Open Hardware Monitor dedicated Linux version is not available to install, however as per the official website we still can use it on Ubuntu, Debian, CetnOS/RHEL. Raspbian or Fedora using Mono with Winforms.
Well, before moving further let’s know a little bit about this free and open-source CPU Temperature monitoring tool meant for Windows 10/8/7. As we know, many times especially while running heavy load applications on PC or Laptop or Server, we want to know the temperature of the internal components of our system. The reason could be various, just for monitoring or troubleshooting any problem keep persisting in hardware. For such reasons, there are quite a good number of free applications available online both in free as well as in open source categories such as Core Temp and more. We already have created a list of best CPU temp. monitoring tool for Windows 10 and Open Hardware Monitor was one of them.
However, when it comes to Linux the numbers will skew to few only, nevertheless, OHM that is an opensource app for Windows can also be run on Linux using Mono.
What is the Open Hardware Monitor?
Open Hardware Monitor is one of the best free and open-source tools available for Windows to check the system’s CPU, Hard disk, and Motherboard temperatures. In particular, system-relevant elements such as the processor, graphics card, hard drives, fan speed, and voltage can be clearly displayed with the help of this. The hard disk information is read out using the SMART (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) process. Furthermore, the information also includes the respective temperatures and the corresponding clock rates.
Apart from all this, we also get info about the maximum values from the relevant hardware components. The user can call up all determined values in the program window, as a system tray or desktop gadget.
But as we know, unfortunately, it is not available for Linux natively and the same has been described on the official as well. However, the good thing is it has been developed using the Mono framework, thus we can use OHM using the Mono Winforms. It is a framework to develop cross-platform applications that can run on Windows, macOS, and Linux systems.
What do we learn in this tutorial?
- Mono WinForms installation on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS focal fossa
- Setup and run Open Hardware Monitor on Linux to check CPU temp.
What do we need to install Mono and OHM?
- A non-root user with
sudoaccess - Working internet connection.
Note: The working OHM on a few Linux could be limited, thus I recommend you to use Psensor instead. Weel, this tutorial is just to make you familar with the steps becuase there is no gaurantee that OHM will work on your system or not.
See: How to install Psensor on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS/18.04/16.04
Steps to install Open Hardware Monitor Linux on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
1. Add Mono WinForms Repository
The Mono project cannot be installed from the default repository of the Ubuntu, therefore, we need to add one for it manually. so that we can easily download and install it. In the below command we add the key that will authenticate and let us make sure whatever package we will get are from the original source. After that, we use a simple echo command to create a separate repo list for Mono. This will not touch our main or official source list file that contains all the links of the Ubuntu main repo.
For Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
sudo apt install gnupg ca-certificates
sudo apt-key adv --keyserver hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80 --recv-keys 3FA7E0328081BFF6A14DA29AA6A19B38D3D831EF
echo "deb https://download.mono-project.com/repo/ubuntu stable-focal main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mono-official-stable.list
For Ubuntu 18.04 LTS
sudo apt install gnupg ca-certificates
sudo apt-key adv --keyserver hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80 --recv-keys 3FA7E0328081BFF6A14DA29AA6A19B38D3D831EF
echo "deb https://download.mono-project.com/repo/ubuntu stable-bionic main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mono-official-stable.list
2. Update the system
After adding the repo, the next step is to run the system update command to make sure the system will flush the cache and rebuild it.
sudo apt update
3. Install Mono
Finally, we have set up everything and its time to download and install the Mono framework on the Linux system:
sudo apt install mono
sudo apt install lm-sensors
4. Download Open Hardware Monitor
Now, go to the official website of OHM and download the application. By default, the downloaded files from the browser will go to Downloads directory. So, after having the Open Hardware Monitor Zipped file, go to Downloads, right-click on the file, and then use the “Open with Archive Manager” and extract the file.
5. Run OHM
Simply, find the OpenHardwareMonitor.exe file and then double click or right-click on that to select “Open with Mono Runtime“. The OHM will automatically get started to show the system temp and other hardware info related values.
Note: Make sure are on the supported hardware to get the values. See the official page.
