Ubuntu Basics. Part XIII: System Monitor

System monitor serves similarly to Task Manager under Microsoft Windows. It is an application to see overall system configuration, manage active processes, display system resources and list your disks (both virtual partitions and real drives).

It is especially useful whenever you feel that your system is slowing down, as a mean of primary diagnostics.

In this guide, we’ll provide you general overview of its functionality.

Let us begin with launching System Monitor from System > Administration > System Monitor.

You’ll see main window with 4 tabs – those are: System, Processes, Resources and File Systems.

System tab

First tab, which is System by default, provides you with basic information about your system: release version, kernel version, windows manager and its version; hardware data – available memory and processor type; system status – available disk space.

NOTE: Whenever you refer to anyone from Ubuntu community, it is best practice to provide your Ubuntu release version and kernel version, and if you will, other data too, so volunteers could help you faster.

Processes

This table provides you with overall information on system load – for last 1, 5 and 15 minutes. It is also contains a list of currently active processes – name, status, level of CPU power consumption, process identification number (PID), memory consumption, etc.

Whenever you feel like it, you may select any process by clicking on it once. Then you may right-click to see process operation menu:

Stop Process – this will freeze running process. Use it with caution.

Continue Process – this will resume process execution, after it was suspended by Stop Process command.

End Process – will properly shutdown running process.

Kill Process – will forcefully terminate running process. (To use when End Process fails)

Change Priority – change system process priority. It is recommended not to do it, unless you know exactly what you’re doing.

Memory Maps – allows you to display memory maps used by a process. That is rather advanced option, to ensure control over suspicious application or to be used for development / debugging purposes.

Open Files – lists you all files opened by selected applications (their type and descriptor). Also advanced option.

Resources

In this tab, called Resources, you will find 60 seconds statistical data for CPU (or Cores) load, memory usage, swap partition utilization and bandwidth consumption with separate graphs for sent and received data.

File Systems

This tab is populated with list of attached devices. Such list will include both virtual partitions and external attached devices.

Format is:

• Device – system device descriptor.

• Directory – directory (folder) it is attached to.

• Type – file system type (fat/vfat/ntfs/ext4 etc).

• Total – total disk space.

• Free – free disk space.

• Available – available disk space – that is Free minus system reserve.

• Used – occupied disk space with percentage counter.

Now you should be able to easily manage Ubuntu processes.

This page concludes our Ubuntu Basics Series Guide. If you have any questions, have some particular subject you would like to see reviewed and described, guide you'd like to see, please feel free to leave your ideas in comments field, or contact us via Contact form.