Introduction
iPerf3 is a tool for active measurements of the maximum achievable bandwidth on IP networks. It supports tuning of various parameters related to timing, buffers, and protocols (TCP, UDP, SCTP with IPv4 and IPv6). For each test, it reports the bandwidth, loss, and other parameters.
The tutorial was tested with our Ubuntu 24.04 OS templates; however, it should also work with our other Ubuntu and Debian OS templates.
1. Starting from the system update
Before proceeding, ensure that your software is up to date by running:
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
2. Installing iperf3
To install iperf3 on your server, use:
sudo apt install iperf3
To verify that the iperf is installed successfully:
iperf3 -v
Output example:
root@58zi:~# iperf3 -v
iperf 3.16 (cJSON 1.7.15)
Linux 58zi.l.time4vps.cloud 6.8.0-53-generic #55-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Fri Jan 17 15:37:52 UTC 2025 x86_64
Optional features available: CPU affinity setting, IPv6 flow label, SCTP, TCP congestion algorithm setting, sendfile / zerocopy, socket pacing, authentication, bind to device, support IPv4 don't fragment, POSIX threads
3. Testing speed with iperf3 public servers
To confirm the host is able to act as an iPerf3 server, use:
iperf3 -s
Output example:
After the server is started, it will listen for connections from iperf3 clients, indicating that the iperf3 program is running in client mode. The client mode can be started using the -c command-line option, which also requires a host to which iperf3 should connect. The host can be specified by hostname or IPv4:
iperf3 -c iperf3.example.com
iperf3 -c ip_address
Output example:
It's an example with the -c command-line.
To find more possible options, use
iperf3 --help
Below you can find public iperf3 servers for testing:
For more information, please visit their website: https://iperf.fr/