How to install and monitor Iotop on OpenSUSE Leap 42.3

To install and monitor Iotop on OpenSUSE Leap 42.3

Iotop is an open source and free utility monitoring tool to monitor server processes and usage. It is written in Python. The main functionality of Iotop is that it tracks the disk usage logs, which slow down a system with a plenty of available disk space and memory. It also provides an easy usage, where the users can run it from a particular terminal. This tutorial covers the installation procedure of Iotop on OpenSUSE Leap 42.3.

Pre-Requisite

Before starting the installation procedure, execute the following command to install the python C modules.

linuxhelp1:~ # zypper install  python python-ctypes
Loading repository data...
Reading installed packages...
' python'  is already installed.
No update candidate for ' python-2.7.13-26.1.x86_64' . The highest available version is already installed.
' python-ctypes'  not found in package names. Trying capabilities.
' python-base'  providing ' python-ctypes'  is already installed.
Resolving package dependencies...

Now check the kernel version of the target system by running the following command.

linuxhelp1:~ # uname -a
Linux linuxhelp 4.4.76-1-default #1 SMP Fri Jul 14 08:48:13 UTC 2017 (9a2885c) x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Installation Procedure

To proceed with the installation process, run the following install command to install Iotop.

linuxhelp1:~ # zypper install iotop
Loading repository data...
Reading installed packages...
Resolving package dependencies...

The following NEW package is going to be installed:
  iotop

1 new package to install.
Overall download size: 49.0 KiB. Already cached: 0 B. After the operation,
additional 170.3 KiB will be used.
Continue? [y/n/...? shows all options] (y): y
Retrieving package iotop-0.6-11.3.noarch   (1/1),  49.0 KiB (170.3 KiB unpacked)
Retrieving: iotop-0.6-11.3.noarch.rpm ....................................[done]
Checking for file conflicts: .............................................[done]
(1/1) Installing: iotop-0.6-11.3.noarch ..................................[done] 

Execute the following command as root user. All the processes running in the system are shown in the terminal.

linuxhelp1:~ # iotop

To start using this tool, run the following command with -o or &ndash only option to see all running processes or threads. The output is shown as below.

linuxhelp1:~ # iotop &ndash only


To view all usage and options in the Iotop tool, run the following command.

linuxhelp1:~ # man iotop

Now to check the version of Iotop, execute the following command.

linuxhelp1:~ # iotop &ndash version
iotop 0.6

Next to know more about the Iotop' s information and usage, run the following command

linuxhelp1:~ # iotop &ndash h

To list the statistics of a particular user, run the following command. The output will be displayed in the terminal as shown below.

linuxhelp1:~ # iotop -u user1

To list the statistics of root user, execute the following command and the output will be displayed as follows.

linuxhelp1:~ # iotop -u root

This concludes the installation and usage of Iotop on OpenSUSE Leap 42.3.

FAQ
Q
How to install iotop on Fedora?
A
To install iotop use "dnf install iotop".
Q
What is Iotop Tool?
A
Iotop is an open source and free utility monitoring tool to monitor server processes and usage. It is written in Python. The main functionality of Iotop is that it tracks the disk usage logs, which slow down a system with a plenty of available disk space and memory. It also provides an easy usage, where the users can run it from a particular terminal.
Q
what are its dependency packages of Iotop?
A
For Iotop, install python python-type before proceeding.
Q
Is there any best alternative for iotop and top?
A
Alternative for iotop and top are as follows, ntop,gtop and htop
Q
I want only the proceeses to be displayed in this Iotop?
A
iotop -P can be used for that purpose.