File System Monitor
This utility monitors a specific directory (and its subdirectories) for file system events such as file creation, deletion, modification, or moving. This is useful for tracking changes in a Downloads folder, a project directory, or a web server root.
Modules Used:
watchdog: A Python API library and shell utilities to monitor file system events.time: To keep the script running.- logging: To log the events to a file or console.
- argparse: To handle command-line arguments.
Prerequisites
This script needs to run continuously in the background to monitor changes. You can run it in a terminal window that you keep open, or use a tool like screen or tmux on Linux/macOS to keep it running after you disconnect.
Installation
pip install watchdogThe Code
Save this as fs_monitor.py.
import sys
import time
import logging
import argparse
from watchdog.observers import Observer
from watchdog.events import FileSystemEventHandler
class MonitorHandler(FileSystemEventHandler):
"""Logs all the events captured."""
def on_moved(self, event):
what = 'directory' if event.is_directory else 'file'
logging.info(f"Moved {what}: from {event.src_path} to {event.dest_path}")
def on_created(self, event):
what = 'directory' if event.is_directory else 'file'
logging.info(f"Created {what}: {event.src_path}")
def on_deleted(self, event):
what = 'directory' if event.is_directory else 'file'
logging.info(f"Deleted {what}: {event.src_path}")
def on_modified(self, event):
what = 'directory' if event.is_directory else 'file'
logging.info(f"Modified {what}: {event.src_path}")
def start_monitoring(path_to_watch):
# Configure logging
logging.basicConfig(
level=logging.INFO,
format='%(asctime)s - %(message)s',
datefmt='%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S',
handlers=[
logging.FileHandler("file_changes.log"),
logging.StreamHandler(sys.stdout)
]
)
event_handler = MonitorHandler()
observer = Observer()
observer.schedule(event_handler, path_to_watch, recursive=True)
print(f"Monitoring started on: {path_to_watch}")
print("Press Ctrl+C to stop.")
observer.start()
try:
while True:
time.sleep(1)
except KeyboardInterrupt:
observer.stop()
observer.join()
if __name__ == "__main__":
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="File System Monitor")
parser.add_argument("path", help="Directory path to monitor")
args = parser.parse_args()
start_monitoring(args.path)Usage
# Monitor your Downloads folder (Windows example)
python fs_monitor.py "C:\Users\YourUser\Downloads"
# Monitor a project folder on Linux/macOS
python fs_monitor.py ~/projects/my-appThe script will log all file changes to the console and to a file named file_changes.log in the directory where the script is run.