htop is an advanced, real-time process monitor for Linux/Unix-like systems, offering a superior alternative to the default top command that’s pre-installed on all Linux operating systems.
Htop boasts an array of user-friendly features absent in the top command, including:
- The ability to scroll both vertically and horizontally for a comprehensive view of the process list and full command lines.
- Fast startup time as it doesn’t wait to gather data at launch, unlike top.
- Capability to terminate multiple processes simultaneously without the need for their PIDs.
- No necessity to enter process number or priority value to re-nice a process.
- “e” key function to display a process’s environment variables.
- Mouse utilization to select list items.
Now, let’s discuss how to install htop on various Linux distributions:
On RHEL/CentOS
These days, you can install htop on any version of RHEL/CentOS using the EPEL repository. First, enable EPEL repository using the command:
# yum install epel-release
Then, you can install htop with:
# yum install htop
On Fedora
For Fedora users, the installation is straightforward. Just type:
# dnf install htop
On Debian and Ubuntu
For Debian and Ubuntu, htop can be fetched using the following command:
# sudo apt-get install htop
On Arch Linux
For Arch Linux and its derivatives like Manjaro, use the pacman command:
# sudo pacman -S htop
On openSUSE
For openSUSE, use the zypper command:
# sudo zypper install htop
On FreeBSD
To install htop on FreeBSD, use the pkg command:
# sudo pkg install htop
To launch the htop monitoring tool, run the following command in the terminal:
# htop
That’s it! You now have htop installed on your system and you’re ready to start managing your processes more effectively.