The System Monitor Handbook
Chris Schlaeger
John Tapsell
Chris Schlaeger
Tobias Koenig
The System Monitor Handbook
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Contents
1 Introduction 6
2 Using System Monitor 7
2.1 Getting started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.2 Process Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.2.1 End Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.2.2 Filter Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.2.3 Process Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.3 Work Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.3.1 Sensor Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.3.2 Line Graph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.3.3 Digital Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.3.4 Bar Graph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.3.5 Log to a File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.3.6 Partition Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.3.7 Connecting to other hosts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3 Configuring ksysguardd 12
4 Credits and License 13
The System Monitor Handbook
List of Tables
2.1 Default Columns in the Process Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.2 Additional Columns in the Process Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
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Abstract
System Monitor is a network enabled task and system monitor application.
The System Monitor Handbook
Chapter 1
Introduction
System Monitor is the Plasma Task and Performance Monitor.
It features a client/server architecture that allows monitoring of local as well as remote hosts.
The graphical front end uses so-called sensors to retrieve the information it displays. A sensor
can return simple values or more complex information like tables. For each type of information,
one or more displays are provided. Displays are organized in worksheets that can be saved and
loaded independently from each other. So, System Monitor is not only a simple task manager
but also a very powerful tool to control large server farms.
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Chapter 2
Using System Monitor
2.1 Getting started
System Monitor can be started from the application launcher menu, using the entry System Mon-
itor in the Applications → System menu. Alternatively, you can start it by typing ksysguard in
a terminal.
The System Monitor main window consists of a menu bar, an optional tool bar and status bar,
and the work space. Custom worksheets will also show the sensor browser.
By default System Monitor shows two worksheets: Process Table and System Load. The Pro-
cess Table lists the running processes and lets the user control them. Multiple processes can be
selected and controlled at once. The System Load worksheet shows graphs of system utilization:
CPU History, Memory and Swap History, and the Network History.
This default setup is sufficient enough for an inexperienced user to do some system management.
An experienced user or even a system administrator of a large computer lab has different needs.
To address a wide range of users, System Monitor is highly flexible.
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You can launch the Process Table using the global shortcut Ctrl+Esc at any time. The process table
is displayed in a window titled System Activities.
2.2 Process Table
The Process Table gives you a list of processes on your system. The list can be sorted by each
column. Just press the left mouse button at the head of the column.
Use the What’s This help for the columns titles to get additional information about the value
displayed here.
In the context menu of a process in the list view you find additional actions like changing the
priority, sending signals to the process, switching to the application window, showing detailed
memory information and killing the process.
The list shows the following information about each process. Please note that not all properties
are available on every operating system.
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The System Monitor Handbook
The name of the executable that started the
Name
process
Username The user who owns this process
The current total CPU usage of the process,
CPU % divided by the number of processor cores in
the machine
This is the amount of real physical memory
that this process is using by itself, and
approximates the Private memory usage of
the process.
Memory It does not include any swapped out
memory, nor the code size of its shared
libraries.
This is often the most useful figure to judge
the memory use of a program.
This is approximately the amount of real
physical memory that this process’s shared
Shared Mem
libraries are using. This memory is shared
among all processes that use this library
The title of any window that this process is
Window Title
showing
Table 2.1: Default Columns in the Process Table
The unique Process ID that identifies this
PID
process
The controlling terminal on which this
TTY
process is running
The priority with which this process is
being run. For the normal scheduler, this
Niceness
ranges from 19 (very nice, least priority) to
-19 (top priority)
The total user and system time that this
CPU Time process has been running for, displayed as
minutes:seconds
The number of bytes read. The Display
Units and the Displayed Information can
IO Read
be changed using the context menu of this
column header
The number of bytes written. The Display
Units and the Displayed Information can
IO Write
be changed using the context menu of this
column header
This is the amount of virtual memory space
that the process is using, included shared
libraries, graphics memory, files on disk,
Virtual Size
and so on. This number is almost
meaningless. Use the context menu to select
the Display Units
The command with which this process was
Command
launched
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Table 2.2: Additional Columns in the Process Table
At the top of the table you find three controls which will be described now from left to right.
2.2.1 End Processes
If you have selected one or more processes you can press the End Process button to kill them. A
so called SIGKILL is sent to the processes which causes them to terminate immediately. If these
applications still have unsaved data this data will be lost. So use this button with care.
2.2.2 Filter Bar
Filter which processes are shown by the text given here. The text can be a partial string match of
the Name, Command or Window Title of the process. It can also be a Username or a Process ID
number.
2.2.3 Process Filter
The Process Filter can be used to reduce the number of processes displayed in the table. You can
filter out processes you are not interested in. Currently you can display All Processes in a flat or
tree view, System Processes only, User Processes only, your Own Processes only or Programs
Only.
The tree view has been designed to show the relationships between the running processes. A
process that is started by another process is called the child of that process. A tree is an elegant
way to show this parent-child relationship. The init process is the ancestor of all processes.
If you are not interested in the children of a particular process you can click on the little box to the
left of the parent and the subtree will collapse. Another click on that box will unfold the subtree
again.
2.3 Work Space
The work space is organized as worksheets. Select New Tab... from the File menu to create a
new worksheet. A dialog will appear where you can set the name, the dimension and the update
interval of the worksheet. To remove a worksheet again, select Close Tab from the File menu.
Any modifications will be saved to the worksheet file. If a worksheet has never been saved, you
will be asked for a file name. Worksheets consist of cells organized as a grid.
Each cell can be filled with a display for one or more sensors. You can fill a cell by dragging a
sensor from the sensor browser and dropping it over the cell. If there is more than one type of
display available for that type of sensor, a popup menu will appear. You can then select which
display you prefer to use. Certain types of displays can display more than one sensor. Add more
sensors to a display by dragging them over from the sensor browser and dropping them over the
already existing display.
Worksheets can be configured by clicking Tab Properties at the View menu. In the appearing
dialog you can set the dimension and the update interval.
Displays can be configured by clicking with the right mouse button on them. A popup menu
appear where you can select whether you want to change the properties of that display or remove
it from the worksheet.
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2.3.1 Sensor Browser
The sensor browser exposes System Monitor’s advanced functionality. To use it, you must first
go to the File menu and create a new worksheet. It is shown whenever a custom worksheet is
selected.
The sensor browser displays the registered hosts and their sensors in a tree form. Click on the
tree handles to open or close a branch. Each sensor monitors a certain system value.
T IP
After you have configured your custom worksheet use the splitter and move it to the right edge of the
window to hide the sensor browser.
If the sensor browser does not appear on a custom worksheet, it is probably hidden. To unhide it,
select the right edge of the window and drag it to the left.
2.3.2 Line Graph
The line graph prints samples of one or more sensors over time. If, several sensors are displayed,
the values are piled in different colors. If the display is large enough a grid will be displayed
to show the range of the plotted samples. By default, the automatic range mode is active so the
minimum and maximum values will be set automatically. Sometimes you want fixed minimum
and maximum values. In that case, you can deactivate automatic range mode and set the values
in the properties dialog.
2.3.3 Digital Display
The multimeter displays the sensor values as a digital meter. In the properties dialog you can
specify a lower and upper limit. If the range is exceeded, the display is colored in the alarm color.
2.3.4 Bar Graph
The bar graph displays the sensor values as dancing bars. In the properties dialog you can specify
minimum and maximum values of range and a lower and upper limit. If the range is exceeded,
the display is colored in the alarm color.
2.3.5 Log to a File
The sensor logger does not display any values, but logs them in a file with additional date and
time information. For each sensor you can specify a lower and upper limit in the properties
dialog. If the range is exceeded, the entry of the sensor table is colored in the alarm color.
2.3.6 Partition Table
The Partition Usage has a special table sensor showing information about all mounted partitions
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The System Monitor Handbook
2.3.7 Connecting to other hosts
Note that the Monitor Remote Machine menu item is only available on custom tabs.
To connect to a new host use Monitor Remote Machine... from the File menu. A dialog box will
appear and allows you to enter the name of the host you want to connect to. Below the name
you can choose the connection method. The default is ssh, the secure shell. Alternatively the rsh,
the remote shell, the daemon mode or a custom command can be used. Click OK to establish
the connection. Shortly afterwards the new host will appear in the sensor browser and you can
browse the list of sensors.
To disconnect from a host, you have to shut down it and restart System Monitor again.
To establish a connection, a program called ksysguardd, that can be started in the following two
modes, must be installed on the new host.
daemon mode
You can start ksysguardd at boot time in Daemon mode by adding -d as the argument.
In this case, you have to select daemon mode at the connection dialog of ksysguard. A
disadvantage of this connection type is that you won’t be able to kill or renice a process
in the Process Table and the data exchange over network won’t be encrypted. As a result,
daemon mode is not recommended.
shell mode
In this mode ksysguardd is started at connecting time by ksysguard. To make that possible,
its location needs to be included in your PATH. Unfortunately the ssh does not source your
.profile file, so your regular PATH setting will not be available. Instead it uses a default
PATH like /bin:/usr/bin. Since it is very likely that Plasma is not installed in these folders
you need to create or update a file in your home folder. The file is called environment and
needs to be in a hidden folder called .ssh. See the manual page for ssh for more details.
The file needs to contain a line similar to:
PATH =/ bin :/ usr / bin :/ opt / kde / bin
assuming that ksysguardd can be found under /opt/kde/bin/ksysguardd.
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When using ssh you should make sure that you have your identity.pub installed on the remote
machine and the host key of the remote machine is already registered on your machine. If you
don’t set up identity.pub correctly, you will be asked for your password every time you start
ksysguard. The easiest way to make sure that everything is working is to run ssh remotehost
ksysguardd in a shell. If you are greeted by ksysguardd, then everything is working correctly
and you can type quit to exit ksysguardd.
N OTE
For experts: ksysguardd is a very small program that is only linked against the libc. So it can also
be used on machines that do not have a full blown Plasma installed, such as servers. Many major
distributions provide a separate ksysguardd package for your convenience. If you choose the custom
command option in the host connector you need to specify the complete command to start ksys-
guardd.
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The System Monitor Handbook
Chapter 3
Configuring ksysguardd
The graphical front-end is available on any platform that Plasma runs on. The back-end is at the
moment available on the following flavors of UNIX® :
Linux®
For ksysguardd to work it is necessary to compile the Linux® Kernel with the /proc File
system enabled. This is the default setting and most Linux® Distributions have it already.
FreeBSD
The ksysguardd program needs to be owned by the kmem group and needs to have the
setgid bit set.
Solaris™
To be written
Support for other platforms is in progress. Your help is greatly appreciated.
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The System Monitor Handbook
Chapter 4
Credits and License
System Monitor is currently developed and maintained by John Tapsell [email protected].
System Monitor is a rewrite of KTop, the KDE 1.x task manager. Several other people have
worked on KTop:
• A. Sanda [email protected]
• Ralf Mueller [email protected]
• Bernd Johannes Wuebben [email protected]
• Nicolas Leclercq [email protected]
The porting to other platforms than Linux® was done by:
This documentation is licensed under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.
This program is licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License.
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