htop: Monitor Linux System Processes - A Comprehensive Guide

A User-Friendly Alternative to the 'top' Command

For those acquainted with the Linux operating system, the top command-line utility is often employed to identify processes consuming the most CPU or memory resources. However, a comparable tool named htop offers a significantly more intuitive experience for routine system monitoring.

A key advantage of htop lies in its ability to display resource utilization on a per-CPU basis. Furthermore, it presents a readily interpretable textual representation of both memory and swap space usage directly at the top of the interface.

Installing htop on Ubuntu

Installation on Ubuntu systems is straightforward, utilizing the apt-get package manager. Alternatively, the source code can be obtained from the htop project website, linked at the end of this article.

sudo apt-get install htop

Following installation, simply execute the command htop in a terminal to launch the application. Observe the informative text-based graph displayed at the top of the screen.

The most beneficial feature is the ease of process management. Utilize the Up and Down arrow keys to select a specific process. Then, you can terminate it using the F9 key, or adjust its priority with the F7 and F8 keys. Note that root privileges are required to elevate process priority significantly.