The “powertop” command is a Linux command-line utility that is used to optimize battery power usage. It provides users with information about power usage and can help identify processes that are using excessive power, thus allowing users to adjust their settings and save battery life.
The “powertop” command provides a real-time view of power usage by analyzing system processes and components such as the CPU, hard disk, and network. It can display information about power consumption, power usage by processes, and estimates of battery life.
To use the “powertop” command, you need to have the “powertop” package installed on your Linux system. Once installed, you can run the “powertop” command in a terminal window with root privileges.
The “powertop” command provides users with several features to optimize battery power usage. These include:
- Tuning recommendations: “powertop” provides users with tuning recommendations that can help reduce power consumption. These recommendations can include adjusting the brightness of the screen, turning off unused devices such as Bluetooth, and optimizing power management settings.
- Power usage analysis: “powertop” can analyze power usage by system components and processes. It provides users with detailed information about power usage, allowing them to identify processes that are using excessive power and take appropriate action.
- Power measurement: “powertop” can measure the power consumption of a system, allowing users to see the effects of their settings and optimization efforts in real-time.
If you encounter the below error while running the command powertop:
powertop: command not found
you may try installing the below package as per your choice of distribution:
| Distribution | Command |
| Debian | apt-get install powertop |
| Ubuntu | apt-get install powertop |
| Alpine | apk add powertop |
| Arch Linux | pacman -S powertop |
| Kali Linux | apt-get install powertop |
| CentOS | yum install powertop |
| Fedora | dnf install powertop |
| Raspbian | apt-get install powertop |
powertop Command Examples
1. Calibrate power usage measurements:
# sudo powertop --calibrate
2. Generate HTML power usage report in the current directory:
# sudo powertop --html=power_report.html
3. Tune to optimal settings:
# sudo powertop --auto-tune
Summary
Overall, “powertop” is a powerful utility that can help users optimize battery power usage on their Linux systems. It provides detailed information about power usage and can help identify processes and settings that are affecting power consumption. By following the recommendations provided by “powertop”, users can significantly improve the battery life of their Linux systems.