Displaying a System Resource Widget on Debian GNOME

To display a widget showing system resources (CPU, RAM, etc.) on the upper right corner of your Debian GNOME desktop, you have several options. My preferred tool for this purpose is Conky.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to set up Conky for this use case:

1. Install Conky

Open a terminal and run:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install conky

2. Create a Conky Configuration

Create a configuration file in your home directory:

nano ~/.conkyrc

Paste the following minimal example for an upper right corner widget:

conky.config = {
    alignment = 'top_right',
    gap_x = 20,
    gap_y = 40,
    minimum_width = 200,
    maximum_width = 220,
    own_window = true,
    own_window_type = 'desktop',
    own_window_transparent = true,
    double_buffer = true,
    use_xft = true,
    font = 'DejaVu Sans Mono:size=10',
    update_interval = 1.0,
};

conky.text = [[
${color grey}Uptime:${color} $uptime
${color grey}CPU:${color} $cpu% ${cpubar 4}
${color grey}RAM:${color} $mem/$memmax ($memperc%)
${membar 4}
${color grey}Disk:${color} ${fs_used /}/${fs_size /} (${fs_used_perc /}%)
${fs_bar 4 /}
${color grey}Net Down:${color} ${downspeed enp3s0}  ${color grey}Up:${color} ${upspeed enp3s0}
]];

Note: Replace enp3s0 with your actual network interface (use ip a to check).

3. Start Conky

Launch Conky with:

conky &

4. Autostart Conky at Login (Optional)

Create a .desktop file:

nano ~/.config/autostart/conky.desktop

Paste:

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Exec=conky
Hidden=false
NoDisplay=false
X-GNOME-Autostart-enabled=true
Name=Conky
Comment=System Resource Monitor

Result

The conky.config for this is pretty basic. Change or edit it however you want. enter image description here