Logging CPU Usage

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Level 1

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Logging CPU Usage

Is there a way to keep track of CPU usage? Activity monitor can give a nice graphical display of which core is being used and to what extent, as well as showing this information over time. Is there a log file for this information, or a way to create one?

Thanks

MacBook 1.83GHz core2duo, Mac OS X (10.5.7)

Posted on May 29, 2009 5:37 AM

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Answer 1

planb77

Level 7

32,446 points

May 29, 2009 5:59 AM in response to mgardnertech

Hey there,
Maybe this article could help you out. Hope it does.

[Log CPU/Load Usage On Your Mac|http://www.mactricksandtips.com/2008/08/log-cpuload-usage-on-your-mac.html]

B-rock

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Answer 2

nerowolfe

Level 6

13,090 points

May 29, 2009 1:43 PM in response to mgardnertech

Welcome to Apple Discussions:

Yes, run
top
in the terminal
It runs continuously.
Use q or ctl-c to quit. That's ctl not cmd.

If you want to save it to a desktop file, run

top > desktop/top.txt

When you thing it's recorded enough use q or ctl-c

You can change the interval and do other things.
In the terminal enter
man top
to get the instructions and usage.

Message was edited by: nerowolfe

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Answer 3

mgardnertech Author

Level 1

0 points

May 29, 2009 6:55 PM in response to nerowolfe

Thanks for the information. I ran top, but can't really get a good handle on what information it is giving me, or how it is separated out. What I am really looking for is a way to track the load over time, and keep a record of it. Activity Monitor does a good job of showing this information for a little while, but it doesn't seem to keep a record of it.

If top keeps this information, do you know how to dig it out of the text file? I tried opening it in Excel and Numbers to see if it was tab or comma delimited, but it doesn't appear to be.

Thanks,
Mike

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Answer 4

May 29, 2009 7:15 PM in response to mgardnertech

you could script this with launchd..

top -l 1 | grep Load > /logfiledirectory/logfile`date +"%Y%m%d%H%M"`.txt

run it every minute or every 10 minutes or whenever you like.
if you like it all into one logfile

date +"%Y%m%d%H%M" >> /logfiledirectory/logfile.txt
top -l 1 | grep Load >> /logfiledirectory/logfile.txt

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Answer 5

nerowolfe

Level 6

13,090 points

May 29, 2009 7:34 PM in response to mgardnertech

top essentially gives you the same info as does Activity Monitor.
Be sure your terminal is set large enough to see the entire line.
PID COMMAND %CPU TIME #TH #PRTS #MREGS RPRVT RSHRD RSIZE VSIZE

PID is simply a number the system assigns to the process
Most are self-explanatory
COMMAND is the name of the process
TH is the number of threads the proces spawns
TIME is the actual processor time used, not a %

Again, if you enter
man top
You get a complete explanation.
You can also customize the output to your requirements or needs.

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