Summary
psutil (process and system utilities) is a cross-platform library for retrieving information about running processes and system utilization (CPU, memory, disks, network, sensors) in Python. It is useful mainly for system monitoring, profiling, limiting process resources, and managing running processes. It implements many functionalities offered by classic UNIX command line tools such as ps, top, free, iotop, netstat, ifconfig, lsof and others (see shell equivalents). psutil currently supports the following platforms:
- Linux
- Windows
- macOS
- FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD
- Sun Solaris
- AIX
Sponsors
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Funding
While psutil is free software and will always remain so, the project would benefit immensely from some funding. psutil is among the top 100 most-downloaded Python packages, and keeping up with bug reports, user support, and ongoing maintenance has become increasingly difficult to sustain as a one-person effort. If you're a company that's making significant use of psutil you can consider becoming a sponsor via GitHub, Open Collective or PayPal. Sponsors can have their logo displayed here and in the psutil documentation.
Projects using psutil
psutil is one of the top 100 most-downloaded packages on PyPI, with 280+ million downloads per month, 760,000+ GitHub repositories using it, and 14,000+ packages depending on it. Some notable projects using psutil:
- TensorFlow, PyTorch,
- Home Assistant, Ansible, Apache Airflow, Sentry
- Celery, Dask
- Glances, bpytop, Ajenti, GRR
- psleak
Ports
- Go: gopsutil
- C: cpslib
- Rust: rust-psutil
- Nim: psutil-nim
Supporters
People who donated money over the years:
Example usages
Below are interactive examples demonstrating all parts of the psutil API, including CPU, memory, disks, network, sensors, and process management.
CPU
>>> 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, guest_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.cpu_freq()
scpufreq(current=931.42925, min=800.0, max=3500.0)
>>>
>>> psutil.getloadavg() # also on Windows (emulated)
(3.14, 3.89, 4.67)
Memory
>>> 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)
>>>
Disks
>>> 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)
>>>
Network
>>> 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(kind='tcp')
[sconn(fd=115, family=<AddressFamily.AF_INET: 2>, type=<SocketType.SOCK_STREAM: 1>, laddr=addr(ip='10.0.0.1', port=48776), raddr=addr(ip='93.186.135.91', port=80), status='ESTABLISHED', pid=1254),
sconn(fd=117, family=<AddressFamily.AF_INET: 2>, type=<SocketType.SOCK_STREAM: 1>, laddr=addr(ip='10.0.0.1', port=43761), raddr=addr(ip='72.14.234.100', port=80), status='CLOSING', pid=2987),
...]
>>>
>>> psutil.net_if_addrs()
{'lo': [snicaddr(family=<AddressFamily.AF_INET: 2>, address='127.0.0.1', netmask='255.0.0.0', broadcast='127.0.0.1', ptp=None),
snicaddr(family=<AddressFamily.AF_INET6: 10>, address='::1', netmask='ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff', broadcast=None, ptp=None),
snicaddr(family=<AddressFamily.AF_LINK: 17>, address='00:00:00:00:00:00', netmask=None, broadcast='00:00:00:00:00:00', ptp=None)],
'wlan0': [snicaddr(family=<AddressFamily.AF_INET: 2>, address='192.168.1.3', netmask='255.255.255.0', broadcast='192.168.1.255', ptp=None),
snicaddr(family=<AddressFamily.AF_INET6: 10>, address='fe80::c685:8ff:fe45:641%wlan0', netmask='ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff::', broadcast=None, ptp=None),
snicaddr(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()
{'lo': snicstats(isup=True, duplex=<NicDuplex.NIC_DUPLEX_UNKNOWN: 0>, speed=0, mtu=65536, flags='up,loopback,running'),
'wlan0': snicstats(isup=True, duplex=<NicDuplex.NIC_DUPLEX_FULL: 2>, speed=100, mtu=1500, flags='up,broadcast,running,multicast')}
>>>
Sensors
>>> import psutil
>>> psutil.sensors_temperatures()
{'acpitz': [shwtemp(label='', current=47.0, high=103.0, critical=103.0)],
'asus': [shwtemp(label='', current=47.0, high=None, critical=None)],
'coretemp': [shwtemp(label='Physical id 0', current=52.0, high=100.0, critical=100.0),
shwtemp(label='Core 0', current=45.0, high=100.0, critical=100.0)]}
>>>
>>> psutil.sensors_fans()
{'asus': [sfan(label='cpu_fan', current=3200)]}
>>>
>>> psutil.sensors_battery()
sbattery(percent=93, secsleft=16628, power_plugged=False)
>>>
Other system info
>>> import psutil
>>> psutil.users()
[suser(name='giampaolo', terminal='pts/2', host='localhost', started=1340737536.0, pid=1352),
suser(name='giampaolo', terminal='pts/3', host='localhost', started=1340737792.0, pid=1788)]
>>>
>>> psutil.boot_time()
1365519115.0
>>>
Process management
>>> 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
psutil.Process(pid=7055, name='python3', status=<ProcessStatus.STATUS_RUNNING: 'running'>, started='09:04:44')
>>> p.pid
7055
>>> p.name()
'python3'
>>> p.exe()
'/usr/bin/python3'
>>> p.cwd()
'/home/giampaolo'
>>> p.cmdline()
['/usr/bin/python3', 'main.py']
>>>
>>> p.ppid()
7054
>>> p.parent()
psutil.Process(pid=4699, name='bash', status=<ProcessStatus.STATUS_SLEEPING: 'sleeping'>, started='09:06:44')
>>> p.parents()
[psutil.Process(pid=4699, name='bash', started='09:06:44'),
psutil.Process(pid=4689, name='gnome-terminal-server', status=<ProcessStatus.STATUS_SLEEPING: 'sleeping'>, started='0:06:44'),
psutil.Process(pid=1, name='systemd', status=<ProcessStatus.STATUS_SLEEPING: 'sleeping'>, started='05:56:55')]
>>> p.children(recursive=True)
[psutil.Process(pid=29835, name='python3', status=<ProcessStatus.STATUS_SLEEPING: 'sleeping'>, started='11:45:38'),
psutil.Process(pid=29836, name='python3', status=<ProcessStatus.STATUS_WAKING: 'waking'>, started='11:43:39')]
>>>
>>> p.status()
<ProcessStatus.STATUS_RUNNING: 'running'>
>>> p.create_time()
1267551141.5019531
>>> p.terminal()
'/dev/pts/0'
>>>
>>> p.username()
'giampaolo'
>>> 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, iowait=0.0)
>>> p.cpu_percent(interval=1.0)
12.1
>>> p.cpu_affinity()
[0, 1, 2, 3]
>>> p.cpu_affinity([0, 1]) # set
>>> p.cpu_num()
1
>>>
>>> p.memory_info()
pmem(rss=3164160, vms=4410163, shared=897433, text=302694, data=2422374)
>>> p.memory_info_ex()
pmem_ex(rss=3164160, vms=4410163, shared=897433, text=302694, data=2422374, peak_rss=4172190, peak_vms=6399001, rss_anon=2266726, rss_file=897433, rss_shmem=0, swap=0, hugetlb=0)
>>> p.memory_footprint() # "real" USS memory usage
pfootprint(uss=2355200, pss=2483712, 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='[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.page_faults()
ppagefaults(minor=5905, major=3)
>>>
>>> p.io_counters()
pio(read_count=478001, write_count=59371, read_bytes=700416, write_bytes=69632, read_chars=456232, write_chars=517543)
>>>
>>> p.open_files()
[popenfile(path='/home/giampaolo/monit.py', fd=3, position=0, mode='r', flags=32768),
popenfile(path='/var/log/monit.log', fd=4, position=235542, mode='a', flags=33793)]
>>>
>>> p.net_connections(kind='tcp')
[pconn(fd=115, family=<AddressFamily.AF_INET: 2>, type=<SocketType.SOCK_STREAM: 1>, laddr=addr(ip='10.0.0.1', port=48776), raddr=addr(ip='93.186.135.91', port=80), status=<ConnectionStatus.CONN_ESTABLISHED: 'ESTABLISHED'>),
pconn(fd=117, family=<AddressFamily.AF_INET: 2>, type=<SocketType.SOCK_STREAM: 1>, laddr=addr(ip='10.0.0.1', port=43761), raddr=addr(ip='72.14.234.100', port=80), status=<ConnectionStatus.CONN_CLOSING: 'CLOSING'>)]
>>>
>>> p.threads()
[pthread(id=5234, user_time=22.5, system_time=9.2891),
pthread(id=5237, user_time=0.0707, system_time=1.1)]
>>>
>>> p.num_threads()
4
>>> p.num_fds()
8
>>> 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=<ProcessIOPriority.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',
...}
>>>
>>> p.as_dict()
{'status': <ProcessStatus.STATUS_RUNNING: 'running'>, 'num_ctx_switches': pctxsw(voluntary=63, involuntary=1), 'pid': 5457, ...}
>>> p.is_running()
True
>>> p.suspend()
>>> p.resume()
>>>
>>> p.terminate()
>>> p.kill()
>>> p.wait(timeout=3)
<Exitcode.EX_OK: 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
...
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
>>>
Further process APIs
>>> import psutil
>>> for proc in psutil.process_iter(['pid', 'name']):
... print(proc.info)
...
{'pid': 1, 'name': 'systemd'}
{'pid': 2, 'name': 'kthreadd'}
{'pid': 3, 'name': 'ksoftirqd/0'}
...
>>>
>>> psutil.pid_exists(3)
True
>>>
>>> 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)
>>>
Heap info
>>> import psutil
>>> psutil.heap_info()
pheap(heap_used=5177792, mmap_used=819200)
>>> psutil.heap_trim()
See also psleak.
Windows services
>>> 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'}
