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Filesystem-Monitoring

A basic Filesystem or Directory Event Monitoring tool for Windows built using Python's API Library "Watchdog".

Works on Python 3+.

This program uses Tkinter as the control center interface to help start and stop the observers. It also uses multiprocessing to process multiple directories event handlers. It has a basic start-up functionality to start the program whenever you Login, this can be easily disabled (instructions Here).

Supported Platforms

  • Windows

A pull request will be appreciated for any other platform integration.

Dependencies

This module depends on the Watchdog Library to monitor the directories specified in the list and logs the events in a specified text file.

Install using pip:

pip install watchdog # Or pip3 install watchdog

Install from PyPI using pip:

python -m pip install -U watchdog

Usage Overview

To use this program, all you need to do is change the paths below in the main.py file to the corresponding paths on your PC.

directories_to_watch = ["C:\\your_dir_1", "C:\\your_dir_2", "F:\\your_dir_3", "F:\\your_dir_4"]
path_to_write = "C:\\your_dir_5"
file_name = "filesystem_monitoring.txt"
start_file_on_login_path = "C:\\path_to_main.py_file_on_your_pc\\filesystem_monitoring\\src\\main.py"
startup_path = 'C:\\Users\\username\\AppData\\Roaming\\Microsoft\\Windows\\Start Menu\\Programs\\Startup'

For the naming examples below we would use a username called explo1.

NOTE: Ensure to include "2 (TWO)" Backslash in all paths below e.g C:\Users\explo1\Desktop should be C:\\Users\\explo1\\Desktop

  • The directories_to_watch list simply holds all the specified directories you intend to monitor:

    Single directory: directories_to_watch = ["C:\\your_dir"]

    Multiple directories: directories_to_watch = ["C:\\your_dir_1", "F:\\your_dir_2"]

directories_to_watch = ["C:\\Users\\explo1\\Documents", "C:\\Users\\explo1\\Pictures", "F:\\Programming"]

  • The path_to_write variable is the path to which the log event file will be stored e.g when a file is "created" or "deleted" the log event will be stored in a text file. This is the path the text file will be saved.

    NOTE: Ensure this path is not included in the directories_to_watch list above.

# NOTE: This path should not be included in the "directories_to_watch".
path_to_write = "C:\\Users\\explo1\\Desktop"
  • The file_name variable is the name given to the event log file. This can be renamed accordingly.
file_name = "monitoring_logs.txt"
  • The start_file_on_login_path this is the path to the main.py file of this program on your PC. This variable is needed to start the program automatically whenever you log into you system.

To disable start-up functionality follow the instructions Here

start_file_on_login_path = "C:\\Users\\explo1\\Downloads\\filesystem_monitoring\\src\\main.py"

  • The startup_path this is the path to your PC's Startup directory.

    To find the Startup folder path -> press WinKey + R, then type shell:startup and hit Enter to bring up the path.

startup_path = 'C:\\Users\\explo1\\AppData\\Roaming\\Microsoft\\Windows\\Start Menu\\Programs\\Startup'

Run Program

Navigate to the src > main.py location. In your terminal simply type the command below.

python main.py

Disable Startup Functionality

Ignore this step if you want the program to launch on Startup/Login.

  1. Comment out Line 44 and Line 45

Change From:

check_path_exists(start_file_on_login_path)
check_path_exists(startup_path)

To This:

# check_path_exists(start_file_on_login_path)
# check_path_exists(startup_path)
  1. Comment out Lines 82 - 85

Change From:

def add_to_startup(startup_path, file_path):
    """ This function makes program Startup on Login"""
    with open(startup_path + '\\' + "open.bat", "w+") as bat_file:
        bat_file.write(f'python {file_path}')

To This:

# def add_to_startup(startup_path, file_path):
#     """ This function makes program Startup on Login"""
#     with open(startup_path + '\\' + "open.bat", "w+") as bat_file:
#         bat_file.write(f'python {file_path}')
  1. Finally, Comment out Line 165

Change From:

# Add program to start up
add_to_startup(startup_path, start_file_on_login_path)

To This:

# Add program to start up
# add_to_startup(startup_path, start_file_on_login_path)

Contribute

Fork this repository and send a pull request, report any bug via GitHub issue tracker.