Installation

Get Bandwidth Manager running on your Docker host in under a minute. This guide covers the automated installer, a manual from‑source build, systemd setup, and common pitfalls.

Prerequisites

Requirement	Minimum	Notes
Linux kernel	4.x+	`tc` `htb` and `fq_codel` qdiscs must be available. `5.x` recommended.
Docker Engine	20.10+	Daemon needs access to the Docker socket (`/var/run/docker.sock`).
Root access	Yes	`tc` netlink operations and Docker socket access require `CAP_NET_ADMIN`.
Architecture	`amd64` / `arm64`	Pre‑built binaries for both.

Quick Dependency Check

Run these commands to verify your host is ready:

bash

# Kernel version
uname -r

# tc availability (should print qdisc list or "noqueue")
tc qdisc show 2>/dev/null | head -5

# Docker socket
docker info > /dev/null 2>&1 && echo "Docker OK" || echo "Docker not reachable"

If all three pass, you're good to go.

One‑Liner Install

bash

curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AnAverageBeing/Bandwidth-flow-maintainer/main/install.sh | sudo bash

Always inspect scripts before piping them to sudo.
View the installer source →

What the Installer Does (Step by Step)

The install script runs 7 steps in sequence. Each step is idempotent — you can re‑run the script safely.

Step 1 — OS & Kernel Validation

bash

# Checks /etc/os-release; confirms kernel >= 4.0
# Exits early on unsupported distros or ancient kernels

Step 2 — Dependency Bootstrap

Installs any missing OS packages required for the build or runtime:

bash

# Debian / Ubuntu
apt-get update && apt-get install -y curl tar iproute2

# RHEL / Fedora / Rocky
dnf install -y curl tar iproute-tc

Step 3 — Binary Download

Fetches the latest release from GitHub, verifies the SHA256 checksum, and extracts:

bash

curl -sSL "https://github.com/AnAverageBeing/Bandwidth-flow-maintainer/releases/latest/download/bwm_linux_amd64.tar.gz" \
  | sudo tar xz -C /usr/local/bin

Installed binaries:

Binary	Purpose
`bwm-daemon`	Background service, tc controller
`bwm`	CLI client for querying and managing

Step 4 — Configuration Directory

bash

sudo mkdir -p /etc/bwm
sudo chmod 750 /etc/bwm

A default config is written to /etc/bwm/config.yaml if none exists. See Configuration → for every available option.

Step 5 — Data Directory

bash

sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/bwm
sudo chmod 750 /var/lib/bwm

The SQLite database (bandwidth.db) lives here. Keep this directory backed up if historical stats matter to you.

Step 6 — Systemd Unit File

A hardened unit is written to /etc/systemd/system/bwm.service:

ini

[Unit]
Description=Bandwidth Manager — Docker traffic control daemon
Documentation=https://github.com/AnAverageBeing/Bandwidth-flow-maintainer
After=docker.service network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=notify
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/bwm-daemon --config /etc/bwm/config.yaml
Restart=always
RestartSec=5

# Sandbox hardening
ProtectSystem=strict
ReadWritePaths=/var/lib/bwm /run/docker.sock
ProtectHome=true
NoNewPrivileges=true
PrivateTmp=true
CapabilityBoundingSet=CAP_NET_ADMIN CAP_DAC_OVERRIDE

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Key hardening directives:

Directive	Effect
`ProtectSystem=strict`	`/usr`, `/boot`, `/etc` are read‑only. Only whitelisted paths are writable.
`NoNewPrivileges=true`	Prevents privilege escalation via `setuid` binaries.
`CapabilityBoundingSet`	Drops every capability except `CAP_NET_ADMIN` (for `tc`) and `CAP_DAC_OVERRIDE` (for Docker socket).

Step 7 — Start & Enable

bash

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now bwm

After step 7, the daemon is running and will auto‑start on boot.

Manual Install from Source

Prefer to build from source or need a custom patch? Here's the full build chain.

Prerequisites

Go 1.21 or later
make
gcc (for SQLite CGo bindings, if applicable)

Build Steps

bash

# 1. Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/AnAverageBeing/Bandwidth-flow-maintainer.git
cd Bandwidth-flow-maintainer

# 2. Build both binaries
make build
# Equivalent to:
# CGO_ENABLED=1 go build -ldflags="-s -w -X main.version=$(git describe --tags)" -o bin/bwm-daemon ./cmd/daemon
# CGO_ENABLED=1 go build -ldflags="-s -w -X main.version=$(git describe --tags)" -o bin/bwm        ./cmd/cli

# 3. Install
sudo cp bin/bwm-daemon /usr/local/bin/
sudo cp bin/bwm        /usr/local/bin/
sudo chmod 755 /usr/local/bin/bwm-daemon /usr/local/bin/bwm

Verify the Build

bash

bwm version
# Expected output:
# bwm version v1.2.3 (commit: a1b2c3d, built: 2025-06-15T10:30:00Z)

Unit File (Manual)

If you built from source, write the systemd unit yourself:

bash

sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/bwm.service << 'EOF'
[Unit]
Description=Bandwidth Manager — Docker traffic control daemon
After=docker.service network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=notify
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/bwm-daemon --config /etc/bwm/config.yaml
Restart=always
RestartSec=5
ProtectSystem=strict
ReadWritePaths=/var/lib/bwm /run/docker.sock
ProtectHome=true
NoNewPrivileges=true
PrivateTmp=true
CapabilityBoundingSet=CAP_NET_ADMIN CAP_DAC_OVERRIDE

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now bwm

Systemd Service Management

Everyday commands you'll need:

bash

# Check status
sudo systemctl status bwm

# Follow logs
sudo journalctl -u bwm -f

# Reload after config change
sudo systemctl reload bwm

# Restart
sudo systemctl restart bwm

# Stop
sudo systemctl stop bwm

# Disable auto-start
sudo systemctl disable bwm

Logging

All daemon output goes to the systemd journal. For structured logs, set log_format: json in your config:

bash

# Pretty-print recent JSON logs
sudo journalctl -u bwm --since "5 min ago" -o cat | jq '.'

Post‑Install Verification

Run these commands to confirm everything is wired up correctly:

1. Daemon Reachable

bash

bwm ping

Expected: pong (or daemon reachable).

2. Service Healthy

bash

sudo systemctl is-active bwm

Expected: active.

3. Docker Event Hook Working

bash

bwm status

Expected: a table summarising the daemon uptime, tracked containers, and overall bandwidth in/out.

4. End‑to‑End Test

Spin up a test container with a label and verify the limit is enforced:

bash

# Launch a container with a 1 Mbps upload cap
docker run -d --rm \
  --name bwm-test \
  --label bwm.limit.up=1mbps \
  alpine:latest sleep 3600

# Wait 5 seconds for discovery
sleep 5

# Inspect the rules applied to this container
bwm container inspect bwm-test

Expected: a tc class entry with a 1 Mbps ceiling on the container's veth.

bash

# Cleanup
docker rm -f bwm-test

Troubleshooting

Go Version Too Old

Symptom: make build fails with package slices is not in GOROOT or similar.

bash

# Check version
go version

Fix: Install Go 1.21+:

bash

# Using the official tarball
curl -sSL https://go.dev/dl/go1.22.5.linux-amd64.tar.gz | sudo tar xz -C /usr/local
export PATH=/usr/local/go/bin:$PATH

Docker Socket Permission Denied

Symptom: Daemon logs show permission denied when accessing /var/run/docker.sock.

Fix: Ensure the daemon runs as a user in the docker group, or use root:

bash

# Option A: run as root (default with systemd)
sudo systemctl cat bwm | grep User

# Option B: add a dedicated user to the docker group
sudo usermod -aG docker bwm
sudo systemctl restart bwm

`tc` Command Not Found

Symptom: Daemon logs show exec: "tc": executable file not found in $PATH.

Fix: Install iproute2 (or iproute on older distros):

bash

# Debian / Ubuntu
sudo apt-get install -y iproute2

# RHEL / Fedora
sudo dnf install -y iproute-tc

Then restart:

bash

sudo systemctl restart bwm

`htb` or `fq_codel` Qdisc Missing

Symptom: Daemon logs show RTNETLINK answers: No such file or directory or Unknown qdisc "htb".

Fix: Your kernel was compiled without traffic‑control modules. Verify:

bash

# Check if tc qdiscs are available
tc qdisc add dev lo root handle 1: htb 2>/dev/null && echo "htb OK" || echo "htb missing"
tc qdisc del dev lo root 2>/dev/null

If missing, rebuild your kernel with:

CONFIG_NET_SCHED=y
CONFIG_NET_SCH_HTB=y
CONFIG_NET_SCH_FQ_CODEL=y

Alternatively, switch to a stock distribution kernel (Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora all ship with these enabled).

Systemd Unit Fails to Start

Symptom: systemctl status bwm shows failed or inactive.

Diagnose step by step:

bash

# 1. Check the unit file syntax
sudo systemd-analyze verify /etc/systemd/system/bwm.service

# 2. Inspect the last boot log
sudo journalctl -u bwm --boot -e --no-pager

# 3. Run the daemon manually to see raw output
sudo /usr/local/bin/bwm-daemon --config /etc/bwm/config.yaml --debug

Common causes:

Error	Likely Cause
`exec format error`	Downloaded the wrong architecture binary
`bind: address already in use`	Another instance is already running
`config file not found`	Missing `/etc/bwm/config.yaml`
`failed to create database`	`/var/lib/bwm` not writable

Containers Not Being Discovered

Symptom: bwm status shows zero tracked containers despite running containers.

Fix: The daemon needs access to the Docker event stream. Verify:

bash

# Can the daemon reach Docker?
sudo -u bwm docker events --since 1s 2>&1 | head -5

# If that fails, check socket permissions
ls -la /var/run/docker.sock
# Expected: srw-rw---- 1 root docker

Add the daemon user to the docker group, or set docker_socket_group: docker in the config.

Uninstall

To completely remove Bandwidth Manager from the host:

bash

# 1. Stop and disable the service
sudo systemctl stop bwm
sudo systemctl disable bwm

# 2. Remove the unit file
sudo rm -f /etc/systemd/system/bwm.service
sudo systemctl daemon-reload

# 3. Remove binaries
sudo rm -f /usr/local/bin/bwm-daemon /usr/local/bin/bwm

# 4. (Optional) Remove config and data
sudo rm -rf /etc/bwm /var/lib/bwm

Removing /var/lib/bwm deletes all historical stats and quota counters. Back it up first if you plan to re‑install later.

Minimal Cleanup (Preserve Data)

bash

sudo systemctl stop bwm
sudo systemctl disable bwm
sudo rm -f /etc/systemd/system/bwm.service
sudo rm -f /usr/local/bin/bwm-daemon /usr/local/bin/bwm

This leaves /etc/bwm and /var/lib/bwm intact so a future re‑install picks up the same database and config.

What's Next?

Configuration → — Set up labels, quotas, webhooks, and daemon tuning.
CLI Reference → — Explore every command: bwm container, bwm stats, bwm quota.
TUI Guide → — Master the interactive terminal dashboard.
GitHub Repo → — Star, fork, or open an issue.

Installation ​

Prerequisites ​

Quick Dependency Check ​

One‑Liner Install ​

What the Installer Does (Step by Step) ​

Step 1 — OS & Kernel Validation ​

Step 2 — Dependency Bootstrap ​

Step 3 — Binary Download ​

Step 4 — Configuration Directory ​

Step 5 — Data Directory ​

Step 6 — Systemd Unit File ​

Step 7 — Start & Enable ​

Manual Install from Source ​

Prerequisites ​

Build Steps ​

Verify the Build ​

Unit File (Manual) ​

Systemd Service Management ​

Logging ​

Post‑Install Verification ​

1. Daemon Reachable ​

2. Service Healthy ​

3. Docker Event Hook Working ​

4. End‑to‑End Test ​

Troubleshooting ​

Go Version Too Old ​

Installation

Prerequisites

Quick Dependency Check

One‑Liner Install

What the Installer Does (Step by Step)

Step 1 — OS & Kernel Validation

Step 2 — Dependency Bootstrap

Step 3 — Binary Download

Step 4 — Configuration Directory

Step 5 — Data Directory

Step 6 — Systemd Unit File

Step 7 — Start & Enable

Manual Install from Source

Prerequisites

Build Steps

Verify the Build

Unit File (Manual)

Systemd Service Management

Logging

Post‑Install Verification

1. Daemon Reachable

2. Service Healthy

3. Docker Event Hook Working

4. End‑to‑End Test

Troubleshooting

Go Version Too Old