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Summary

psutil (process and system utilities) is a cross-platform library for retrieving information on running processes and system utilization (CPU, memory, disks, network) in Python. It is useful mainly for system monitoring, profiling and limiting process resources and management of running processes. It implements many functionalities offered by command line tools such as: ps, top, lsof, netstat, ifconfig, who, df, kill, free, nice, ionice, iostat, iotop, uptime, pidof, tty, taskset, pmap. It currently supports Linux, Windows, OSX, Sun Solaris, FreeBSD, OpenBSD and NetBSD, both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures, with Python versions from 2.6 to 3.5 (users of Python 2.4 and 2.5 may use 2.1.3 version). PyPy is also known to work.

Example applications

Also see https://github.com/giampaolo/psutil/tree/master/scripts.

Projects using psutil

At the time of writing there are over 4200 open source projects on github which depend from psutil. Here’s some I find particularly interesting:

• https://github.com/facebook/osquery/
• https://github.com/nicolargo/glances
• https://github.com/google/grr
• https://github.com/Jahaja/psdash
• https://github.com/ajenti/ajenti

Example usages

>>> import psutil
>>> psutil.cpu_times()
scputimes(user=3961.46, nice=169.729, system=2150.659, idle=16900.540, iowait=629.59, irq=0.0, softirq=19.42, steal=0.0, guest=0, nice=0.0)
>>>
>>> for x in range(3):
...     psutil.cpu_percent(interval=1)
...
4.0
5.9
3.8
>>>
>>> for x in range(3):
...     psutil.cpu_percent(interval=1, percpu=True)
...
[4.0, 6.9, 3.7, 9.2]
[7.0, 8.5, 2.4, 2.1]
[1.2, 9.0, 9.9, 7.2]
>>>
>>> for x in range(3):
...     psutil.cpu_times_percent(interval=1, percpu=False)
...
scputimes(user=1.5, nice=0.0, system=0.5, idle=96.5, iowait=1.5, irq=0.0, softirq=0.0, steal=0.0, guest=0.0, guest_nice=0.0)
scputimes(user=1.0, nice=0.0, system=0.0, idle=99.0, iowait=0.0, irq=0.0, softirq=0.0, steal=0.0, guest=0.0, guest_nice=0.0)
scputimes(user=2.0, nice=0.0, system=0.0, idle=98.0, iowait=0.0, irq=0.0, softirq=0.0, steal=0.0, guest=0.0, guest_nice=0.0)
>>>
>>> psutil.cpu_count()
4
>>> psutil.cpu_count(logical=False)
2
>>>
>>> psutil.cpu_stats()
scpustats(ctx_switches=20455687, interrupts=6598984, soft_interrupts=2134212, syscalls=0)

>>> psutil.virtual_memory()
svmem(total=10367352832, available=6472179712, percent=37.6, used=8186245120, free=2181107712, active=4748992512, inactive=2758115328, buffers=790724608, cached=3500347392, shared=787554304)
>>> psutil.swap_memory()
sswap(total=2097147904, used=296128512, free=1801019392, percent=14.1, sin=304193536, sout=677842944)
>>>

>>> psutil.disk_partitions()
[sdiskpart(device='/dev/sda1', mountpoint='/', fstype='ext4', opts='rw,nosuid'),
 sdiskpart(device='/dev/sda2', mountpoint='/home', fstype='ext, opts='rw')]
>>>
>>> psutil.disk_usage('/')
sdiskusage(total=21378641920, used=4809781248, free=15482871808, percent=22.5)
>>>
>>> psutil.disk_io_counters(perdisk=False)
sdiskio(read_count=719566, write_count=1082197, read_bytes=18626220032, write_bytes=24081764352, read_time=5023392, write_time=63199568, read_merged_count=619166, write_merged_count=812396, busy_time=4523412)
>>>

>>> psutil.net_io_counters(pernic=True)
{'eth0': netio(bytes_sent=485291293, bytes_recv=6004858642, packets_sent=3251564, packets_recv=4787798, errin=0, errout=0, dropin=0, dropout=0),
 'lo': netio(bytes_sent=2838627, bytes_recv=2838627, packets_sent=30567, packets_recv=30567, errin=0, errout=0, dropin=0, dropout=0)}
>>>
>>> psutil.net_connections()
[pconn(fd=115, family=<AddressFamily.AF_INET: 2>, type=<SocketType.SOCK_STREAM: 1>, laddr=('10.0.0.1', 48776), raddr=('93.186.135.91', 80), status='ESTABLISHED', pid=1254),
 pconn(fd=117, family=<AddressFamily.AF_INET: 2>, type=<SocketType.SOCK_STREAM: 1>, laddr=('10.0.0.1', 43761), raddr=('72.14.234.100', 80), status='CLOSING', pid=2987),
 pconn(fd=-1, family=<AddressFamily.AF_INET: 2>, type=<SocketType.SOCK_STREAM: 1>, laddr=('10.0.0.1', 60759), raddr=('72.14.234.104', 80), status='ESTABLISHED', pid=None),
 pconn(fd=-1, family=<AddressFamily.AF_INET: 2>, type=<SocketType.SOCK_STREAM: 1>, laddr=('10.0.0.1', 51314), raddr=('72.14.234.83', 443), status='SYN_SENT', pid=None)
 ...]
>>>
>>> psutil.net_if_addrs()
{'lo': [snic(family=<AddressFamily.AF_INET: 2>, address='127.0.0.1', netmask='255.0.0.0', broadcast='127.0.0.1', ptp=None),
        snic(family=<AddressFamily.AF_INET6: 10>, address='::1', netmask='ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff', broadcast=None, ptp=None),
        snic(family=<AddressFamily.AF_LINK: 17>, address='00:00:00:00:00:00', netmask=None, broadcast='00:00:00:00:00:00', ptp=None)],
 'wlan0': [snic(family=<AddressFamily.AF_INET: 2>, address='192.168.1.3', netmask='255.255.255.0', broadcast='192.168.1.255', ptp=None),
           snic(family=<AddressFamily.AF_INET6: 10>, address='fe80::c685:8ff:fe45:641%wlan0', netmask='ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff::', broadcast=None, ptp=None),
           snic(family=<AddressFamily.AF_LINK: 17>, address='c4:85:08:45:06:41', netmask=None, broadcast='ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff', ptp=None)]}
>>>
>>> psutil.net_if_stats()
{'eth0': snicstats(isup=True, duplex=<NicDuplex.NIC_DUPLEX_FULL: 2>, speed=100, mtu=1500),
 'lo': snicstats(isup=True, duplex=<NicDuplex.NIC_DUPLEX_UNKNOWN: 0>, speed=0, mtu=65536)}

>>> psutil.users()
[user(name='giampaolo', terminal='pts/2', host='localhost', started=1340737536.0),
 user(name='giampaolo', terminal='pts/3', host='localhost', started=1340737792.0)]
>>>
>>> psutil.boot_time()
1365519115.0
>>>

>>> import psutil
>>> psutil.pids()
[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 46, 48, 50, 51, 178, 182, 222, 223, 224,
 268, 1215, 1216, 1220, 1221, 1243, 1244, 1301, 1601, 2237, 2355,
 2637, 2774, 3932, 4176, 4177, 4185, 4187, 4189, 4225, 4243, 4245,
 4263, 4282, 4306, 4311, 4312, 4313, 4314, 4337, 4339, 4357, 4358,
 4363, 4383, 4395, 4408, 4433, 4443, 4445, 4446, 5167, 5234, 5235,
 5252, 5318, 5424, 5644, 6987, 7054, 7055, 7071]
>>>
>>> p = psutil.Process(7055)
>>> p.name()
'python'
>>> p.exe()
'/usr/bin/python'
>>> p.cwd()
'/home/giampaolo'
>>> p.cmdline()
['/usr/bin/python', 'main.py']
>>>
>>> p.pid
7055
>>> p.ppid()
7054
>>> p.parent()
<psutil.Process(pid=7054, name='bash') at 140008329539408>
>>> p.children()
[<psutil.Process(pid=8031, name='python') at 14020832451977>,
 <psutil.Process(pid=8044, name='python') at 19229444921932>]
>>>
>>> p.status()
'running'
>>> p.username()
'giampaolo'
>>> p.create_time()
1267551141.5019531
>>> p.terminal()
'/dev/pts/0'
>>>
>>> p.uids()
puids(real=1000, effective=1000, saved=1000)
>>> p.gids()
pgids(real=1000, effective=1000, saved=1000)
>>>
>>> p.cpu_times()
pcputimes(user=1.02, system=0.31, children_user=0.32, children_system=0.1)
>>> p.cpu_percent(interval=1.0)
12.1
>>> p.cpu_affinity()
[0, 1, 2, 3]
>>> p.cpu_affinity([0])  # set
>>>
>>> p.memory_info()
pmem(rss=10915840, vms=67608576, shared=3313664, text=2310144, lib=0, data=7262208, dirty=0)
>>> p.memory_full_info()  # "real" USS memory usage (Linux, OSX, Win only)
pfullmem(rss=10199040, vms=52133888, shared=3887104, text=2867200, lib=0, data=5967872, dirty=0, uss=6545408, pss=6872064, swap=0)
>>> p.memory_percent()
0.7823
>>> p.memory_maps()
[pmmap_grouped(path='/lib/x8664-linux-gnu/libutil-2.15.so', rss=32768, size=2125824, pss=32768, shared_clean=0, shared_dirty=0, private_clean=20480, private_dirty=12288, referenced=32768, anonymous=12288, swap=0),
 pmmap_grouped(path='/lib/x8664-linux-gnu/libc-2.15.so', rss=3821568, size=3842048, pss=3821568, shared_clean=0, shared_dirty=0, private_clean=0, private_dirty=3821568, referenced=3575808, anonymous=3821568, swap=0),
 pmmap_grouped(path='/lib/x8664-linux-gnu/libcrypto.so.0.1', rss=34124, rss=32768, size=2134016, pss=15360, shared_clean=24576, shared_dirty=0, private_clean=0, private_dirty=8192, referenced=24576, anonymous=8192, swap=0),
 pmmap_grouped(path='[heap]',  rss=32768, size=139264, pss=32768, shared_clean=0, shared_dirty=0, private_clean=0, private_dirty=32768, referenced=32768, anonymous=32768, swap=0),
 pmmap_grouped(path='[stack]', rss=2465792, size=2494464, pss=2465792, shared_clean=0, shared_dirty=0, private_clean=0, private_dirty=2465792, referenced=2277376, anonymous=2465792, swap=0),
 ...]
>>>
>>> p.io_counters()
pio(read_count=478001, write_count=59371, read_bytes=700416, write_bytes=69632)
>>>
>>> p.open_files()
[popenfile(path='/home/giampaolo/svn/psutil/setup.py', fd=3, position=0, mode='r', flags=32768),
 popenfile(path='/var/log/monitd', fd=4, position=235542, mode='a', flags=33793)]
>>>
>>> p.connections()
[pconn(fd=115, family=<AddressFamily.AF_INET: 2>, type=<SocketType.SOCK_STREAM: 1>, laddr=('10.0.0.1', 48776), raddr=('93.186.135.91', 80), status='ESTABLISHED'),
 pconn(fd=117, family=<AddressFamily.AF_INET: 2>, type=<SocketType.SOCK_STREAM: 1>, laddr=('10.0.0.1', 43761), raddr=('72.14.234.100', 80), status='CLOSING'),
 pconn(fd=119, family=<AddressFamily.AF_INET: 2>, type=<SocketType.SOCK_STREAM: 1>, laddr=('10.0.0.1', 60759), raddr=('72.14.234.104', 80), status='ESTABLISHED'),
 pconn(fd=123, family=<AddressFamily.AF_INET: 2>, type=<SocketType.SOCK_STREAM: 1>, laddr=('10.0.0.1', 51314), raddr=('72.14.234.83', 443), status='SYN_SENT')]
>>>
>>> p.num_threads()
4
>>> p.num_fds()
8
>>> p.threads()
[pthread(id=5234, user_time=22.5, system_time=9.2891),
 pthread(id=5235, user_time=0.0, system_time=0.0),
 pthread(id=5236, user_time=0.0, system_time=0.0),
 pthread(id=5237, user_time=0.0707, system_time=1.1)]
>>>
>>> p.num_ctx_switches()
pctxsw(voluntary=78, involuntary=19)
>>>
>>> p.nice()
0
>>> p.nice(10)  # set
>>>
>>> p.ionice(psutil.IOPRIO_CLASS_IDLE)  # IO priority (Win and Linux only)
>>> p.ionice()
pionice(ioclass=<IOPriority.IOPRIO_CLASS_IDLE: 3>, value=0)
>>>
>>> p.rlimit(psutil.RLIMIT_NOFILE, (5, 5))  # set resource limits (Linux only)
>>> p.rlimit(psutil.RLIMIT_NOFILE)
(5, 5)
>>>
>>> p.environ()
{'LC_PAPER': 'it_IT.UTF-8', 'SHELL': '/bin/bash', 'GREP_OPTIONS': '--color=auto',
'XDG_CONFIG_DIRS': '/etc/xdg/xdg-ubuntu:/usr/share/upstart/xdg:/etc/xdg', 'COLORTERM': 'gnome-terminal',
 ...}
>>>
>>> p.as_dict()
{'status': 'running', 'num_ctx_switches': pctxsw(voluntary=63, involuntary=1), 'pid': 5457, ...}
>>> p.is_running()
True
>>> p.suspend()
>>> p.resume()
>>>
>>> p.terminate()
>>> p.wait(timeout=3)
0
>>>
>>> psutil.test()
USER         PID %CPU %MEM     VSZ     RSS TTY        START    TIME  COMMAND
root           1  0.0  0.0   24584    2240            Jun17   00:00  init
root           2  0.0  0.0       0       0            Jun17   00:00  kthreadd
root           3  0.0  0.0       0       0            Jun17   00:05  ksoftirqd/0
...
giampaolo  31475  0.0  0.0   20760    3024 /dev/pts/0 Jun19   00:00  python2.4
giampaolo  31721  0.0  2.2  773060  181896            00:04   10:30  chrome
root       31763  0.0  0.0       0       0            00:05   00:00  kworker/0:1
>>>

>>> for p in psutil.process_iter():
...     print(p)
...
psutil.Process(pid=1, name='init')
psutil.Process(pid=2, name='kthreadd')
psutil.Process(pid=3, name='ksoftirqd/0')
...
>>>
>>> def on_terminate(proc):
...     print("process {} terminated".format(proc))
...
>>> # waits for multiple processes to terminate
>>> gone, alive = psutil.wait_procs(procs_list, timeout=3, callback=on_terminate)
>>>

>>> list(psutil.win_service_iter())
[<WindowsService(name='AeLookupSvc', display_name='Application Experience') at 38850096>,
 <WindowsService(name='ALG', display_name='Application Layer Gateway Service') at 38850128>,
 <WindowsService(name='APNMCP', display_name='Ask Update Service') at 38850160>,
 <WindowsService(name='AppIDSvc', display_name='Application Identity') at 38850192>,
 ...]
>>> s = psutil.win_service_get('alg')
>>> s.as_dict()
{'binpath': 'C:\\Windows\\System32\\alg.exe',
 'description': 'Provides support for 3rd party protocol plug-ins for Internet Connection Sharing',
 'display_name': 'Application Layer Gateway Service',
 'name': 'alg',
 'pid': None,
 'start_type': 'manual',
 'status': 'stopped',
 'username': 'NT AUTHORITY\\LocalService'}

Donate

A lot of time and effort went into making psutil as it is right now. If you feel psutil is useful to you or your business and want to support its future development please consider donating me (Giampaolo Rodola’) some money. I only ask for a small donation, but of course I appreciate any amount.

Don’t want to donate money? Then maybe you could write me a recommendation on Linkedin.

Mailing list

http://groups.google.com/group/psutil/