btop: Modern Linux Monitor
Learn how to use btop, a terminal-based system monitor, to track system resources, manage processes, and optimize performance on Linux systems.
btop is an advanced, terminal-based system monitoring tool for Linux, macOS, and BSD systems that provides a visually appealing, real-time overview of system resource usage.
Developed by Aristocratos and written in C++, btop builds upon its predecessor, bashtop, offering enhanced performance, modern visuals, and interactive features.
It’s designed to be a more intuitive alternative to traditional monitors like htop or glances, combining detailed insights with an elegant, easy-to-read interface.
At its core, btop provides immediate, real-time insights into your system’s performance that includes:
- CPU Usage - Monitor overall load and individual core activity.
- Memory Usage - Keep an eye on RAM and swap with detailed graphs.
- Disk Activity - Track read/write operations across all mounted drives.
- Network Bandwidth - Monitor upload and download rates per interface.
- Processes - View per-process metrics such as CPU, memory, I/O, and network usage, with interactive sorting and filtering.
The interface is both functional and visually rich, featuring color-coded bars, graphs, and highlights, making it easy to spot performance bottlenecks at a glance.
Beyond just monitoring, btop enables you to manage processes, optimize resource allocation, and track system behavior over time, all within a smooth, interactive interface.
Because of these features, btop is great for system administrators, developers, and power users who want a clear, real-time view of their system and an easy way to track and manage performance.
Installation of btop in Linux
btop is available on most Linux distributions, and can be installed using your system’s package manager, downloaded as a precompiled binary, or compiled from source.
Using your distribution’s package manager is usually the easiest and most reliable method, as it ensures compatibility and keeps updates simple.
For Debian and Ubuntu-based systems:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install btop
For Red Hat, Fedora, and CentOS-based systems:
sudo dnf install epel-release
sudo dnf install btop
Alternatively, the source code can be cloned from the official repository and compiled:
git clone https://github.com/aristocratos/btop.git
cd btop
make
sudo make install