This has been tested on 12.04 LTS, 13.04, 14.04, and 16.04 LTS
1. Install Conky
sudo apt-get install conky
2. Configure Conky
sudo nano /home/computername/.conkyrc
3. My Conky config file for 16.04
conky.config = { -- Create own window instead of using desktop (required in nautilus) own_window = true, own_window_type = 'normal', own_window_transparent = true, own_window_hints = 'undecorated,below,sticky,skip_taskbar,skip_pager', background = true, -- Use Xft? use_xft = true, font = 'Terminus:size=10', xftalpha = 0.5, uppercase = false, -- Update interval in seconds update_interval = 3.0, total_run_times = 0, -- Use double buffering (reduces flicker, may not work for everyone) double_buffer = true, -- Minimum size of text area maximum_width = 250, -- Draw shades? draw_shades = false, -- Text stuff draw_outline = false, -- amplifies text if = true draw_borders = false, uppercase = false, -- set to yes if you want all text to be in uppercase draw_graph_borders = false, default_color = white, default_shade_color = red, default_outline_color = green, -- Text alignment, other possible values are commented --alignment = top_left, alignment = 'top_right', -- Gap between borders of screen and text gap_x = 12, gap_y = 48, no_buffers = true, cpu_avg_samples = 2, override_utf8_locale = false, } conky.text = [[ ${font Arial:bold:size=18}${color Tan1}BackupPC16 $font$color ${font Arial:bold:size=10}${color Tan1}SYSTEM ${color DarkSlateGray} ${hr 2}$font$color $sysname $kernel on $machine Uptime $alignr $uptime ${font Arial:bold:size=10}${color Tan1}Processors ${color DarkSlateGray} ${hr 2}$font$color ${color grey90}CPU ${hr 2}$color ${freq}MHz Load: ${loadavg} CPU1 ${cpu cpu1}% ${cpubar cpu1} CPU2 ${cpu cpu2}% ${cpubar cpu2} CPU3 ${cpu cpu3}% ${cpubar cpu3} CPU4 ${cpu cpu4}% ${cpubar cpu4} ${cpugraph 000000 ffffff} ${font Arial:bold:size=10}${color Tan1}Network ${color DarkSlateGray} ${hr 2}$font$color ens32 $alignr ${addr ens32} Inbound $alignr ${downspeed ens32} ${downspeedgraph ens32} Outbound $alignr ${upspeed ens32} ${upspeedgraph ens32} ${font Arial:bold:size=10}${color Tan1}Top Processes ${color DarkSlateGray} ${hr 2}$font$color NAME PID CPU% MEM% ${top name 1} ${top pid 1} ${top cpu 1} ${top mem 1} ${top name 2} ${top pid 2} ${top cpu 2} ${top mem 2} ${top name 3} ${top pid 3} ${top cpu 3} ${top mem 3} ${top name 4} ${top pid 4} ${top cpu 4} ${top mem 4} ${top name 5} ${top pid 5} ${top cpu 5} ${top mem 5} ${font Arial:bold:size=10}${color Tan1}Memory ${color DarkSlateGray} ${hr 2}$font$color MEM $alignc $mem / $memmax $alignr $memperc% $membar ${font Arial:bold:size=10}${color Tan1}HDD ${color DarkSlateGray} ${hr 2}$font$color / $alignc ${fs_used /} / ${fs_size /} $alignr ${fs_free_perc /}% ${fs_bar /} swap $alignc $swap / $swapmax $alignr $swapperc% ${swapbar} ]]
3. My Conky config file for 12.04 and 14.04
# UBUNTU-CONKY # A comprehensive conky script, configured for use on # Ubuntu / Debian Gnome, without the need for any external scripts. # # Based on conky-jc and the default .conkyrc. # INCLUDES: # – tail of /var/log/messages # – netstat shows number of connections from your computer and application/PID making it. Kill spyware! # # — Pengo # # Create own window instead of using desktop (required in nautilus) own_window yes own_window_type terminal own_window_transparent yes own_window_hints undecorated,below,sticky,skip_taskbar,skip_pager background yes # Use Xft? use_xft yes xftfont HandelGotD:size=9 xftalpha 0.5 # Update interval in seconds update_interval 3.0 total_run_times 0 # Use double buffering (reduces flicker, may not work for everyone) double_buffer yes # Minimum size of text area minimum_size 200 5 maximum_width 250 # Draw shades? draw_shades no # Text stuff draw_outline no # amplifies text if yes draw_borders no uppercase no # set to yes if you want all text to be in uppercase draw_graph_borders no default_color white default_shade_color red default_outline_color green # Text alignment, other possible values are commented #alignment top_left alignment top_right # Gap between borders of screen and text gap_x 12 gap_y 48 no_buffers yes cpu_avg_samples 2 override_utf8_locale no TEXT ${font Arial:bold:size=20}${color Tan1}BackupPC $font$color ${font Arial:bold:size=10}${color Tan1}SYSTEM ${color DarkSlateGray} ${hr 2}$font$color $sysname $kernel on $machine Uptime $alignr $uptime ${font Arial:bold:size=10}${color Tan1}Processors ${color DarkSlateGray} ${hr 2}$font$color ${color grey90}CPU ${hr 2}$color ${freq}MHz Load: ${loadavg} CPU0 ${cpu cpu0}% ${cpubar cpu0} CPU1 ${cpu cpu1}% ${cpubar cpu1} ${cpugraph 000000 ffffff} ${font Arial:bold:size=10}${color Tan1}Network ${color DarkSlateGray} ${hr 2}$font$color eth0 $alignr ${addr eth0} Inbound $alignr ${downspeed eth0} kb/s ${downspeedgraph eth0} Outbound $alignr ${upspeed eth0} kb/s ${upspeedgraph eth0} ${font Arial:bold:size=10}${color Tan1}Top Processes ${color DarkSlateGray} ${hr 2}$font$color NAME PID CPU% MEM% ${top name 1} ${top pid 1} ${top cpu 1} ${top mem 1} ${top name 2} ${top pid 2} ${top cpu 2} ${top mem 2} ${top name 3} ${top pid 3} ${top cpu 3} ${top mem 3} ${top name 4} ${top pid 4} ${top cpu 4} ${top mem 4} ${top name 5} ${top pid 5} ${top cpu 5} ${top mem 5} ${font Arial:bold:size=10}${color Tan1}Memory ${color DarkSlateGray} ${hr 2}$font$color MEM $alignc $mem / $memmax $alignr $memperc% $membar ${font Arial:bold:size=10}${color Tan1}HDD ${color DarkSlateGray} ${hr 2}$font$color / $alignc ${fs_used /} / ${fs_size /} $alignr ${fs_free_perc /}% ${fs_bar /} swap $alignc $swap / $swapmax $alignr $swapperc% ${swapbar}
4. Set Conky to Autostart from the GUI by going to “Startup Applications and Preferences” and having it start the code “conky &”