Bashtop – A Resource Monitoring Tool for Linux

If you are a Linux user, you may have experienced some difficulties when it comes to monitoring system resources. Keeping track of CPU usage, memory usage, network activity, and other important system statistics can be a challenging task. Fortunately, there are several open-source tools available that make it easy to monitor system resources. In this article, we will be discussing one such tool – Bashtop.

What is Bashtop?

Bashtop is a resource monitoring tool for Linux that provides real-time information on system resources. It is a terminal-based application that displays a live graph of system resources usage, making it easy to monitor your system's health.

Bashtop is written in Bash scripting language and is available under MIT license. application uses Linux system monitoring tools, such as top and htop, to gather system resource information and presents it in a user-friendly way.

Bashtop is a lightweight and highly customizable tool that can be used on any Linux system, from servers to desktops. application provides detailed information on CPU usage, memory usage, disk usage, network activity, and process activity.

Installation of Bashtop

Bashtop can be easily installed on most Linux distributions using system package manager. For example, on Ubuntu or Debian, you can use following command −

sudo apt install bashtop

On Fedora, you can use −

sudo dnf install bashtop

If Bashtop is not available in your distribution's repository, you can download source code from project's GitHub page and compile it manually.

Usage of Bashtop

Once installed, you can launch Bashtop by opening a terminal and typing −

bashtop

This will launch application and display main interface.

The main interface of Bashtop consists of a graph that displays current system resource usage, along with a list of processes that are currently running on system. resource usage graph shows CPU, memory, and disk usage, as well as network activity.

You can use arrow keys to navigate through list of processes, and pressing Enter key will display more detailed information about a specific process. You can also sort list of processes by various parameters, such as CPU usage or memory usage, by pressing F5 key and selecting desired option.

Customization of Bashtop

Bashtop is a highly customizable tool that allows you to change appearance and behavior of application to suit your preferences. You can customize various aspects of application, such as color scheme, graph style, and information displayed.

To customize Bashtop, you can create a configuration file named .config/bashtop/bashtop.cfg in your home directory. This file allows you to set various options, such as refresh rate, default sorting order, and graph style.

For example, to change color scheme of Bashtop, you can add following lines to your configuration file −

[colors]
cpu = blue
memory = yellow
disk = green
network = red

This will change colors of resource usage graph to blue for CPU usage, yellow for memory usage, green for disk usage, and red for network activity.

Bashtop has several features that make it stand out from other system monitoring tools. One of key features of Bashtop is its ability to display a detailed overview of system's resource usage in real-time. This is particularly useful for identifying resource-hungry applications that may be slowing down your system.

Another useful feature of Bashtop is its ability to sort and filter list of running processes based on various parameters such as CPU usage, memory usage, and process name. This makes it easy to quickly identify and manage processes that may be consuming too much resources or causing performance issues.

Bashtop also provides detailed information about each process, including its process ID, memory usage, CPU usage, and command line arguments. This information can be used to troubleshoot issues and diagnose problems on system.

Furthermore, Bashtop is highly customizable and allows users to configure various options such as color scheme, graph style, and information displayed. This makes it easy to tailor application to your specific needs and preferences.

In terms of performance, Bashtop is a lightweight and fast application that does not consume significant system resources. This means that it can be used on systems with limited resources without affecting performance.

Bashtop also provides users with ability to monitor network activity in real-time. It displays information about network usage such as upload and download speeds, total data transferred, and number of active connections. This feature is particularly useful for monitoring network-intensive applications and diagnosing network-related issues.

Another great feature of Bashtop is its support for various command-line options. For example, users can specify refresh rate, default sorting order, and graph style by passing command-line arguments when launching application. This makes it easy to integrate Bashtop into scripts and automate resource monitoring tasks.

Bashtop is also highly extensible and supports plugins that can be used to add additional functionality. For example, there are plugins available that provide additional information about system resources such as CPU temperature and disk usage. Users can also create their own plugins using Bash scripting language and integrate them into Bashtop.

Moreover, Bashtop is designed to be highly efficient and uses minimal system resources. This makes it an ideal tool for monitoring system resources on low-end hardware such as Raspberry Pi devices or older computers.

Conclusion

Bashtop is a powerful and customizable resource monitoring tool for Linux that provides real-time information on system resources. It is a lightweight and easy-to-use application that can be used to monitor your system's health and troubleshoot any issues that may arise.

Whether you are a server administrator or a desktop user, Bashtop is a must-have tool for any Linux system. Its user-friendly interface and customizable options make it a great alternative to other system monitoring tools like top or htop. Moreover, since it is a terminal-based application, it can be used on headless servers or through SSH connections, making it a versatile tool for remote system administration.

In addition to its features, Bashtop has an active community that is constantly improving and adding new features to tool. You can contribute to project by reporting bugs, requesting new features, or submitting code contributions on project's GitHub page.

Overall, Bashtop is a valuable addition to any Linux system that requires real-time monitoring of system resources. With its user-friendly interface, customizable options, and active community, Bashtop is a reliable and powerful tool for system administrators and users alike.