Uptime Tool — System Uptime & Load Monitor
Display how long the system has been running since last boot, current user sessions, and CPU load averages. Essential for health checks, reboot verification, and capacity monitoring.
Quick Start
# Show system uptime
uptime-tool
# Show uptime plus JSON output for monitoring
uptime-tool --json
Usage
uptime-tool [OPTIONS]
Options:
--json Output as structured JSON
--pretty Human-readable format with emojis (default)
--since Show boot time timestamp
--seconds Show uptime in seconds only
--compare Compare with last-known value (requires --state-file)
--watch N Monitor continuously, N second intervals
--alert N Alert if uptime < N seconds (short uptime = recent reboot)
Examples
# Standard uptime output
uptime-tool
# Machine-readable JSON for monitoring
uptime-tool --json
# Show boot time
uptime-tool --since
# Watch every 30 seconds
uptime-tool --watch 30
# Alert if system just rebooted (< 60 seconds uptime)
uptime-tool --alert 60
# Uptime in seconds for scripts
uptime-tool --seconds
Features
- Standard uptime display with load averages
- JSON output for monitoring pipelines
- Boot time detection (when did the system start?)
- Continuous watch mode for real-time monitoring
- Alert thresholds for restart detection
- Compare mode detects unexpected reboots
- Cross-platform — works on Linux, macOS, BSD