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This article will show you how to Check Linux System Uptime. When was the last time you turned off your Linux system or started it up again? Can’t recall? For your system to run smoothly and to avoid downtime, you need to keep the uptime as high as possible. When troubleshooting, it is also important to know how long your system has been running. You don’t have to be a tech expert to be able to check how long your system has been running.
The Linux Operating System has a lot of commands that any Linux expert or power user, like a system administrator, needs to know well. Uptime is a command that tells you how long your system has been running, the current time, the number of users who have sessions open, and the average system load for the last 1, 5, and 15 minutes. It can also filter the information that is shown at once based on the options you choose. Let’s look at how to Check Linux System Uptime how long your Linux system has been running.
Check Linux System Uptime using htop command
Htop is a fancier and cleaner version of the Top command. It makes use of colors and nicely separates the text fields so that users can easily tell what is what. Most Linux distributions don’t come with Htop already installed, so here’s how to add it.
- On Ubuntu/Debian-based distros
- sudo apt install htop
- On Fedora/CentOS
- sudo dnf install htop
- On Arch/Arch-based distros
- sudo pacman install htop
- On OpenSUSE
- sudo zypper install htop
- Once everything is set up, type the following command and press enter.
- htop
- Also, htop has a lot of options, which you can see a list of by typing htop –help. One of our favorites is the -t option, which uses a tree structure to show where the active and running processes are.
Check Linux system uptime using uptime command
- The uptime command is used to determine the duration your Linux server or computer has been running.
- It offers two options: -s and -p.
- Option -s stands for “uptime” and provides information about when your PC was last used.
- To use the -s option, execute the following command: uptime -s
- The pretty format or -p option displays only the hours and minutes since uptime.
- To utilize the -p option, follow:
- uptime -p
Check Linux System Uptime using top command
- The top command is a built-in command line tool used in Linux PCs.
- It is used to check the active and running processes.
- It provides information on memory usage, average load, total swap/cache usage, and uptime.
- The syntax to use the top command is as follows: top
Check Linux System Uptime using neofetch command
Neofetch is a command that is mostly used to check your Linux system’s version or to get information about it. But you can also use it to see how long Linux has been running. Use the following commands to set up neofetch:
- For Ubuntu/Debian-based distros
- sudo apt install neofetch
- For Fedora/CentOS
- sudo dnf install neofetch
- For Arch-based distros
- sudo pacman -S neofetch
- For OpenSUSE
- sudo zypper install neofetch
- To use the command, launch the terminal and type the following command:
- neofetch
Check Linux System Uptime using W command
- Launch the terminal.
- Type “w”.
- The “w” command will provide information about the users who are logged in and their activities.
- It will also display the system’s uptime, indicating how long it has been running.
- Additionally, the “w” command shows the number of users currently logged in.
- The average load of the system is also displayed.
- Execute the command “w” to obtain the desired information.
What Is System Uptime?
System uptime is the amount of time since a computer’s last restart or shut down that it has been running. It is a way to measure how stable and reliable a system is. It can also be used to figure out how long a system has been around. On Linux, the uptime is counted from the time the operating system starts until it is shut down or restarted. You can see uptime information with different commands, such as uptime, which gives you a quick summary of the system’s uptime, the average load, and the number of tasks that are currently running.