Processes List

Compact view:

../_images/processlist.png

Full view:

../_images/processlist-wide.png

Filtered view:

../_images/processlist-filter.png

Extended view:

../_images/processlist-extended.png

The process view consists of 3 parts:

  • Processes summary

  • Monitored processes list (optional, only in standalone mode)

  • Extended stats for the selected process (optional)

  • Processes list

The processes summary line displays:

  • Total number of tasks/processes (aliases as total in the Glances API)

  • Number of threads

  • Number of running tasks/processes

  • Number of sleeping tasks/processes

  • Other number of tasks/processes (not in running or sleeping states)

  • Sort key for the process list

By default, or if you hit the a key, the processes list is automatically sorted by:

  • CPU: if there is no alert (default behavior)

  • CPU: if a CPU or LOAD alert is detected

  • MEM: if a memory alert is detected

  • DISK I/O: if a CPU iowait alert is detected

You can also set the sort key in the UI:

  • by clicking on left and right arrows

  • by clicking on the following shortcuts or command line option:

Title

Shortcut

Command line option

Description

a

Automatic sort

Default sort

c

–sort-processes cpu_percent

Sort by CPU

e

N/A

Pin the process and display extended stats

i

–sort-processes io_counters

Sort by DISK I/O

j

–programs

Accumulate processes by program (extended stats disable in this mode)

m

–sort-processes memory_percent

Sort by MEM

p

–sort-processes name

Sort by process name

t

–sort-processes cpu_times

Sort by CPU times

u

–sort-processes username

Sort by process username

The number of processes in the list is adapted to the screen size.

Columns display

CPU%

% of CPU used by the process

If Irix/Solaris mode is off (‘0’ key), the value is divided by logical core number

MEM%

% of MEM used by the process (RES divided by the total RAM you have)

VIRT

Virtual Memory Size

The total amount of virtual memory used by the process. It includes all code, data and shared libraries plus pages that have been swapped out and pages that have been mapped but not used.

Virtual memory is usually much larger than physical memory, making it possible to run programs for which the total code plus data size is greater than the amount of RAM available.

Most of the time, this is not a useful number.

RES

Resident Memory Size

The non-swapped physical memory a process is using (what’s currently in the physical memory).

PID

Process ID (column is replaced by NPROCS in accumulated mode)

USER

User ID

THR

Threads number of the process

TIME+

Cumulative CPU time used by the process

NI

Nice level of the process

S

Process status

The status of the process:

  • R: running or runnable (on run queue)

  • S: interruptible sleep (waiting for an event)

  • D: uninterruptible sleep (usually I/O)

  • Z: defunct (“zombie”) process

  • T: traced by job control signal

  • t: stopped by debugger during the tracing

  • X: dead (should never be seen)

R/s

Per process I/O read rate in B/s

W/s

Per process I/O write rate in B/s

COMMAND

Process command line or command name

User can switch to the process name by pressing on the '/' key

Process filtering

It’s possible to filter the processes list using the ENTER key.

Filter syntax is the following (examples):

  • python: Filter processes name or command line starting with python (regexp)

  • .*python.*: Filter processes name or command line containing python (regexp)

  • username:nicolargo: Processes of nicolargo user (key:regexp)

  • cmdline:\/usr\/bin.*: Processes starting by /usr/bin

Extended info

../_images/processlist-top.png

In standalone mode, additional information are provided for the top process:

CPU affinity

Number of cores used by the process

Memory info

Extended memory information about the process

For example, on Linux: swap, shared, text, lib, data and dirty

Open

The number of threads, files and network sessions (TCP and UDP) used by the process

IO nice

The process I/O niceness (priority)

The extended stats feature can be enabled using the --enable-process-extended option (command line) or the e key (curses interface).

In curses/standalone mode, you can select a process using UP and DOWN and press: - k to kill the selected process

Note

Limit for CPU and MEM percent values can be overwritten in the configuration file under the [processlist] section. It is also possible to define limit for Nice values (comma-separated list). For example: nice_warning=-20,-19,-18

Accumulated per program — key ‘j’

When activated (‘j’ hotkey or –programs option in the command line), processes are merged to display which programs are active. The columns show the accumulated cpu consumption, the accumulated virtual and resident memory consumption, the accumulated transferred data I/O. The PID columns is replaced by a NPROCS column which is the number of processes.

Export process

Glances version 4 introduces a new feature to export specifics processes. In order to use this feature, you need to use the export option in the processlist section of the Glances configuration file or the –export-process-filter option in the command line.

The export option is a list of Glances filters.

Example number one, export all processes named ‘python’ (or with a command line containing ‘python’):

[processlist]
export=.*python.*

Note: or the –export-process-filter “.*python.*” option in the command line.

Example number two, export all processes with the name ‘python’ or ‘bash’:

[processlist]
export=.*python.*,.*bash.*

Note: or the –export-process-filter “.*python.*,.*bash.*” option in the command line.

Example number three, export all processes belong to ‘nicolargo’ user:

[processlist]
export=username:nicolargo

Note: or the –export-process-filter “username:nicolargo” option in the command line.

The output of the export use the PID as the key (for example if you want to export firefox process to a CSV file):

Configuration file (glances.conf):

[processlist]
export=.*firefox.*

Note: or the –export-process-filter “.*firefox.*” option in the command line.

Command line example:

glances -C ./conf/glances.conf --export csv --export-csv-file /tmp/glances.csv --disable-plugin all --enable-plugin processlist --quiet

the result will be:

timestamp,845992.memory_percent,845992.status,845992.num_threads,845992.cpu_timesuser,845992.cpu_timessystem,845992.cpu_timeschildren_user,845992.cpu_timeschildren_system,845992.cpu_timesiowait,845992.memory_inforss,845992.memory_infovms,845992.memory_infoshared,845992.memory_infotext,845992.memory_infolib,845992.memory_infodata,845992.memory_infodirty,845992.name,845992.io_counters,845992.nice,845992.cpu_percent,845992.pid,845992.gidsreal,845992.gidseffective,845992.gidssaved,845992.key,845992.time_since_update,845992.cmdline,845992.username,total,running,sleeping,thread,pid_max
2024-04-03 18:39:55,3.692938041968513,S,138,1702.88,567.89,1752.79,244.18,0.0,288919552,12871561216,95182848,856064,0,984535040,0,firefox,1863281664,0,0.5,845992,1000,1000,1000,pid,2.2084147930145264,/snap/firefox/3836/usr/lib/firefox/firefox,nicolargo,403,1,333,1511,0
2024-04-03 18:39:57,3.692938041968513,S,138,1702.88,567.89,1752.79,244.18,0.0,288919552,12871561216,95182848,856064,0,984535040,0,firefox,1863281664,0,0.5,845992,1000,1000,1000,pid,2.2084147930145264,/snap/firefox/3836/usr/lib/firefox/firefox,nicolargo,403,1,333,1511,0