Saving vmstat with timestamp into a file on Redhat Linux Machine

By default vmstat output doesnot include timestamp and therefore, if you want to save it with the timestamp into a file on Redhat Linux machine, you can use following command.

$vmstat -n [delay [count]] | awk '{now=strftime("%Y-%m-%d %T "); print now $0}'>{file path}

e.g. vmstat -n 1 30 | awk '{now=strftime("%Y-%m-%d %T "); print now $0}'>/tmp/vmstat.txt
where:

• n -> display vmstat header once
• 1 -> update vmstat every second
• 30 ->only display 30 records
• awk '{now=strftime("%Y-%m-%d %T "); print now $0}' -> print timestamp
• >/tmp/vmstat.txt -> path where the vmstat is saved

Final result:

2012-03-09 12:05:25 procs -----------memory---------- ---swap-- -----io---- --system-- -----cpu------
2012-03-09 12:05:25  r  b   swpd   free   buff  cache   si   so    bi    bo   in   cs us sy id wa st
2012-03-09 12:05:25  1  0      0 23199964 473756 6719956    0    0     0     2    0    0  0  0 100  0  0
2012-03-09 12:05:26  0  0      0 23199964 473756 6719956    0    0     0     0  118  232  0  0 100  0  0
2012-03-09 12:05:27  0  0      0 23199964 473756 6719956    0    0     0     0  123  260  0  0 100  0  0
2012-03-09 12:05:28  0  0      0 23199964 473756 6719956    0    0     0     0  111  234  0  0 100  0  0
2012-03-09 12:05:29  0  0      0 23199964 473756 6719956    0    0     0     0  133  276  0  0 100  0  0
2012-03-09 12:05:30  1  0      0 23200088 473756 6719956    0    0     0    88  115  263  0  0 100  0  0
2012-03-09 12:05:31  1  0      0 23200088 473756 6719956    0    0     0    12  135  251  0  0 100  0  0
2012-03-09 12:05:32  0  0      0 23200088 473756 6719964    0    0     0     0  113  313  0  0 100  0  0
2012-03-09 12:05:33  0  0      0 23200088 473756 6719964    0    0     0     0  127  270  0  0 100  0  0
2012-03-09 12:05:34  0  0      0 23200088 473756 6719964    0    0     0     0  110  271  0  0 100  0  0
2012-03-09 12:05:35  1  0      0 23200088 473756 6719964    0    0     0     0  142  297  0  0 100  0  0
2012-03-09 12:05:36  0  0      0 23200088 473756 6719964    0    0     0    44  127  264  0  0 100  0  0
2012-03-09 12:05:37  0  0      0 23200088 473756 6719968    0    0     0    12  144  349  0  0 100  0  0
2012-03-09 12:05:38  0  0      0 23200088 473756 6719928    0    0     0     0  143  259  0  0 100  0  0
2012-03-09 12:05:39  0  0      0 23200088 473756 6719928    0    0     0     0  137  273  0  0 100  0  0
2012-03-09 12:05:40  0  0      0 23200088 473756 6719928    0    0     0     0  123  252  0  0 100  0  0
2012-03-09 12:05:41  0  0      0 23200088 473756 6719928    0    0     0   104  198  269  0  0 100  0  0
2012-03-09 12:05:42  0  0      0 23200088 473756 6719928    0    0     0     0  166  280  0  0 100  0  0
2012-03-09 12:05:43  0  0      0 23200088 473756 6719928    0    0     0     0  183  322  0  0 100  0  0
2012-03-09 12:05:44  0  0      0 23200088 473756 6719932    0    0     0     0  205  330  0  0 100  0  0
2012-03-09 12:05:45  0  0      0 23200088 473756 6719932    0    0     0     0  157  260  0  0 100  0  0
2012-03-09 12:05:46  0  0      0 23200088 473756 6719932    0    0     0     0  112  219  0  0 100  0  0
2012-03-09 12:05:47  0  0      0 23200088 473756 6719932    0    0     0    52  144  304  0  0 100  0  0
2012-03-09 12:05:48  0  0      0 23200088 473756 6719932    0    0     0     0  117  230  0  0 100  0  0
2012-03-09 12:05:49  0  0      0 23200088 473756 6719932    0    0     0     0  139  280  0  0 100  0  0
2012-03-09 12:05:50  0  0      0 23200088 473756 6719932    0    0     0     0  126  241  0  0 100  0  0
2012-03-09 12:05:51  0  0      0 23200088 473756 6719932    0    0     0     0  129  243  0  0 100  0  0
2012-03-09 12:05:52  0  0      0 23200088 473756 6719932    0    0     0     0  111  237  0  0 100  0  0
2012-03-09 12:05:53  0  0      0 23200088 473756 6719932    0    0     0    32  132  265  0  0 100  0  0
2012-03-09 12:05:54  0  0      0 23200088 473756 6719932    0    0     0    16  119  260  0  0 100  0  0