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:

  1. The ability to scroll both vertically and horizontally for a comprehensive view of the process list and full command lines.
  2. Fast startup time as it doesn’t wait to gather data at launch, unlike top.
  3. Capability to terminate multiple processes simultaneously without the need for their PIDs.
  4. No necessity to enter process number or priority value to re-nice a process.
  5. “e” key function to display a process’s environment variables.
  6. 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.