Usage
- 3.1. To Display Basic System Information
- 3.2. To Display the Process List
- 3.3. To Sort the Process List
- 3.4. To Modify the Contents of the Process List
- 3.5. To Display Memory Maps for a Process
- 3.6. To Change the Priority of a Process
- 3.7. To End a Process
- 3.8. To Terminate a Process
- 3.9. To Monitor CPU Usage
- 3.10. To Monitor Memory and Swap Usage
- 3.11. To Monitor Network Activity
- 3.12. To Monitor File Systems
3.1. To Display Basic System Information
To display basic system information, select the System tab.
In the System tab, information is organized into three groups:
- System Information
- Hardware
- System Status
3.2. To Display the Process List
To display the process list, select the Processes tab.
In the Processes tab, the processes are organized as a table. The rows of the table display information about the processes. The columns represent information fields for the processes, such as the name of the user who owns the process, the amount of memory currently being used by the process, and so on. From left to right, the Processes tab displays the following columns by default:
- Process Name
- Status
- %CPU
- Nice
- ID
- Memory
For information about how to change the columns displayed in the process list, see Section 4.1 ― Processes.
3.2.1. Parent Processes and Child Processes
A parent process is a process that spawns another process. The spawned process is a child process of the original parent process. By default, System Monitor does not show process dependencies. For information about how to change the default display behavior, see Section 3.4.4 ― To Show Dependencies.
3.2.2. Process Priority and Nice Values
Processes run in order of priority: high-priority processes run before low-priority processes. Child processes generally inherit their priority from their parent process.
The priority of a process is set by the nice value of the process, as follows:
- A nice value of 0 means that the process has normal priority.
- The higher the nice value, the lower the priority.
- The lower the nice value, the higher the priority.
For information about how to change the priority of a process, see Section 3.6 ― To Change the Priority of a Process.
3.3. To Sort the Process List
To sort the process list, perform the following steps:
- Select the Processes tab to display the process list.
- By default, the processes are listed by name, in alphabetical order. To list the processes in reverse alphabetical order, click on the Process Name column header.
- Click on any column header to sort the processes by the information in that column, in alphabetical or numerical order.
- Click again on the column header to sort the data in reverse alphabetical or reverse numerical order.
3.4. To Modify the Contents of the Process List
You can modify the contents of the process list in several ways.
- 3.4.1. To Show All Processes
- 3.4.2. To Show Only Processes Owned by the Current User
- 3.4.3. To Show Only Active Processes
- 3.4.4. To Show Dependencies
3.4.1. To Show All Processes
To show all processes in the process list, perform the following steps:
- Select the Processes tab to display the process list.
- Choose .
3.4.2. To Show Only Processes Owned by the Current User
To show only the processes that are owned by the current user, perform the following steps:
- Select the Processes tab to display the process list.
- Choose .
3.4.3. To Show Only Active Processes
To show only the active processes in the process list, perform the following steps:
- Select the Processes tab to display the process list.
- Choose .
3.4.4. To Show Dependencies
To show process dependencies in the process list, perform the following steps:
- Select the Processes tab to display the process list.
- Choose .
If the
menu item is selected, the processes are listed as follows:- Parent processes are indicated by a triangle symbol to the left of the process name. Click on the triangle symbol to show or hide the associated child processes.
- Child processes are indented, and listed with their parent process.
If the
menu item is not selected:- Parent processes and child processes are not distinguishable.
- All processes are listed in alphabetical order.
3.5. To Display Memory Maps for a Process
To display memory maps for a process, perform the following steps:
- Select the Processes tab to display the process list.
- Select the process in the process list.
- Choose .
The Memory Maps dialog displays the information in tabular format. The name of the process is displayed above the memory-map table. From left to right, the Memory Maps dialog displays the following columns:
- Filename
-
The location of a shared library that is currently used by the process. If this field is blank, the memory information in this row describes memory that is owned by the process whose name is displayed above the memory-map table.
- VM Start
-
The address at which the memory segment begins.
- VM End
-
The address at which the memory segment ends.
- VM Size
-
The size of the memory segment.
- Flags
-
The following flags describe the different types of memory-segment access that the process can have:
- p
-
The memory segment is private to the process, and is not accessible to other processes.
- r
-
The process has permission to read from the memory segment.
- s
-
The memory segment is shared with other processes.
- w
-
The process has permission to write into the memory segment.
- x
-
The process has permission to execute instructions that are contained within the memory segment.
- VM Offset
-
The virtual memory offset of the memory segment.
- Device
-
The major and minor device numbers of the device on which the shared library filename is located.
- Inode
-
The inode on the device from which the shared library location is loaded into memory.
Click on any column header to sort the data by the information in that column, in alphabetical or numerical order. Click again on the column header to sort the data in reverse alphabetical or reverse numerical order.
Click Memory Maps dialog.
to close the3.6. To Change the Priority of a Process
To change the priority of a process, perform the following steps:
-
Select the Processes tab to display the process list.
-
Select the process for which you want to change the priority.
-
Choose Change Priority dialog is displayed.
. The -
Use the slider to set the nice value of the process.
The nice value sets the priority of the process: the lower the nice value, the higher the priority.
To specify a nice value lower than zero, non-root users must enter the root password.
-
Click on the
button.
3.7. To End a Process
To end a process, perform the following steps:
-
Select the Processes tab to display the process list.
-
Select the process that you want to end.
-
Choose
, or click on the button.By default, a confirmation alert is displayed. For information about how to display or hide the confirmation alert, see Section 4.1 ― Processes.
-
Click on the System Monitor forces the process to finish normally.
button to confirm that you want to end the process.
This is the preferred way to stop a process.
3.8. To Terminate a Process
To terminate a process, perform the following steps:
-
Select the Processes tab to display the process list.
-
Select the process that you want to terminate.
-
Choose
.By default, a confirmation alert is displayed. For information about how to display or hide the confirmation alert, see Section 4.1 ― Processes.
-
Click on the System Monitor forces the process to finish immediately.
button to confirm that you want to terminate the process.
You usually terminate a process only if you cannot end the process normally as described in Section 3.7 ― To End a Process.
3.9. To Monitor CPU Usage
To monitor CPU usage, select the Resources tab.
System Monitor displays the CPU usage history in graphical format. Underneath the graph, System Monitor also displays the current CPU usage, as a percentage.
3.10. To Monitor Memory and Swap Usage
To monitor memory and swap usage, select the Resources tab.
System Monitor displays the memory usage history and the swap usage history in graphical format. Underneath the graph, System Monitor also displays the following numerical values:
- Used memory out of total memory
- Used swap out of total swap
3.11. To Monitor Network Activity
To monitor network activity, select the Resources tab.
System Monitor displays the network history in graphical format. Underneath the graph, System Monitor also displays the following numerical values:
- Received data per second and total
- Sent data per second and total
3.12. To Monitor File Systems
To monitor file systems, select the File Systems tab.
System Monitor displays mounted file systems in tabular format. From left to right, the table displays the following columns:
- Device
-
Location of block file
- Directory
-
Mount point (directory to access) of device
- Type
-
File system type
- Total
-
Total capacity
- Free
-
Amount of space not in use
- Available
-
Amount of space which can be used
- Used
-
Amount of space which is used (and percentage of Total)