NAME

glances - An eye on your system

SYNOPSIS

glances [OPTIONS]

DESCRIPTION

glances is a cross-platform curses-based monitoring tool which aims to present a maximum of information in a minimum of space, ideally to fit in a classical 80x24 terminal or higher to have additional information. It can adapt dynamically the displayed information depending on the terminal size. It can also work in client/server mode. Remote monitoring could be done via terminal or web interface.

glances is written in Python and uses the psutil library to get information from your system.

OPTIONS

COMMAND-LINE OPTIONS

-h, --help: show this help message and exit

-V, --version: show program’s version number and exit

-d, --debug: enable debug mode

-C CONF_FILE, --config CONF_FILE: path to the configuration file

--modules-list: display modules (plugins & exports) list and exit

--disable-plugin PLUGIN: disable PLUGIN (comma separated list)

--enable-plugin PLUGIN: enable PLUGIN (comma separated list)

--stdout PLUGINS_STATS: display stats to stdout (comma separated list of plugins/plugins.attribute)

--export EXPORT: enable EXPORT module (comma separated list)

--export-csv-file EXPORT_CSV_FILE: file path for CSV exporter

--export-json-file EXPORT_JSON_FILE: file path for JSON exporter

--disable-process: disable process module (reduce Glances CPU consumption)

--disable-webui: disable the Web UI (only the RESTful API will respond)

--light, --enable-light: light mode for Curses UI (disable all but top menu)

-0, --disable-irix: task’s CPU usage will be divided by the total number of CPUs

-1, --percpu: start Glances in per CPU mode

-2, --disable-left-sidebar: disable network, disk I/O, FS and sensors modules

-3, --disable-quicklook: disable quick look module

-4, --full-quicklook: disable all but quick look and load

-5, --disable-top: disable top menu (QuickLook, CPU, MEM, SWAP and LOAD)

-6, --meangpu: start Glances in mean GPU mode

--enable-history: enable the history mode

--disable-bold: disable bold mode in the terminal

--disable-bg: disable background colors in the terminal

--enable-process-extended: enable extended stats on top process

-c CLIENT, --client CLIENT: connect to a Glances server by IPv4/IPv6 address, hostname or hostname:port

-s, --server: run Glances in server mode

--browser: start the client browser (list of servers)

--disable-autodiscover: disable autodiscover feature

-p PORT, --port PORT: define the client/server TCP port [default: 61209]

-B BIND_ADDRESS, --bind BIND_ADDRESS: bind server to the given IPv4/IPv6 address or hostname

--username: define a client/server username

--password: define a client/server password

--snmp-community SNMP_COMMUNITY: SNMP community

--snmp-port SNMP_PORT: SNMP port

--snmp-version SNMP_VERSION: SNMP version (1, 2c or 3)

--snmp-user SNMP_USER: SNMP username (only for SNMPv3)

--snmp-auth SNMP_AUTH: SNMP authentication key (only for SNMPv3)

--snmp-force: force SNMP mode

-t TIME, --time TIME: set refresh time in seconds [default: 3 sec]

-w, --webserver: run Glances in web server mode (bottle lib needed)

--cached-time CACHED_TIME: set the server cache time [default: 1 sec]

open-web-browser: try to open the Web UI in the default Web browser

-q, --quiet: do not display the curses interface

-f PROCESS_FILTER, --process-filter PROCESS_FILTER: set the process filter pattern (regular expression)

--process-short-name: force short name for processes name

--hide-kernel-threads: hide kernel threads in process list (not available on Windows)

-b, --byte: display network rate in byte per second

--diskio-show-ramfs: show RAM FS in the DiskIO plugin

--diskio-iops: show I/O per second in the DiskIO plugin

--fahrenheit: display temperature in Fahrenheit (default is Celsius)

--fs-free-space: display FS free space instead of used

--theme-white: optimize display colors for white background

--disable-check-update: disable online Glances version ckeck

INTERACTIVE COMMANDS

The following commands (key pressed) are supported while in Glances:

ENTER: Set the process filter
NOTE:

On macOS please use CTRL-H to delete filter.

Filter is a regular expression pattern:

gnome: matches all processes starting with the gnome string
.*gnome.*: matches all processes containing the gnome string

a: Sort process list automatically

If CPU >70%, sort processes by CPU usage
If MEM >70%, sort processes by MEM usage
If CPU iowait >60%, sort processes by I/O read and write

A: Enable/disable Application Monitoring Process
b: Switch between bit/s or Byte/s for network I/O
B: View disk I/O counters per second
c: Sort processes by CPU usage
C: Enable/disable cloud stats
d: Show/hide disk I/O stats
D: Enable/disable Docker stats
e: Enable/disable top extended stats
E: Erase current process filter
f: Show/hide file system and folder monitoring stats
F: Switch between file system used and free space
g: Generate graphs for current history
G: Enable/disable GPU stats
h: Show/hide the help screen
i: Sort processes by I/O rate
I: Show/hide IP module
k: Kill selected process
K: Show/hide TCP connections
l: Show/hide log messages
m: Sort processes by MEM usage
M: Reset processes summary min/max
n: Show/hide network stats
N: Show/hide current time
p: Sort processes by name
P: Enable/Disable ports stats
q|ESC|CTRL-C: Quit the current Glances session
Q: Show/hide IRQ module
r: Reset history
R: Show/hide RAID plugin
s: Show/hide sensors stats
S: Enable/disable spark lines
t: Sort process by CPU times (TIME+)
T: View network I/O as combination
u: Sort processes by USER
U: View cumulative network I/O
w: Delete finished warning log messages
W: Show/hide Wifi module
x: Delete finished warning and critical log messages
z: Show/hide processes stats
0: Enable/disable Irix/Solaris mode
Task’s CPU usage will be divided by the total number of CPUs
1: Switch between global CPU and per-CPU stats
2: Enable/disable left sidebar
3: Enable/disable the quick look module
4: Enable/disable all but quick look and load module
5: Enable/disable top menu (QuickLook, CPU, MEM, SWAP and LOAD)
6: Enable/disable mean GPU mode
9: Switch UI theme between black and white
/: Switch between process command line or command name
F5: Refresh stats in curses user interface
LEFT: Navigation leff through process sort
RIGHT: Navigation right through process sort
UP: Up in the processes list
DOWN: Down in the processes list

In the Glances client browser (accessible through the --browser command line argument):

ENTER: Run the selected server
UP: Up in the servers list
DOWN: Down in the servers list
q|ESC: Quit Glances

CONFIGURATION

No configuration file is mandatory to use Glances.

Furthermore a configuration file is needed to access more settings.

LOCATION

NOTE:

A template is available in the /usr{,/local}/share/doc/glances (Unix-like) directory or directly on GitHub.

You can put your own glances.conf file in the following locations:

Linux, SunOS	~/.config/glances/, /etc/glances/, /usr/share/docs/glances/
*BSD	~/.config/glances/, /usr/local/etc/glances/, /usr/share/docs/glances/
macOS	~/Library/Application Support/glances/, /usr/local/etc/glances/, /usr/share/docs/glances/
Windows	%APPDATA%\glancesglances.conf

On Windows XP, %APPDATA% is: C:\Documents and Settings\<USERNAME>\Application Data.
On Windows Vista and later: C:\Users\<USERNAME>\AppData\Roaming.

User-specific options override system-wide options and options given on the command line override either.

SYNTAX

Glances reads configuration files in the ini syntax.

A first section (called global) is available:

[global]
# Refresh rate (default is a minimum of 2 seconds)
# Can be overwrite by the -t <sec> option
# It is also possible to overwrite it in each plugin sections
refresh=2
# Does Glances should check if a newer version is available on PyPI ?
check_update=false
# History size (maximum number of values)
# Default is 28800: 1 day with 1 point every 3 seconds
history_size=28800

Each plugin, export module and application monitoring process (AMP) can have a section. Below an example for the CPU plugin:

[cpu]
disable=False
refresh=3
user_careful=50
user_warning=70
user_critical=90
iowait_careful=50
iowait_warning=70
iowait_critical=90
system_careful=50
system_warning=70
system_critical=90
steal_careful=50
steal_warning=70
steal_critical=90

an InfluxDB export module:

[influxdb]
# Configuration for the --export influxdb option
# https://influxdb.com/
host=localhost
port=8086
user=root
password=root
db=glances
prefix=localhost
#tags=foo:bar,spam:eggs

or a Nginx AMP:

[amp_nginx]
# Nginx status page should be enable (https://easyengine.io/tutorials/nginx/status-page/)
enable=true
regex=\/usr\/sbin\/nginx
refresh=60
one_line=false
status_url=http://localhost/nginx_status

With Glances 3.0 or higher it is also possible to use dynamic configuration value using system command. For example, if you to set the prefix of an InfluxDB export to the current hostname, use:

[influxdb]
...
prefix=`hostname`

Or if you want to add the Operating System name as a tag:

[influxdb]
...
tags=system:`uname -a`

LOGGING

Glances logs all of its internal messages to a log file.

DEBUG messages can been logged using the -d option on the command line.

The location of the Glances depends of your operating system. You could displayed the Glances log file full path using the``glances -V`` command line.

The file is automatically rotate when the size is higher than 1 MB.

If you want to use another system path or change the log message, you can use your own logger configuration. First of all, you have to create a glances.json file with, for example, the following content (JSON format):

{
    "version": 1,
    "disable_existing_loggers": "False",
    "root": {
        "level": "INFO",
        "handlers": ["file", "console"]
    },
    "formatters": {
        "standard": {
            "format": "%(asctime)s -- %(levelname)s -- %(message)s"
        },
        "short": {
            "format": "%(levelname)s: %(message)s"
        },
        "free": {
            "format": "%(message)s"
        }
    },
    "handlers": {
        "file": {
            "level": "DEBUG",
            "class": "logging.handlers.RotatingFileHandler",
            "formatter": "standard",
            "filename": "/var/tmp/glances.log"
        },
        "console": {
            "level": "CRITICAL",
            "class": "logging.StreamHandler",
            "formatter": "free"
        }
    },
    "loggers": {
        "debug": {
            "handlers": ["file", "console"],
            "level": "DEBUG"
        },
        "verbose": {
            "handlers": ["file", "console"],
            "level": "INFO"
        },
        "standard": {
            "handlers": ["file"],
            "level": "INFO"
        },
        "requests": {
            "handlers": ["file", "console"],
            "level": "ERROR"
        },
        "elasticsearch": {
            "handlers": ["file", "console"],
            "level": "ERROR"
        },
        "elasticsearch.trace": {
            "handlers": ["file", "console"],
            "level": "ERROR"
        }
    }
}

and start Glances using the following command line:

LOG_CFG=<path>/glances.json glances

NOTE:

Replace <path> by the folder where your glances.json file is hosted.

EXAMPLES

Monitor local machine (standalone mode):

$ glances

Monitor local machine with the web interface (Web UI), run the following command line:

$ glances -w

and open a Web browser with the returned URL

Monitor local machine and export stats to a CSV file:

$ glances –export csv –export-csv-file /tmp/glances.csv

Monitor local machine and export stats to a InfluxDB server with 5s refresh time (also possible to export to OpenTSDB, Cassandra, Statsd, ElasticSearch, RabbitMQ and Riemann):

$ glances -t 5 –export influxdb

It is also possible to export stats to multiple endpoints:

$ glances -t 5 –export influxdb,statsd,csv

Start a Glances server (server mode):

$ glances -s

Connect Glances to a Glances server (client mode):

$ glances -c <ip_server>

Connect to a Glances server and export stats to a StatsD server:

$ glances -c <ip_server> –export statsd

Start the client browser (browser mode):

$ glances –browser

AUTHOR

Nicolas Hennion aka Nicolargo <contact@nicolargo.com>

COPYRIGHT

2021, Nicolas Hennion