2-Minute Linux Tips: How to use the iotop command

Hi, this is Sandra Henry-Stocker, author of the “Unix as a Second Language” blog on NetworkWorld.
In this Linux tip, we take a look at the iotop command – a useful command that allows us to monitor I/O usage for our disks. Sudo privileges are required. Here’s an example:
$ sudo iotop
Total DISK READ:         0.00 B/s | Total DISK WRITE:        38.19 K/s
Current DISK READ:       0.00 B/s | Current DISK WRITE:       6.37 K/s
    TID  PRIO  USER     DISK READ DISK WRITE>    COMMAND
  12709 be/4 root        0.00 B/s   25.46 K/s [kworker/u4:3-events_unbound]
  13676 be/4 root
      1 be/4 root        0.00 B/s    0.00 B/s systemd --switched-root --system --deserialize=35 rhgb
      2 be/4 root        0.00 B/s    0.00 B/s [kthreadd]
      3 be/4 root        0.00 B/s    0.00 B/s [pool_workqueue_release]
      4 be/0 root        0.00 B/s    0.00 B/s [kworker/R-rcu_g]
      5 be/0 root        0.00 B/s    0.00 B/s [kworker/R-rcu_p]
      6 be/0 root        0.00 B/s    0.00 B/s [kworker/R-slub_]
      7 be/0 root        0.00 B/s    0.00 B/s [kworker/R-netns]
      9 be/0 root        0.00 B/s    0.00 B/s [kworker/0:0H-events_highpri]
     12 be/0 root        0.00 B/s    0.00 B/s [kworker/R-mm_pe]
     14 be/4 root        0.00 B/s    0.00 B/s [rcu_tasks_kthread]
The stats display disk IO activity with the heaviest usages shown first.
That’s your Linux tip for the iostat command.
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