psutil (process and system utilities) is a cross-platform library for retrieving information on running processes and system utilization (CPU, memory, disks, network, sensors) 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 classic UNIX command line tools such as ps, top, iotop, lsof, netstat, ifconfig, free and others. psutil currently supports the following platforms:

Linux
Windows
macOS
FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD
Sun Solaris
AIX

Supported Python versions are cPython 3.6+ and PyPy <https://pypy.org/>. Latest psutil version supporting Python 2.7 is psutil 6.1.1 <https://pypi.org/project/psutil/6.1.1/>.

Example usages

This represents pretty much the whole psutil API.

CPU

.. code-block:: python

>>> 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

.. code-block:: python

>>> 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

.. code-block:: python

>>> 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

.. code-block:: python

>>> 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

.. code-block:: python

>>> 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

.. code-block:: python

>>> 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

.. code-block:: python

>>> 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='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='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='sleeping', started='0:06:44'),
 psutil.Process(pid=1, name='systemd', status='sleeping', started='05:56:55')]
>>> p.children(recursive=True)
[psutil.Process(pid=29835, name='python3', status='sleeping', started='11:45:38'),
 psutil.Process(pid=29836, name='python3', status='waking', started='11:43:39')]
>>>
>>> p.status()
'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=10915840, vms=67608576, shared=3313664, text=2310144, lib=0, data=7262208, dirty=0)
>>> p.memory_full_info()  # "real" USS memory usage (Linux, macOS, 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='[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, 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='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='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=<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',
 ...}
>>>
>>> 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.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

.. code-block:: python

>>> 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

.. code-block:: python

>>> import psutil
>>> psutil.heap_info()
pheap(heap_used=5177792, mmap_used=819200)
>>> psutil.heap_trim()

See also psleak <https://github.com/giampaolo/psleak>__

Windows services

.. code-block:: python

>>> 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'}

Projects using psutil

Here's some I find particularly interesting:

Portings

Keywords

FAQs

What is psutil?

Is psutil well maintained?

Did you know?

Socket for GitHub automatically highlights issues in each pull request and monitors the health of all your open source dependencies. Discover the contents of your packages and block harmful activity before you install or update your dependencies.

Install

psutil

Quick links

Summary

Example usages

CPU

Memory

Disks

Network

Sensors

Other system info

Process management

Further process APIs

Heap info

Windows services

Projects using psutil

Portings

Keywords

Related posts

Bitwarden CLI Compromised in Ongoing Checkmarx Supply Chain Campaign

Malicious Checkmarx Artifacts Found in Official KICS Docker Repository and Code Extensions