Shell equivalents¶

This page maps psutil’s Python API to the equivalent native terminal commands on each platform. This is useful for understanding what psutil replaces and for cross-checking results.

See also

System-wide functions¶

CPU¶

psutil function	Linux	macOS	BSD	Windows
`cpu_percent()`	`top`	same	same
`cpu_count(logical=True)`	`nproc`	`sysctl hw.logicalcpu`	`sysctl hw.ncpu`
`cpu_count(logical=False)`	`lscpu \| grep '^Core(s)'`	`sysctl hw.physicalcpu`
`cpu_times(percpu=False)`	`cat /proc/stat \| grep '^cpu\s'`		`systat -vmstat`
`cpu_times(percpu=True)`	`cat /proc/stat \| grep '^cpu'`		`systat -vmstat`
`cpu_times_percent(percpu=False)`	`mpstat`
`cpu_times_percent(percpu=True)`	`mpstat -P ALL`
`cpu_freq()`	`cpufreq-info`, `lscpu \| grep "MHz"`	`sysctl hw.cpufrequency`	`sysctl dev.cpu.0.freq`	`systeminfo`
`cpu_stats()`			`vmstat -s`, `sysctl vm.stats.sys`
`getloadavg()`	`uptime`	same	same

Memory¶

psutil function	Linux	macOS	BSD	Windows
`virtual_memory()`	`free`, `vmstat`, `cat /proc/meminfo`	`vm_stat`	`vmstat -s`, `sysctl vm.stats`	`systeminfo`
`swap_memory()`	`free`, `vmstat`, `swapon`	`sysctl vm.swapusage`	`vmstat -s`, `swapinfo`
`heap_info()`
`heap_trim()`

Disks¶

psutil function	Linux	macOS	BSD	Windows
`disk_usage()`	`df`	same	same	`fsutil volume diskfree C:\`
`disk_partitions()`	`mount`, `findmnt`	`mount`	`mount`
`disk_io_counters()`	`iostat -dx`	`iostat`	`iostat -x`

Network¶

psutil function	Linux	macOS	BSD	Windows
`net_connections()`	`netstat -anp`, `ss`, `lsof -nP -i -U`	`netstat -anp`	`netstat -an`	`netstat -an`
`net_if_addrs()`	`ifconfig`, `ip addr`	`ifconfig`	`ifconfig`	`ipconfig`, `systeminfo`
`net_io_counters()`	`netstat -i`, `ifconfig`, `ip -s link`	`netstat -i`	`netstat -i`	`netstat -e`
`net_if_stats()`	`ifconfig`, `ip -br link`, `ip link`	`ifconfig`	`ifconfig`	`netsh interface show interface`

Sensors¶

psutil function	Linux	macOS	BSD	Windows
`sensors_temperatures()`	`sensors`		`sysctl dev.cpu.*.temperature`
`sensors_fans()`	`sensors`		`sysctl dev.cpu.*.fan`
`sensors_battery()`	`acpi -b`	`pmset -g batt`	`apm -b`

Other¶

psutil function	Linux	macOS	BSD	Windows
`boot_time()`	`uptime`, `who -b`	`sysctl kern.boottime`	`sysctl kern.boottime`	`systeminfo`
`users()`	`who -a`, `w`	same	same
`pids()`	`ps -A -eo pid`	same	same	`tasklist`
`pid_exists()`	`kill -0 PID`	same	same

Process methods¶

Assuming p = psutil.Process().

Identity¶

psutil method	Linux	macOS	BSD	Windows
`p.name()`	`ps -o comm -p PID`	same	`procstat -b PID`
`p.exe()`	`readlink /proc/pid/exe`	`lsof -p PID`	`procstat -b PID`
`p.cmdline()`	`ps -o args -p PID`	same	`procstat -c PID`
`p.status()`	`ps -o stat -p PID`	same	same
`p.create_time()`	`ps -o lstart -p PID`	same	same
`p.is_running()`	`kill -0 PID`	same	same
`p.environ()`	`xargs -0 -a /proc/pid/environ`		`procstat -e PID`
`p.cwd()`	`pwdx PID`	`lsof -p PID -a -d cwd`

Process tree¶

psutil method	Linux	macOS	BSD	Windows
`p.ppid()`	`ps -o ppid= -p PID`	same	same
`p.parent()`	`ps -p $(ps -o ppid= -p PID)`	same	same
`p.parents()`	`pstree -s PID`	same	same
`p.children(recursive=False)`	`pgrep -P PID`	same	same
`p.children(recursive=True)`	`pstree -p PID`	same	same

Credentials¶

psutil method	Linux	macOS	BSD	Windows
`p.uids()`	`ps -o uid,ruid,suid -p PID`	same	`procstat -s PID`
`p.gids()`	`ps -o gid,rgid,sgid -p PID`	same	`procstat -s PID`
`p.username()`	`ps -o user -p PID`	same	same
`p.terminal()`	`ps -o tty -p PID`	same	same

CPU / scheduling¶

psutil method	Linux	macOS	BSD	Windows
`p.cpu_percent()`	`ps -o %cpu -p PID`	same	same
`p.cpu_times()`	`ps -o cputime -p PID`	same	`procstat -r PID`
`p.cpu_num()`	`ps -o psr -p PID`
`p.num_ctx_switches()`	`pidstat -w -p PID`		`procstat -r PID`
`p.cpu_affinity()`	`taskset -p PID`		`cpuset -g -p PID`
`p.cpu_affinity(CPUS)`	`taskset -p MASK PID`		`cpuset -s -p PID -l CPUS`
`p.ionice()`	`ionice -p PID`
`p.ionice(CLASS)`	`ionice -c CLASS -p PID`
`p.nice()`	`ps -o nice -p PID`	same	same
`p.nice(VALUE)`	`renice -n VALUE -p PID`	same	same
`p.rlimit(RES)`	`prlimit --pid PID`		`procstat rlimit PID`
`p.rlimit(RES, LIMITS)`	`prlimit --pid PID --RES=SOFT:HARD`

Memory¶

psutil method	Linux	macOS	BSD	Windows
`p.memory_info()`	`ps -o rss,vsz -p PID`	same	same
`p.memory_info_ex()`	`cat /proc/pid/status`
`p.memory_percent()`	`ps -o %mem -p PID`	same	same
`p.memory_maps()`	`pmap PID`	`vmmap PID`	`procstat -v PID`
`p.memory_footprint()`	`smem`, `smemstat`
`p.page_faults()`	`ps -o maj_flt,min_flt -p PID`	`ps -o faults -p PID`	`procstat -r PID`

Threads¶

psutil method	Linux	macOS	BSD	Windows
`p.num_threads()`	`ps -o nlwp -p PID`	same	same
`p.threads()`	`ps -T -p PID`

Files and connections¶

psutil method	Linux	macOS	BSD	Windows
`p.net_connections()`	`ss -p`, `lsof -p PID -i`	`lsof -p PID -i`		`netstat -ano \| findstr PID`
`p.open_files()`	`lsof -p PID`	same	`procstat -f PID`, `fstat`	`handle.exe -p PID`
`p.io_counters()`	`cat /proc/pid/io`
`p.num_fds()`	`ls /proc/pid/fd \| wc -l`
`p.num_handles()`

Signals¶

psutil method	Linux	macOS	BSD	Windows
`p.send_signal()`	`kill -SIG PID`	same	same
`p.suspend()`	`kill -STOP PID`	same	same
`p.resume()`	`kill -CONT PID`	same	same
`p.terminate()`	`kill -TERM PID`	same	same	`taskkill /PID PID`
`p.kill()`	`kill -KILL PID`	same	same	`taskkill /F /PID PID`
`p.wait()`	`tail --pid=PID -f /dev/null`	`lsof -p PID +r 1`	`pwait PID`