Howto Set Up Conky On Ubuntu Jaunty

I was not using Conky at Ubuntu Jaunty until now, because i am too lazy to even edit pre defined conky configs : ).Today i found a couple of simple and cool conky configs so i want write a blog post at the same time i am installing and editing my conky.

Yep we are going to use the conky config at the screenshot you see(it is not taken from my desktop, i am installing it same time i am writing this blog post :) ).Also i will give the ultimate conky source which is located at the ubuntuforums.You can find different configs with screenshots, you can solve your issues at that thread also.

Let's add the repository first :

For Ubuntu Jaunty :

$sudo wget -q http://www.kaivalagi.com/ubuntu/ppa/m-buck-conky-jaunty.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/m-buck-conky-jaunty.list

For Ubuntu Intrepid :

$sudo wget -q http://www.kaivalagi.com/ubuntu/ppa/m-buck-conky-intrepid.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/m-buck-conky-intrepid.list

For Ubuntu Hardy :

$sudo wget -q http://www.kaivalagi.com/ubuntu/ppa/m-buck-conky-hardy.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/m-buck-conky-hardy.list

Add the repository public key :

$wget -q http://www.kaivalagi.com/ubuntu/ppa/m-buck-conky-key.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add -

Now update your repository list and install packages we need :

$sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install conky

Download this config file to your home directory :

$cd && wget -c http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/83257/.conkyrc

Create "scripts" directory under your home directory and download the scripts (extract, copy there) under scripts directory :

PS : Before entering that damn long commands,you should know that i did not zip those files, sorry for the long commands : ) I am just configuring/installing it same time i am blogging :)

$cd && mkdir scripts && cd scripts && wget -c http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/83257/conkyscripts.zip && unzip conkyscripts.zip && rm conkyscripts.zip && mv conkyscripts/*.* ~/scripts/ && rm -rf conkyscripts

Now download the fonts and move them to ~/.fonts directory :

$cd && wget -c http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/83257/conkyfonts.zip && unzip conkyfonts.zip && cp ~/conkyfonts/*.* ~/.fonts/ && rm -rf ~/conkyfonts && rm conkyfonts.zip

Now open your .conkyrc file (you will re-open it a lot :) ) :

$gedit ~/.conkyrc

And look for this line :

${execpi 300 python ~/scripts/gmail_parser.py yourgmailusername yourgmailpassword 3}

Change yourgmailusername and yourgmailpassword with your Gmail username and password.(be sure nobody is using your computer with your username because the password and the username is not encrypted as you can see!Be warned, it is not secure to write your username and password to a plain file.However you can remove that line, so you can disable the gmail feature at the config.)

If you want to use the Gmail feature, you also need to install this package :

$sudo apt-get install python-feedparser

Let's continue...If you want to use HDD temperature and Cpu temperature feature, you also are going to install hddtemp and lm-sensors packages :

$sudo apt-get install hddtemp lm-sensors

When installing hddtemp, a couple of questions will be asked.Start the daemon at boot, and hit enter when it asks for IP and Port.Also configure your lm-sensors with $sudo sensors-detect command.(If you do not understand anything at configuration screen, just enter YES to everything.)

Now for weather part, you have to follow this link and enter your zip code OR your city.You will be forwarded to an URL like (This is for Ankara, Turkey and i am not living there.I just entered a random city from Turkey :) )

http://weather.yahoo.com/forecast/TUXX0003.html

Copy the location ID (in this example : TUXX0003 ) end edit pogodynka.sh :

gedit ~/scripts/pogodynka.sh

Search for kod=USID0025 at that file and replace the ID with yours.(I do not know who wrote this script either it's language.Do not blame me, at screenshot it looks simple and cool :) )

Before saving the file.If you want to use Celsius instead of Farenheit :

Find this line :

w3m -dump http://weather.yahoo.com/forecast/"$kod".html | grep -A21 "Current" | sed 's/DEG/°/g' > $plik

And replace it with :

w3m -dump http://weather.yahoo.com/forecast/"$kod"_c.html | grep -A21 “Current” | sed ’s/DEG/°/g’ > $plik

Save it.Now create an empty file at your home directory called weather :

$cd && touch weather

PS : I also gave chmod 777 to weather file, since i did not see any images near weather.

Now, you can customize your .conkyrc file for your needs.Default conkyrc file monitors eth1 as network.I changed it to eth0.You can also make another line for wlan0 or so
${font PizzaDude Bullets:size=16}v${font} Up: ${upspeed eth0} Kb/s
${font PizzaDude Bullets:size=16}r${font} Down: ${downspeed eth0} Kb/s

${font PizzaDude Bullets:size=16}M${font} Upload: ${totalup eth0}
${font PizzaDude Bullets:size=16}S${font} Download: ${totaldown eth0}

We need to add conky to start up now.Instead of just adding conky command to your start up, i advise you to make a script with sleep (look below) since i had problems with compiz at Ubuntu Intrepid :

I am creating a conky_start.sh file under home directory and add it to start up

$cd && touch conky_start.sh && chmod +x conky_start.sh && gedit conky_start.sh

And add these lines to that file and save it :

#!/bin/bash
sleep 30 &&
exec conky -d -c ~/.conkyrc &
exit

Now go to System > Preferences > Start Up Applications (Start Up Applications is renamed at Ubuntu Jaunty, older Ubuntu versions like Intrepid uses different name, if i remember correctly, it is sessions.)

Click Add.Name it Conky Start Up or what ever you want.For command browse the conky_start_sh.

Reboot your box and have fun!

You can always visit this thread to get some help, new configs etc.

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