htop - an interactive process viewer
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Charlie Vieth d35db47c9a darwin: lazily set process TTY name
Fetching the TTY name of a process is extremely expensive on darwin and
the call to devname accounts for 95% of htop's CPU usage when there is
high process turnover (this is mostly due to devname calling lstat,
which is incredibly slow). This can make htop unresponsive.

To mitigate this only set the process TTY name if the it is being
actively displayed (PROCESS_FLAG_TTY), which by default it is not
on darwin.
2022-02-18 09:07:41 +01:00
.github GH Actions: enable Werror in PCP build 2021-12-20 10:54:12 +01:00
darwin darwin: lazily set process TTY name 2022-02-18 09:07:41 +01:00
docs astyle: Add `--pad-header` option 2021-10-01 15:01:51 +02:00
dragonflybsd freebsd/dragonfly: Stop aligning equals signs in PLATFORM_PROCESS_FIELDS 2022-01-18 07:23:36 +01:00
freebsd freebsd/dragonfly: Stop aligning equals signs in PLATFORM_PROCESS_FIELDS 2022-01-18 07:23:36 +01:00
generic Add a fix to use gettimeofday if monotonic is not available. 2021-11-28 23:13:46 +01:00
iwyu IWYU: add two header rules 2021-08-25 09:54:30 +02:00
linux Fix division by zero when calculating IO rates 2022-02-03 17:48:18 +01:00
netbsd Use correct command field as default field 2021-12-17 14:45:15 +01:00
openbsd Use correct command field as default field 2021-12-17 14:45:15 +01:00
pcp Use correct command field as default field 2021-12-17 14:45:15 +01:00
scripts Suppress reporting memory leaks originating from libdevstat 2021-10-14 23:25:19 +02:00
solaris Use correct command field as default field 2021-12-17 14:45:15 +01:00
unsupported Drop getCommandStr member of Process 2021-12-17 14:45:15 +01:00
zfs Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
.editorconfig Add `trim_trailing_whitespace` to editorconfig 2019-10-31 11:39:57 -05:00
.gitignore docs: updates and new manual page for pcp-htop 2021-08-03 14:11:21 +10:00
.travis.yml travis-ci: update 2021-09-02 08:03:21 +02:00
AUTHORS Update AUTHORS file with htop-dev team 2020-12-05 11:07:32 +01:00
Action.c ProcessList: sort before panel rebuild if needed 2022-02-13 19:50:16 +01:00
Action.h Introduce screen tabs 2021-12-07 17:04:49 +11:00
Affinity.c Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
Affinity.h Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
AffinityPanel.c Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
AffinityPanel.h Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
AvailableColumnsPanel.c Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
AvailableColumnsPanel.h Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
AvailableMetersPanel.c Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
AvailableMetersPanel.h Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
BatteryMeter.c Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
BatteryMeter.h Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
CONTRIBUTING.md Adjust to current label reality and the fact that Github can't search for multiple labels ORed ... yet. 2021-05-14 11:29:29 +02:00
COPYING Remove license excemption for PLPA and update GPL-2 license text 2021-08-26 11:37:36 +02:00
CPUMeter.c Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
CPUMeter.h Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
CRT.c Always set SIGCHLD to default handling 2022-01-11 22:56:27 +01:00
CRT.h CRT: add debug printing function 2021-12-08 14:48:20 +01:00
CategoriesPanel.c Introduce screen tabs 2021-12-07 17:04:49 +11:00
CategoriesPanel.h Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
ChangeLog Release 3.1.2 2021-11-30 12:03:21 +11:00
ClockMeter.c Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
ClockMeter.h Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
ColorsPanel.c Cleanup: Fix misc styleguide issues 2021-11-04 23:13:38 +01:00
ColorsPanel.h Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
ColumnsPanel.c Introduce screen tabs 2021-12-07 17:04:49 +11:00
ColumnsPanel.h Introduce screen tabs 2021-12-07 17:04:49 +11:00
CommandLine.c Introduce screen tabs 2021-12-07 17:04:49 +11:00
CommandLine.h Early program termination only from main() 2021-10-31 15:07:00 +01:00
CommandScreen.c cleaned up includes with iwyu 2021-05-10 18:40:53 +02:00
CommandScreen.h Make all required includes explicit 2020-10-18 20:09:05 +02:00
Compat.c Cleanup: Fix misc styleguide issues 2021-11-04 23:13:38 +01:00
Compat.h Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
DateMeter.c Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
DateMeter.h Update remaining license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-24 20:28:26 +02:00
DateTimeMeter.c Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
DateTimeMeter.h Update remaining license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-24 20:28:26 +02:00
DiskIOMeter.c IOMeters: rework initial display 2021-12-08 19:08:20 +01:00
DiskIOMeter.h Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
DisplayOptionsPanel.c Introduce screen tabs 2021-12-07 17:04:49 +11:00
DisplayOptionsPanel.h Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
DynamicColumn.c Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
DynamicColumn.h Add completion handling for dynamic meters and columns 2021-09-03 09:47:01 +02:00
DynamicMeter.c Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
DynamicMeter.h Add completion handling for dynamic meters and columns 2021-09-03 09:47:01 +02:00
EnvScreen.c cleaned up includes with iwyu 2021-05-10 18:40:53 +02:00
EnvScreen.h cleaned up includes with iwyu 2021-05-10 18:40:53 +02:00
FunctionBar.c Introduce screen tabs 2021-12-07 17:04:49 +11:00
FunctionBar.h Introduce screen tabs 2021-12-07 17:04:49 +11:00
Hashtable.c Hashtable: use a minimum size of 7 2021-12-13 21:17:58 +01:00
Hashtable.h Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
Header.c Introduce screen tabs 2021-12-07 17:04:49 +11:00
Header.h Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
HeaderLayout.h Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
HeaderOptionsPanel.c Cleanup: Fix misc styleguide issues 2021-11-04 23:13:38 +01:00
HeaderOptionsPanel.h Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
HostnameMeter.c Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
HostnameMeter.h Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
IncSet.c Introduce screen tabs 2021-12-07 17:04:49 +11:00
IncSet.h Introduce screen tabs 2021-12-07 17:04:49 +11:00
InfoScreen.c Introduce screen tabs 2021-12-07 17:04:49 +11:00
InfoScreen.h InfoScreen: drop unused member 2020-12-21 22:34:50 +01:00
ListItem.c Introduce screen tabs 2021-12-07 17:04:49 +11:00
ListItem.h Introduce screen tabs 2021-12-07 17:04:49 +11:00
LoadAverageMeter.c Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
LoadAverageMeter.h Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
Macros.h Check for alloc_size attribute in configure.ac 2021-07-06 17:20:32 +02:00
MainPanel.c Introduce screen tabs 2021-12-07 17:04:49 +11:00
MainPanel.h Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
Makefile.am Introduce screen tabs 2021-12-07 17:04:49 +11:00
MemoryMeter.c Ensure consistent reporting of MemoryMeter used memory 2021-10-12 17:46:44 +11:00
MemoryMeter.h Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
MemorySwapMeter.c Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
MemorySwapMeter.h Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
Meter.c Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
Meter.h IOMeters: rework initial display 2021-12-08 19:08:20 +01:00
MetersPanel.c Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
MetersPanel.h Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
NEWS Remove trailing whitespaces 2020-08-21 10:37:33 +02:00
NetworkIOMeter.c IOMeters: rework initial display 2021-12-08 19:08:20 +01:00
NetworkIOMeter.h cleaned up includes with iwyu 2021-05-10 18:40:53 +02:00
Object.c Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
Object.h Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
OpenFilesScreen.c Avoid zombie processes on signal races 2022-01-11 22:56:27 +01:00
OpenFilesScreen.h Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
OptionItem.c Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
OptionItem.h Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
Panel.c Panel: initialize cursorOn member 2021-12-08 12:40:13 +01:00
Panel.h Introduce screen tabs 2021-12-07 17:04:49 +11:00
Process.c Fix custom thread name display issue 2022-02-13 16:59:29 +01:00
Process.h ProcessList: cleanup the tree set sorting remains 2022-02-13 19:50:16 +01:00
ProcessList.c ProcessList_buildTreeBranch: drop extra assert 2022-02-13 19:50:16 +01:00
ProcessList.h ProcessList: delay tree rebuild until panel rebuild 2022-02-13 19:50:16 +01:00
ProcessLocksScreen.c Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
ProcessLocksScreen.h Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
ProvideCurses.h Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
README Update the README to drop now redundant glibc version requirement 2021-09-27 13:14:23 +10:00
README.md Add README.md for Github 2014-02-03 09:11:39 -02:00
RichString.c Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
RichString.h Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
ScreenManager.c ProcessList_buildTree: produce sorted tree 2022-02-13 19:50:16 +01:00
ScreenManager.h Introduce screen tabs 2021-12-07 17:04:49 +11:00
ScreensPanel.c Set correct default sorting direction 2021-12-17 14:45:15 +01:00
ScreensPanel.h Fix misc styleguide issues and add missing header files 2021-12-07 17:04:49 +11:00
Settings.c Set correct default sorting direction 2021-12-17 14:45:15 +01:00
Settings.h Set correct default sorting direction 2021-12-17 14:45:15 +01:00
SignalsPanel.c Pre-select the last sent signal in SignalsPanel 2021-12-05 19:36:36 +01:00
SignalsPanel.h Pre-select the last sent signal in SignalsPanel 2021-12-05 19:36:36 +01:00
SwapMeter.c Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
SwapMeter.h Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
SysArchMeter.c Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
SysArchMeter.h Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
TESTPLAN Small update to test plan 2021-02-13 14:04:15 +01:00
TasksMeter.c Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
TasksMeter.h Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
TraceScreen.c Avoid zombie processes on signal races 2022-01-11 22:56:27 +01:00
TraceScreen.h Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
UptimeMeter.c Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
UptimeMeter.h Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
UsersTable.c Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
UsersTable.h Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
Vector.c Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
Vector.h Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
XUtils.c Removed unused String_getToken function 2022-01-11 21:42:57 +01:00
XUtils.h Removed unused String_getToken function 2022-01-11 21:42:57 +01:00
autogen.sh autotools: enable warnings and cleanup 2020-09-17 21:45:11 +02:00
configure.ac Year 2022 updates 2022-01-03 18:01:18 +01:00
htop.1.in Remove duplicate sections on COMM and EXE 2022-02-13 17:22:39 +01:00
htop.c Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
htop.desktop Add danish translation to htop.desktop 2019-02-19 01:25:52 +01:00
htop.png Update htop logo, provide .svg file as well 2020-12-05 13:46:34 +01:00
htop.svg Update htop logo, provide .svg file as well 2020-12-05 13:46:34 +01:00
pcp-htop.5.in Year 2022 updates 2022-01-03 18:01:18 +01:00
pcp-htop.c Update license headers to explicitly say GPLv2+ 2021-09-22 14:28:19 +02:00
test_spec.lua Remove trailing whitespaces 2020-08-21 10:37:33 +02:00

README.md

htop logo

CI Coverity Scan Build Status Mailing List IRC #htop GitHub Release Packaging status License: GPL v2+

Screenshot of htop

Introduction

htop is a cross-platform interactive process viewer.

htop allows scrolling the list of processes vertically and horizontally to see their full command lines and related information like memory and CPU consumption. Also system wide information, like load average or swap usage, is shown.

The information displayed is configurable through a graphical setup and can be sorted and filtered interactively.

Tasks related to processes (e.g. killing and renicing) can be done without entering their PIDs.

Running htop requires ncurses libraries, typically named libncurses(w).

htop is written in C.

For more information and details visit htop.dev.

Build instructions

Prerequisite

List of build-time dependencies:

  • standard GNU autotools-based C toolchain
    • C99 compliant compiler
    • autoconf
    • autotools
  • ncurses

Note about ncurses:

htop requires ncurses 6.0. Be aware the appropriate package is sometimes still called libncurses5 (on Debian/Ubuntu). Also ncurses usually comes in two flavours:

  • With Unicode support.
  • Without Unicode support.

This is also something that is reflected in the package name on Debian/Ubuntu (via the additional 'w' - 'w'ide character support).

List of additional build-time dependencies (based on feature flags):

  • sensors
  • hwloc
  • libcap (v2.21 or later)
  • libnl-3

Install these and other required packages for C development from your package manager.

Debian/Ubuntu

sudo apt install libncursesw5-dev autotools-dev autoconf build-essential

Fedora/RHEL

sudo dnf install ncurses-devel automake autoconf gcc

Compile from source:

To compile from source, download from the Git repository (git clone or downloads from GitHub releases), then run:

./autogen.sh && ./configure && make

Install

To install on the local system run make install. By default make install installs into /usr/local. To change this path use ./configure --prefix=/some/path.

Build Options

htop has several build-time options to enable/disable additional features.

Generic

  • --enable-unicode: enable Unicode support
    • dependency: libncursesw
    • default: yes
  • --enable-affinity: enable sched_setaffinity(2) and sched_getaffinity(2) for affinity support; conflicts with hwloc
    • default: check
  • --enable-hwloc: enable hwloc support for CPU affinity; disables affinity support
    • dependency: libhwloc
    • default: no
  • --enable-static: build a static htop binary; hwloc and delay accounting are not supported
    • default: no
  • --enable-debug: Enable asserts and internal sanity checks; implies a performance penalty
    • default: no

Performance Co-Pilot

  • --enable-pcp: enable Performance Co-Pilot support via a new pcp-htop utility
    • dependency: libpcp
    • default: no

Linux

  • --enable-sensors: enable libsensors(3) support for reading temperature data
    • dependencies: libsensors-dev(build-time), at runtime libsensors is loaded via dlopen(3) if available
    • default: check
  • --enable-capabilities: enable Linux capabilities support
    • dependency: libcap
    • default: check
  • --with-proc: location of a Linux-compatible proc filesystem
    • default: /proc
  • --enable-openvz: enable OpenVZ support
    • default: no
  • --enable-vserver: enable VServer support
    • default: no
  • --enable-ancient-vserver: enable ancient VServer support (implies --enable-vserver)
    • default: no
  • --enable-delayacct: enable Linux delay accounting support
    • dependencies: pkg-config(build-time), libnl-3 and libnl-genl-3
    • default: check

Runtime dependencies:

htop has a set of fixed minimum runtime dependencies, which is kept as minimal as possible:

  • ncurses libraries for terminal handling (wide character support).

Runtime optional dependencies:

htop has a set of fixed optional dependencies, depending on build/configure option used:

Linux

  • libdl, if not building a static binary, is always required when support for optional dependencies (i.e. libsensors, libsystemd) is present.
  • libcap, user-space interfaces to POSIX 1003.1e capabilities, is always required when --enable-capabilities was used to configure htop.
  • libsensors, readout of temperatures and CPU speeds, is optional even when --enable-sensors was used to configure htop.
  • libsystemd is optional when --enable-static was not used to configure htop. If building statically and libsystemd is not found by configure, support for the systemd meter is disabled entirely.

htop checks for the availability of the actual runtime libraries as htop runs.

BSD

On most BSD systems kvm is a requirement to read kernel information.

More information on required and optional dependencies can be found in configure.ac.

Usage

See the manual page (man htop) or the help menu (F1 or h inside htop) for a list of supported key commands.

Support

If you have trouble running htop please consult your operating system / Linux distribution documentation for getting support and filing bugs.

Bugs, development feedback

We have a development mailing list. Feel free to subscribe for release announcements or asking questions on the development of htop.

You can also join our IRC channel #htop on Libera.Chat and talk to the developers there.

If you have found an issue within the source of htop, please check whether this has already been reported in our GitHub issue tracker. If not, please file a new issue describing the problem you have found, the potential location in the source code you are referring to and a possible fix if available.

History

htop was invented, developed and maintained by Hisham Muhammad from 2004 to 2019. His legacy repository has been archived to preserve the history.

In 2020 a team took over the development amicably and continues to maintain htop collaboratively.

License

GNU General Public License, version 2 (GPL-2.0) or, at your option, any later version.