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conky(1) conky(1)
NAME
conky - A system monitor for X originally based on the torsmo code, but
more kickass. It just keeps on given'er. Yeah.
SYNOPSIS
conky [options]
DESCRIPTION
Conky is a system monitor for X originally based on torsmo. Since its
inception, Conky has changed significantly from its predecessor, while
maintaining simplicity and configurability. Conky can display just
about anything, either on your root desktop or in its own window. Not
only does Conky have many built-in objects, it can also display just
about any piece of information by using scripts and other external pro‐
grams.
Conky has more than 250 built in objects, including support for a
plethora of OS stats (uname, uptime, CPU usage, mem usage, disk usage,
"top" like process stats, and network monitoring, just to name a few),
built in IMAP and POP3 support, built in support for many popular music
players (MPD, XMMS2, BMPx, Audacious), and much much more. Conky can
display this info either as text, or using simple progress bars and
graph widgets, with different fonts and colours.
We are always looking for help, whether its reporting bugs, writing
patches, or writing docs. Please use the facilities at SourceForge to
make bug reports, feature requests, and submit patches, or stop by
#conky on irc.freenode.net if you have questions or want to contribute.
Thanks for your interest in Conky.
COMPILING
For users compiling from source on a binary distro, make sure you have
the X development libraries installed. This should be a package along
the lines of "libx11-dev" or "xorg-x11-dev" for X11 libs, and similar
"-dev" format for the other libs required (depending on your configure
options).
Conky has (for some time) been available in the repositories of most
popular distributions. Here are some installation instructions for a
few:
Gentoo users -- Conky is in Gentoo's Portage... simply use "emerge app-
admin/conky" for installation. There is also usually an up-to-date
ebuild within Conky's package or in the git repo.
Debian, etc. users -- Conky should be in your repositories, and can be
installed by doing "aptitude install conky".
Example to compile and run Conky with all optional components (note
that some configure options may differ for your system):
sh autogen.sh # Only required if building from the git repo
./configure --prefix=/usr --mandir=/usr/share/man --in‐
fodir=/usr/share/info --datadir=/usr/share --sysconfdir=/etc --local‐
statedir=/var/lib --disable-own-window --enable-audacious[=yes|no|lega‐
cy] --enable-bmpx --disable-hddtemp --disable-mpd --enable-xmms2 --dis‐
able-portmon --disable-network --enable-debug --disable-x11 --dis‐
able-double-buffer --disable-xdamage --disable-xft
make
make install # Optional
src/conky
Conky has been tested to be compatible with C99 C, however it has not
been tested with anything other than gcc, and is not guaranteed to work
with other compilers.
YOU SHOULD KNOW
Conky is generally very good on resources. That said, the more you try
to make Conky do, the more resources it is going to consume.
An easy way to force Conky to reload your ~/.conkyrc: "killall -SIGUSR1
conky". Saves you the trouble of having to kill and then restart. You
can now also do the same with SIGHUP.
OPTIONS
Command line options override configurations defined in configuration
file.
-v | -V | --version
Prints version and exits
-q | --quiet
Run Conky in 'quiet mode' (ie. no output)
-a | --alignment=ALIGNMENT
Text alignment on screen, {top,bottom,middle}_{left,right,mid‐
dle} or none
-b | --double-buffer
Use double buffering (eliminates "flicker")
-c | --config=FILE
Config file to load instead of $HOME/.conkyrc
-d | --daemonize
Daemonize Conky, aka fork to background
-f | --font=FONT
Font to use
-h | --help
Prints command line help and exits
-o | --own-window
Create own window to draw
-t | --text=TEXT
Text to render, remember single quotes, like -t ' $uptime '
-u | --interval=SECONDS
Update interval
-w | --window-id=WIN_ID
Window id to draw
-x X_COORDINATE
X position
-y Y_COORDINATE
Y position
-i COUNT
Number of times to update Conky (and quit)
CONFIGURATION SETTINGS
Default configuration file location is $HOME/.conkyrc or
${sysconfdir}/conky/conky.conf. On most systems, sysconfdir is /etc,
and you can find the sample config file there (/etc/conky/conky.conf).
You might want to copy it to $HOME/.conkyrc and then start modifying
it. Other configs can be found at http://conky.sf.net/
alias Use this to create aliases of variables. The first argument is
the new name, the second the old name, and the other arguments
are passed on to the variable. Example: If you want to use $al‐
pha instead of ${beta gamma delta} then you have to write the
following: alias alpha beta gamma delta . PS: Instead of creat‐
ing an alias in the config you can also use environment vari‐
ables. Example: Start conky like this: alpha="beta gamma delta"
conky
alignment
Aligned position on screen, may be top_left, top_right, top_mid‐
dle, bottom_left, bottom_right, bottom_middle, middle_left, mid‐
dle_right, or none (also can be abreviated as tl, tr, tm, bl,
br, bm, ml, mr)
background
Boolean value, if true, Conky will be forked to background when
started.
border_margin
Border margin in pixels.
border_width
Border width in pixels.
colorN Predefine a color for use inside TEXT segments. Substitute N by
a digit between 0 and 9, inclusively. When specifying the color
value in hex, omit the leading hash (#).
cpu_avg_samples
The number of samples to average for CPU monitoring.
diskio_avg_samples
The number of samples to average for disk I/O monitoring.
top_name_width
Width for $top name value (defaults to 15 characters).
top_cpu_separate
If true, cpu in top will show usage of one processor's power. If
false, cpu in top will show the usage of all processors' power
combined.
default_bar_size
Specify a default width and height for bars. Example: 'de‐
fault_bar_size 0 6'. This is particularly useful for execbar and
execibar as they do not take size arguments.
default_graph_size
Specify a default width and height for graphs. Example: 'de‐
fault_graph_size 0 25'. This is particularly useful for exec‐
graph and execigraph as they do not take size arguments
default_gauge_size
Specify a default width and height for gauges. Example: 'de‐
fault_gauge_size 25 25'. This is particularly useful for exec‐
gauge and execigauge as they do not take size arguments
default_color
Default color and border color
default_outline_color
Default outline color
default_shade_color
Default shading color and border's shading color
double_buffer
Use the Xdbe extension? (eliminates flicker) It is highly recom‐
mended to use own window with this one so double buffer won't be
so big.
draw_borders
Draw borders around text?
draw_graph_borders
Draw borders around graphs?
draw_outline
Draw outlines?
draw_shades
Draw shades?
font Font name in X, xfontsel can be used to get a nice font
gap_x Gap, in pixels, between right or left border of screen, same as
passing -x at command line, e.g. gap_x 10
gap_y Gap, in pixels, between top or bottom border of screen, same as
passing -y at command line, e.g. gap_y 10.
if_up_strictness
How strict should if_up be when testing an interface for being
up? The value is one of up, link or address, to check for the
interface being solely up, being up and having link or being up,
having link and an assigned IP address.
imap Default global IMAP server. Arguments are: "host user pass [-i
interval (in seconds)] [-f folder] [-p port] [-e command] [-r
retries]". Default port is 143, default folder is 'INBOX', de‐
fault interval is 5 minutes, and default number of retries be‐
fore giving up is 5. If the password is supplied as '*', you
will be prompted to enter the password when Conky starts.
mail_spool
Mail spool for mail checking
max_port_monitor_connections
Allow each port monitor to track at most this many connections
(if 0 or not set, default is 256)
max_specials
Maximum number of special things, e.g. fonts, offsets, aligns,
etc. (default is 512)
max_user_text bytes
Maximum size of user text buffer, i.e. layout below TEXT line in
config file (default is 16384 bytes)
text_buffer_size bytes
Size of the standard text buffer (default is 256 bytes). This
buffer is used for intermediary text, such as individual lines,
output from $exec vars, and various other variables. Increasing
the size of this buffer can drastically reduce Conky's perfor‐
mance, but will allow for more text display per variable. The
size of this buffer cannot be smaller than the default value of
256 bytes.
maximum_width pixels
Maximum width of window
minimum_size width (height)
Minimum size of window
mpd_host
Host of MPD server
mpd_port
Port of MPD server
mpd_password
MPD server password
music_player_interval
Music player thread update interval (defaults to Conky's update
interval)
net_avg_samples
The number of samples to average for net data
no_buffers
Substract (file system) buffers from used memory?
override_utf8_locale
Force UTF8? requires XFT
own_window
Boolean, create own window to draw?
own_window_class
Manually set the WM_CLASS name. Defaults to "Conky".
own_window_colour colour
If own_window_transparent no, set a specified background colour
(defaults to black). Takes either a hex value (#ffffff) or a
valid RGB name (see /usr/lib/X11/rgb.txt)
own_window_hints undecorated,below,above,sticky,skip_taskbar,skip_pager
If own_window is yes, you may use these window manager hints to
affect the way Conky displays. Notes: Use own_window_type desk‐
top as another way to implement many of these hints implicitly.
If you use own_window_type override, window manager hints have
no meaning and are ignored.
own_window_title
Manually set the window name. Defaults to "<hostname> - conky".
own_window_transparent
Boolean, set pseudo-transparency?
own_window_type
if own_window is yes, you may specify type normal, desktop, dock
or override (default: normal). Desktop windows are special win‐
dows that have no window decorations; are always visible on your
desktop; do not appear in your pager or taskbar; and are sticky
across all workspaces. Override windows are not under the con‐
trol of the window manager. Hints are ignored. This type of win‐
dow can be useful for certain situations.
out_to_console
Print text to stdout.
out_to_stderr
Print text to stderr.
out_to_x
When set to no, there will be no output in X (useful when you
also use things like out_to_console). If you set it to no, make
sure that it's placed before all other X-related setting (take
the first line of your configfile to be sure). Default value is
yes
overwrite_file
Overwrite the file given as argument.
append_file
Append the file given as argument.
pad_percents
Pad percentages to this many decimals (0 = no padding)
pop3 Default global POP3 server. Arguments are: "host user pass [-i
interval (in seconds)] [-p port] [-e command] [-r retries]". De‐
fault port is 110, default interval is 5 minutes, and default
number of retries before giving up is 5. If the password is sup‐
plied as '*', you will be prompted to enter the password when
Conky starts.
short_units
Shortens units to a single character (kiB->k, GiB->G, etc.). De‐
fault is off.
show_graph_scale
Shows the maximum value in scaled graphs.
show_graph_range
Shows the time range covered by a graph.
stippled_borders
Border stippling (dashing) in pixels
temperature_unit
Desired output unit of all objects displaying a temperature.
Parameters are either "fahrenheit" or "celsius". The default
unit is degree Celsius.
templateN
Define a template for later use inside TEXT segments. Substitute
N by a digit between 0 and 9, inclusively. The value of the
variable is being inserted into the stuff below TEXT at the cor‐
responding position, but before some substitutions are applied:
'\n' -> newline
'\\' -> backslash
'\ ' -> space
'\N' -> template argument N
total_run_times
Total number of times for Conky to update before quitting. Zero
makes Conky run forever
update_interval
Update interval in seconds
uppercase
Boolean value, if true, text is rendered in upper case
use_spacer
Adds spaces around certain objects to stop them from moving oth‐
er things around. Arguments are left, right, and none (default).
The old true/false values are deprecated and default to
right/none respectively. Note that this only helps if you are
using a mono font, such as Bitstream Vera Sans Mono.
use_xft
Use Xft (anti-aliased font and stuff)
xftalpha
Alpha of Xft font. Must be a value at or between 1 and 0.
xftfont
Xft font to use.
TEXT After this begins text to be formatted on screen. Backslash (\)
escapes newlines in the text section. This can be useful for
cleaning up config files where conky is used to pipe input to
dzen2.
VARIABLES
Colors are parsed using XParsecolor(), there might be a list of them:
/usr/share/X11/rgb.txt. Also, ⟨http://sedition.com/perl/rgb.html⟩.
Color can be also in #rrggbb format (hex).
addr interface
IP address for an interface, or "No Address" if no address is
assigned.
addrs interface
IP addresses for an interface (if one - works like addr). Linux
only.
acpiacadapter
ACPI ac adapter state.
acpifan
ACPI fan state
acpitemp
ACPI temperature in C.
adt746xcpu
CPU temperature from therm_adt746x
adt746xfan
Fan speed from therm_adt746x
alignr (num)
Right-justify text, with space of N
alignc (num)
Align text to centre
apm_adapter
Display APM AC adapter status (FreeBSD only)
apm_battery_life
Display APM battery life in percent (FreeBSD only)
apm_battery_time
Display remaining APM battery life in hh:mm:ss or "unknown" if
AC adapterstatus is on-line or charging (FreeBSD only)
audacious_bar (height),(width)
Progress bar
audacious_bitrate
Bitrate of current tune
audacious_channels
Number of audio channels of current tune
audacious_filename
Full path and filename of current tune
audacious_frequency
Sampling frequency of current tune
audacious_length
Total length of current tune as MM:SS
audacious_length_seconds
Total length of current tune in seconds
audacious_playlist_position
Playlist position of current tune
audacious_playlist_length
Number of tunes in playlist
audacious_position
Position of current tune (MM:SS)
audacious_position_seconds
Position of current tune in seconds
audacious_status
Player status (Playing/Paused/Stopped/Not running)
audacious_title (max length)
Title of current tune with optional maximum length specifier
audacious_main_volume
The current volume fetched from Audacious
battery (num)
Battery status and remaining percentage capacity of ACPI or APM
battery. ACPI battery number can be given as argument (default
is BAT0).
battery_short (num)
Battery status and remaining percentage capacity of ACPI or APM
battery. ACPI battery number can be given as argument (default
is BAT0). This mode display a short status, which means that C
is displayed instead of charging and D is displayed instead of
discharging.
battery_bar (height),(width) (num)
Battery percentage remaining of ACPI battery in a bar. ACPI bat‐
tery number can be given as argument (default is BAT0).
battery_percent (num)
Battery percentage remaining for ACPI battery. ACPI battery num‐
ber can be given as argument (default is BAT0).
battery_time (num)
Battery charge/discharge time remaining of ACPI battery. ACPI
battery number can be given as argument (default is BAT0).
bmpx_artist
Artist in current BMPx track
bmpx_album
Album in current BMPx track
bmpx_title
Title of the current BMPx track
bmpx_track
Track number of the current BMPx track
bmpx_bitrate
Bitrate of the current BMPx track
bmpx_uri
URI of the current BMPx track
buffers
Amount of memory buffered
cached Amount of memory cached
color (color)
Change drawing color to color
colorN Change drawing color to colorN configuration option, where N is
a digit between 0 and 9, inclusively.
combine var1 var2
Places the lines of var2 to the right of the lines of var1
seperated by the chars that are put between var1 and var2. For
example: ${combine ${head /proc/cpuinfo 2} - ${head /proc/memin‐
fo 1}} gives as output "cpuinfo_line1 - meminfo_line1" on line 1
and "cpuinfo_line2 -" on line 2. $combine vars can also be nest‐
ed to place more vars next to each other.
conky_version
Conky version
conky_build_date
Date Conky was built
conky_build_arch
CPU architecture Conky was built for
cpu (cpuN)
CPU usage in percents. For SMP machines, the CPU number can be
provided as an argument. ${cpu cpu0} is the total usage, and
${cpu cpuX} (X >= 1) are individual CPUs.
cpubar (cpuN) (height),(width)
Bar that shows CPU usage, height is bar's height in pixels. See
$cpu for more info on SMP.
cpugauge (cpuN) (height),(width)
Elliptical gauge that shows CPU usage, height and width are
gauge's vertical and horizontal axis respectively. See $cpu for
more info on SMP.
cpugraph (cpuN) ("normal"|"log") (height),(width) (gradient colour 1)
(gradient colour 2) (scale)
CPU usage graph, with optional colours in hex, minus the #. See
$cpu for more info on SMP. Uses a logarithmic scale (to see
small numbers) when you use "log" instead of "normal".
diskio (device)
Displays current disk IO. Device is optional, and takes the form
of sda for /dev/sda. Individual partitions are allowed.
diskiograph ("normal"|"log") (height),(width) (gradient colour 1) (gra‐
dient colour 2) (scale) (device)
Disk IO graph, colours defined in hex, minus the #. If scale is
non-zero, it becomes the scale for the graph. Uses a logarithmic
scale (to see small numbers) when you use "log" instead of "nor‐
mal".
diskio_read (device)
Displays current disk IO for reads. Device as in diskio.
diskiograph_read ("normal"|"log") (height),(width) (gradient colour 1)
(gradient colour 2) (scale) (device)
Disk IO graph for reads, colours defined in hex, minus the #. If
scale is non-zero, it becomes the scale for the graph. Device as
in diskio. Uses a logarithmic scale (to see small numbers) when
you use "log" instead of "normal".
diskio_write (device)
Displays current disk IO for writes. Device as in diskio.
diskiograph_write ("normal"|"log") (height),(width) (gradient colour 1)
(gradient colour 2) (scale) (device)
Disk IO graph for writes, colours defined in hex, minus the #.
If scale is non-zero, it becomes the scale for the graph. Device
as in diskio. Uses a logarithmic scale (to see small numbers)
when you use "log" instead of "normal".
disk_protect device
Disk protection status, if supported (needs kernel-patch).
Prints either "frozen" or "free " (note the padding).
downspeed net
Download speed in KiB
downspeedf net
Download speed in KiB with one decimal
downspeedgraph ("normal"|"log") (height),(width) (gradient colour 1)
(gradient colour 2) (scale) (net)
Download speed graph, colours defined in hex, minus the #. If
scale is non-zero, it becomes the scale for the graph. Uses a
logarithmic scale (to see small numbers) when you use "log" in‐
stead of "normal".
else Text to show if any of the above are not true
entropy_avail
Current entropy available for crypto freaks
entropy_bar (height),(width)
Normalized bar of available entropy for crypto freaks
entropy_poolsize
Total size of system entropy pool for crypto freaks
eval string
Evalutates given string according to the rules of TEXT interpre‐
tation, i.e. parsing any contained text object specifications
into their output, any occuring '$$' into a single '$' and so
on. The output is then being parsed again.
exec command
Executes a shell command and displays the output in conky. warn‐
ing: this takes a lot more resources than other variables. I'd
recommend coding wanted behaviour in C and posting a patch.
execbar command
Same as exec, except if the first value return is a value be‐
tween 0-100, it will use that number for a bar. The size for
bars can be controlled via the default_bar_size config setting.
execgauge command
Same as exec, except if the first value returned is a value be‐
tween 0-100, it will use that number for a gauge. The size for
gauges can be controlled via the default_gauge_size config set‐
ting.
execgraph ("normal"|"log") (height),(width) (gradient colour 1) (gradi‐
ent colour 2) (scale) command
Same as execbar, but graphs values. Uses a logaritmic scale when
the log option is given (to see small numbers). Values still
have to be between 0 and 100. The size for graphs can be con‐
trolled via the default_graph_size config setting.
execi interval command
Same as exec but with specific interval. Interval can't be less
than update_interval in configuration. See also $texeci
execibar interval command
Same as execbar, except with an interval
execigraph interval command
Same as execgraph, but takes an interval arg and graphs values.
execigauge interval command
Same as execgauge, but takes an interval arg and gauges values.
execp command
Executes a shell command and displays the output in conky. warn‐
ing: this takes a lot more resources than other variables. I'd
recommend coding wanted behaviour in C and posting a patch. This
differs from $exec in that it parses the output of the command,
so you can insert things like ${color red}hi!${color} in your
script and have it correctly parsed by Conky. Caveats: Conky
parses and evaluates the output of $execp every time Conky
loops, and then destroys all the objects. If you try to use any‐
thing like $execi within an $execp statement, it will function‐
ally run at the same interval that the $execp statement runs, as
it is created and destroyed at every interval.
execpi interval command
Same as execp but with specific interval. Interval can't be less
than update_interval in configuration. Note that the output from
the $execpi command is still parsed and evaluated at every in‐
terval.
font (font)
Specify a different font. This new font will apply to the cur‐
rent line and everything following. You can use a $font with no
arguments to change back to the default font (much like with
$color)
freq (n)
Returns CPU #n's frequency in MHz. CPUs are counted from 1. If
omitted, the parameter defaults to 1.
freq_g (n)
Returns CPU #n's frequency in GHz. CPUs are counted from 1. If
omitted, the parameter defaults to 1.
fs_bar (height),(width) fs
Bar that shows how much space is used on a file system. height
is the height in pixels. fs is any file on that file system.
fs_bar_free (height),(width) fs
Bar that shows how much space is free on a file system. height
is the height in pixels. fs is any file on that file system.
fs_free (fs)
Free space on a file system available for users.
fs_free_perc (fs)
Free percentage of space on a file system available for users.
fs_size (fs)
File system size.
fs_type (fs)
File system type.
fs_used (fs)
File system used space.
fs_used_perc (fs)
Percent of file system used space.
goto x The next element will be printed at position 'x'.
gw_iface
Displays the default route's interface or "multiple"/"none" ac‐
cordingly.
gw_ip Displays the default gateway's IP or "multiple"/"none" accord‐
ingly.
hddtemp dev, (host,(port))
Displays temperature of a selected hard disk drive as reported
by the hddtemp daemon running on host:port. Default host is
127.0.0.1, default port is 7634.
head logfile lines (interval)
Displays first N lines of supplied text text file. If interval
is not supplied, Conky assumes 2x Conky's interval. Max of 30
lines can be displayed, or until the text buffer is filled.
hr (height)
Horizontal line, height is the height in pixels
hwmon (dev) type n
Hwmon sensor from sysfs (Linux 2.6). Parameter dev may be omit‐
ted if you have only one hwmon device. Parameter type is either
'in' or 'vol' meaning voltage; 'fan' meaning fan; 'temp' meaning
temperature. Parameter n is number of the sensor. See
/sys/class/hwmon/ on your local computer.
iconv_start codeset_from codeset_to
Convert text from one codeset to another using GNU iconv. Needs
to be stopped with iconv_stop.
iconv_stop
Stop iconv codeset conversion.
i2c (dev) type n
I2C sensor from sysfs (Linux 2.6). Parameter dev may be omitted
if you have only one I2C device. Parameter type is either 'in'
or 'vol' meaning voltage; 'fan' meaning fan; 'temp' meaning tem‐
perature. Parameter n is number of the sensor. See
/sys/bus/i2c/devices/ on your local computer.
i8k_ac_status
If running the i8k kernel driver for Inspiron laptops, displays
whether ac power is on, as listed in /proc/i8k (translated to
human-readable). Beware that this is by default not enabled by
i8k itself.
i8k_bios
If running the i8k kernel driver for Inspiron laptops, displays
the bios version as listed in /proc/i8k.
i8k_buttons_status
If running the i8k kernel driver for Inspiron laptops, displays
the volume buttons status as listed in /proc/i8k.
i8k_cpu_temp
If running the i8k kernel driver for Inspiron laptops, displays
the cpu temperature in Celsius, as reported by /proc/i8k.
i8k_left_fan_rpm
If running the i8k kernel driver for Inspiron laptops, displays
the left fan's rate of rotation, in revolutions per minute as
listed in /proc/i8k. Beware, some laptops i8k reports these fans
in reverse order.
i8k_left_fan_status
If running the i8k kernel driver for Inspiron laptops, displays
the left fan status as listed in /proc/i8k (translated to human-
readable). Beware, some laptops i8k reports these fans in re‐
verse order.
i8k_right_fan_rpm
If running the i8k kernel driver for Inspiron laptops, displays
the right fan's rate of rotation, in revolutions per minute as
listed in /proc/i8k. Beware, some laptops i8k reports these fans
in reverse order.
i8k_right_fan_status
If running the i8k kernel driver for Inspiron laptops, displays
the right fan status as listed in /proc/i8k (translated to hu‐
man-readable). Beware, some laptops i8k reports these fans in
reverse order.
i8k_serial
If running the i8k kernel driver for Inspiron laptops, displays
your laptop serial number as listed in /proc/i8k.
i8k_version
If running the i8k kernel driver for Inspiron laptops, displays
the version formatting of /proc/i8k.
ibm_fan
If running the IBM ACPI, displays the fan speed.
ibm_temps N
If running the IBM ACPI, displays the temperatures from the IBM
temperature sensors (N=0..7) Sensor 0 is on the CPU, 3 is on the
GPU.
ibm_volume
If running the IBM ACPI, displays the "master" volume, con‐
trolled by the volume keys (0-14).
ibm_brightness
If running the IBM ACPI, displays the brigtness of the laptops's
LCD (0-7).
if_empty (var)
if conky variable VAR is empty, display everything between
$if_empty and the matching $endif
if_existing file (string)
if FILE exists, display everything between if_existing and the
matching $endif. The optional second paramater checks for FILE
containing the specified string and prints everything between
$if_existing and the matching $endif.
if_gw if there is at least one default gateway, display everything be‐
tween $if_gw and the matching $endif
if_match expression
Evaluates the given boolean expression, printing everything be‐
tween $if_match and the matching $endif depending on whether the
evaluation returns true or not. Valid expressions consist of a
left side, an operator and a right side. Left and right sides
are being parsed for contained text objects before evaluation.
Recognised left and right side types are:
double: argument consists of only digits and a single dot.
long: argument consists of only digits.
string: argument is enclosed in quotation mark or the checks for
double and long failed before.
Valid operands are: '>', '<', '>=', '<=', '==', '!='.
if_mixer_mute (mixer)
If mixer exists, display everything between $if_mixer_mute and
the matching $endif. If no mixer is specified, "Master" is used.
if_running (process)
if PROCESS is running, display everything $if_running and the
matching $endif. This uses the ``pidof'' command, so the -x
switch is also supported.
if_mounted (mountpoint)
if MOUNTPOINT is mounted, display everything between $if_mounted
and the matching $endif
if_smapi_bat_installed (INDEX)
when using smapi, if the battery with index INDEX is installed,
display everything between $if_smapi_bat_installed and the
matching $endif
if_up (interface)
if INTERFACE exists and is up, display everything between $if_up
and the matching $endif
if_updatenr (updatenr)
If it's the UPDATENR-th time that conky updates, display every‐
thing between $if_updatenr and the matching $endif. The counter
resets when the highest UPDATENR is reached. Example :
"{$if_updatenr 1}foo$endif{$if_updatenr 2}bar$endif{$if_updatenr
4}$endif" shows foo 25% of the time followed by bar 25% of the
time followed by nothing the other half of the time.
imap_messages (args)
Displays the number of messages in your global IMAP inbox by de‐
fault. You can define individual IMAP inboxes seperately by
passing arguments to this object. Arguments are: "host user pass
[-i interval (in seconds)] [-f folder] [-p port] [-e command]
[-r retries]". Default port is 143, default folder is 'INBOX',
default interval is 5 minutes, and default number of retries be‐
fore giving up is 5. If the password is supplied as '*', you
will be prompted to enter the password when Conky starts.
imap_unseen (args)
Displays the number of unseen messages in your global IMAP inbox
by default. You can define individual IMAP inboxes seperately by
passing arguments to this object. Arguments are: "host user pass
[-i interval (in seconds)] [-f folder] [-p port] [-e command]
[-r retries]". Default port is 143, default folder is 'INBOX',
default interval is 5 minutes, and default number of retries be‐
fore giving up is 5. If the password is supplied as '*', you
will be prompted to enter the password when Conky starts.
ioscheduler disk
Prints the current ioscheduler used for the given disk name
(i.e. e.g. "hda" or "sdb")
kernel Kernel version
laptop_mode
The value of /proc/sys/vm/laptop_mode
loadavg
(1,2,3)> System load average, 1 is for past 1 minute, 2 for past
5 minutes and 3 for past 15 minutes.
loadgraph ("normal"|"log") (height),(width) (gradient colour 1) (gradi‐
ent colour 2) (scale)
Load1 average graph, similar to xload, with optional colours in
hex, minus the #. Uses a logarithmic scale (to see small num‐
bers) when you use "log" instead of "normal".
lines textfile
Displays the number of lines in the given file
machine
Machine, i686 for example
mails (mailbox) (interval)
Mail count in the specified mailbox or your mail spool if not.
Both mbox and maildir type mailboxes are supported. You can use
a program like fetchmail to get mails from some server using
your favourite protocol. See also new_mails.
new_mails (mailbox) (interval)
Unread mail count in the specified mailbox or mail spool if not.
Both mbox and maildir type mailboxes are supported.
seen_mails (maildir) (interval)
Number of mails marked as seen in the specified mailbox or mail
spool if not. Only maildir type mailboxes are supported, mbox
type will return -1.
unseen_mails (maildir) (interval)
Number of new or unseen mails in the specified mailbox or mail
spool if not. Only maildir type mailboxes are supported, mbox
type will return -1.
flagged_mails (maildir) (interval)
Number of mails marked as flagged in the specified mailbox or
mail spool if not. Only maildir type mailboxes are supported,
mbox type will return -1.
unflagged_mails (maildir) (interval)
Number of mails not marked as flagged in the specified mailbox
or mail spool if not. Only maildir type mailboxes are supported,
mbox type will return -1.
forwarded_mails (maildir) (interval)
Number of mails marked as forwarded in the specified mailbox or
mail spool if not. Only maildir type mailboxes are supported,
mbox type will return -1.
unforwarded_mails (maildir) (interval)
Number of mails not marked as forwarded in the specified mailbox
or mail spool if not. Only maildir type mailboxes are supported,
mbox type will return -1.
replied_mails (maildir) (interval)
Number of mails marked as replied in the specified mailbox or
mail spool if not. Only maildir type mailboxes are supported,
mbox type will return -1.
unreplied_mails (maildir) (interval)
Number of mails not marked as replied in the specified mailbox
or mail spool if not. Only maildir type mailboxes are supported,
mbox type will return -1.
draft_mails (maildir) (interval)
Number of mails marked as draft in the specified mailbox or mail
spool if not. Only maildir type mailboxes are supported, mbox
type will return -1.
trashed_mails (maildir) (interval)
Number of mails marked as trashed in the specified mailbox or
mail spool if not. Only maildir type mailboxes are supported,
mbox type will return -1.
mboxscan (-n number of messages to print) (-fw from width) (-sw subject
width) mbox
Print a summary of recent messages in an mbox format mailbox.
mbox parameter is the filename of the mailbox (can be encapsu‐
lated using '"', ie. ${mboxscan -n 10 "/home/brenden/some box"}
mem Amount of memory in use
membar (height),(width)
Bar that shows amount of memory in use
memgauge (height),(width)
Gauge that shows amount of memory in use (see cpugauge)
memgraph ("normal"|"log") (height),(width) (gradient colour 1) (gradi‐
ent colour 2) (scale)
Memory usage graph. Uses a logarithmic scale (to see small num‐
bers) when you use "log" instead of "normal".
memeasyfree
Amount of free memory including the memory that is very easily
freed (buffers/cache)
memfree
Amount of free memory
memmax Total amount of memory
memperc
Percentage of memory in use
mixer (device)
Prints the mixer value as reported by the OS. Default mixer is
"vol", but you can specify one of the following optional argu‐
ments: "vol", "bass", "treble", "synth", "pcm", "speaker",
"line", "mic", "cd", "mix", "pcm2", "rec", "igain", "ogain",
"line1", "line2", "line3", "dig1", "dig2", "dig3", "phin",
"phout", "video", "radio", "monitor". Refer to the definition of
SOUND_DEVICE_NAMES in <linux/soundcard.h> (on Linux), <sound‐
card.h> (on OpenBSD), or <sys/soundcard.h> to find the exact op‐
tions available on your system.
mixerbar (device)
Displays mixer value in a bar as reported by the OS. See docs
for $mixer for details on arguments.
mixerr (device)
Prints the right channel mixer value as reported by the OS. See
docs for $mixer for details on arguments.
mixerrbar (device)
Displays the right channel mixer value in a bar as reported by
the OS. See docs for $mixer for details on arguments.
mixerl (device)
Prints the left channel mixer value as reported by the OS. See
docs for $mixer for details on arguments.
mixerlbar (device)
Displays the left channel mixer value in a bar as reported by
the OS. See docs for $mixer for details on arguments.
moc_state
Current state of MOC; playing, stopped etc.
moc_file
File name of the current MOC song
moc_title
Title of the current MOC song
moc_artist
Artist of the current MOC song
moc_song
The current song name being played in MOC.
moc_album
Album of the current MOC song
moc_totaltime
Total length of the current MOC song
moc_timeleft
Time left in the current MOC song
moc_curtime
Current time of the current MOC song
moc_bitrate
Bitrate in the current MOC song
moc_rate
Rate of the current MOC song
monitor
Number of the monitor on which conky is running
monitor_number
Number of monitors
mpd_artist
Artist in current MPD song must be enabled at compile
mpd_album
Album in current MPD song
mpd_bar (height),(width)
Bar of mpd's progress
mpd_bitrate
Bitrate of current song
mpd_status
Playing, stopped, et cetera.
mpd_title (max length)
Title of current MPD song
mpd_vol
MPD's volume
mpd_elapsed
Song's elapsed time
mpd_length
Song's length
mpd_percent
Percent of song's progress
mpd_random
Random status (On/Off)
mpd_repeat
Repeat status (On/Off)
mpd_track
Prints the MPD track field
mpd_name
Prints the MPD name field
mpd_file
Prints the file name of the current MPD song
mpd_smart (max length)
Prints the song name in either the form "artist - title" or file
name, depending on whats available
if_mpd_playing
if mpd is playing or paused, display everything between
$if_mpd_playing and the matching $endif
nameserver (index)
Print a nameserver from /etc/resolv.conf. Index starts at and
defaults to 0.
nodename
Hostname
nvidia threshold temp ambient gpufreq memfreq imagequality
Nvidia graficcard support for the XNVCtrl library. Each option
can be shortened to the least significant part. Temperatures
are printed as float, all other values as integer.
threshold: the thresholdtemperature at which the gpu slows down
temp: gives the gpu current temperature
ambient: gives current air temperature near GPU case
gpufreq: gives the current gpu frequency
memfreq: gives the current mem frequency
imagequality: which imagequality should be choosen by OpenGL ap‐
plications
outlinecolor (color)
Change outline color
pb_battery item
If running on Apple powerbook/ibook, display information on bat‐
tery status. The item parameter specifies, what information to
display. Exactly one item must be specified. Valid items are:
status: Display if battery is fully charged, charging, discharg‐
ing or absent (running on AC)
percent: Display charge of battery in percent, if charging or
discharging. Nothing will be displayed, if battery is fully
charged or absent.
time: Display the time remaining until the battery will be fully
charged or discharged at current rate. Nothing is displayed, if
battery is absent or if it's present but fully charged and not
discharging.
platform (dev) type n
Platform sensor from sysfs (Linux 2.6). Parameter dev may be
omitted if you have only one platform device. Platform type is
either 'in' or 'vol' meaning voltage; 'fan' meaning fan; 'temp'
meaning temperature. Parameter n is number of the sensor. See
/sys/bus/platform/devices/ on your local computer.
pop3_unseen (args)
Displays the number of unseen messages in your global POP3 inbox
by default. You can define individual POP3 inboxes seperately by
passing arguments to this object. Arguments are: "host user pass
[-i interval (in seconds)] [-p port] [-e command] [-r retries]".
Default port is 110, default interval is 5 minutes, and default
number of retries before giving up is 5. If the password is sup‐
plied as '*', you will be prompted to enter the password when
Conky starts.
pop3_used (args)
Displays the amount of space (in MiB, 2^20) used in your global
POP3 inbox by default. You can define individual POP3 inboxes
seperately by passing arguments to this object. Arguments are:
"host user pass [-i interval (in seconds)] [-p port] [-e com‐
mand] [-r retries]". Default port is 110, default interval is 5
minutes, and default number of retries before giving up is 5. If
the password is supplied as '*', you will be prompted to enter
the password when Conky starts.
pre_exec shell command
Executes a shell command one time before conky displays anything
and puts output as text.
processes
Total processes (sleeping and running)
running_processes
Running processes (not sleeping), requires Linux 2.6
scroll length (step) text
Scroll 'text' by 'step' characters showing 'length' number of
characters at the same time. The text may also contain vari‐
ables. 'step' is optional and defaults to 1 if not set. If a var
creates output on multiple lines then the lines are placed be‐
hind each other separated with a '|'-sign. Do NOT use vars that
change colors or otherwise affect the design inside a scrolling
text. If you want spaces between the start and the end of
'text', place them at the end of 'text' not at the front ("foo‐
bar" and " foobar" can both generate "barfoo" but "foobar " will
keep the spaces like this "bar foo").
shadecolor (color)
Change shading color
smapi (ARGS)
when using smapi, display contents of the /sys/devices/plat‐
form/smapi directory. ARGS are either '(FILENAME)' or 'bat (IN‐
DEX) (FILENAME)' to display the corresponding files' content.
This is a very raw method of accessing the smapi values. When
available, better use one of the smapi_* variables instead.
smapi_bat_bar (INDEX),(height),(width)
when using smapi, display the remaining capacity of the battery
with index INDEX as a bar.
smapi_bat_perc (INDEX)
when using smapi, display the remaining capacity in percent of
the battery with index INDEX. This is a separate variable be‐
cause it supports the 'use_spacer' configuration option.
smapi_bat_power INDEX
when using smapi, display the current power of the battery with
index INDEX in watt. This is a separate variable because the
original read out value is being converted from mW. The sign of
the output reflects charging (positive) or discharging (nega‐
tive) state.
smapi_bat_temp INDEX
when using smapi, display the current temperature of the battery
with index INDEX in degree Celsius. This is a separate variable
because the original read out value is being converted from mil‐
li degree Celsius.
stippled_hr (space)
Stippled (dashed) horizontal line
swapbar (height),(width)
Bar that shows amount of swap in use
swap Amount of swap in use
swapmax
Total amount of swap
swapperc
Percentage of swap in use
sysname
System name, Linux for example
tcp_portmon port_begin port_end item (index) (ip4 only at present)
TCP port monitor for specified local ports. Port numbers must be
in the range 1 to 65535. Valid items are:
count - total number of connections in the range
rip - remote ip address
rhost - remote host name
rport - remote port number
rservice - remote service name from /etc/services
lip - local ip address
lhost - local host name
lport - local port number
lservice - local service name from /etc/services
The connection index provides you with access to each connection
in the port monitor. The monitor will return information for in‐
dex values from 0 to n-1 connections. Values higher than n-1 are
simply ignored. For the "count" item, the connection index must
be omitted. It is required for all other items.
Examples:
${tcp_portmon 6881 6999 count} - displays the number of connec‐
tions in the bittorrent port range
${tcp_portmon 22 22 rip 0} - displays the remote host ip of the
first sshd connection
${tcp_portmon 22 22 rip 9} - displays the remote host ip of the
tenth sshd connection
${tcp_portmon 1 1024 rhost 0} - displays the remote host name of
the first connection on a privileged port
${tcp_portmon 1 1024 rport 4} - displays the remote host port of
the fifth connection on a privileged port
${tcp_portmon 1 65535 lservice 14} - displays the local service
name of the fifteenth connection in the range of all ports
Note that port monitor variables which share the same port range
actually refer to the same monitor, so many references to a sin‐
gle port range for different items and different indexes all use
the same monitor internally. In other words, the program avoids
creating redundant monitors.
texeci interval command
Runs a command at an interval inside a thread and displays the
output. Same as $execi, except the command is run inside a
thread. Use this if you have a slow script to keep Conky updat‐
ing. You should make the interval slightly longer then the time
it takes your script to execute. For example, if you have a
script that take 5 seconds to execute, you should make the in‐
terval at least 6 seconds. See also $execi.
offset (pixels)
Move text over by N pixels. See also $voffset.
rss url delay_in_minutes action (num_par (spaces_in_front))
Download and parse RSS feeds. Action may be one of the follow‐
ing: feed_title, item_title (with num par), item_desc (with num
par) and item_titles (when using this action and spaces_in_front
is given conky places that many spaces in front of each item).
tab (width, (start))
Puts a tab of the specified width, starting from column 'start'.
The unit is pixels for both arguments.
tail logfile lines (interval)
Displays last N lines of supplied text text file. If interval is
not supplied, Conky assumes 2x Conky's interval. Max of 30 lines
can be displayed, or until the text buffer is filled.
templateN (arg1) (arg2) (arg3 ...)
Evaluate the content of the templateN configuration variable
(where N is a value between 0 and 9, inclusively), applying sub‐
stitutions as described in the documentation of the correspond‐
ing configuration variable. The number of arguments is option‐
al, but must match the highest referred index in the template.
You can use the same special sequences in each argument as the
ones valid for a template definition, e.g. to allow an argument
to contain a whitespace. Also simple nesting of templates is
possible this way.
Here are some examples of template definitions:
template0 $\1\2
template1 \1: ${fs_used \2} / ${fs_size \2}
template2 \1 \2
The following list shows sample usage of the templates defined
above, with the equivalent syntax when not using any template at
all:
using template same without template
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
${template0 node name} $nodename
${template1 root /} root: ${fs_free /} /
${fs_size /}
${template1 ${template2\ disk\ root} /} disk root: ${fs_free /} / ${fs_size /}
time (format)
Local time, see man strftime to get more information about for‐
mat
utime (format)
Display time in UTC (universal coordinate time).
tztime (timezone) (format)
Local time for specified timezone, see man strftime to get more
information about format. The timezone argument is specified in
similar fashion as TZ environment variable. For hints, look in
/usr/share/zoneinfo. e.g. US/Pacific, Europe/Zurich, etc.
totaldown net
Total download, overflows at 4 GB on Linux with 32-bit arch and
there doesn't seem to be a way to know how many times it has al‐
ready done that before conky has started.
top type, num
This takes arguments in the form:top (name) (number) Basically,
processes are ranked from highest to lowest in terms of cpu us‐
age, which is what (num) represents. The types are: "name",
"pid", "cpu", "mem", "mem_res", "mem_vsize", and "time". There
can be a max of 10 processes listed.
top_mem type, num
Same as top, except sorted by mem usage instead of cpu
top_time type, num
Same as top, except sorted by total CPU time instead of current
CPU usage
totalup net
Total upload, this one too, may overflow
updates Number of updates
for debugging
upspeed net
Upload speed in KiB
upspeedf net
Upload speed in KiB with one decimal
upspeedgraph ("normal"|"log") (height),(width) (gradient colour 1)
(gradient colour 2) (scale) (net)
Upload speed graph, colours defined in hex, minus the #. If
scale is non-zero, it becomes the scale for the graph. Uses a
logarithmic scale (to see small numbers) when you use "log" in‐
stead of "normal".
uptime Uptime
uptime_short
Uptime in a shorter format
user_number
Number of users logged in
user_names
Lists the names of the users logged in
user_terms
Lists the consoles in use
user_times
Lists how long users have been logged in for
voffset (pixels)
Change vertical offset by N pixels. Negative values will cause
text to overlap. See also $offset.
voltage_mv (n)
Returns CPU #n's voltage in mV. CPUs are counted from 1. If
omitted, the parameter defaults to 1.
voltage_v (n)
Returns CPU #n's voltage in V. CPUs are counted from 1. If omit‐
ted, the parameter defaults to 1.
wireless_essid net
Wireless access point ESSID (Linux only)
wireless_mode net
Wireless mode (Managed/Ad-Hoc/Master) (Linux only)
wireless_bitrate net
Wireless bitrate (ie 11 Mb/s) (Linux only)
wireless_ap net
Wireless access point MAC address (Linux only)
wireless_link_qual net
Wireless link quality (Linux only)
wireless_link_qual_max net
Wireless link quality maximum value (Linux only)
wireless_link_qual_perc net
Wireless link quality in percents (Linux only)
wireless_link_bar (height), (width) net
Wireless link quality bar (Linux only)
words textfile
Displays the number of words in the given file
xmms2_artist
Artist in current XMMS2 song
xmms2_album
Album in current XMMS2 song
xmms2_title
Title in current XMMS2 song
xmms2_genre
Genre in current XMMS2 song
xmms2_comment
Comment in current XMMS2 song
xmms2_url
Full path to current song
xmms2_tracknr
Track number in current XMMS2 song
xmms2_bitrate
Bitrate of current song
xmms2_id
XMMS2 id of current song
xmms2_duration
Duration of current song
xmms2_elapsed
Song's elapsed time
xmms2_size
Size of current song
xmms2_percent
Percent of song's progress
xmms2_date
Returns song's date.
xmms2_playlist
Returns the XMMS2 playlist.
xmms2_timesplayed
Number of times a song was played (presumably).
xmms2_status
XMMS2 status (Playing, Paused, Stopped, or Disconnected)
xmms2_bar (height),(width)
Bar of XMMS2's progress
xmms2_smart
Prints the song name in either the form "artist - title" or file
name, depending on whats available
if_xmms2_connected
Display everything between $if_xmms2_connected and the matching
$endif if xmms2 is running.
sony_fanspeed
Displays the Sony VAIO fanspeed information if sony-laptop ker‐
nel support is enabled. Linux only.
eve api_userid api_key character_id
Fetches your currently training skill from the Eve Online API
servers (http://www.eve-online.com/) and displays the skill
along with the remaining training time.
endif Ends an $if block.
EXAMPLES
conky -t '${time %D %H:%M}' -o -u 30
Start Conky in its own window with date and clock as text and 30
sec update interval.
conky -a top_left -x 5 -y 500 -d
Start Conky to background at coordinates (5, 500).
FILES
~/.conkyrc default configuration file
BUGS
Drawing to root or some other desktop window directly doesn't work with
all window managers. Especially doesn't work well with Gnome and it has
been reported that it doesn't work with KDE either. Nautilus can be
disabled from drawing to desktop with program gconf-editor. Uncheck
show_desktop in /apps/nautilus/preferences/. There is -w switch in
Conky to set some specific window id. You might find xwininfo -tree
useful to find the window to draw to. You can also use -o argument
which makes Conky to create its own window. If you do try running Conky
in its own window, be sure to read up on the own_window_type settings
and experiment.
SEE ALSO
⟨http://conky.sourceforge.net/⟩
⟨http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/conky⟩
#conky on irc.freenode.net
COPYING
Copyright (c) 2005-2009 Brenden Matthews, Philip Kovacs, et. al. Any
original torsmo code is licensed under the BSD license (see LICENSE.BSD
for a copy). All code written since the fork of torsmo is licensed un‐
der the GPL (see LICENSE.GPL for a copy), except where noted different‐
ly (such as in portmon code, timed thread code, and audacious code
which are LGPL, and prss which is an MIT-style license).
AUTHORS
The Conky dev team (see AUTHORS for a full list of contributors).
2009-05-01 conky(1)
NAME
conky - A system monitor for X originally based on the torsmo code, but
more kickass. It just keeps on given'er. Yeah.
SYNOPSIS
conky [options]
DESCRIPTION
Conky is a system monitor for X originally based on torsmo. Since its
inception, Conky has changed significantly from its predecessor, while
maintaining simplicity and configurability. Conky can display just
about anything, either on your root desktop or in its own window. Not
only does Conky have many built-in objects, it can also display just
about any piece of information by using scripts and other external pro‐
grams.
Conky has more than 250 built in objects, including support for a
plethora of OS stats (uname, uptime, CPU usage, mem usage, disk usage,
"top" like process stats, and network monitoring, just to name a few),
built in IMAP and POP3 support, built in support for many popular music
players (MPD, XMMS2, BMPx, Audacious), and much much more. Conky can
display this info either as text, or using simple progress bars and
graph widgets, with different fonts and colours.
We are always looking for help, whether its reporting bugs, writing
patches, or writing docs. Please use the facilities at SourceForge to
make bug reports, feature requests, and submit patches, or stop by
#conky on irc.freenode.net if you have questions or want to contribute.
Thanks for your interest in Conky.
COMPILING
For users compiling from source on a binary distro, make sure you have
the X development libraries installed. This should be a package along
the lines of "libx11-dev" or "xorg-x11-dev" for X11 libs, and similar
"-dev" format for the other libs required (depending on your configure
options).
Conky has (for some time) been available in the repositories of most
popular distributions. Here are some installation instructions for a
few:
Gentoo users -- Conky is in Gentoo's Portage... simply use "emerge app-
admin/conky" for installation. There is also usually an up-to-date
ebuild within Conky's package or in the git repo.
Debian, etc. users -- Conky should be in your repositories, and can be
installed by doing "aptitude install conky".
Example to compile and run Conky with all optional components (note
that some configure options may differ for your system):
sh autogen.sh # Only required if building from the git repo
./configure --prefix=/usr --mandir=/usr/share/man --in‐
fodir=/usr/share/info --datadir=/usr/share --sysconfdir=/etc --local‐
statedir=/var/lib --disable-own-window --enable-audacious[=yes|no|lega‐
cy] --enable-bmpx --disable-hddtemp --disable-mpd --enable-xmms2 --dis‐
able-portmon --disable-network --enable-debug --disable-x11 --dis‐
able-double-buffer --disable-xdamage --disable-xft
make
make install # Optional
src/conky
Conky has been tested to be compatible with C99 C, however it has not
been tested with anything other than gcc, and is not guaranteed to work
with other compilers.
YOU SHOULD KNOW
Conky is generally very good on resources. That said, the more you try
to make Conky do, the more resources it is going to consume.
An easy way to force Conky to reload your ~/.conkyrc: "killall -SIGUSR1
conky". Saves you the trouble of having to kill and then restart. You
can now also do the same with SIGHUP.
OPTIONS
Command line options override configurations defined in configuration
file.
-v | -V | --version
Prints version and exits
-q | --quiet
Run Conky in 'quiet mode' (ie. no output)
-a | --alignment=ALIGNMENT
Text alignment on screen, {top,bottom,middle}_{left,right,mid‐
dle} or none
-b | --double-buffer
Use double buffering (eliminates "flicker")
-c | --config=FILE
Config file to load instead of $HOME/.conkyrc
-d | --daemonize
Daemonize Conky, aka fork to background
-f | --font=FONT
Font to use
-h | --help
Prints command line help and exits
-o | --own-window
Create own window to draw
-t | --text=TEXT
Text to render, remember single quotes, like -t ' $uptime '
-u | --interval=SECONDS
Update interval
-w | --window-id=WIN_ID
Window id to draw
-x X_COORDINATE
X position
-y Y_COORDINATE
Y position
-i COUNT
Number of times to update Conky (and quit)
CONFIGURATION SETTINGS
Default configuration file location is $HOME/.conkyrc or
${sysconfdir}/conky/conky.conf. On most systems, sysconfdir is /etc,
and you can find the sample config file there (/etc/conky/conky.conf).
You might want to copy it to $HOME/.conkyrc and then start modifying
it. Other configs can be found at http://conky.sf.net/
alias Use this to create aliases of variables. The first argument is
the new name, the second the old name, and the other arguments
are passed on to the variable. Example: If you want to use $al‐
pha instead of ${beta gamma delta} then you have to write the
following: alias alpha beta gamma delta . PS: Instead of creat‐
ing an alias in the config you can also use environment vari‐
ables. Example: Start conky like this: alpha="beta gamma delta"
conky
alignment
Aligned position on screen, may be top_left, top_right, top_mid‐
dle, bottom_left, bottom_right, bottom_middle, middle_left, mid‐
dle_right, or none (also can be abreviated as tl, tr, tm, bl,
br, bm, ml, mr)
background
Boolean value, if true, Conky will be forked to background when
started.
border_margin
Border margin in pixels.
border_width
Border width in pixels.
colorN Predefine a color for use inside TEXT segments. Substitute N by
a digit between 0 and 9, inclusively. When specifying the color
value in hex, omit the leading hash (#).
cpu_avg_samples
The number of samples to average for CPU monitoring.
diskio_avg_samples
The number of samples to average for disk I/O monitoring.
top_name_width
Width for $top name value (defaults to 15 characters).
top_cpu_separate
If true, cpu in top will show usage of one processor's power. If
false, cpu in top will show the usage of all processors' power
combined.
default_bar_size
Specify a default width and height for bars. Example: 'de‐
fault_bar_size 0 6'. This is particularly useful for execbar and
execibar as they do not take size arguments.
default_graph_size
Specify a default width and height for graphs. Example: 'de‐
fault_graph_size 0 25'. This is particularly useful for exec‐
graph and execigraph as they do not take size arguments
default_gauge_size
Specify a default width and height for gauges. Example: 'de‐
fault_gauge_size 25 25'. This is particularly useful for exec‐
gauge and execigauge as they do not take size arguments
default_color
Default color and border color
default_outline_color
Default outline color
default_shade_color
Default shading color and border's shading color
double_buffer
Use the Xdbe extension? (eliminates flicker) It is highly recom‐
mended to use own window with this one so double buffer won't be
so big.
draw_borders
Draw borders around text?
draw_graph_borders
Draw borders around graphs?
draw_outline
Draw outlines?
draw_shades
Draw shades?
font Font name in X, xfontsel can be used to get a nice font
gap_x Gap, in pixels, between right or left border of screen, same as
passing -x at command line, e.g. gap_x 10
gap_y Gap, in pixels, between top or bottom border of screen, same as
passing -y at command line, e.g. gap_y 10.
if_up_strictness
How strict should if_up be when testing an interface for being
up? The value is one of up, link or address, to check for the
interface being solely up, being up and having link or being up,
having link and an assigned IP address.
imap Default global IMAP server. Arguments are: "host user pass [-i
interval (in seconds)] [-f folder] [-p port] [-e command] [-r
retries]". Default port is 143, default folder is 'INBOX', de‐
fault interval is 5 minutes, and default number of retries be‐
fore giving up is 5. If the password is supplied as '*', you
will be prompted to enter the password when Conky starts.
mail_spool
Mail spool for mail checking
max_port_monitor_connections
Allow each port monitor to track at most this many connections
(if 0 or not set, default is 256)
max_specials
Maximum number of special things, e.g. fonts, offsets, aligns,
etc. (default is 512)
max_user_text bytes
Maximum size of user text buffer, i.e. layout below TEXT line in
config file (default is 16384 bytes)
text_buffer_size bytes
Size of the standard text buffer (default is 256 bytes). This
buffer is used for intermediary text, such as individual lines,
output from $exec vars, and various other variables. Increasing
the size of this buffer can drastically reduce Conky's perfor‐
mance, but will allow for more text display per variable. The
size of this buffer cannot be smaller than the default value of
256 bytes.
maximum_width pixels
Maximum width of window
minimum_size width (height)
Minimum size of window
mpd_host
Host of MPD server
mpd_port
Port of MPD server
mpd_password
MPD server password
music_player_interval
Music player thread update interval (defaults to Conky's update
interval)
net_avg_samples
The number of samples to average for net data
no_buffers
Substract (file system) buffers from used memory?
override_utf8_locale
Force UTF8? requires XFT
own_window
Boolean, create own window to draw?
own_window_class
Manually set the WM_CLASS name. Defaults to "Conky".
own_window_colour colour
If own_window_transparent no, set a specified background colour
(defaults to black). Takes either a hex value (#ffffff) or a
valid RGB name (see /usr/lib/X11/rgb.txt)
own_window_hints undecorated,below,above,sticky,skip_taskbar,skip_pager
If own_window is yes, you may use these window manager hints to
affect the way Conky displays. Notes: Use own_window_type desk‐
top as another way to implement many of these hints implicitly.
If you use own_window_type override, window manager hints have
no meaning and are ignored.
own_window_title
Manually set the window name. Defaults to "<hostname> - conky".
own_window_transparent
Boolean, set pseudo-transparency?
own_window_type
if own_window is yes, you may specify type normal, desktop, dock
or override (default: normal). Desktop windows are special win‐
dows that have no window decorations; are always visible on your
desktop; do not appear in your pager or taskbar; and are sticky
across all workspaces. Override windows are not under the con‐
trol of the window manager. Hints are ignored. This type of win‐
dow can be useful for certain situations.
out_to_console
Print text to stdout.
out_to_stderr
Print text to stderr.
out_to_x
When set to no, there will be no output in X (useful when you
also use things like out_to_console). If you set it to no, make
sure that it's placed before all other X-related setting (take
the first line of your configfile to be sure). Default value is
yes
overwrite_file
Overwrite the file given as argument.
append_file
Append the file given as argument.
pad_percents
Pad percentages to this many decimals (0 = no padding)
pop3 Default global POP3 server. Arguments are: "host user pass [-i
interval (in seconds)] [-p port] [-e command] [-r retries]". De‐
fault port is 110, default interval is 5 minutes, and default
number of retries before giving up is 5. If the password is sup‐
plied as '*', you will be prompted to enter the password when
Conky starts.
short_units
Shortens units to a single character (kiB->k, GiB->G, etc.). De‐
fault is off.
show_graph_scale
Shows the maximum value in scaled graphs.
show_graph_range
Shows the time range covered by a graph.
stippled_borders
Border stippling (dashing) in pixels
temperature_unit
Desired output unit of all objects displaying a temperature.
Parameters are either "fahrenheit" or "celsius". The default
unit is degree Celsius.
templateN
Define a template for later use inside TEXT segments. Substitute
N by a digit between 0 and 9, inclusively. The value of the
variable is being inserted into the stuff below TEXT at the cor‐
responding position, but before some substitutions are applied:
'\n' -> newline
'\\' -> backslash
'\ ' -> space
'\N' -> template argument N
total_run_times
Total number of times for Conky to update before quitting. Zero
makes Conky run forever
update_interval
Update interval in seconds
uppercase
Boolean value, if true, text is rendered in upper case
use_spacer
Adds spaces around certain objects to stop them from moving oth‐
er things around. Arguments are left, right, and none (default).
The old true/false values are deprecated and default to
right/none respectively. Note that this only helps if you are
using a mono font, such as Bitstream Vera Sans Mono.
use_xft
Use Xft (anti-aliased font and stuff)
xftalpha
Alpha of Xft font. Must be a value at or between 1 and 0.
xftfont
Xft font to use.
TEXT After this begins text to be formatted on screen. Backslash (\)
escapes newlines in the text section. This can be useful for
cleaning up config files where conky is used to pipe input to
dzen2.
VARIABLES
Colors are parsed using XParsecolor(), there might be a list of them:
/usr/share/X11/rgb.txt. Also, ⟨http://sedition.com/perl/rgb.html⟩.
Color can be also in #rrggbb format (hex).
addr interface
IP address for an interface, or "No Address" if no address is
assigned.
addrs interface
IP addresses for an interface (if one - works like addr). Linux
only.
acpiacadapter
ACPI ac adapter state.
acpifan
ACPI fan state
acpitemp
ACPI temperature in C.
adt746xcpu
CPU temperature from therm_adt746x
adt746xfan
Fan speed from therm_adt746x
alignr (num)
Right-justify text, with space of N
alignc (num)
Align text to centre
apm_adapter
Display APM AC adapter status (FreeBSD only)
apm_battery_life
Display APM battery life in percent (FreeBSD only)
apm_battery_time
Display remaining APM battery life in hh:mm:ss or "unknown" if
AC adapterstatus is on-line or charging (FreeBSD only)
audacious_bar (height),(width)
Progress bar
audacious_bitrate
Bitrate of current tune
audacious_channels
Number of audio channels of current tune
audacious_filename
Full path and filename of current tune
audacious_frequency
Sampling frequency of current tune
audacious_length
Total length of current tune as MM:SS
audacious_length_seconds
Total length of current tune in seconds
audacious_playlist_position
Playlist position of current tune
audacious_playlist_length
Number of tunes in playlist
audacious_position
Position of current tune (MM:SS)
audacious_position_seconds
Position of current tune in seconds
audacious_status
Player status (Playing/Paused/Stopped/Not running)
audacious_title (max length)
Title of current tune with optional maximum length specifier
audacious_main_volume
The current volume fetched from Audacious
battery (num)
Battery status and remaining percentage capacity of ACPI or APM
battery. ACPI battery number can be given as argument (default
is BAT0).
battery_short (num)
Battery status and remaining percentage capacity of ACPI or APM
battery. ACPI battery number can be given as argument (default
is BAT0). This mode display a short status, which means that C
is displayed instead of charging and D is displayed instead of
discharging.
battery_bar (height),(width) (num)
Battery percentage remaining of ACPI battery in a bar. ACPI bat‐
tery number can be given as argument (default is BAT0).
battery_percent (num)
Battery percentage remaining for ACPI battery. ACPI battery num‐
ber can be given as argument (default is BAT0).
battery_time (num)
Battery charge/discharge time remaining of ACPI battery. ACPI
battery number can be given as argument (default is BAT0).
bmpx_artist
Artist in current BMPx track
bmpx_album
Album in current BMPx track
bmpx_title
Title of the current BMPx track
bmpx_track
Track number of the current BMPx track
bmpx_bitrate
Bitrate of the current BMPx track
bmpx_uri
URI of the current BMPx track
buffers
Amount of memory buffered
cached Amount of memory cached
color (color)
Change drawing color to color
colorN Change drawing color to colorN configuration option, where N is
a digit between 0 and 9, inclusively.
combine var1 var2
Places the lines of var2 to the right of the lines of var1
seperated by the chars that are put between var1 and var2. For
example: ${combine ${head /proc/cpuinfo 2} - ${head /proc/memin‐
fo 1}} gives as output "cpuinfo_line1 - meminfo_line1" on line 1
and "cpuinfo_line2 -" on line 2. $combine vars can also be nest‐
ed to place more vars next to each other.
conky_version
Conky version
conky_build_date
Date Conky was built
conky_build_arch
CPU architecture Conky was built for
cpu (cpuN)
CPU usage in percents. For SMP machines, the CPU number can be
provided as an argument. ${cpu cpu0} is the total usage, and
${cpu cpuX} (X >= 1) are individual CPUs.
cpubar (cpuN) (height),(width)
Bar that shows CPU usage, height is bar's height in pixels. See
$cpu for more info on SMP.
cpugauge (cpuN) (height),(width)
Elliptical gauge that shows CPU usage, height and width are
gauge's vertical and horizontal axis respectively. See $cpu for
more info on SMP.
cpugraph (cpuN) ("normal"|"log") (height),(width) (gradient colour 1)
(gradient colour 2) (scale)
CPU usage graph, with optional colours in hex, minus the #. See
$cpu for more info on SMP. Uses a logarithmic scale (to see
small numbers) when you use "log" instead of "normal".
diskio (device)
Displays current disk IO. Device is optional, and takes the form
of sda for /dev/sda. Individual partitions are allowed.
diskiograph ("normal"|"log") (height),(width) (gradient colour 1) (gra‐
dient colour 2) (scale) (device)
Disk IO graph, colours defined in hex, minus the #. If scale is
non-zero, it becomes the scale for the graph. Uses a logarithmic
scale (to see small numbers) when you use "log" instead of "nor‐
mal".
diskio_read (device)
Displays current disk IO for reads. Device as in diskio.
diskiograph_read ("normal"|"log") (height),(width) (gradient colour 1)
(gradient colour 2) (scale) (device)
Disk IO graph for reads, colours defined in hex, minus the #. If
scale is non-zero, it becomes the scale for the graph. Device as
in diskio. Uses a logarithmic scale (to see small numbers) when
you use "log" instead of "normal".
diskio_write (device)
Displays current disk IO for writes. Device as in diskio.
diskiograph_write ("normal"|"log") (height),(width) (gradient colour 1)
(gradient colour 2) (scale) (device)
Disk IO graph for writes, colours defined in hex, minus the #.
If scale is non-zero, it becomes the scale for the graph. Device
as in diskio. Uses a logarithmic scale (to see small numbers)
when you use "log" instead of "normal".
disk_protect device
Disk protection status, if supported (needs kernel-patch).
Prints either "frozen" or "free " (note the padding).
downspeed net
Download speed in KiB
downspeedf net
Download speed in KiB with one decimal
downspeedgraph ("normal"|"log") (height),(width) (gradient colour 1)
(gradient colour 2) (scale) (net)
Download speed graph, colours defined in hex, minus the #. If
scale is non-zero, it becomes the scale for the graph. Uses a
logarithmic scale (to see small numbers) when you use "log" in‐
stead of "normal".
else Text to show if any of the above are not true
entropy_avail
Current entropy available for crypto freaks
entropy_bar (height),(width)
Normalized bar of available entropy for crypto freaks
entropy_poolsize
Total size of system entropy pool for crypto freaks
eval string
Evalutates given string according to the rules of TEXT interpre‐
tation, i.e. parsing any contained text object specifications
into their output, any occuring '$$' into a single '$' and so
on. The output is then being parsed again.
exec command
Executes a shell command and displays the output in conky. warn‐
ing: this takes a lot more resources than other variables. I'd
recommend coding wanted behaviour in C and posting a patch.
execbar command
Same as exec, except if the first value return is a value be‐
tween 0-100, it will use that number for a bar. The size for
bars can be controlled via the default_bar_size config setting.
execgauge command
Same as exec, except if the first value returned is a value be‐
tween 0-100, it will use that number for a gauge. The size for
gauges can be controlled via the default_gauge_size config set‐
ting.
execgraph ("normal"|"log") (height),(width) (gradient colour 1) (gradi‐
ent colour 2) (scale) command
Same as execbar, but graphs values. Uses a logaritmic scale when
the log option is given (to see small numbers). Values still
have to be between 0 and 100. The size for graphs can be con‐
trolled via the default_graph_size config setting.
execi interval command
Same as exec but with specific interval. Interval can't be less
than update_interval in configuration. See also $texeci
execibar interval command
Same as execbar, except with an interval
execigraph interval command
Same as execgraph, but takes an interval arg and graphs values.
execigauge interval command
Same as execgauge, but takes an interval arg and gauges values.
execp command
Executes a shell command and displays the output in conky. warn‐
ing: this takes a lot more resources than other variables. I'd
recommend coding wanted behaviour in C and posting a patch. This
differs from $exec in that it parses the output of the command,
so you can insert things like ${color red}hi!${color} in your
script and have it correctly parsed by Conky. Caveats: Conky
parses and evaluates the output of $execp every time Conky
loops, and then destroys all the objects. If you try to use any‐
thing like $execi within an $execp statement, it will function‐
ally run at the same interval that the $execp statement runs, as
it is created and destroyed at every interval.
execpi interval command
Same as execp but with specific interval. Interval can't be less
than update_interval in configuration. Note that the output from
the $execpi command is still parsed and evaluated at every in‐
terval.
font (font)
Specify a different font. This new font will apply to the cur‐
rent line and everything following. You can use a $font with no
arguments to change back to the default font (much like with
$color)
freq (n)
Returns CPU #n's frequency in MHz. CPUs are counted from 1. If
omitted, the parameter defaults to 1.
freq_g (n)
Returns CPU #n's frequency in GHz. CPUs are counted from 1. If
omitted, the parameter defaults to 1.
fs_bar (height),(width) fs
Bar that shows how much space is used on a file system. height
is the height in pixels. fs is any file on that file system.
fs_bar_free (height),(width) fs
Bar that shows how much space is free on a file system. height
is the height in pixels. fs is any file on that file system.
fs_free (fs)
Free space on a file system available for users.
fs_free_perc (fs)
Free percentage of space on a file system available for users.
fs_size (fs)
File system size.
fs_type (fs)
File system type.
fs_used (fs)
File system used space.
fs_used_perc (fs)
Percent of file system used space.
goto x The next element will be printed at position 'x'.
gw_iface
Displays the default route's interface or "multiple"/"none" ac‐
cordingly.
gw_ip Displays the default gateway's IP or "multiple"/"none" accord‐
ingly.
hddtemp dev, (host,(port))
Displays temperature of a selected hard disk drive as reported
by the hddtemp daemon running on host:port. Default host is
127.0.0.1, default port is 7634.
head logfile lines (interval)
Displays first N lines of supplied text text file. If interval
is not supplied, Conky assumes 2x Conky's interval. Max of 30
lines can be displayed, or until the text buffer is filled.
hr (height)
Horizontal line, height is the height in pixels
hwmon (dev) type n
Hwmon sensor from sysfs (Linux 2.6). Parameter dev may be omit‐
ted if you have only one hwmon device. Parameter type is either
'in' or 'vol' meaning voltage; 'fan' meaning fan; 'temp' meaning
temperature. Parameter n is number of the sensor. See
/sys/class/hwmon/ on your local computer.
iconv_start codeset_from codeset_to
Convert text from one codeset to another using GNU iconv. Needs
to be stopped with iconv_stop.
iconv_stop
Stop iconv codeset conversion.
i2c (dev) type n
I2C sensor from sysfs (Linux 2.6). Parameter dev may be omitted
if you have only one I2C device. Parameter type is either 'in'
or 'vol' meaning voltage; 'fan' meaning fan; 'temp' meaning tem‐
perature. Parameter n is number of the sensor. See
/sys/bus/i2c/devices/ on your local computer.
i8k_ac_status
If running the i8k kernel driver for Inspiron laptops, displays
whether ac power is on, as listed in /proc/i8k (translated to
human-readable). Beware that this is by default not enabled by
i8k itself.
i8k_bios
If running the i8k kernel driver for Inspiron laptops, displays
the bios version as listed in /proc/i8k.
i8k_buttons_status
If running the i8k kernel driver for Inspiron laptops, displays
the volume buttons status as listed in /proc/i8k.
i8k_cpu_temp
If running the i8k kernel driver for Inspiron laptops, displays
the cpu temperature in Celsius, as reported by /proc/i8k.
i8k_left_fan_rpm
If running the i8k kernel driver for Inspiron laptops, displays
the left fan's rate of rotation, in revolutions per minute as
listed in /proc/i8k. Beware, some laptops i8k reports these fans
in reverse order.
i8k_left_fan_status
If running the i8k kernel driver for Inspiron laptops, displays
the left fan status as listed in /proc/i8k (translated to human-
readable). Beware, some laptops i8k reports these fans in re‐
verse order.
i8k_right_fan_rpm
If running the i8k kernel driver for Inspiron laptops, displays
the right fan's rate of rotation, in revolutions per minute as
listed in /proc/i8k. Beware, some laptops i8k reports these fans
in reverse order.
i8k_right_fan_status
If running the i8k kernel driver for Inspiron laptops, displays
the right fan status as listed in /proc/i8k (translated to hu‐
man-readable). Beware, some laptops i8k reports these fans in
reverse order.
i8k_serial
If running the i8k kernel driver for Inspiron laptops, displays
your laptop serial number as listed in /proc/i8k.
i8k_version
If running the i8k kernel driver for Inspiron laptops, displays
the version formatting of /proc/i8k.
ibm_fan
If running the IBM ACPI, displays the fan speed.
ibm_temps N
If running the IBM ACPI, displays the temperatures from the IBM
temperature sensors (N=0..7) Sensor 0 is on the CPU, 3 is on the
GPU.
ibm_volume
If running the IBM ACPI, displays the "master" volume, con‐
trolled by the volume keys (0-14).
ibm_brightness
If running the IBM ACPI, displays the brigtness of the laptops's
LCD (0-7).
if_empty (var)
if conky variable VAR is empty, display everything between
$if_empty and the matching $endif
if_existing file (string)
if FILE exists, display everything between if_existing and the
matching $endif. The optional second paramater checks for FILE
containing the specified string and prints everything between
$if_existing and the matching $endif.
if_gw if there is at least one default gateway, display everything be‐
tween $if_gw and the matching $endif
if_match expression
Evaluates the given boolean expression, printing everything be‐
tween $if_match and the matching $endif depending on whether the
evaluation returns true or not. Valid expressions consist of a
left side, an operator and a right side. Left and right sides
are being parsed for contained text objects before evaluation.
Recognised left and right side types are:
double: argument consists of only digits and a single dot.
long: argument consists of only digits.
string: argument is enclosed in quotation mark or the checks for
double and long failed before.
Valid operands are: '>', '<', '>=', '<=', '==', '!='.
if_mixer_mute (mixer)
If mixer exists, display everything between $if_mixer_mute and
the matching $endif. If no mixer is specified, "Master" is used.
if_running (process)
if PROCESS is running, display everything $if_running and the
matching $endif. This uses the ``pidof'' command, so the -x
switch is also supported.
if_mounted (mountpoint)
if MOUNTPOINT is mounted, display everything between $if_mounted
and the matching $endif
if_smapi_bat_installed (INDEX)
when using smapi, if the battery with index INDEX is installed,
display everything between $if_smapi_bat_installed and the
matching $endif
if_up (interface)
if INTERFACE exists and is up, display everything between $if_up
and the matching $endif
if_updatenr (updatenr)
If it's the UPDATENR-th time that conky updates, display every‐
thing between $if_updatenr and the matching $endif. The counter
resets when the highest UPDATENR is reached. Example :
"{$if_updatenr 1}foo$endif{$if_updatenr 2}bar$endif{$if_updatenr
4}$endif" shows foo 25% of the time followed by bar 25% of the
time followed by nothing the other half of the time.
imap_messages (args)
Displays the number of messages in your global IMAP inbox by de‐
fault. You can define individual IMAP inboxes seperately by
passing arguments to this object. Arguments are: "host user pass
[-i interval (in seconds)] [-f folder] [-p port] [-e command]
[-r retries]". Default port is 143, default folder is 'INBOX',
default interval is 5 minutes, and default number of retries be‐
fore giving up is 5. If the password is supplied as '*', you
will be prompted to enter the password when Conky starts.
imap_unseen (args)
Displays the number of unseen messages in your global IMAP inbox
by default. You can define individual IMAP inboxes seperately by
passing arguments to this object. Arguments are: "host user pass
[-i interval (in seconds)] [-f folder] [-p port] [-e command]
[-r retries]". Default port is 143, default folder is 'INBOX',
default interval is 5 minutes, and default number of retries be‐
fore giving up is 5. If the password is supplied as '*', you
will be prompted to enter the password when Conky starts.
ioscheduler disk
Prints the current ioscheduler used for the given disk name
(i.e. e.g. "hda" or "sdb")
kernel Kernel version
laptop_mode
The value of /proc/sys/vm/laptop_mode
loadavg
(1,2,3)> System load average, 1 is for past 1 minute, 2 for past
5 minutes and 3 for past 15 minutes.
loadgraph ("normal"|"log") (height),(width) (gradient colour 1) (gradi‐
ent colour 2) (scale)
Load1 average graph, similar to xload, with optional colours in
hex, minus the #. Uses a logarithmic scale (to see small num‐
bers) when you use "log" instead of "normal".
lines textfile
Displays the number of lines in the given file
machine
Machine, i686 for example
mails (mailbox) (interval)
Mail count in the specified mailbox or your mail spool if not.
Both mbox and maildir type mailboxes are supported. You can use
a program like fetchmail to get mails from some server using
your favourite protocol. See also new_mails.
new_mails (mailbox) (interval)
Unread mail count in the specified mailbox or mail spool if not.
Both mbox and maildir type mailboxes are supported.
seen_mails (maildir) (interval)
Number of mails marked as seen in the specified mailbox or mail
spool if not. Only maildir type mailboxes are supported, mbox
type will return -1.
unseen_mails (maildir) (interval)
Number of new or unseen mails in the specified mailbox or mail
spool if not. Only maildir type mailboxes are supported, mbox
type will return -1.
flagged_mails (maildir) (interval)
Number of mails marked as flagged in the specified mailbox or
mail spool if not. Only maildir type mailboxes are supported,
mbox type will return -1.
unflagged_mails (maildir) (interval)
Number of mails not marked as flagged in the specified mailbox
or mail spool if not. Only maildir type mailboxes are supported,
mbox type will return -1.
forwarded_mails (maildir) (interval)
Number of mails marked as forwarded in the specified mailbox or
mail spool if not. Only maildir type mailboxes are supported,
mbox type will return -1.
unforwarded_mails (maildir) (interval)
Number of mails not marked as forwarded in the specified mailbox
or mail spool if not. Only maildir type mailboxes are supported,
mbox type will return -1.
replied_mails (maildir) (interval)
Number of mails marked as replied in the specified mailbox or
mail spool if not. Only maildir type mailboxes are supported,
mbox type will return -1.
unreplied_mails (maildir) (interval)
Number of mails not marked as replied in the specified mailbox
or mail spool if not. Only maildir type mailboxes are supported,
mbox type will return -1.
draft_mails (maildir) (interval)
Number of mails marked as draft in the specified mailbox or mail
spool if not. Only maildir type mailboxes are supported, mbox
type will return -1.
trashed_mails (maildir) (interval)
Number of mails marked as trashed in the specified mailbox or
mail spool if not. Only maildir type mailboxes are supported,
mbox type will return -1.
mboxscan (-n number of messages to print) (-fw from width) (-sw subject
width) mbox
Print a summary of recent messages in an mbox format mailbox.
mbox parameter is the filename of the mailbox (can be encapsu‐
lated using '"', ie. ${mboxscan -n 10 "/home/brenden/some box"}
mem Amount of memory in use
membar (height),(width)
Bar that shows amount of memory in use
memgauge (height),(width)
Gauge that shows amount of memory in use (see cpugauge)
memgraph ("normal"|"log") (height),(width) (gradient colour 1) (gradi‐
ent colour 2) (scale)
Memory usage graph. Uses a logarithmic scale (to see small num‐
bers) when you use "log" instead of "normal".
memeasyfree
Amount of free memory including the memory that is very easily
freed (buffers/cache)
memfree
Amount of free memory
memmax Total amount of memory
memperc
Percentage of memory in use
mixer (device)
Prints the mixer value as reported by the OS. Default mixer is
"vol", but you can specify one of the following optional argu‐
ments: "vol", "bass", "treble", "synth", "pcm", "speaker",
"line", "mic", "cd", "mix", "pcm2", "rec", "igain", "ogain",
"line1", "line2", "line3", "dig1", "dig2", "dig3", "phin",
"phout", "video", "radio", "monitor". Refer to the definition of
SOUND_DEVICE_NAMES in <linux/soundcard.h> (on Linux), <sound‐
card.h> (on OpenBSD), or <sys/soundcard.h> to find the exact op‐
tions available on your system.
mixerbar (device)
Displays mixer value in a bar as reported by the OS. See docs
for $mixer for details on arguments.
mixerr (device)
Prints the right channel mixer value as reported by the OS. See
docs for $mixer for details on arguments.
mixerrbar (device)
Displays the right channel mixer value in a bar as reported by
the OS. See docs for $mixer for details on arguments.
mixerl (device)
Prints the left channel mixer value as reported by the OS. See
docs for $mixer for details on arguments.
mixerlbar (device)
Displays the left channel mixer value in a bar as reported by
the OS. See docs for $mixer for details on arguments.
moc_state
Current state of MOC; playing, stopped etc.
moc_file
File name of the current MOC song
moc_title
Title of the current MOC song
moc_artist
Artist of the current MOC song
moc_song
The current song name being played in MOC.
moc_album
Album of the current MOC song
moc_totaltime
Total length of the current MOC song
moc_timeleft
Time left in the current MOC song
moc_curtime
Current time of the current MOC song
moc_bitrate
Bitrate in the current MOC song
moc_rate
Rate of the current MOC song
monitor
Number of the monitor on which conky is running
monitor_number
Number of monitors
mpd_artist
Artist in current MPD song must be enabled at compile
mpd_album
Album in current MPD song
mpd_bar (height),(width)
Bar of mpd's progress
mpd_bitrate
Bitrate of current song
mpd_status
Playing, stopped, et cetera.
mpd_title (max length)
Title of current MPD song
mpd_vol
MPD's volume
mpd_elapsed
Song's elapsed time
mpd_length
Song's length
mpd_percent
Percent of song's progress
mpd_random
Random status (On/Off)
mpd_repeat
Repeat status (On/Off)
mpd_track
Prints the MPD track field
mpd_name
Prints the MPD name field
mpd_file
Prints the file name of the current MPD song
mpd_smart (max length)
Prints the song name in either the form "artist - title" or file
name, depending on whats available
if_mpd_playing
if mpd is playing or paused, display everything between
$if_mpd_playing and the matching $endif
nameserver (index)
Print a nameserver from /etc/resolv.conf. Index starts at and
defaults to 0.
nodename
Hostname
nvidia threshold temp ambient gpufreq memfreq imagequality
Nvidia graficcard support for the XNVCtrl library. Each option
can be shortened to the least significant part. Temperatures
are printed as float, all other values as integer.
threshold: the thresholdtemperature at which the gpu slows down
temp: gives the gpu current temperature
ambient: gives current air temperature near GPU case
gpufreq: gives the current gpu frequency
memfreq: gives the current mem frequency
imagequality: which imagequality should be choosen by OpenGL ap‐
plications
outlinecolor (color)
Change outline color
pb_battery item
If running on Apple powerbook/ibook, display information on bat‐
tery status. The item parameter specifies, what information to
display. Exactly one item must be specified. Valid items are:
status: Display if battery is fully charged, charging, discharg‐
ing or absent (running on AC)
percent: Display charge of battery in percent, if charging or
discharging. Nothing will be displayed, if battery is fully
charged or absent.
time: Display the time remaining until the battery will be fully
charged or discharged at current rate. Nothing is displayed, if
battery is absent or if it's present but fully charged and not
discharging.
platform (dev) type n
Platform sensor from sysfs (Linux 2.6). Parameter dev may be
omitted if you have only one platform device. Platform type is
either 'in' or 'vol' meaning voltage; 'fan' meaning fan; 'temp'
meaning temperature. Parameter n is number of the sensor. See
/sys/bus/platform/devices/ on your local computer.
pop3_unseen (args)
Displays the number of unseen messages in your global POP3 inbox
by default. You can define individual POP3 inboxes seperately by
passing arguments to this object. Arguments are: "host user pass
[-i interval (in seconds)] [-p port] [-e command] [-r retries]".
Default port is 110, default interval is 5 minutes, and default
number of retries before giving up is 5. If the password is sup‐
plied as '*', you will be prompted to enter the password when
Conky starts.
pop3_used (args)
Displays the amount of space (in MiB, 2^20) used in your global
POP3 inbox by default. You can define individual POP3 inboxes
seperately by passing arguments to this object. Arguments are:
"host user pass [-i interval (in seconds)] [-p port] [-e com‐
mand] [-r retries]". Default port is 110, default interval is 5
minutes, and default number of retries before giving up is 5. If
the password is supplied as '*', you will be prompted to enter
the password when Conky starts.
pre_exec shell command
Executes a shell command one time before conky displays anything
and puts output as text.
processes
Total processes (sleeping and running)
running_processes
Running processes (not sleeping), requires Linux 2.6
scroll length (step) text
Scroll 'text' by 'step' characters showing 'length' number of
characters at the same time. The text may also contain vari‐
ables. 'step' is optional and defaults to 1 if not set. If a var
creates output on multiple lines then the lines are placed be‐
hind each other separated with a '|'-sign. Do NOT use vars that
change colors or otherwise affect the design inside a scrolling
text. If you want spaces between the start and the end of
'text', place them at the end of 'text' not at the front ("foo‐
bar" and " foobar" can both generate "barfoo" but "foobar " will
keep the spaces like this "bar foo").
shadecolor (color)
Change shading color
smapi (ARGS)
when using smapi, display contents of the /sys/devices/plat‐
form/smapi directory. ARGS are either '(FILENAME)' or 'bat (IN‐
DEX) (FILENAME)' to display the corresponding files' content.
This is a very raw method of accessing the smapi values. When
available, better use one of the smapi_* variables instead.
smapi_bat_bar (INDEX),(height),(width)
when using smapi, display the remaining capacity of the battery
with index INDEX as a bar.
smapi_bat_perc (INDEX)
when using smapi, display the remaining capacity in percent of
the battery with index INDEX. This is a separate variable be‐
cause it supports the 'use_spacer' configuration option.
smapi_bat_power INDEX
when using smapi, display the current power of the battery with
index INDEX in watt. This is a separate variable because the
original read out value is being converted from mW. The sign of
the output reflects charging (positive) or discharging (nega‐
tive) state.
smapi_bat_temp INDEX
when using smapi, display the current temperature of the battery
with index INDEX in degree Celsius. This is a separate variable
because the original read out value is being converted from mil‐
li degree Celsius.
stippled_hr (space)
Stippled (dashed) horizontal line
swapbar (height),(width)
Bar that shows amount of swap in use
swap Amount of swap in use
swapmax
Total amount of swap
swapperc
Percentage of swap in use
sysname
System name, Linux for example
tcp_portmon port_begin port_end item (index) (ip4 only at present)
TCP port monitor for specified local ports. Port numbers must be
in the range 1 to 65535. Valid items are:
count - total number of connections in the range
rip - remote ip address
rhost - remote host name
rport - remote port number
rservice - remote service name from /etc/services
lip - local ip address
lhost - local host name
lport - local port number
lservice - local service name from /etc/services
The connection index provides you with access to each connection
in the port monitor. The monitor will return information for in‐
dex values from 0 to n-1 connections. Values higher than n-1 are
simply ignored. For the "count" item, the connection index must
be omitted. It is required for all other items.
Examples:
${tcp_portmon 6881 6999 count} - displays the number of connec‐
tions in the bittorrent port range
${tcp_portmon 22 22 rip 0} - displays the remote host ip of the
first sshd connection
${tcp_portmon 22 22 rip 9} - displays the remote host ip of the
tenth sshd connection
${tcp_portmon 1 1024 rhost 0} - displays the remote host name of
the first connection on a privileged port
${tcp_portmon 1 1024 rport 4} - displays the remote host port of
the fifth connection on a privileged port
${tcp_portmon 1 65535 lservice 14} - displays the local service
name of the fifteenth connection in the range of all ports
Note that port monitor variables which share the same port range
actually refer to the same monitor, so many references to a sin‐
gle port range for different items and different indexes all use
the same monitor internally. In other words, the program avoids
creating redundant monitors.
texeci interval command
Runs a command at an interval inside a thread and displays the
output. Same as $execi, except the command is run inside a
thread. Use this if you have a slow script to keep Conky updat‐
ing. You should make the interval slightly longer then the time
it takes your script to execute. For example, if you have a
script that take 5 seconds to execute, you should make the in‐
terval at least 6 seconds. See also $execi.
offset (pixels)
Move text over by N pixels. See also $voffset.
rss url delay_in_minutes action (num_par (spaces_in_front))
Download and parse RSS feeds. Action may be one of the follow‐
ing: feed_title, item_title (with num par), item_desc (with num
par) and item_titles (when using this action and spaces_in_front
is given conky places that many spaces in front of each item).
tab (width, (start))
Puts a tab of the specified width, starting from column 'start'.
The unit is pixels for both arguments.
tail logfile lines (interval)
Displays last N lines of supplied text text file. If interval is
not supplied, Conky assumes 2x Conky's interval. Max of 30 lines
can be displayed, or until the text buffer is filled.
templateN (arg1) (arg2) (arg3 ...)
Evaluate the content of the templateN configuration variable
(where N is a value between 0 and 9, inclusively), applying sub‐
stitutions as described in the documentation of the correspond‐
ing configuration variable. The number of arguments is option‐
al, but must match the highest referred index in the template.
You can use the same special sequences in each argument as the
ones valid for a template definition, e.g. to allow an argument
to contain a whitespace. Also simple nesting of templates is
possible this way.
Here are some examples of template definitions:
template0 $\1\2
template1 \1: ${fs_used \2} / ${fs_size \2}
template2 \1 \2
The following list shows sample usage of the templates defined
above, with the equivalent syntax when not using any template at
all:
using template same without template
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
${template0 node name} $nodename
${template1 root /} root: ${fs_free /} /
${fs_size /}
${template1 ${template2\ disk\ root} /} disk root: ${fs_free /} / ${fs_size /}
time (format)
Local time, see man strftime to get more information about for‐
mat
utime (format)
Display time in UTC (universal coordinate time).
tztime (timezone) (format)
Local time for specified timezone, see man strftime to get more
information about format. The timezone argument is specified in
similar fashion as TZ environment variable. For hints, look in
/usr/share/zoneinfo. e.g. US/Pacific, Europe/Zurich, etc.
totaldown net
Total download, overflows at 4 GB on Linux with 32-bit arch and
there doesn't seem to be a way to know how many times it has al‐
ready done that before conky has started.
top type, num
This takes arguments in the form:top (name) (number) Basically,
processes are ranked from highest to lowest in terms of cpu us‐
age, which is what (num) represents. The types are: "name",
"pid", "cpu", "mem", "mem_res", "mem_vsize", and "time". There
can be a max of 10 processes listed.
top_mem type, num
Same as top, except sorted by mem usage instead of cpu
top_time type, num
Same as top, except sorted by total CPU time instead of current
CPU usage
totalup net
Total upload, this one too, may overflow
updates Number of updates
for debugging
upspeed net
Upload speed in KiB
upspeedf net
Upload speed in KiB with one decimal
upspeedgraph ("normal"|"log") (height),(width) (gradient colour 1)
(gradient colour 2) (scale) (net)
Upload speed graph, colours defined in hex, minus the #. If
scale is non-zero, it becomes the scale for the graph. Uses a
logarithmic scale (to see small numbers) when you use "log" in‐
stead of "normal".
uptime Uptime
uptime_short
Uptime in a shorter format
user_number
Number of users logged in
user_names
Lists the names of the users logged in
user_terms
Lists the consoles in use
user_times
Lists how long users have been logged in for
voffset (pixels)
Change vertical offset by N pixels. Negative values will cause
text to overlap. See also $offset.
voltage_mv (n)
Returns CPU #n's voltage in mV. CPUs are counted from 1. If
omitted, the parameter defaults to 1.
voltage_v (n)
Returns CPU #n's voltage in V. CPUs are counted from 1. If omit‐
ted, the parameter defaults to 1.
wireless_essid net
Wireless access point ESSID (Linux only)
wireless_mode net
Wireless mode (Managed/Ad-Hoc/Master) (Linux only)
wireless_bitrate net
Wireless bitrate (ie 11 Mb/s) (Linux only)
wireless_ap net
Wireless access point MAC address (Linux only)
wireless_link_qual net
Wireless link quality (Linux only)
wireless_link_qual_max net
Wireless link quality maximum value (Linux only)
wireless_link_qual_perc net
Wireless link quality in percents (Linux only)
wireless_link_bar (height), (width) net
Wireless link quality bar (Linux only)
words textfile
Displays the number of words in the given file
xmms2_artist
Artist in current XMMS2 song
xmms2_album
Album in current XMMS2 song
xmms2_title
Title in current XMMS2 song
xmms2_genre
Genre in current XMMS2 song
xmms2_comment
Comment in current XMMS2 song
xmms2_url
Full path to current song
xmms2_tracknr
Track number in current XMMS2 song
xmms2_bitrate
Bitrate of current song
xmms2_id
XMMS2 id of current song
xmms2_duration
Duration of current song
xmms2_elapsed
Song's elapsed time
xmms2_size
Size of current song
xmms2_percent
Percent of song's progress
xmms2_date
Returns song's date.
xmms2_playlist
Returns the XMMS2 playlist.
xmms2_timesplayed
Number of times a song was played (presumably).
xmms2_status
XMMS2 status (Playing, Paused, Stopped, or Disconnected)
xmms2_bar (height),(width)
Bar of XMMS2's progress
xmms2_smart
Prints the song name in either the form "artist - title" or file
name, depending on whats available
if_xmms2_connected
Display everything between $if_xmms2_connected and the matching
$endif if xmms2 is running.
sony_fanspeed
Displays the Sony VAIO fanspeed information if sony-laptop ker‐
nel support is enabled. Linux only.
eve api_userid api_key character_id
Fetches your currently training skill from the Eve Online API
servers (http://www.eve-online.com/) and displays the skill
along with the remaining training time.
endif Ends an $if block.
EXAMPLES
conky -t '${time %D %H:%M}' -o -u 30
Start Conky in its own window with date and clock as text and 30
sec update interval.
conky -a top_left -x 5 -y 500 -d
Start Conky to background at coordinates (5, 500).
FILES
~/.conkyrc default configuration file
BUGS
Drawing to root or some other desktop window directly doesn't work with
all window managers. Especially doesn't work well with Gnome and it has
been reported that it doesn't work with KDE either. Nautilus can be
disabled from drawing to desktop with program gconf-editor. Uncheck
show_desktop in /apps/nautilus/preferences/. There is -w switch in
Conky to set some specific window id. You might find xwininfo -tree
useful to find the window to draw to. You can also use -o argument
which makes Conky to create its own window. If you do try running Conky
in its own window, be sure to read up on the own_window_type settings
and experiment.
SEE ALSO
⟨http://conky.sourceforge.net/⟩
⟨http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/conky⟩
#conky on irc.freenode.net
COPYING
Copyright (c) 2005-2009 Brenden Matthews, Philip Kovacs, et. al. Any
original torsmo code is licensed under the BSD license (see LICENSE.BSD
for a copy). All code written since the fork of torsmo is licensed un‐
der the GPL (see LICENSE.GPL for a copy), except where noted different‐
ly (such as in portmon code, timed thread code, and audacious code
which are LGPL, and prss which is an MIT-style license).
AUTHORS
The Conky dev team (see AUTHORS for a full list of contributors).
2009-05-01 conky(1)