RRDGRAPH(1)                          rrdtool                         RRDGRAPH(1)

NAME
     rrdgraph - Round Robin Database tool graphing functions

SYNOPSIS
     rrdtool  graph|graphv  filename  [option ...]  [data definition ...]  [data
     calculation ...]  [variable definition ...]  [graph  element  ...]   [print
     element ...]

DESCRIPTION
     The  graph function of RRDtool is used to present the data from an RRD to a
     human viewer.  Its main purpose is to create a nice  graphical  representa‐
     tion, but it can also generate a numerical report.

OVERVIEW
     rrdtool graph needs data to work with, so you must use one or more data de‐
     finition statements to collect this data.  You are not limited to one data‐
     base,  it's perfectly legal to collect data from two or more databases (one
     per statement, though).

     If you want to display averages, maxima, percentiles, etcetera it  is  best
     to  collect  them  now  using the variable definition statement.  Currently
     this makes no difference, but in a future version of RRDtool you  may  want
     to collect these values before consolidation.

     The data fetched from the RRA is then consolidated so that there is exactly
     one  data  point  per pixel in the graph. If you do not take care yourself,
     RRDtool will expand the range slightly if necessary. Note, in that case the
     first and/or last pixel may very well become unknown!

     Sometimes data is not exactly in the format you would like to  display  it.
     For instance, you might be collecting bytes per second, but want to display
     bits per second. This is what the data calculation command is designed for.
     After  consolidating the data, a copy is made and this copy is modified us‐
     ing a rather powerful RPN command set.

     When you are done fetching and processing the data, it is time to graph  it
     (or print it).  This ends the rrdtool graph sequence.

     Use  graphv  instead  of  graph to get detailed information about the graph
     geometry and data once it is drawn. See the bottom of the document for more
     information.

OPTIONS
   filename
     The name and path of the graph to generate. It is recommended to  end  this
     in ".png", ".svg" or ".eps", but RRDtool does not enforce this.

     filename can be '"-"' to send the image to "stdout". In this case, no other
     output is generated.

   Time range
     [-s|--start time] [-e|--end time] [-S|--step seconds]

     The  start  and end of the time series you would like to display, and which
     RRA the data should come from.  Defaults are: 1 day ago until now, with the
     best possible resolution. Start and end can be specified  in  several  for‐
     mats,  see "AT-STYLE TIME SPECIFICATION" in rrdfetch and rrdgraph_examples.
     By default, rrdtool graph calculates the width of one pixel in the time do‐
     main and tries to get data from an RRA with that resolution.  With the step
     option you can alter this behavior.  If you want rrdtool graph to get  data
     at  a  one-hour  resolution  from  the RRD, set step to 3'600. Note: a step
     smaller than one pixel will silently be ignored.

     For non-image --imgformats see "OUTPUT FORMAT" in rrdxport for  details  on
     how this affects the output.

   Labels
     [-t|--title string]

     A  horizontal  string placed at the top of the graph which may be separated
     into multiple lines using <br/> or \n

     [-v|--vertical-label string]

     A vertical string placed at the left hand of the graph.

   Size
     [-w|--width     pixels]     [-h|--height     pixels]      [-j|--only-graph]
     [-D|--full-size-mode]

     By  default,  the  width and height of the canvas (the part with the actual
     data and such). This defaults to 400 pixels by 100 pixels.

     If you specify the --full-size-mode option, the width  and  height  specify
     the  final  dimensions  of the output image and the canvas is automatically
     resized to fit.

     If you specify the --only-graph option and set the height < 32  pixels  you
     will  get  a  tiny  graph image (thumbnail) to use as an icon for use in an
     overview, for example. All labeling will be stripped off the graph.

   Limits
     [-u|--upper-limit  value]  [-l|--lower-limit  value]  [-r|--rigid]   [--al‐
     low-shrink]

     By  default the graph will be autoscaling so that it will adjust the y-axis
     to the range of the data. You can change this behavior by  explicitly  set‐
     ting  the  limits.  The  displayed  y-axis  will  then  range at least from
     lower-limit to upper-limit. Autoscaling will still permit those  boundaries
     to  be stretched unless the rigid option is set. allow-shrink alters behav‐
     ior of rigid by allowing auto down scale, graph will not overrun user spec‐
     ified limits.

     [-A|--alt-autoscale]

     Sometimes the default algorithm for selecting the y-axis scale is not  sat‐
     isfactory.  Normally  the scale is selected from a predefined set of ranges
     and this fails miserably when you need to graph something like "260 + 0.001
     * sin(x)". This option calculates the minimum and maximum y-axis  from  the
     actual  minimum and maximum data values. Our example would display slightly
     less than "260-0.001" to slightly more than "260+0.001" (this  feature  was
     contributed by Sasha Mikheev).

     [-J|--alt-autoscale-min]

     Where  "--alt-autoscale"  will modify both the absolute maximum AND minimum
     values, this option will only affect the minimum value. The maximum  value,
     if  not  defined  on the command line, will be 0. This option can be useful
     when graphing router traffic when the WAN line uses compression,  and  thus
     the throughput may be higher than the WAN line speed.

     [-M|--alt-autoscale-max]

     Where  "--alt-autoscale"  will modify both the absolute maximum AND minimum
     values, this option will only affect the maximum value. The minimum  value,
     if  not  defined  on the command line, will be 0. This option can be useful
     when graphing router traffic when the WAN line uses compression,  and  thus
     the throughput may be higher than the WAN line speed.

     [-N|--no-gridfit]

     In  order  to  avoid anti-aliasing blurring effects RRDtool snaps points to
     device resolution pixels, this results in a crisper appearance. If this  is
     not to your liking, you can use this switch to turn this behavior off.

     Grid-fitting is turned off for PDF, EPS, SVG output by default.

   X-Axis
     [-x|--x-grid GTM:GST:MTM:MST:LTM:LST:LPR:LFM]

     [-x|--x-grid none]

     The x-axis label is quite complex to configure. If you don't have very spe‐
     cial  needs  it  is  probably best to rely on the auto configuration to get
     this right. You can specify the string "none" to suppress the grid and  la‐
     bels altogether.

     The grid is defined by specifying a certain amount of time in the ?TM posi‐
     tions.  You  can  choose  from  "SECOND",  "MINUTE", "HOUR", "DAY", "WEEK",
     "MONTH" or "YEAR". Then you define how many of these  should  pass  between
     each line or label.  This pair (?TM:?ST) needs to be specified for the base
     grid  (G??),  the major grid (M??) and the labels (L??). For the labels you
     also must define a precision in LPR and a strftime format  string  in  LFM.
     LPR  defines where each label will be placed. If it is zero, the label will
     be placed right under the  corresponding  line  (useful  for  hours,  dates
     etcetera).   If  you specify a number of seconds here the label is centered
     on this interval (useful for Monday, January etcetera).

      --x-grid MINUTE:10:HOUR:1:HOUR:4:0:%X

     This places grid lines every 10 minutes, major grid lines every  hour,  and
     labels  every  4 hours. The labels are placed under the major grid lines as
     they specify exactly that time.

      --x-grid HOUR:8:DAY:1:DAY:1:86400:%A

     This places grid lines every 8 hours, major grid lines and labels each day.
     The labels are placed exactly between two major grid lines as they  specify
     the complete day and not just midnight.

     [--week-fmt strftime format string]

     By  default rrdtool uses "Week %V" to render the week number. With this op‐
     tion you can define your own  format,  without  completely  overriding  the
     xaxis format.

   Y-Axis
     [-y|--y-grid grid step:label factor]

     [-y|--y-grid none]

     Y-axis  grid  lines  appear  at each grid step interval.  Labels are placed
     every label factor lines.  You can specify "-y none" to suppress  the  grid
     and labels altogether.  The default for this option is to automatically se‐
     lect sensible values.

     If you have set --y-grid to 'none' not only the labels get suppressed, also
     the space reserved for the labels is removed. You can still add space manu‐
     ally if you use the --units-length command to explicitly reserve space.

     [--left-axis-formatter formatter-name]

     Specify what formatter to use to render axis values.

     numeric
         The default, values are expressed as numeric quantities.

     timestamp
         Values  are  interpreted  as  unix  timestamps (number of seconds since
         1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC) and expressed using strftime  format  (default
         is  '%Y-%m-%d  %H:%M:%S'). See also --units-length and --left-axis-for‐
         mat.

     duration
         Values are interpreted as duration in milliseconds. Formatting  follows
         the   rules   of   valstrfduration  qualified  PRINT/GPRINT.  See  rrd‐
         graph_graph.

     [--left-axis-format format-string]

     By default the format of the axis labels gets determined automatically.  If
     you  want  to do this yourself, use this option with the same %lf arguments
     you know from the PRINT and GPRINT commands, or others if  using  different
     formatter.

     [-Y|--alt-y-grid]

     Place  the  Y  grid dynamically based on the graph's Y range. The algorithm
     ensures that you always have a grid, that there are enough but not too many
     grid lines, and that the grid is metric. That is the grid lines are  placed
     every  1,  2,  5  or 10 units. This parameter will also ensure that you get
     enough decimals displayed even if your graph goes from  69.998  to  70.001.
     (contributed by Sasha Mikheev).

     [-o|--logarithmic]

     Logarithmic y-axis scaling.

     [-X|--units-exponent value]

     This  sets  the 10**exponent scaling of the y-axis values. Normally, values
     will be scaled to the appropriate units (k, M,  etc.).   However,  you  may
     wish to display units always in k (Kilo, 10e3) even if the data is in the M
     (Mega,  10e6)  range,  for  instance. Value should be an integer which is a
     multiple of 3 between -18 and 18 inclusively.  It is the  exponent  on  the
     units you wish to use. For example, use 3 to display the y-axis values in k
     (Kilo,  10e3,  thousands), use -6 to display the y-axis values in u (Micro,
     10e-6, millionths).  Use a value of 0 to prevent any scaling of the  y-axis
     values.

     This option is very effective at confusing the heck out of the default RRD‐
     tool  autoscaling  function and grid painter. If RRDtool detects that it is
     not successful in labeling the graph under the given circumstances, it will
     switch to the more robust --alt-y-grid mode.

     [-L|--units-length value]

     How many digits should RRDtool assume the y-axis labels to be? You may have
     to use this option to make enough space once you start  fiddling  with  the
     y-axis labeling.

     [--units=si]

     With  this option y-axis values on logarithmic graphs will be scaled to the
     appropriate units (k, M, etc.) instead of using exponential notation.  Note
     that for linear graphs, SI notation is used by default.

   Right Y Axis
     [--right-axis scale:shift] [--right-axis-label label]

     A second axis will be drawn to the right of the graph. It is  tied  to  the
     left  axis  via the scale and shift parameters. You can also define a label
     for the right axis.

     [--right-axis-formatter formatter-name]

     Specify what formatter to use to render axis values.

     numeric
         The default, values are expressed as numeric quantities.

     timestamp
         Values are interpreted as unix  timestamps  (number  of  seconds  since
         1970-01-01  00:00:00  UTC) and expressed using strftime format (default
         is '%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'). See also --units-length and  --right-axis-for‐
         mat.

     duration
         Values  are interpreted as duration in milliseconds. Formatting follows
         the  rules  of  valstrfduration  qualified   PRINT/GPRINT.   See   rrd‐
         graph_graph.

     [--right-axis-format format-string]

     By  default the format of the axis labels gets determined automatically. If
     you want to do this yourself, use this option with the same  %lf  arguments
     you  know  from the PRINT and GPRINT commands, or others if using different
     formatter.

   Legend
     [-g|--no-legend]

     Suppress generation of the legend; only render the graph.

     [-F|--force-rules-legend]

     Force the generation of HRULE and VRULE legends  even  if  those  HRULE  or
     VRULE will not be drawn because out of graph boundaries (mimics behavior of
     pre 1.0.42 versions).

     [--legend-position=(north|south|west|east)]

     Place  the legend at the given side of the graph. The default is south.  In
     west or east position it is necessary to add line breaks manually.

     [--legend-direction=(topdown|bottomup|bottomup2)]

     Place the legend items in the given vertical order. The default is topdown.
     Using bottomup the legend items appear in the  same  vertical  order  as  a
     stack  of  lines  or  areas. Using bottomup2 will keep leading and trailing
     COMMENT lines in order, this might be useful for generators that  use  them
     for table headers and the like.

   Miscellaneous
     [-z|--lazy]

     Only  generate  the  graph if the current graph is out of date or not exis‐
     tent.  Note, that all the calculations will happen regardless so  that  the
     output  of  PRINT and graphv will be complete regardless. Note that the be‐
     havior of lazy in this regard has seen several changes over time. The  only
     thing  you  can  really  rely on before RRDtool 1.3.7 is that lazy will not
     generate the graph when it is already there and up to date, and  also  that
     it will output the size of the graph.

     [-d|--daemon address]

     Address of the rrdcached daemon. If specified, a "flush" command is sent to
     the  server  before reading the RRD files. This allows the graph to contain
     fresh data even if the daemon is configured to  cache  values  for  a  long
     time.   For  a list of accepted formats, see the -l option in the rrdcached
     manual.

      rrdtool graph [...] --daemon unix:/var/run/rrdcached.sock [...]

     [-f|--imginfo printfstr]

     After the image has been created, the graph function uses  printf  together
     with  this  format  string  to create output similar to the PRINT function,
     only that the printf function is supplied  with  the  parameters  filename,
     xsize and ysize. In order to generate an IMG tag suitable for including the
     graph into a web page, the command line would look like this:

      --imginfo '<IMG SRC="/img/%s" WIDTH="%lu" HEIGHT="%lu" ALT="Demo">'

     [-c|--color COLORTAG#rrggbb[aa]]

     Override  the  default  colors  for the standard elements of the graph. The
     COLORTAG is one of "BACK" background, "CANVAS" for the  background  of  the
     actual  graph, "SHADEA" for the left and top border, "SHADEB" for the right
     and bottom border, "GRID", "MGRID" for the major grid, "FONT" for the color
     of the font, "AXIS" for the axis of the graph, "FRAME" for the line  around
     the  color  spots,  and  finally "ARROW" for the arrow head pointing up and
     forward. Each color is composed out of three hexadecimal numbers specifying
     its rgb color component (00 is off, FF is maximum) of red, green and  blue.
     Optionally  you  may  add  another hexadecimal number specifying the trans‐
     parency (FF is solid). You may set this option several times to alter  mul‐
     tiple defaults.

     A green arrow is made by: "--color ARROW#00FF00"

     [--grid-dash on:off]

     by default the grid is drawn in a 1 on, 1 off pattern. With this option you
     can set this yourself

      --grid-dash 1:3    for a dot grid

      --grid-dash 1:0    for uninterrupted grid lines

     [--border width]

     Width in pixels for the 3d border drawn around the image. Default 2, 0 dis‐
     ables  the  border.  See "SHADEA" and "SHADEB" above for setting the border
     color.

     [--dynamic-labels]

     Pick the shape of the color marker next to the label according to the  ele‐
     ment drawn on the graph.

     [-m|--zoom factor]

     Zoom the graphics by the given amount. The factor must be > 0

     [-n|--font FONTTAG:size[:font]]

     This  lets you customize which font to use for the various text elements on
     the RRD graphs. "DEFAULT" sets the default value for all elements,  "TITLE"
     for the title, "AXIS" for the axis labels, "UNIT" for the vertical unit la‐
     bel,  "LEGEND"  for  the graph legend, "WATERMARK" for the watermark on the
     edge of the graph.

     Use Times for the title: "--font TITLE:13:Times"

     Note that you need to quote the argument to --font if  the  font-name  con‐
     tains whitespace: --font "TITLE:13:Some Font"

     If  you  do  not give a font string you can modify just the size of the de‐
     fault font: "--font TITLE:13:".

     If you specify the size 0 then you can modify just the font without  touch‐
     ing the size. This is especially useful for altering the default font with‐
     out resetting the default fontsizes: "--font DEFAULT:0:Courier".

     RRDtool comes with a preset default font. You can set the environment vari‐
     able "RRD_DEFAULT_FONT" if you want to change this.

     RRDtool  uses  Pango for its font handling. This means that you can use the
     full Pango syntax when selecting your font:

     The font name has the form "[FAMILY-LIST]  [STYLE-OPTIONS]  [SIZE]",  where
     FAMILY-LIST  is a comma separated list of families optionally terminated by
     a comma, STYLE_OPTIONS is a whitespace separated list of words  where  each
     WORD describes one of style, variant, weight, stretch, or gravity, and SIZE
     is  a  decimal  number  (size in points) or optionally followed by the unit
     modifier "px" for absolute size. Any one of the options may be absent.

     [-R|--font-render-mode {normal,light,mono}]

     There are 3 font render modes:

     normal: Full Hinting and Anti-aliasing (default)

     light: Slight Hinting and Anti-aliasing

     mono: Full Hinting and NO Anti-aliasing

     [-B|--font-smoothing-threshold size]

     (this gets ignored in 1.3 for now!)

     This specifies the largest font size which will be rendered bitmapped, that
     is, without any font smoothing. By default, no text is rendered bitmapped.

     [-P|--pango-markup]

     All text in RRDtool is rendered using Pango. With  the  --pango-markup  op‐
     tion,  all text will be processed by pango markup. This allows one to embed
     some simple html like markup tags using

      <span key="value">text</span>

     Apart from the verbose syntax, there are  also  the  following  short  tags
     available.

      b     Bold
      big   Makes font relatively larger, equivalent to <span size="larger">
      i     Italic
      s     Strikethrough
      sub   Subscript
      sup   Superscript
      small Makes font relatively smaller, equivalent to <span size="smaller">
      tt    Monospace font
      u     Underline

     More  details  on  <http://developer.gnome.org/pango/stable/PangoMarkupFor‐
     mat.html>.

     [-G|--graph-render-mode {normal,mono}]

     There are 2 render modes:

     normal: Graphs are fully Anti-aliased (default)

     mono: No Anti-aliasing

     [-E|--slope-mode]

     RRDtool graphs are composed of stair case curves by  default.  This  is  in
     line  with  the  way  RRDtool calculates its data. Some people favor a more
     'organic' look for their graphs even though it is not all that true.

     [-a|--imgformat PNG|SVG|EPS|PDF|XML|XMLENUM|JSON|JSONTIME|CSV|TSV|SSV]

     Image format for the generated graph. For the vector formats you can choose
     among the  standard  Postscript  fonts  Courier-Bold,  Courier-BoldOblique,
     Courier-Oblique,   Courier,   Helvetica-Bold,  Helvetica-BoldOblique,  Hel‐
     vetica-Oblique,   Helvetica,    Symbol,    Times-Bold,    Times-BoldItalic,
     Times-Italic, Times-Roman, and ZapfDingbats.

     For  Export  type  you  can  define XML, XMLENUM (enumerates the value tags
     <v0>,<v1>,<v2>,...), JSON, JSONTIME (adds a timestamp to  each  data  row),
     CSV (=comma separated values), TSV (=tab separated values), SSV (=semicolon
     separated  values), (for comma/tab/semicolon separated values the time for‐
     mat by default is in the form of unix time. to change it to something  else
     use: --x-grid MINUTE:10:HOUR:1:HOUR:4:0:"%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")

     For  non-image  --imgformats see "OUTPUT FORMAT" in rrdxport for details on
     the output.

     [-i|--interlaced]

     (this gets ignored in 1.3 for now!)

     If images are interlaced they become visible on browsers more quickly.

     [-T|--tabwidth value]

     By default the tab-width is 40 pixels, use this option to change it.

     [-b|--base value]

     If you are graphing memory (and NOT network traffic) this switch should  be
     set to 1024 so that one Kb is 1024 byte. For traffic measurement, 1 kb/s is
     1000 b/s.

     [-W|--watermark string]

     Adds  the given string as a watermark, horizontally centered, at the bottom
     of the graph.

     [-Z|--use-nan-for-all-missing-data]

     If one DS is missing, either because the RRD is not available or because it
     does not contain the requested DS name, just assume that we got empty  val‐
     ues instead of raising a fatal error.

     [--add-jsontime]

     Adds  xport  data in JSONTIME format, giving both graph image data and data
     point values in one call to graphv command.

     [--utc]

     Force the timezone to be UTC. Equivalent to doing TZ=UTC rrdtool graph ....
     This is useful to calculate daily average ranging from midnight to midnight
     rather than say the last 24 hours.

   Data and variables
     DEF:vname=rrdfile:ds-name:CF[:step=step][:start=time][:end=time]

     CDEF:vname=RPN expression

     VDEF:vname=RPN expression

     You need at least one DEF and one LINE, AREA, GPRINT,  PRINT  statement  to
     generate anything useful.

     See rrdgraph_data and rrdgraph_rpn for the exact format.

     NOTE: Graph and print elements

     You  need  at  least one graph element to generate an image and/or at least
     one print statement to generate a report.  See rrdgraph_graph for the exact
     format.

   graphv
     Calling RRDtool with the graphv option will return information in the  RRD‐
     tool info format. On the command line this means that all output will be in
     key=value  format. When used from the Perl and Ruby bindings a hash pointer
     will be returned from the call.

     When the filename '-' is given, the contents of the graph itself will  also
     be  returned through this interface (hash key 'image'). On the command line
     the output will look like this:

      print[0] = "0.020833"
      print[1] = "0.0440833"
      graph_left = 51
      graph_top = 22
      graph_width = 400
      graph_height = 100
      graph_start = 1232908800
      graph_end = 1232914200
      image_width = 481
      image_height = 154
      value_min = 0.0000000000e+00
      value_max = 4.0000000000e-02
      image = BLOB_SIZE:8196
      [... 8196 bytes of image data ...]

     There is more information returned than in the standard  interface.   Espe‐
     cially the 'graph_*' keys are new. They help applications that want to know
     what is where on the graph.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
     The  following  environment variables may be used to change the behavior of
     "rrdtool graph":

     RRDCACHED_ADDRESS
         If this environment variable is set it will have  the  same  effect  as
         specifying  the  "--daemon"  option  on  the  command line. If both are
         present, the command line argument takes precedence.

     RRD_DEFAULT_FONT
         RRDtool comes with a preset default font. You can set  the  environment
         variable RRD_DEFAULT_FONT if you want to change this.

SEE ALSO
     rrdgraph  gives  an overview of how rrdtool graph works.  rrdgraph_data de‐
     scribes DEF,CDEF and VDEF in detail.  rrdgraph_rpn describes the  RPN  lan‐
     guage  used  in  the ?DEF statements.  rrdgraph_graph page describes all of
     the graph and print functions.

     Make sure to read rrdgraph_examples for tips&tricks.

AUTHOR
     Program by Tobias Oetiker <tobi@oetiker.ch>

     This manual page by Alex van  den  Bogaerdt  <alex@vandenbogaerdt.nl>  with
     corrections and/or additions by several people

1.10.0                             2026-05-25                        RRDGRAPH(1)
