In this post I am going to write about very useful utility called watch and its possible usages. I discovered it several weeks ago, but since then I use it quite often. It’s a pity that I didn’t know about this program all the time that I had been using Linux. This utility executes given program periodically, showing output fullscreen. It can be used to monitor any kind of information about your system.

Below you can find some examples:

• Monitor wireless connection (bit rate, signal quality and so on):
  

  watch -n1 -d /sbin/iwconfig eth1

• Monitor CPU temperature:
  

  watch cat /proc/acpi/thermal_zone/TZS*/temperature

• Monitor CPU frequency:
  

  watch sudo cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*/cpufreq/cpuinfo_cur_freq

• Monitor disc usage:
  

  watch df

And of course (as with almost any UNIX utility) you can invent a lot of other ways how to use watch.

Posted by on August 21, 2006  |  linux

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