[thirdparty/kernel/stable.git] / Documentation / hwmon / userspace-tools.rst

Userspace tools
===============

Introduction
------------

Most mainboards have sensor chips to monitor system health (like temperatures,
voltages, fans speed). They are often connected through an I2C bus, but some
are also connected directly through the ISA bus.

The kernel drivers make the data from the sensor chips available in the /sys
virtual filesystem. Userspace tools are then used to display the measured
values or configure the chips in a more friendly manner.

Lm-sensors
----------

Core set of utilities that will allow you to obtain health information,
setup monitoring limits etc. You can get them on their homepage
http://www.lm-sensors.org/ or as a package from your Linux distribution.

If from website:
Get lm-sensors from project web site. Please note, you need only userspace
part, so compile with "make user" and install with "make user_install".

General hints to get things working:

0) get lm-sensors userspace utils
1) compile all drivers in I2C and Hardware Monitoring sections as modules
   in your kernel
2) run sensors-detect script, it will tell you what modules you need to load.
3) load them and run "sensors" command, you should see some results.
4) fix sensors.conf, labels, limits, fan divisors
5) if any more problems consult FAQ, or documentation

Other utilities
---------------

If you want some graphical indicators of system health look for applications
like: gkrellm, ksensors, xsensors, wmtemp, wmsensors, wmgtemp, ksysguardd,
hardware-monitor

If you are server administrator you can try snmpd or mrtgutils.
Commit	Line	Data
b04f2f7d MCC	1	Userspace tools
	2	===============
	3
828621dd RM	4	Introduction
	5	------------
	6
	7	Most mainboards have sensor chips to monitor system health (like temperatures,
	8	voltages, fans speed). They are often connected through an I2C bus, but some
	9	are also connected directly through the ISA bus.
	10
	11	The kernel drivers make the data from the sensor chips available in the /sys
0d0001dd JD	12	virtual filesystem. Userspace tools are then used to display the measured
0d0001dd JD	13	values or configure the chips in a more friendly manner.
828621dd RM	14
	15	Lm-sensors
	16	----------
	17
0d0001dd	18	Core set of utilities that will allow you to obtain health information,
828621dd	19	setup monitoring limits etc. You can get them on their homepage
ec1d86c4	20	http://www.lm-sensors.org/ or as a package from your Linux distribution.
828621dd RM	21
828621dd RM	22	If from website:
0d0001dd JD	23	Get lm-sensors from project web site. Please note, you need only userspace
0d0001dd JD	24	part, so compile with "make user" and install with "make user_install".
828621dd RM	25
	26	General hints to get things working:
	27
	28	0) get lm-sensors userspace utils
0d0001dd JD	29	1) compile all drivers in I2C and Hardware Monitoring sections as modules
0d0001dd JD	30	in your kernel
828621dd RM	31	2) run sensors-detect script, it will tell you what modules you need to load.
	32	3) load them and run "sensors" command, you should see some results.
	33	4) fix sensors.conf, labels, limits, fan divisors
	34	5) if any more problems consult FAQ, or documentation
	35
0d0001dd JD	36	Other utilities
0d0001dd JD	37	---------------
828621dd RM	38
	39	If you want some graphical indicators of system health look for applications
	40	like: gkrellm, ksensors, xsensors, wmtemp, wmsensors, wmgtemp, ksysguardd,
	41	hardware-monitor
	42
	43	If you are server administrator you can try snmpd or mrtgutils.