Conky – The Ultimate X Based System Monitor Application

Conky is a highly customizable system monitor application for Linux. It is designed to display system information on the desktop in a visually appealing way. Conky is available for all major Linux distributions and can be easily installed using the package manager. In this article, we will discuss how to install and configure Conky and explore its features.

What is Conky?

Conky is an X Window System monitor application for Linux. It displays various system information on the desktop, such as CPU usage, memory usage, network activity, and more. It is highly customizable, allowing users to create unique desktop displays that suit their individual needs and preferences.

Conky is designed to be lightweight and run in the background, so it has a minimal impact on system performance. It is written in C and uses the X11 library to draw graphics on the desktop. It can also be configured to run external programs and scripts, which provides users with a lot of flexibility in what they choose to display.

Conky is available for a wide range of Linux distributions, including Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, and Arch Linux. It is open-source software, meaning that its source code is freely available and can be modified by users to suit their specific needs.

Overall, Conky is an incredibly powerful and versatile system monitoring tool. It allows users to keep track of their system's performance in real time and provides them with the ability to create custom desktop displays that are both functional and visually appealing. With its low resource consumption and customizable options, Conky is an essential tool for anyone who wants to monitor their Linux system.

Advantages of Conky

One of the greatest advantages of Conky is its ability to run scripts and external programs. This means that users can create custom scripts to display any system information that is not already included in Conky. Additionally, Conky can be configured to execute shell commands and display the output directly on the desktop.

Another advantage of Conky is its low resource consumption. Since Conky is lightweight and designed to run in the background, it has a minimal impact on system performance.

Overall, Conky is an excellent tool for anyone who wants to monitor system performance in real time. Its flexibility and customizability make it a great choice for both beginners and advanced users. With Conky, users can create unique desktop displays that are tailored to their specific needs and preferences.

Installation

To install Conky on Ubuntu or Debian-based systems, open a terminal and run the following command −

sudo apt-get install conky-all

On Fedora or other Red Hat-based systems, you can install Conky by running −

sudo dnf install conky

Once Conky is installed, we can start customizing its appearance and functionality.

Configuration

Conky's configuration file is located at ~/.conkyrc. This file contains all the settings and variables that control Conky's behavior. To get started, we can open the configuration file in a text editor and start modifying the settings.

The first thing to do is to define the basic appearance of Conky. We can specify the position of Conky on the desktop, the font, the size, and the color of the text, among other things. Here is an example of a basic configuration −

alignment top_right
background yes
border_width 1
cpu_avg_samples 2
default_color white
default_outline_color white
default_shade_color white
draw_borders no
draw_graph_borders yes
draw_outline no
draw_shades no
font Bitstream Vera Sans Mono:size=10
gap_x 10
gap_y 10
minimum_size 5 5
net_avg_samples 2
no_buffers yes
out_to_console no
out_to_stderr no
extra_newline no
own_window yes
own_window_class Conky
own_window_type override
own_window_transparent yes
own_window_hints undecorated,below,sticky,skip_taskbar,skip_pager
stippled_borders 0
update_interval 1.0
uppercase no
use_spacer no
show_graph_scale no
show_graph_range no

In this example, Conky is positioned at the top-right corner of the desktop. The font used is Bitstream Vera Sans Mono, with a size of 10. The minimum size is set to 5x5 pixels. The update interval is set to 1 second, which means that Conky will update its information every second.

Customization

Conky's real power lies in its ability to display system information in a variety of formats. By using variables and scripts, we can display information about the CPU, memory, disk usage, network traffic, and much more. Here are some examples of how to display system information using Conky −

${cpu cpu0}% - displays the CPU usage for the first core
${memperc}% - displays the percentage of used memory
${fs_used /}% - displays the amount of disk space used in the root directory
${downspeedf enp0s3} kB/s - displays the download speed of the network interface enp0s3 in kilobytes per second

We can also display graphs and charts to visualize system information. Conky supports various chart types, including bars, lines, and histograms. Here is an example of a CPU usage chart −

${cpugraph cpu0 40,150 666666 666666}

In this example, a bar graph is displayed for the first CPU core, with a width of 40 pixels and a height of 150 pixels. The color of the graph is set to 666666.

Conclusion

Conky is a powerful system monitor application that can display system information in a visually appealing way. Its customization options are virtually limitless, allowing users to create unique desktop displays that are both functional and attractive.

In conclusion, Conky is the ultimate X based system monitor application for Linux. With its flexibility, customization options, and low resource consumption, it's a must-have tool for anyone who wants to monitor system performance in real-time. Whether you're a beginner or an advanced user, Conky has something to offer for everyone.