System Monitor Manual
System Monitor displays system load information in graphical format in a panel.

Introduction

System Monitor
Shows System Monitor. Displays a graph for system CPU load.
The System Monitor displays system load information in graphical format in a panel. You can configure System Monitor to display the following information for your system:
Usage of CPU (central processing unit) time
Memory usage
Network traffic
Usage of swap space
Average system load
Disk load

To Add System Monitor to a Panel
To add System Monitor to a panel, perform the following steps:
Right-click on the panel.
Choose Add to Panel.
Scroll down the list of items in the Add to Panel dialog, then select System Monitor.
Click Add.
The layout of the System Monitor varies depending on the size and type of panel in which the applet resides.

Viewing Graphs

Displaying Additional Graphs
To configure the System Monitor applet, right-click on the applet, then choose Preferences. Under Monitored Resources you can choose which graphics you want to display:
Processor
Select this option to display the graph for CPU usage.
Memory
Select this option to display the graph for memory usage.
Network
Select this option to display the graph for network traffic.
Swap Space
Select this option to display the graph for swap-space usage.
Load
Select this option to display the graph for average system load.
Harddisk
Select this option to display the graph for disk usage.

To Display the Current Usage of a System Resource
To display the current usage of a system resource, position the mouse pointer over the corresponding graph in the applet. A tooltip displays the current usage as a percentage.

To Display Additional System Monitor Information
To display additional system monitor information, right-click on the applet, then choose Open System Monitor to start the System Monitor application.
The System Monitor application enables you to monitor system processes and usage of system resources. You can use the System Monitor application to modify the behavior of your system.

Customizing Appearance

Preferences Dialog
Preferences Dialog

To Change the Width
In the right-click menu, go to Preferences. Under Options, use the System monitor width spin box to specify the width of each System Monitor graph in pixels.

To Update at Regular Intervals
In the right-click menu, go to Preferences. Under Options, use the System monitor update interval spin box to specify the interval at which you want to update the graphs in milliseconds.

Changing the Colors in a Graph
To change the colors in a graph, perform the following steps:
Right-click on the applet, then choose Preferences.
Select the relevant tab in the Colors area of the System Monitor Preferences dialog.
Click on the relevant color selector button in the selected tabbed section.
On the Pick a Color dialog, use the color wheel or spin boxes to choose the line color for the selected parameter.
Click OK.
The tabbed section for each resource provides color selection buttons that you can use to change the color of the parameters for each resource.
Processor
Select this tab to display the color buttons for the following parameters:
Parameter	Description
User	Processor time used by non-kernel activities
System	Processor time used by kernel activities
Nice	Processor time used by low-priority processes
IOWait	Processor time used waiting for I/O
Idle	Unused processor capacity
Memory
Select this tab to display the color buttons for the following parameters:
Parameter	Description
User	Memory used by non-kernel activities
Shared	Memory used by more than one application
Buffers	Memory used to temporarily store sent or received data
Cached	Memory used to store data for fast access
Free	Memory not currently in use
Network
Select this tab to display the color buttons for the following parameters:
Parameter	Description
In	Incoming traffic
Out	Outgoing traffic
Local	Traffic over loopback
Background	Graph background color
Gridline	Color of horizontal gridline when scaling graph
Indicator	Color of indicator showing which threshold was reached
Swap Space
Select this tab to display the color buttons for the following parameters:
Parameter	Description
Used	Swap space being used by the system
Free	Swap space that is free to be used
Load
Select this tab to display the color buttons for the following parameters:
Parameter	Description
Average	System Load
Background	that is, no load
Grid line	Color of grid lines
Harddisk
Select this tab to display the color buttons for the following parameters:
Parameter	Description
Read	Disk read rate
Write	Disk write rate
Background	Idle disk time

Network speed thresholds
Thresholds together with indicator allow network graph to scale and better represent actual workload. If combined network traffic (in + out + loopback) is below threshold1, no indicator is shown, y-axis on network graph go from 0 to threshold1. When traffic is more than threshold1, one indicator will be shown and y-axis now go from 0 to threshold2. When threshold2 is reached, two indicators will be shown and y-axis go from 0 to threshold3. When threshold3 is reached, three indicators are shown and y-axis go from 0 to whatever is current maximum in graph.
Gridlines are hard to explain, just observe, and they are obvious.