Efficient System Monitoring: Utilizing Linux Watch Command（linuxwatch）
It’s essential for system administrators and engineers to keep an eye on their server and monitor performance levels frequently. System monitoring is a process of tracking stats and data to observe how well systems are functioning. Linux is an open-source based operating system and is often used to run servers. One of the most effective tools for monitoring systems on a Linux machine is the Linux Watch command.
The Watch command can be used to execute commands periodically and view their output on the terminal. It can be used for numerous purposes including monitoring processes, CPU usage, memory usage and other system metrics. It’s a lightweight command line based utility and can be used to set an interval which can be from a second up to hours or even infinite. This makes it a convenient tool to monitor specific tasks on a regular basis.
To use the watch command, the syntax is simple: watch [options] command. The basic usage of the command is to specify an interval and a command. The command runs and displays the output of the command and continues to do so based on the interval that is specified after the initial execution.
For example, to monitors the memory and CPU usage of a Linux server every 5 seconds, you can use the command watch -n 5 “vmstat”. The output of the above command would look something like this:
Every 5.0s: vmstat Mon Feb 18 17:18:07 2019
procs -----------memory---------- ---swap-- -----io---- -system-- ------cpu----- r b swpd free buff cache si so bi bo in cs us sy id wa st
0 0 0 3176356 141980 1135528 0 0 35 40 0 0 0 0 99 0 0
This is a great way for system administrators to monitor their systems, as the output of the command gives an indication of the performance of the system. It can also be used in combination with other tools, to enable automation and task scheduling.
In conclusion, the Linux Watch command is an invaluable tool for monitoring systems. It enables system administrators to effectively monitor a variety of metrics and periodically execute commands to gain insight into the performance of their systems. Its lightweight architecture makes it a convenient tool to use and can be used even on systems with limited resources.
