Monitoring activities on a macOS system is crucial for ensuring optimal performance, security, and troubleshooting. This article will guide you through various methods to monitor system activities on macOS, including using built-in tools and command-line utilities. These methods are essential for system administrators, developers, and power users who need to keep an eye on system performance and detect any unusual behavior.

Examples:

1. Using Activity Monitor: Activity Monitor is a built-in macOS application that provides a graphical interface to monitor system processes, CPU usage, memory usage, energy impact, disk activity, and network usage.

   • Launching Activity Monitor:

     Open Finder -> Applications -> Utilities -> Activity Monitor

   • Monitoring CPU Usage: In the Activity Monitor window, click on the "CPU" tab to view the CPU usage of all running processes. You can sort the processes by CPU usage to identify which applications are consuming the most resources.

   • Monitoring Memory Usage: Click on the "Memory" tab to see how much memory each process is using. This can help you identify memory leaks or applications that are using excessive memory.

2. Using Terminal Commands: For more advanced monitoring, macOS provides several command-line tools that can be accessed via the Terminal.

   • top: The top command displays a dynamic, real-time view of system processes. It is similar to Activity Monitor but in a text-based format.

     Open Terminal and type:
     top

     Press q to exit the top command.

   • ps: The ps command provides a snapshot of current processes. It can be customized with various options to display specific information.

     Open Terminal and type:
     ps aux

     This command lists all running processes with detailed information such as user, PID, CPU usage, memory usage, and command.

   • vm_stat: The vm_stat command reports virtual memory statistics.

     Open Terminal and type:
     vm_stat

     This command provides information about memory usage, including free, active, inactive, and wired memory.

   • iostat: The iostat command reports CPU and I/O statistics.

     Open Terminal and type:
     iostat

     This command provides information about disk I/O and CPU utilization.

3. Using Console: The Console application allows you to view system logs and diagnostic reports. This can be useful for troubleshooting and identifying issues.

   • Launching Console:

     Open Finder -> Applications -> Utilities -> Console

   • Viewing Logs: In the Console window, you can browse through various log files, including system.log, kernel.log, and application-specific logs. You can also use the search bar to filter logs by keywords.