When managing Linux systems or servers, monitoring system resources is crucial. Common command-line tools like top and htop allow us to view CPU, memory, disk usage, and process status. However, if you are looking for a powerful and more modern alternative, then btop is undoubtedly a highly recommended tool.
What is btop?#
btop offers richer features and a more intuitive user interface compared to traditional top or htop. It supports real-time display of CPU, memory, disk, network traffic, and other data, with a more aesthetically pleasing color scheme that makes information clearer.
Rather than being just a command-line tool, it is more like an interactive resource monitoring dashboard.
Whether you are a system administrator, developer, or an ordinary Linux user, btop can help you easily monitor and analyze your system.
Main Features of btop#
1. Real-time Resource Monitoring#
btop can display the usage of various system resources in real-time. This includes but is not limited to:
- CPU: Shows real-time usage for each core, helping you assess system load and bottlenecks.
- Memory: Displays the current usage of system memory and swap space, helping you understand if memory is sufficient.
- Disk: Real-time display of disk read/write speeds, allowing you to check the performance of storage devices.
- Network: Provides bandwidth usage for each network interface, helping you analyze network traffic.
- Processes: Lists processes by CPU or memory usage, supporting process management and priority adjustment.
2. Beautiful Interface Design#
Compared to traditional command-line tools, btop has a more modern interface. It uses colors, bar graphs, and dynamic graphics to help you quickly identify resource usage. The process list is also clearly presented, with each category (such as CPU, memory, disk, etc.) having its own display area, making operations very intuitive.
3. Interactive Operations#
btop allows users to interact using both keyboard and mouse. In the interface, users can quickly switch between different views using the arrow keys, press the enter key to view detailed process information, or directly click with the mouse to select processes for operations.
For example, you can directly kill a process or adjust the priority of a process. btop provides various keyboard shortcuts for you to quickly execute different operations.
4. Support for Multiple Platforms#
btop not only supports Linux distributions but can also run on macOS and Windows systems. This makes it a cross-platform resource monitoring tool, especially useful for developers and operations personnel.
5. Highly Customizable#
btop offers detailed configuration files, allowing you to customize color themes, display content, refresh rates, and more according to your personal needs, fully adapting to your usage habits. Whether you prefer a simple interface or need more monitoring details, btop can meet your requirements.
So Why btop?#
1. Modernization and Usability#
Compared to traditional top and htop, btop has a more intuitive interface. It uses a graphical interface and color differentiation to help you quickly identify system bottlenecks. Moreover, the interaction through keyboard and mouse makes operations smoother and more efficient.
2. Enhanced Features#
While htop is already a very powerful resource monitoring tool, btop offers more display options, especially regarding disk and network monitoring details. These details are particularly important for certain professional users (such as developers and operations personnel).
3. Performance and Efficiency#
btop is carefully optimized to run smoothly even in high resource usage environments. Its real-time data refresh is very efficient, ensuring you can obtain the latest system status.
4. Cross-Platform Support#
For users who need to switch between multiple operating systems, btop provides great convenience. Whether you are on Linux, macOS, or Windows, it consistently delivers a high-quality experience.
How to Install btop?#
btop supports various installation methods, which won't be detailed here; just check the official documentation~
This article is synchronized and updated by Mix Space to xLog. The original link is https://ling.tblstudio.cn/posts/tool/btop-monitoring-tool