperf3 -s -i10 -V -fm 35.6 35.2 0.14 0.64 <== SEEMS RELIABLE for UDP from Rpi to PC (but can prefer -J option for JSON output)
22 U3PRR_50_01 iperf3 UDP Tx=Rpi;Rx=Pc Reverse
[iperf2]
iperf2 does not behave the same on Linux/Rpi and Win/PC
* iperf2 PC->Rpi in UDP: the PC displays the TX packets (not the right correctly received) but the server report at the end is correct; except we observe a high PER (>5%) in our tests
* iperf2 Rpi->PC in UDP: the PC displays the same correct throughput on both sides (correctly received)+ server report at the end is correct; Note that PER is good (<0.1%) in our tests, but high Jitter variation (0.5 to 2ms)
[iperf3]
iperf3 does not behave the same on the Win/PC (issues on sender report if PC server)
* iperf3 displays the proper values (sender/receiver) in TCP on the client; but not the proper Rpi (sender on non-reversed mode) throughput on the PC-server when the PC is the server (0 displayed). Same issue in UDP (PC-server displays 0)
* iPerf3 issues: summary results UDP BW from PC to Rpi. PC-client to RPi-server; only BW at each second on RPi-server side is OK. Summary seems overestimated (full-rate, differs from average value)
* This is also true in REVERSE mode: RPi-client to PC-server; only BW at each second on RPi-client side is OK. Note that Jitter at PC-server side is also wrong (0)
* Perhaps bugs have been resolved in newer versions of iPerf; but how to find a recent version for Raspbian ? (someome to recompile it?)
PC iPerf v.3.6+ (2019-02-22); compiled using CygWin
Rpi iPerf v.3.6+ (2019-02-22); compiled for armv7l Linux on a Raspberry Pi3
See iperf_tests.xlsx for more details.
Several corrections.
Still ONE annoying issue.