Monitor processes, CPU and RAM with htop
I’ve been using htop for so long that it’s now my go-to tool for the visual representation of key process performance metrics on a server: CPU usage, RAM, Swap, average load and most resource-hungry processes.
htop command for process monitoring
This is how a default htop screen looks on a properly configured colour-capable terminal: just run “htop” wihtout any parameters.
How To Install htop in Linux
htop is available via EPEL repository for CentOS/RedHat/Fedora projects:
reys@rhel:~ $ yum whatprovides htop Loaded plugins: fastestmirror, langpacks Determining fastest mirrors * base: centos.quelquesmots.fr * epel: mirror.ibcp.fr * extras: centos.mirrors.proxad.net * updates: centos.crazyfrogs.org htop-2.2.0-3.el7.x86_64 : Interactive process viewer Repo : epel
Once EPEL is activated, you’ll be able to just install htop with yum.
How To Install htop in MacOS
On MacOS I’ve been using brew to install htop:
greys@maverick:~ $ brew install htop
or
greys@maverick:~ $ brew upgrade htop ==> Upgrading 1 outdated package: htop 2.0.2 -> 2.2.0_1 ==> Upgrading htop ==> Installing dependencies for htop: ncurses ==> Installing htop dependency: ncurses ==> Downloading https://homebrew.bintray.com/bottles/ncurses-6.1.mojave.bottle.tar.gz ######################################################################## 100.0% ==> Pouring ncurses-6.1.mojave.bottle.tar.gz ==> Caveats ncurses is keg-only, which means it was not symlinked into /usr/local, because macOS already provides this software and installing another version in parallel can cause all kinds of trouble. If you need to have ncurses first in your PATH run: echo 'export PATH="/usr/local/opt/ncurses/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bash_profile For compilers to find ncurses you may need to set: export LDFLAGS="-L/usr/local/opt/ncurses/lib" export CPPFLAGS="-I/usr/local/opt/ncurses/include" For pkg-config to find ncurses you may need to set: export PKG_CONFIG_PATH="/usr/local/opt/ncurses/lib/pkgconfig" ==> Summary 🍺 /usr/local/Cellar/ncurses/6.1: 3,869 files, 8.3MB ==> Installing htop ==> Downloading https://homebrew.bintray.com/bottles/htop-2.2.0_1.mojave.bottle.tar.gz ######################################################################## 100.0% ==> Pouring htop-2.2.0_1.mojave.bottle.tar.gz ==> Caveats htop requires root privileges to correctly display all running processes, so you will need to run `sudo htop`. You should be certain that you trust any software you grant root privileges. ==> Summary 🍺 /usr/local/Cellar/htop/2.2.0_1: 11 files, 188KB Removing: /usr/local/Cellar/htop/2.0.2... (11 files, 185KB) ==> Caveats ==> ncurses ncurses is keg-only, which means it was not symlinked into /usr/local, because macOS already provides this software and installing another version in parallel can cause all kinds of trouble. If you need to have ncurses first in your PATH run: echo 'export PATH="/usr/local/opt/ncurses/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bash_profile For compilers to find ncurses you may need to set: export LDFLAGS="-L/usr/local/opt/ncurses/lib" export CPPFLAGS="-I/usr/local/opt/ncurses/include" For pkg-config to find ncurses you may need to set: export PKG_CONFIG_PATH="/usr/local/opt/ncurses/lib/pkgconfig" ==> htop htop requires root privileges to correctly display all running processes, so you will need to run `sudo htop`. You should be certain that you trust any software you grant root privileges.
That’s it for today. Hope you find htop command useful!