Master htop: Powerful Process Monitoring Tips & Tricks
htop is a modern, interactive process monitor that enhances the classic top utility with features like sortable columns, search filtering, tree view, process killing, and file list inspection, and this guide shows how to install it on CentOS and use its key functions effectively.
top is a commonly used process monitoring tool that shows CPU, memory, load, and per‑process resource usage. However, top is aging; htop is a newer alternative that retains top’s basics while adding many enhancements.
Key Features of htop
(1) Sort by different resources – Press F6 to list sortable columns, choose one with the arrow keys, and press Enter. By default htop sorts by memory usage.
(2) Search and filter processes – Press F3 to open a Search box, type a keyword, and htop jumps to the matching process.
(3) Tree view – Press F5 to display processes in a hierarchical tree structure.
(4) Kill a process – Select a process with the cursor, press F9 , choose a signal (e.g., SIGKILL), and confirm to terminate it.
(5) View open files of a process – With lsof installed, press the l key on a selected process to jump to a list of files it has opened; press ESC to return.
These features make process monitoring more convenient; give htop a try.
Installing htop
htop is not included by default and must be installed manually. On a CentOS system, run: # yum install htop Images illustrating each step are included in the original article.
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