Running two (or more) conky's

Question

Is there a way to get multiple conky's up on my desktop?  what I would like to accomplish is have my current conky (showing system resources and whatnot) in the upper right with the output of /var/messages/messages.log running in the upper left hand corner.  my first guess is that I just need to make a second .conkyrc file, but can conky read 2 files? or do I have to have two instances of conky running?

Answer 1

O.K. tried that, but now it's flickering back and forth between the two conky's  here are my two .conkyrc files:
# conky configuration
# edited by [email protected]
# set to yes if you want Conky to be forked in the background
background no
# X font when Xft is disabled, you can pick one with program xfontsel
#font 5x7
#font 6x10
#font 7x13
#font 8x13
#font 9x15
#font *mintsmild.se*
#font -*-*-*-*-*-*-34-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
# Use Xft?
use_xft yes
# Xft font when Xft is enabled
#xftfont Bitstream Vera Sans Mono:size=8
xftfont Terminus:size=8
# Text alpha when using Xft
xftalpha 0.8
# Print everything to console?
# out_to_console no
# mail spool
#mail_spool $MAIL
# Update interval in seconds
update_interval 2.0
# This is the number of times Conky will update before quitting.
# Set to zero to run forever.
total_run_times 0
# Create own window instead of using desktop (required in nautilus)
own_window no
# Use double buffering (reduces flicker, may not work for everyone)
double_buffer yes
# Minimum size of text area
minimum_size 1000 5
# Draw shades?
draw_shades yes
# Draw outlines?
draw_outline no
# Draw borders around text
draw_borders no
# Stippled borders?
stippled_borders 8
# border margins
border_margin 4
# border width
border_width 1
# Default colors and also border colors
default_color white
default_shade_color black
default_outline_color white
# Text alignment, other possible values are commented
alignment top_left
#alignment top_right
#alignment bottom_left
#alignment bottom_right
# Gap between borders of screen and text
# same thing as passing -x at command line
gap_x 875
gap_y 4
# Subtract file system buffers from used memory?
no_buffers yes
# set to yes if you want all text to be in uppercase
uppercase no
# number of cpu samples to average
# set to 1 to disable averaging
cpu_avg_samples 2
# number of net samples to average
# set to 1 to disable averaging
net_avg_samples 2
# Force UTF8? note that UTF8 support required XFT
override_utf8_locale no
# Add spaces to keep things from moving about? This only affects certain objects.
use_spacer yes
#Note: doesn't work in conky 1.2 =(
# mldonkey_hostname Hostname for mldonkey stuff, defaults to localhost
# mldonkey_port Mldonkey port, 4001 default
# mldonkey_login Mldonkey login, default none
# mldonkey_password Mldonkey password, default none
# Possible variables to be used:
# Variable Arguments Description
# addr (interface) IP address for an interface
# acpiacadapter ACPI ac adapter state.
# acpifan ACPI fan state
# acpitemp ACPI temperature.
# adt746xcpu CPU temperature from therm_adt746x
# adt746xfan Fan speed from therm_adt746x
# alignr (num) Right-justify text, with space of N
# alignc Align text to centre
# battery (num) Remaining capasity in ACPI or APM
# battery. ACPI battery number can be
# given as argument (default is BAT0).
# buffers Amount of memory buffered
# cached Amount of memory cached
# color (color) Change drawing color to color
# cpu CPU usage in percents
# cpubar (height) Bar that shows CPU usage, height is
# bar's height in pixels
# cpugraph (height),(width) (gradient colour 1) (gradient colour 2)
# CPU usage graph, with optional colours in hex,
# minus the #.
# downspeed net Download speed in kilobytes
# downspeedf net Download speed in kilobytes with one
# decimal
# downspeedgraph net (height),(width) (gradient colour 1) (gradient colour 2)
# Download speed graph, colours defined in
# hex, minus the #.
# exec shell command Executes a shell command and displays
# the output in conky. warning: this
# takes a lot more resources than other
# variables. I'd recommend coding wanted
# behaviour in C and posting a patch :-).
# execbar shell command Same as exec, except if the first value
# return is a value between 0-100, it
# will use that number for a bar.
# The size for the bar is currently fixed,
# but that may change in the future.
# execgraph shell command Same as execbar, but graphs values
# execi interval, shell command
# Same as exec but with specific interval.
# Interval can't be less than
# update_interval in configuration.
# font font Specify a different font. Only applies
# to one line.
# fs_bar (height), (fs)Bar that shows how much space is used on
# a file system. height is the height in
# pixels. fs is any file on that file
# system.
# fs_free (fs) Free space on a file system available
# for users.
# fs_free_perc (fs) Free percentage of space on a file
# system available for users.
# fs_size (fs) File system size
# fs_used (fs) File system used space
# hr (height) Horizontal line, height is the height in
# pixels
# i2c (dev), type, n I2C sensor from sysfs (Linux 2.6). dev
# may be omitted if you have only one I2C
# device. type is either in (or vol)
# meaning voltage, fan meaning fan or
# temp/tempf (first in C, second in F)
# meaning temperature. n is number of the
# sensor. See /sys/bus/i2c/devices/ on
# your local computer.
# if_running (process) if PROCESS is running, display
# everything if_running and the matching $endif
# if_existing (file) if FILE exists, display everything between
# if_existing and the matching $endif
# if_mounted (mountpoint) if MOUNTPOINT is mounted, display everything between
# if_mounted and the matching $endif
# else Text to show if any of the above are not true
# kernel Kernel version
# linkstatus (interface) Get the link status for wireless connections
# loadavg (1), (2), (3) System load average, 1 is for past 1
# minute, 2 for past 5 minutes and 3 for
# past 15 minutes.
# machine Machine, i686 for example
# mails Mail count in mail spool. You can use
# program like fetchmail to get mails from
# some server using your favourite
# protocol. See also new_mails.
# mem Amount of memory in use
# membar (height) Bar that shows amount of memory in use
# memmax Total amount of memory
# memperc Percentage of memory in use
# metar_ob_time
# metar_temp
# metar_tempf Temp in F
# metar_windchill
# metar_dew_point There are a bunch of these
# metar_rh and they are self-explanatory
# metar_windspeed
# metar_winddir
# metar_swinddir
# metar_cloud
# metar_u2d_time
# ml_upload_counter total session upload in mb
# ml_download_counter total session download in mb
# ml_nshared_files number of shared files
# ml_shared_counter total session shared in mb, buggy
# in some mldonkey versions
# ml_tcp_upload_rate tcp upload rate in kb/s
# ml_tcp_download_rate tcp download rate in kb/s
# ml_udp_upload_rate udp upload rate in kb/s
# ml_udp_download_rate udp download rate in kb/s
# ml_ndownloaded_files number of completed files
# ml_ndownloading_files number of downloading files
# mpd_artist Artist in current MPD song
# (must be enabled at compile)
# mpd_album Album in current MPD song
# mpd_bar (height) Bar of mpd's progress
# mpd_bitrate Bitrate of current song
# mpd_status Playing, stopped, et cetera.
# mpd_title Title of current MPD song
# mpd_vol MPD's volume
# mpd_elapsed Song's elapsed time
# mpd_length Song's length
# mpd_percent Percent of song's progress
# new_mails Unread mail count in mail spool.
# nodename Hostname
# outlinecolor (color) Change outline color
# pre_exec shell command Executes a shell command one time before
# conky displays anything and puts output
# as text.
# processes Total processes (sleeping and running)
# running_processes Running processes (not sleeping),
# requires Linux 2.6
# shadecolor (color) Change shading color
# stippled_hr (space), Stippled (dashed) horizontal line
# (height)
# swapbar (height) Bar that shows amount of swap in use
# swap Amount of swap in use
# swapmax Total amount of swap
# swapperc Percentage of swap in use
# sysname System name, Linux for example
# offset pixels Move text over by N pixels
# tail logfile, lines (interval)
# Displays last N lines of supplied text
# text file. If interval is not supplied,
# Conky assumes 2x Conky's interval.
# Max of 30 lines.
# Max of 30 lines can be displayed.
# time (format) Local time, see man strftime to get more
# information about format
# totaldown net Total download, overflows at 4 GB on
# Linux with 32-bit arch and there doesn't
# seem to be a way to know how many times
# it has already done that before conky
# has started.
# top type, num This takes arguments in the form:
# top <name> <number>
# Basically, processes are ranked from
# highest to lowest in terms of cpu
# usage, which is what <num> represents.
# The types are: "name", "pid", "cpu", and
# "mem".
# There can be a max of 10 processes listed.
# top_mem type, num Same as top, except sorted by mem usage
# instead of cpu
# totalup net Total upload, this one too, may overflow
# updates Number of updates (for debugging)
# upspeed net Upload speed in kilobytes
# upspeedf net Upload speed in kilobytes with one
# decimal
# upspeedgraph net (height),(width) (gradient colour 1) (gradient colour 2)
# Upload speed graph, colours defined in
# hex, minus the #.
# uptime Uptime
# uptime_short Uptime in a shorter format
# seti_prog Seti@home current progress
# seti_progbar (height) Seti@home current progress bar
# seti_credit Seti@hoome total user credit
# variable is given either in format $variable or in ${variable}. Latter
# allows characters right after the variable and must be used in network
# stuff because of an argument
# stuff after 'TEXT' will be formatted on screen
TEXT
${offset 240}${color slate grey}${time %a, } ${color }${time %e %B %G}
${offset 240}${color slate grey}${time %Z, }${color }${time %H:%M:%S}
${offset 240}${color slate grey}UpTime: ${color }$uptime
${offset 240}${color slate grey}Kern:${color }$kernel
${offset 240}${color slate grey}CPU:${color } $cpu% ${acpitemp}C
${offset 240}${cpugraph 20,130 000000 ffffff}
${offset 240}${color slate grey}Load: ${color }$loadavg
${offset 240}${color slate grey}Processes: ${color }$processes
${offset 240}${color slate grey}Running: ${color }$running_processes
${offset 240}${color slate grey}Highest CPU:
${offset 240}${color #ddaa00} ${top name 1}${top_mem cpu 1}
${offset 240}${color lightgrey} ${top name 2}${top cpu 2}
${offset 240}${color lightgrey} ${top name 3}${top cpu 3}
${offset 240}${color lightgrey} ${top name 4}${top cpu 4}
${offset 240}${color slate grey}Highest MEM:
${offset 240}${color #ddaa00} ${top_mem name 1}${top_mem mem 1}
${offset 240}${color lightgrey} ${top_mem name 2}${top_mem mem 2}
${offset 240}${color lightgrey} ${top_mem name 3}${top_mem mem 3}
${offset 240}${color lightgrey} ${top_mem name 4}${top_mem mem 4}
${offset 240}${color slate grey}MEM: ${color } $memperc% $mem/$memmax
${offset 240}${membar 3,100}
${offset 240}${color slate grey}SWAP: ${color }$swapperc% $swap/$swapmax
${offset 240}${swapbar 3,100}
${offset 240}${color slate grey}ROOT: ${color }${fs_free /}/${fs_size /}
${offset 240}${fs_bar 3,100 /}
${offset 240}${color slate grey}HOME: ${color }${fs_free /home}/${fs_size /home}
${offset 240}${fs_bar 3,100 /home}
${offset 240}${color slate grey}NET:
${offset 240}${color}Up: ${color }${upspeed wlan0} k/s
${offset 240}${upspeedgraph wlan0 20,130 000000 ffffff}
${offset 240}${color}Down: ${color }${downspeed wlan0}k/s${color}
${offset 240}${downspeedgraph eth0 20,130 000000 ffffff}
# conky configuration
# edited by [email protected]
# set to yes if you want Conky to be forked in the background
background no
# X font when Xft is disabled, you can pick one with program xfontsel
#font 5x7
#font 6x10
#font 7x13
#font 8x13
#font 9x15
#font *mintsmild.se*
#font -*-*-*-*-*-*-34-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
# Use Xft?
use_xft yes
# Xft font when Xft is enabled
#xftfont Bitstream Vera Sans Mono:size=8
xftfont Terminus:size=8
# Text alpha when using Xft
xftalpha 0.8
# Print everything to console?
# out_to_console no
# mail spool
#mail_spool $MAIL
# Update interval in seconds
update_interval 2.0
# This is the number of times Conky will update before quitting.
# Set to zero to run forever.
total_run_times 0
# Create own window instead of using desktop (required in nautilus)
own_window no
# Use double buffering (reduces flicker, may not work for everyone)
double_buffer yes
# Minimum size of text area
minimum_size 1000 5
# Draw shades?
draw_shades yes
# Draw outlines?
draw_outline no
# Draw borders around text
draw_borders no
# Stippled borders?
stippled_borders 8
# border margins
border_margin 4
# border width
border_width 1
# Default colors and also border colors
default_color white
default_shade_color black
default_outline_color white
# Text alignment, other possible values are commented
alignment top_left
#alignment top_right
#alignment bottom_left
#alignment bottom_right
# Gap between borders of screen and text
# same thing as passing -x at command line
gap_x 5
gap_y 500
# Subtract file system buffers from used memory?
no_buffers yes
# set to yes if you want all text to be in uppercase
uppercase no
# number of cpu samples to average
# set to 1 to disable averaging
cpu_avg_samples 2
# number of net samples to average
# set to 1 to disable averaging
net_avg_samples 2
# Force UTF8? note that UTF8 support required XFT
override_utf8_locale no
# Add spaces to keep things from moving about? This only affects certain objects.
use_spacer yes
#Note: doesn't work in conky 1.2 =(
# mldonkey_hostname Hostname for mldonkey stuff, defaults to localhost
# mldonkey_port Mldonkey port, 4001 default
# mldonkey_login Mldonkey login, default none
# mldonkey_password Mldonkey password, default none
# Possible variables to be used:
# Variable Arguments Description
# addr (interface) IP address for an interface
# acpiacadapter ACPI ac adapter state.
# acpifan ACPI fan state
# acpitemp ACPI temperature.
# adt746xcpu CPU temperature from therm_adt746x
# adt746xfan Fan speed from therm_adt746x
# alignr (num) Right-justify text, with space of N
# alignc Align text to centre
# battery (num) Remaining capasity in ACPI or APM
# battery. ACPI battery number can be
# given as argument (default is BAT0).
# buffers Amount of memory buffered
# cached Amount of memory cached
# color (color) Change drawing color to color
# cpu CPU usage in percents
# cpubar (height) Bar that shows CPU usage, height is
# bar's height in pixels
# cpugraph (height),(width) (gradient colour 1) (gradient colour 2)
# CPU usage graph, with optional colours in hex,
# minus the #.
# downspeed net Download speed in kilobytes
# downspeedf net Download speed in kilobytes with one
# decimal
# downspeedgraph net (height),(width) (gradient colour 1) (gradient colour 2)
# Download speed graph, colours defined in
# hex, minus the #.
# exec shell command Executes a shell command and displays
# the output in conky. warning: this
# takes a lot more resources than other
# variables. I'd recommend coding wanted
# behaviour in C and posting a patch :-).
# execbar shell command Same as exec, except if the first value
# return is a value between 0-100, it
# will use that number for a bar.
# The size for the bar is currently fixed,
# but that may change in the future.
# execgraph shell command Same as execbar, but graphs values
# execi interval, shell command
# Same as exec but with specific interval.
# Interval can't be less than
# update_interval in configuration.
# font font Specify a different font. Only applies
# to one line.
# fs_bar (height), (fs)Bar that shows how much space is used on
# a file system. height is the height in
# pixels. fs is any file on that file
# system.
# fs_free (fs) Free space on a file system available
# for users.
# fs_free_perc (fs) Free percentage of space on a file
# system available for users.
# fs_size (fs) File system size
# fs_used (fs) File system used space
# hr (height) Horizontal line, height is the height in
# pixels
# i2c (dev), type, n I2C sensor from sysfs (Linux 2.6). dev
# may be omitted if you have only one I2C
# device. type is either in (or vol)
# meaning voltage, fan meaning fan or
# temp/tempf (first in C, second in F)
# meaning temperature. n is number of the
# sensor. See /sys/bus/i2c/devices/ on
# your local computer.
# if_running (process) if PROCESS is running, display
# everything if_running and the matching $endif
# if_existing (file) if FILE exists, display everything between
# if_existing and the matching $endif
# if_mounted (mountpoint) if MOUNTPOINT is mounted, display everything between
# if_mounted and the matching $endif
# else Text to show if any of the above are not true
# kernel Kernel version
# linkstatus (interface) Get the link status for wireless connections
# loadavg (1), (2), (3) System load average, 1 is for past 1
# minute, 2 for past 5 minutes and 3 for
# past 15 minutes.
# machine Machine, i686 for example
# mails Mail count in mail spool. You can use
# program like fetchmail to get mails from
# some server using your favourite
# protocol. See also new_mails.
# mem Amount of memory in use
# membar (height) Bar that shows amount of memory in use
# memmax Total amount of memory
# memperc Percentage of memory in use
# metar_ob_time
# metar_temp
# metar_tempf Temp in F
# metar_windchill
# metar_dew_point There are a bunch of these
# metar_rh and they are self-explanatory
# metar_windspeed
# metar_winddir
# metar_swinddir
# metar_cloud
# metar_u2d_time
# ml_upload_counter total session upload in mb
# ml_download_counter total session download in mb
# ml_nshared_files number of shared files
# ml_shared_counter total session shared in mb, buggy
# in some mldonkey versions
# ml_tcp_upload_rate tcp upload rate in kb/s
# ml_tcp_download_rate tcp download rate in kb/s
# ml_udp_upload_rate udp upload rate in kb/s
# ml_udp_download_rate udp download rate in kb/s
# ml_ndownloaded_files number of completed files
# ml_ndownloading_files number of downloading files
# mpd_artist Artist in current MPD song
# (must be enabled at compile)
# mpd_album Album in current MPD song
# mpd_bar (height) Bar of mpd's progress
# mpd_bitrate Bitrate of current song
# mpd_status Playing, stopped, et cetera.
# mpd_title Title of current MPD song
# mpd_vol MPD's volume
# mpd_elapsed Song's elapsed time
# mpd_length Song's length
# mpd_percent Percent of song's progress
# new_mails Unread mail count in mail spool.
# nodename Hostname
# outlinecolor (color) Change outline color
# pre_exec shell command Executes a shell command one time before
# conky displays anything and puts output
# as text.
# processes Total processes (sleeping and running)
# running_processes Running processes (not sleeping),
# requires Linux 2.6
# shadecolor (color) Change shading color
# stippled_hr (space), Stippled (dashed) horizontal line
# (height)
# swapbar (height) Bar that shows amount of swap in use
# swap Amount of swap in use
# swapmax Total amount of swap
# swapperc Percentage of swap in use
# sysname System name, Linux for example
# offset pixels Move text over by N pixels
# tail logfile, lines (interval)
# Displays last N lines of supplied text
# text file. If interval is not supplied,
# Conky assumes 2x Conky's interval.
# Max of 30 lines.
# Max of 30 lines can be displayed.
# time (format) Local time, see man strftime to get more
# information about format
# totaldown net Total download, overflows at 4 GB on
# Linux with 32-bit arch and there doesn't
# seem to be a way to know how many times
# it has already done that before conky
# has started.
# top type, num This takes arguments in the form:
# top <name> <number>
# Basically, processes are ranked from
# highest to lowest in terms of cpu
# usage, which is what <num> represents.
# The types are: "name", "pid", "cpu", and
# "mem".
# There can be a max of 10 processes listed.
# top_mem type, num Same as top, except sorted by mem usage
# instead of cpu
# totalup net Total upload, this one too, may overflow
# updates Number of updates (for debugging)
# upspeed net Upload speed in kilobytes
# upspeedf net Upload speed in kilobytes with one
# decimal
# upspeedgraph net (height),(width) (gradient colour 1) (gradient colour 2)
# Upload speed graph, colours defined in
# hex, minus the #.
# uptime Uptime
# uptime_short Uptime in a shorter format
# seti_prog Seti@home current progress
# seti_progbar (height) Seti@home current progress bar
# seti_credit Seti@hoome total user credit
# variable is given either in format $variable or in ${variable}. Latter
# allows characters right after the variable and must be used in network
# stuff because of an argument
# stuff after 'TEXT' will be formatted on screen
TEXT
${color slate grey}/var/log/messages:
${color}${exec tail -n20 /var/log/messages.log}
how can this be fixed?