Monitoring your system’s temperature is critical, especially when dealing with servers, laptops under heavy load, or custom-built PCs. High temperatures can lead to reduced performance, hardware damage, or sudden shutdowns. Fortunately, Linux offers powerful tools to monitor CPU, GPU, and hard drive temperatures in real-time.

Here’s how you can view and monitor system temperatures on a Linux machine.

1. Install lm-sensors

lm-sensors is the most widely used tool for reading hardware temperature, voltage, and fan speed.

To install:

  • Debian/Ubuntu:

sudo apt install lm-sensors

  • RedHat/CentOS/Fedora:

sudo dnf install lm_sensors

After installation:

Run the sensor detection script:

sudo sensors-detect

Answer “yes” to the prompts. Then, run:

sensors

Example Output:

coretemp-isa-0000
Adapter: ISA adapter
Core 0: +45.0°C
Core 1: +46.0°C

2. Monitor Temperature in Real Time

You can use “watch” to view temperatures at regular intervals:

watch -n 2 sensors

This refreshes the output every 2 seconds.

 3. Check GPU Temperature (NVIDIA/AMD)

NVIDIA:

Install NVIDIA tools:

sudo apt install nvidia-smi

Then run:

nvidia-smi --query-gpu=temperature.gpu --format=csv

AMD (via radeontop or sensors):

Install:

sudo apt install radeontop

Or rely on:

sensors | grep temp

 4. Check Hard Disk Temperature

You can use hddtemp or smartctl from the smartmontools package.

To install:

sudo apt install smartmontools

Check drive temperature:

sudo smartctl -A /dev/sda | grep Temperature

5. Graphical Temperature Monitoring Tools

If you prefer GUI-based tools:

  • Psensor: Displays CPU, GPU, HDD temperatures in real time.

sudo apt install psensor

  • GNOME Sensors Applet: Ideal for GNOME desktop environments.

 6. Automated Monitoring & Alerts

You can use cron jobs or monitoring tools like Nagios, Zabbix, or Netdata to:

  • Set threshold alerts

  • Log temperature over time

  • Trigger scripts or shutdown on overheating

Graphical Interfaces for Temperature Monitoring

4. Psensor

Psensor is a graphical application designed for monitoring hardware temperatures. It displays real-time information about the temperature of your CPU, hard drives, GPU, and fan speeds. Psensor relies on the lm-sensors and hddtemp packages to collect sensor data.
To install Psensor, run:

sudo apt install psensor

After installation, you can launch it from your system’s application menu. Psensor is user-friendly and offers graphical charts to easily track temperature trends over time, making it ideal for desktop users who want a visual overview of their system’s thermal status.

5. Conky

Conky is a highly customizable system monitor that runs on the X Window System. It can display a wide variety of system information directly on your desktop, including CPU temperature, memory usage, network activity, and more.
To use Conky for temperature monitoring, you will need to configure it with a .conkyrc configuration file. This allows you to define exactly what information is shown and how it is displayed. Conky is lightweight and highly adaptable, making it a popular choice for users who prefer a clean and integrated desktop monitoring solution.

 Conclusion

Monitoring temperature on Linux is both simple and flexible — whether you prefer command-line tools or full graphical dashboards. Regular checks can prevent overheating, hardware failures, and costly downtime.