node/doc/api/os.markdown

os

Stability: 4 - API Frozen

Provides a few basic operating-system related utility functions.

Use require('os') to access this module.

os.tmpdir()

Returns the operating system's default directory for temp files.

os.endianness()

Returns the endianness of the CPU. Possible values are "BE" or "LE".

os.hostname()

Returns the hostname of the operating system.

os.type()

Returns the operating system name.

os.platform()

Returns the operating system platform. Some of the possible values are "linux", "darwin", "win32", "sunos" ...

Its value is based on OS constant of gyp , but with exceptions in case of Mac OS X, Windows and Solaris.

On Windows its value is always "win32", on Mac OS X its "darwin" and on Solaris its "sunos".

Heres a list of possible values for some platforms:

• Android: "android"
• Windows/Cygwin: "win32"
• Mac OS X: "darwin"
• FreeBSD: "freebsd"
• OpenBSD: "openbsd"
• IBM AIX: "aix"
• Solaris: "sunos"
• Linux & Others: "linux"

os.arch()

Returns the operating system CPU architecture. Possible values are "x64", "arm" and "ia32".

os.release()

Returns the operating system release.

os.uptime()

Returns the system uptime in seconds.

os.loadavg()

Returns an array containing the 1, 5, and 15 minute load averages.

The load average is a measure of system activity, calculated by the operating system and expressed as a fractional number. As a rule of thumb, the load average should ideally be less than the number of logical CPUs in the system.

The load average is a very UNIX-y concept; there is no real equivalent on Windows platforms. That is why this function always returns [0, 0, 0] on Windows.

os.totalmem()

Returns the total amount of system memory in bytes.

os.freemem()

Returns the amount of free system memory in bytes.

os.cpus()

Returns an array of objects containing information about each CPU/core installed: model, speed (in MHz), and times (an object containing the number of milliseconds the CPU/core spent in: user, nice, sys, idle, and irq).

Example inspection of os.cpus:

[ { model: 'Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU         860  @ 2.80GHz',
    speed: 2926,
    times:
     { user: 252020,
       nice: 0,
       sys: 30340,
       idle: 1070356870,
       irq: 0 } },
  { model: 'Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU         860  @ 2.80GHz',
    speed: 2926,
    times:
     { user: 306960,
       nice: 0,
       sys: 26980,
       idle: 1071569080,
       irq: 0 } },
  { model: 'Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU         860  @ 2.80GHz',
    speed: 2926,
    times:
     { user: 248450,
       nice: 0,
       sys: 21750,
       idle: 1070919370,
       irq: 0 } },
  { model: 'Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU         860  @ 2.80GHz',
    speed: 2926,
    times:
     { user: 256880,
       nice: 0,
       sys: 19430,
       idle: 1070905480,
       irq: 20 } },
  { model: 'Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU         860  @ 2.80GHz',
    speed: 2926,
    times:
     { user: 511580,
       nice: 20,
       sys: 40900,
       idle: 1070842510,
       irq: 0 } },
  { model: 'Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU         860  @ 2.80GHz',
    speed: 2926,
    times:
     { user: 291660,
       nice: 0,
       sys: 34360,
       idle: 1070888000,
       irq: 10 } },
  { model: 'Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU         860  @ 2.80GHz',
    speed: 2926,
    times:
     { user: 308260,
       nice: 0,
       sys: 55410,
       idle: 1071129970,
       irq: 880 } },
  { model: 'Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU         860  @ 2.80GHz',
    speed: 2926,
    times:
     { user: 266450,
       nice: 1480,
       sys: 34920,
       idle: 1072572010,
       irq: 30 } } ]

os.networkInterfaces()

Get a list of network interfaces:

{ lo:
   [ { address: '127.0.0.1',
       netmask: '255.0.0.0',
       family: 'IPv4',
       mac: '00:00:00:00:00:00',
       internal: true },
     { address: '::1',
       netmask: 'ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff',
       family: 'IPv6',
       mac: '00:00:00:00:00:00',
       internal: true } ],
  eth0:
   [ { address: '192.168.1.108',
       netmask: '255.255.255.0',
       family: 'IPv4',
       mac: '01:02:03:0a:0b:0c',
       internal: false },
     { address: 'fe80::a00:27ff:fe4e:66a1',
       netmask: 'ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff::',
       family: 'IPv6',
       mac: '01:02:03:0a:0b:0c',
       internal: false } ] }

os.EOL

A constant defining the appropriate End-of-line marker for the operating system.