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<!DOCTYPE article PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.1.2//EN"
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"http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.1.2/docbookx.dtd" [
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<!ENTITY legal SYSTEM "legal.xml">
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<!ENTITY appversion "2.24.4">
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<!ENTITY manrevision "2.2">
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<!ENTITY date "March 2009">
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<!ENTITY app "System Monitor">
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(Do not remove this comment block.)
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Maintained by the GNOME Documentation Project
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http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gdp
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Template version: 2.0 beta
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Template last modified Apr 11, 2002
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<!-- =============Document Header ============================= -->
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<article id="index" lang="en">
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<!-- please do not change the id; for translations, change lang to -->
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<!-- appropriate code -->
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<title>&app; Manual V&manrevision;</title>
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<holder>Paul Cutler</holder>
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<holder>Sun Microsystems</holder>
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<holder>Bill Day</holder>
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<!-- translators: uncomment this:
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<holder>ME-THE-TRANSLATOR (Latin translation)</holder>
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<publisher role="maintainer">
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<publishername> GNOME Documentation Project </publishername>
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<!-- This file contains link to license for the documentation (GNU FDL), and
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other legal stuff such as "NO WARRANTY" statement. Please do not change
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<firstname>Sun</firstname>
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<surname>GNOME Documentation Team</surname>
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<affiliation><orgname>Sun Microsystems</orgname></affiliation>
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<firstname>Bill</firstname>
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<surname>Day</surname>
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<affiliation><address><email>billday@bellatlantic.net</email></address></affiliation>
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<firstname>Paul</firstname>
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<surname>Cutler</surname>
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<orgname>GNOME Documentation Project</orgname>
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<address><email>pcutler@foresightlinux.org</email></address>
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<!-- This is appropriate place for other contributors: translators,
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maintainers, etc. Commented out by default.
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<othercredit role="translator">
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<firstname>Latin</firstname>
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<surname>Translator 1</surname>
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<orgname>Latin Translation Team</orgname>
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<address> <email>translator@gnome.org</email> </address>
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<contrib>Latin translation</contrib>
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<releaseinfo revision="2.28" role="review">
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<ulink type="review" url="http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=500559"/>
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<revnumber>System Monitor Manual V&manrevision;</revnumber>
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<date>March 2009</date>
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<para role="author">Paul Cutler
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<email>pcutler@foresightlinux.org</email>
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<para role="publisher">GNOME Documentation Project</para>
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<revnumber>System Monitor Manual V2.1</revnumber>
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<date>February 2004</date>
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<para role="author">Sun GNOME Documentation Team</para>
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<para role="publisher">GNOME Documentation Project</para>
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<revnumber>System Monitor Manual V2.0</revnumber>
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<date>November 2002</date>
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<para role="author">Bill Day <email>billday@bellatlantic.net</email>
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<para role="publisher">GNOME Documentation Project</para>
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<revnumber>Procman Manual V0.11</revnumber>
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<date>January 2002</date>
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<para role="author">Bill Day
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<email>billday@bellatlantic.net</email>
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<para role="publisher">GNOME Documentation Project</para>
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This manual describes version &appversion; of &app;.
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<title>Feedback</title>
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To report a bug or make a suggestion regarding the &app; application or this manual, follow the directions in the <ulink url="ghelp:gnome-feedback" type="help">GNOME Feedback Page</ulink>.
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<!-- Translators may also add here feedback address for translations -->
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<abstract role="description">
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&app; gives users a graphical user interface for monitoring CPU,
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network, and memory activities as well as a way for viewing
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and stopping system processes.
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<indexterm zone="index">
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<primary>System Monitor</primary>
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<indexterm zone="index">
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<primary>gnome-system-monitor</primary>
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<indexterm zone="index">
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<primary>procman</primary>
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<!-- ============= Document Body ============================= -->
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<!-- ============= Introduction ============================== -->
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<sect1 id="gnome-system-monitor-intro">
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<title>Introduction</title>
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The <application>&app;</application> application enables you to display basic system information and monitor system processes, usage of system resources, and file systems. You can also use <application>&app;</application> to modify the behavior of your system.
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The <application>&app;</application> window contains four tabbed sections:
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<guilabel>System</guilabel>
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<para>Displays various basic information about the computer's hardware and software.</para>
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<para>Distribution version</para>
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<para>Linux Kernel version</para>
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<para>GNOME version</para>
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<para>Installed memory</para>
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<para>Processors and speeds</para>
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<para>Currently available disk space</para>
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<guilabel>Processes</guilabel>
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Shows active processes, and how processes are related to each other. Provides detailed information about individual processes, and enables you to control active processes.
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<guilabel>Resources</guilabel>
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Displays the current usage of the following system resources:
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CPU (central processing unit) time
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Memory and swap space
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<guilabel>File Systems</guilabel>
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Lists all mounted file systems along with basic information about each.
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<!-- ============= Getting Started =========================== -->
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<sect1 id="gnome-system-monitor-getting-started">
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<title>Getting Started</title>
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<!-- ============= To Start System Monitor ============================ -->
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<sect2 id="gnome-system-monitor-to-start">
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<title>To Start &app;</title>
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<para>You can start <application>&app;</application> in the following ways:</para>
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<term><guimenu>System</guimenu> menu</term>
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Choose <menuchoice><guimenu>Administration</guimenu> <guimenuitem>System Monitor</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.
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<term>Command line</term>
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Execute the following command: <command>gnome-system-monitor</command></para>
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<sect2 id="gnome-system-monitor-when-you-start">
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<title>When You Start &app;</title>
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When you start <application>&app;</application>, the following window is displayed:
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<figure id="gnome-system-monitor-window">
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<title>&app; Window</title>
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<imagedata fileref="figures/gnome-system-monitor_window.png" format="PNG"/>
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<textobject> <phrase>Shows System Monitor main window.</phrase>
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The <application>&app;</application> window contains the following elements:
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The menus on the menubar contain all of the commands that you need to work with <application>&app;</application>.
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<term>Display area</term>
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The display area contains the system monitor information. The display area contains the following tabbed sections:
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<guilabel>System</guilabel>
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Contains a list of basic system properties, such as system software versions and hardware specifications and status.
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<guilabel>Processes</guilabel>
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Contains a list of processes organized as a table, a list of load averages over the past few minutes, and an <guibutton>End Process</guibutton> button.
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<guilabel>Resources</guilabel>
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Contains a <guilabel>CPU History</guilabel> graph, a <guilabel>Memory and Swap History</guilabel> graph, and a <guilabel>Network History</guilabel> graph.
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<guilabel>File Systems</guilabel>
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Contains a table of currently mounted file systems.
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<term>Statusbar</term>
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The statusbar displays information about current <application>&app;</application> activity and contextual information about the menu items.
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<!-- ================ Usage ================================ -->
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<!-- This section should describe basic usage of the application. -->
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<sect1 id="gnome-system-monitor-usage">
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<sect2 id="gnome-system-monitor-display-basic-info">
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<title>To Display Basic System Information</title>
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To display basic system information, select the <guilabel>System</guilabel> tab.
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In the <guilabel>System</guilabel> tab, information is organized into three groups:
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<sect2 id="gnome-system-monitor-display-processlist">
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<title>To Display the Process List</title>
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To display the process list, select the <guilabel>Processes</guilabel> tab.
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In the <guilabel>Processes</guilabel> tab, the processes are organized as a table. The rows of the table display information about the processes. The columns represent information fields for the processes, such as the name of the user who owns the process, the amount of memory currently being used by the process, and so on. From left to right, the <guilabel>Processes</guilabel> tab displays the following columns by default:
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<para>Process Name</para>
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For information about how to change the columns displayed in the process list, see <xref linkend="gnome-system-monitor-prefs-proclist"/>.
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<sect3 id="gnome-system-monitor-display-processlist-child">
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<title>Parent Processes and Child Processes</title>
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A parent process is a process that spawns another process. The spawned process is a child process of the original parent process. By default, <application>&app;</application> does not show process dependencies. For information about how to change the default display behavior, see <xref linkend="gnome-system-monitor-modify-processlist-viewdeps"/>.
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<sect3 id="gnome-system-monitor-display-processlist-priority">
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<title>Process Priority and Nice Values</title>
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Processes run in order of priority: high-priority processes run before low-priority processes. Child processes generally inherit their priority from their parent process.
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The priority of a process is set by the nice value of the process, as follows:
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A nice value of 0 means that the process has normal priority.
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The higher the nice value, the lower the priority.
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The lower the nice value, the higher the priority.
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For information about how to change the priority of a process, see <xref linkend="gnome-system-monitor-change-priority"/>.
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<sect2 id="gnome-system-monitor-sort-processlist">
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<title>To Sort the Process List</title>
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To sort the process list, perform the following steps:
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Select the <guilabel>Processes</guilabel> tab to display the process list.
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By default, the processes are listed by name, in alphabetical order. To list the processes in reverse alphabetical order, click on the <guilabel>Process Name</guilabel> column header.
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Click on any column header to sort the processes by the information in that column, in alphabetical or numerical order.
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Click again on the column header to sort the data in reverse alphabetical or reverse numerical order.
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<sect2 id="gnome-system-monitor-modify-processlist">
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<title>To Modify the Contents of the Process List</title>
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You can modify the contents of the process list in several ways.
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<sect3 id="gnome-system-monitor-modify-processlist-all">
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<title>To Show All Processes</title>
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To show all processes in the process list, perform the following steps:
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Select the <guilabel>Processes</guilabel> tab to display the process list.
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<guimenu>View</guimenu>
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<guimenuitem>All Processes</guimenuitem>
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<sect3 id="gnome-system-monitor-modify-processlist-my">
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<title>To Show Only Processes Owned by the Current User</title>
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To show only the processes that are owned by the current user, perform the following steps:
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Select the <guilabel>Processes</guilabel> tab to display the process list.
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<guimenu>View</guimenu>
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<guimenuitem>My Processes</guimenuitem>
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<sect3 id="gnome-system-monitor-modify-processlist-active">
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<title>To Show Only Active Processes</title>
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To show only the active processes in the process list, perform the following steps:
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Select the <guilabel>Processes</guilabel> tab to display the process list.
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<guimenu>View</guimenu>
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<guimenuitem>Active Processes</guimenuitem>
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<sect3 id="gnome-system-monitor-modify-processlist-viewdeps">
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<title>To Show Dependencies</title>
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To show process dependencies in the process list, perform the following steps:
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Select the <guilabel>Processes</guilabel> tab to display the process list.
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Choose <menuchoice><guimenu>View</guimenu><guimenuitem>Dependencies</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.
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If the <guimenuitem>Dependencies</guimenuitem> menu item is selected, the processes are listed as follows:
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Parent processes are indicated by a triangle symbol to the left of the process name. Click on the triangle symbol to show or hide the associated child processes.
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Child processes are indented, and listed with their parent process.
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If the <guimenuitem>Dependencies</guimenuitem> menu item is not selected:
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Parent processes and child processes are not distinguishable.
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All processes are listed in alphabetical order.
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<sect2 id="gnome-system-monitor-memory-map">
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<title>To Display Memory Maps for a Process</title>
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To display memory maps for a process, perform the following steps:
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Select the <guilabel>Processes</guilabel> tab to display the process list.
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Select the process in the process list.
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Choose <menuchoice><guimenu>View</guimenu><guimenuitem>Memory Maps</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.
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The <guilabel>Memory Maps</guilabel> dialog displays the information in tabular format. The name of the process is displayed above the memory-map table. From left to right, the <guilabel>Memory Maps</guilabel> dialog displays the following columns:
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<term><guilabel>Filename</guilabel></term>
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The location of a shared library that is currently used by the process. If this field is blank, the memory information in this row describes memory that is owned by the process whose name is displayed above the memory-map table.
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<term><guilabel>VM Start</guilabel></term>
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The address at which the memory segment begins.
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<term><guilabel>VM End</guilabel></term>
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The address at which the memory segment ends.
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<term><guilabel>VM Size</guilabel></term>
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The size of the memory segment.
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<term><guilabel>Flags</guilabel></term>
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The following flags describe the different types of memory-segment access that the process can have:
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The memory segment is private to the process, and is not accessible to other processes.
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The process has permission to read from the memory segment.
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The memory segment is shared with other processes.
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The process has permission to write into the memory segment.
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The process has permission to execute instructions that are contained within the memory segment.
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<term><guilabel>VM Offset</guilabel></term>
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The virtual memory offset of the memory segment.
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<term><guilabel>Device</guilabel></term>
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The major and minor device numbers of the device on which the shared library filename is located.
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<term><guilabel>Inode</guilabel></term>
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The inode on the device from which the shared library location is loaded into memory.
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Click on any column header to sort the data by the information in that column, in alphabetical or numerical order. Click again on the column header to sort the data in reverse alphabetical or reverse numerical order.
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Click <guibutton>Close</guibutton> to close the <guilabel>Memory Maps</guilabel> dialog.
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<sect2 id="gnome-system-monitor-change-priority">
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<title>To Change the Priority of a Process</title>
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To change the priority of a process, perform the following steps:
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Select the <guilabel>Processes</guilabel> tab to display the process list.
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Select the process for which you want to change the priority.
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Choose <menuchoice><guimenu>Edit</guimenu><guimenuitem>Change Priority</guimenuitem></menuchoice>. The <guilabel>Change Priority</guilabel> dialog is displayed.
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Use the slider to set the nice value of the process.
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The nice value sets the priority of the process: the lower the nice value, the higher the priority.
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To specify a nice value lower than zero, non-root users must enter the root password.
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Click on the <guibutton>Change Priority</guibutton> button.
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<sect2 id="gnome-system-monitor-end-process">
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<title>To End a Process</title>
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To end a process, perform the following steps:
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Select the <guilabel>Processes</guilabel> tab to display the process list.
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Select the process that you want to end.
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Choose <menuchoice><guimenu>Edit</guimenu><guimenuitem>End Process</guimenuitem></menuchoice>, or click on the <guibutton>End Process</guibutton> button.
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By default, a confirmation alert is displayed. For information about how to display or hide the confirmation alert, see <xref linkend="gnome-system-monitor-prefs-proclist"/>.
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Click on the <guibutton>End Process</guibutton> button to confirm that you want to end the process. <application>&app;</application> forces the process to finish normally.
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This is the preferred way to stop a process.
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<sect2 id="gnome-system-monitor-terminate-process">
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<title>To Terminate a Process</title>
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To terminate a process, perform the following steps:
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Select the <guilabel>Processes</guilabel> tab to display the process list.
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Select the process that you want to terminate.
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Choose <menuchoice><guimenu>Edit</guimenu><guimenuitem>Kill Process</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.
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By default, a confirmation alert is displayed. For information about how to display or hide the confirmation alert, see <xref linkend="gnome-system-monitor-prefs-proclist"/>.
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Click on the <guibutton>Kill Process</guibutton> button to confirm that you want to terminate the process. <application>&app;</application> forces the process to finish immediately.
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You usually terminate a process only if you cannot end the process normally as described in <xref linkend="gnome-system-monitor-end-process"/>.
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<sect2 id="gnome-system-monitor-cpu">
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<title>To Monitor CPU Usage</title>
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To monitor CPU usage, select the <guilabel>Resources</guilabel> tab.
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<application>&app;</application> displays the CPU usage history in graphical format. Underneath the graph, <application>&app;</application> also displays the current CPU usage, as a percentage.
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<sect2 id="gnome-system-monitor-memory">
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<title>To Monitor Memory and Swap Usage</title>
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To monitor memory and swap usage, select the <guilabel>Resources</guilabel> tab.
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<application>&app;</application> displays the memory usage history and the swap usage history in graphical format. Underneath the graph, <application>&app;</application> also displays the following numerical values:
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Used memory out of total memory
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Used swap out of total swap
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<sect2 id="gnome-system-monitor-network">
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<title>To Monitor Network Activity</title>
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To monitor network activity, select the <guilabel>Resources</guilabel> tab.
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<application>&app;</application> displays the network history in graphical format. Underneath the graph, <application>&app;</application> also displays the following numerical values:
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Received data per second and total
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Sent data per second and total
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<sect2 id="gnome-system-monitor-disk">
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<title>To Monitor File Systems</title>
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To monitor file systems, select the <guilabel>File Systems</guilabel> tab.
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<application>&app;</application> displays mounted file systems in tabular format. From left to right, the table displays the following columns:
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<para>Location of block file</para>
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<para>Mount point (directory to access) of device</para>
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<para>File system type</para>
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<para>Total capacity</para>
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<para>Amount of space not in use</para>
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<para>Amount of space which can be used</para>
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<para>Amount of space which is used (and percentage of Total)</para>
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<sect1 id="gnome-system-monitor-prefs">
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<title>Preferences</title>
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<para>To configure <application>&app;</application>, choose <menuchoice><guimenu>Edit</guimenu><guimenuitem>Preferences</guimenuitem></menuchoice>. The <guilabel>Preferences</guilabel> dialog contains the following tabbed sections:
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<sect2 id="gnome-system-monitor-prefs-proclist">
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<title>Processes</title>
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<guilabel>Behavior</guilabel>
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<guilabel>Update interval in seconds</guilabel>
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Use this spin box to specify the interval at which you want to update the process list.
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<guilabel>Enable smooth refresh</guilabel>
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Select this option to refresh smoothly.
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<guilabel>Alert before ending or killing processes</guilabel>
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Select this option to display a confirmation alert when you end a process or terminate a process.
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<guilabel>Divide CPU usage by CPU count</guilabel>
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Select this to divide each process' CPU% in the Processes table by the number of CPUs.
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<guilabel>Information Fields</guilabel>
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Use the following options to select which fields are displayed in the process list:
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<guilabel>Process Name</guilabel>
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Select this option to display the name of the process. This column may also contain an icon to indicate the application that is associated with the process.
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<guilabel>User</guilabel>
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Select this option to display the name of the user who owns the process.
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<guilabel>Status</guilabel>
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Select this option to display the current status of the process: sleeping or running.
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<guilabel>Virtual Memory</guilabel>
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Select this option to display the amount of virtual memory that is allocated to the process.
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<guilabel>Resident Memory</guilabel>
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Select this option to display the amount of physical memory that is allocated to the process.
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<guilabel>Writable Memory</guilabel>
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Select this option to display the amount of memory that can be written by the process.
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<guilabel>Shared Memory</guilabel>
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Select this option to display the amount of shared memory that is allocated to the process. Shared memory is memory that can be accessed by another process.
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<guilabel>X Server Memory</guilabel>
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Select this option to display the amount of X server memory that is used by the process.
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<guilabel>% CPU</guilabel>
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Select this option to display the percentage of CPU time currently being used by the process.
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<guilabel>CPU Time</guilabel>
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Select this option to display the amount of CPU time that has been used by the process.
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<guilabel>Started</guilabel>
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Select this option to display when the process began running.
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<guilabel>Nice</guilabel>
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Select this option to display the nice value of the process. The nice value sets the priority of the process: the lower the nice value, the higher the priority.
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<guilabel>ID</guilabel>
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Select this option to display the process identifier, also known as the pid. The pid is a number that uniquely identifies the process. You can use the pid to manipulate the process on the command line.
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<guilabel>Memory</guilabel>
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Select this option to display the amount of system memory that is currently being used by the process.
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<guilabel>Security Context</guilabel>
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Select this option to display the security context in which the process is running.
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<guilabel>Command Line</guilabel>
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Select this option to display the command line that was used to start the process, including arguments.
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<sect2 id="gnome-system-monitor-prefs-resmon">
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<title>Resources</title>
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<term><guilabel>Graphs</guilabel></term>
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<guilabel>Update interval in seconds</guilabel>
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Use this spin box to specify how often you want to update the <application>&app;</application> graphs.
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<guilabel>Show network speed in bits</guilabel>
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Select this option to use bits instead of bytes for displaying network speed in the <application>&app;</application> graphs.
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<sect2 id="gnome-system-monitor-prefs-filesystems">
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<title>File Systems</title>
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<term><guilabel>Behavior</guilabel></term>
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<guilabel>Update interval in seconds</guilabel>
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Use this spin box to specify how often you want to update the <guilabel>File Systems</guilabel> table.
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<guilabel>Show all file systems</guilabel>
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Select this option to show all file systems, including temporary and system ones.