In the world of system administration and IT, monitoring system resources is essential to ensure everything runs smoothly and efficiently. Htop emerges as a powerful tool for system administrators to keep track of the status of a Linux VPS. If you’re looking for a robust solution to monitor system performance, Htop is definitely worth considering. In this article, let’s explore what Htop is and how you can use it to effectively monitor your Linux VPS resources, with VPSWindows as your guide.

What is Htop?

Htop is a command-line utility for Unix-like operating systems, especially Linux, designed to help users monitor and manage system resources in real time.
It can be considered an enhanced alternative to the traditional top command, offering a more intuitive and interactive interface. With Htop, users can easily track metrics such as CPU usage and RAM consumption and view the list of active processes.
What-is-Htop

How to Install Htop on a Linux VPS

Now that you understand “What is Htop?“, you’re probably eager to start using it. To do so, you’ll first need to install Htop on your Linux VPS. Htop can be easily installed on most popular Linux distributions such as Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS, and Fedora. Below is a step-by-step guide to help you get started.

System Requirements

Before proceeding with the installation, make sure your VPS meets the following requirements:

  • A VPS running a Linux operating system (e.g., Ubuntu, CentOS, Debian, Fedora, etc.). Htop is compatible with most popular Linux distributions.
  • You must have root or sudo privileges to run the commands needed to install packages.

How to Install Htop on Popular Linux Distributions

Ubuntu/Debian:

For Debian-based systems like Ubuntu, you will use the apt package manager.
First, update the package list to make sure you have the latest information about available software:
sudo apt update
After updating, install Htop with the following command:
sudo apt install htop
The system may prompt you to confirm the installation; simply type Y and press Enter to continue.
install-htop-on-ubuntu-vps
CentOS/RHEL:
For CentOS/RHEL systems, you will use the yum package manager.
Htop is usually available in the EPEL (Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux) repository. If you don’t have EPEL enabled, install it first with:
sudo yum install epel-release
After installing EPEL, you can install Htop with:
sudo yum install htop
Fedora:
On Fedora, you will use the dnf package manager.
You can install Htop directly with the following command:
sudo dnf install htop
As with other distributions, you may be prompted to confirm the installation when asked.

How to Use Htop to Monitor Your Linux VPS

Once Htop is installed, you’re ready to start exploring its powerful resource monitoring capabilities.

Launching Htop

To launch Htop, simply enter the following command in your terminal:
htop
Immediately, the Htop interface will appear, giving you a comprehensive and detailed overview of your VPS.
How-to-Use-Htop-to-Monitor-Your-Linux-VPS

Basic Htop Interface

When you open Htop, you’ll see an interface displaying key information such as:
  • CPU usage: CPU utilization per core, shown as horizontal bar graphs so you can quickly spot how much CPU power is being used.
  • Memory usage: A clear visual representation of RAM usage, distinguishing used memory, cache, and free memory.
  • Swap: Displays swap memory usage — the portion of disk space used as additional RAM when physical memory runs low.
  • Processes: A detailed list of currently running processes, including important details like PID (Process ID), owning user, CPU% and MEM% utilization.

Basic Htop Interface

the information displayed in htop

Basic Operations with Htop

Htop is designed for easy interaction through keyboard shortcuts:
  • Navigation: Use the arrow keys to move around the interface and select processes.
  • Sort by column: Press F6 to choose which column (e.g., CPU%, MEM%, PID) to sort processes by.
  • Search for a process: Press F3 and enter the process name you’re looking for. Htop will quickly highlight the matching process.
  • Kill a process: To stop a running process, select it and press F9. Then choose the appropriate signal, such as SIGKILL, to force an immediate stop if needed.

Advanced Features of Htop

Htop also offers powerful advanced features for deeper process management:
  • Change process priority (nice value): Adjust the priority of a process to control how the CPU allocates resources by pressing F7 (decrease priority) or F8 (increase priority).
  • Filter processes: Use F4 to filter processes based on name or PID, helping you focus only on what matters.
  • Graphical displays: Htop provides intuitive graphs for CPU, memory, and swap usage, making it easy to track resource usage trends in real time.

Common Htop Commands

At the bottom of the Htop interface, you’ll see the function key bar, which displays the keyboard shortcuts (usually F1 to F10) you can use to interact with Htop:
  • F1 or h (Help): Opens the help screen, showing a complete list of shortcuts and functions.
  • F2 or S (Setup): Opens the setup menu, where you can customize visible columns, set color schemes, and adjust other display options.
  • F3 or / (Search): Search for processes by name.
  • F4 or \ (Filter): Filter processes by name.
  • F5 or t (Tree): Switches to tree view to display processes in a hierarchical structure.
  • F6 or </> (Sort by): Sort the process list by different columns.
  • F7 (Nice -): Increase the priority of the selected process (lower its nice value).
  • F8 (Nice +): Decrease the priority of the selected process (raise its nice value).
  • F9 or k (Kill): Kill the selected process.
  • F10 or q (Quit): Exit Htop.

Common-Htop-Commands

Advantages of Using Htop to Monitor Your Linux VPS

With so many monitoring tools available, why is Htop such a popular choice? Here are the standout advantages that make it a favorite among system administrators:
Intuitive Interface: This is the biggest advantage of Htop compared to other command-line tools like top.
With clear, colorful graphs for CPU, RAM, and swap usage, combined with logically organized information, Htop allows you to quickly grasp the status of your system at a glance.
Real-Time Data Updates: Htop continuously refreshes resource and process data in real time. This makes it easy to spot issues like CPU overload, memory exhaustion, or processes that are consuming excessive resources as they happen.
Fast Search, Filter, and Sorting of Processes: Imagine you have hundreds of processes running on your VPS — how do you quickly locate an Apache or MySQL process? With top, you’d need to scroll manually. But with Htop, you can simply press F3 to search or F4 to filter. The ability to sort processes by different columns (F6) also helps you immediately identify which process is consuming the most CPU or RAM.
These features save time and greatly improve management efficiency.
Lightweight Yet Powerful: Despite its attractive graphical interface and interactive features, Htop is designed to run very efficiently with minimal system resource usage. This allows it to operate smoothly even on low-spec systems, making it perfect for VPS setups with limited resources.
Through this article from VPSWindows, we hope you’ve found the answer to the question What is Htop and learned how to use it to monitor your Linux VPS resources effectively. In summary, Htop is a powerful and easy-to-use tool that provides comprehensive and intuitive monitoring of your Linux VPS. It not only helps you better understand your server’s operations but also serves as a valuable assistant in maintaining system stability and performance.