Monitoring system performance is crucial for maintaining the health and efficiency of your Raspberry Pi. This article will guide you through setting up system monitoring on a Raspberry Pi using various tools and scripts. These tools will help you keep track of CPU usage, memory consumption, disk space, and network activity.

Examples:

1. Using top and htop for Real-Time Monitoring:

   • top Command: This is a built-in command-line tool that provides a dynamic view of running processes. To use it, simply open a terminal and type:

     top

     This will display a list of processes, along with CPU and memory usage.

   • htop Command: htop is an enhanced version of top with a more user-friendly interface. First, install it using:

     sudo apt-get update
     sudo apt-get install htop

     Then, run it by typing:

     htop

2. Using vcgencmd for Temperature Monitoring:

   The Raspberry Pi has a built-in command to check the CPU temperature:

   vcgencmd measure_temp

   This command will output the current temperature of the CPU.

3. Setting Up a Python Script for Periodic Monitoring:

   You can create a Python script to log system performance metrics periodically. Here's a simple example:

   import os
   import time
   
   def log_system_stats():
      while True:
          # Log CPU usage
          os.system("top -bn1 | grep 'Cpu(s)' >> system_log.txt")
          # Log Memory usage
          os.system("free -m >> system_log.txt")
          # Log Disk usage
          os.system("df -h >> system_log.txt")
          # Log CPU temperature
          os.system("vcgencmd measure_temp >> system_log.txt")
          # Wait for 60 seconds before logging again
          time.sleep(60)
   
   if __name__ == "__main__":
      log_system_stats()

   Save this script as monitor.py and run it with:

   python3 monitor.py &

4. Using nmon for Comprehensive Monitoring:

   nmon is a powerful tool for monitoring system performance. To install it, use:

   sudo apt-get install nmon

   Run it by typing:

   nmon

   Use the keyboard to navigate and toggle different metrics like CPU, memory, disk, and network usage.