Monitor system CPU and memory

To monitor system CPU and memory usage, there are several tools and methods available depending on your operating system. Here’s how to do it across common platforms:

Windows

1. Task Manager

• Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc or right-click the taskbar and choose Task Manager.

• Under the Performance tab, you can view:

  • CPU Usage: Current load, speed, number of cores.

  • Memory Usage: Total, available, in use.

2. Resource Monitor

• Open Run (Win + R), type resmon and press Enter.

• Go to the CPU and Memory tabs for detailed insights.

3. Command Line

cmd
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wmic cpu get loadpercentage
systeminfo | findstr /C:"Total Physical Memory"

macOS

1. Activity Monitor

• Found in /Applications/Utilities/Activity Monitor.

• Displays real-time CPU and memory usage per process and system-wide.

2. Terminal

bash
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top -l 1 | grep "CPU usage"
vm_stat

You can also use htop if installed via Homebrew:

bash
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brew install htop
htop

Linux (Ubuntu, CentOS, etc.)

1. top / htop

bash
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top

Or with htop (requires installation):

bash
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sudo apt install htop    # Debian/Ubuntu
sudo yum install htop    # RHEL/CentOS
htop

2. vmstat

bash
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vmstat 1

3. free –m

Shows memory in MB:

bash
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free -m

4. mpstat (from sysstat)

bash
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sudo apt install sysstat
mpstat -P ALL 1

5. ps command

To check top CPU or memory consuming processes:

bash
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ps -eo pid,ppid,cmd,%mem,%cpu --sort=-%mem | head

Cross-Platform Python Script

If you want to build a custom monitor:

python
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import psutil
import time

while True:
    print("CPU Usage:", psutil.cpu_percent(interval=1), "%")
    mem = psutil.virtual_memory()
    print("Memory Usage:", mem.percent, "%")
    time.sleep(1)

Install psutil with:

bash
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pip install psutil

System Monitoring Tools

• Grafana + Prometheus: Advanced, real-time dashboards.

• Nagios: Enterprise-grade monitoring.

• Glances (Cross-platform):

bash
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pip install glances
glances

Use these tools depending on your needs—quick checks via top, detailed GUI with Task/Activity Monitor, or persistent tracking with Grafana or custom scripts.