10 useful console utilities for monitoring a Linux server

When administering any servers, effective monitoring is paramount to maintaining system health, performance, and security. For dedicated and virtual servers running Linux operating systems, console utilities play a key role, allowing administrators not only to monitor important indicators, diagnose problems and ensure optimal server operation, but also to easily automate routine monitoring processes by creating their own scripts and scenarios. In this short review article, we would like to present ten indispensable console utilities for monitoring any Linux server.

1. htop

History

htop, born in 2004 as a modern alternative to the traditional 'top' utility, introduced a more user-friendly and feature-rich interface for monitoring system processes. Hisham Muhammad developed htop to provide real-time insights into system resource usage.

Development

Over the years, htop evolved with added functionalities like mouse support, process filtering, tree view, and customizable display options. Its intuitive interface and robust feature set made it a favorite among system administrators for monitoring CPU, memory, and processes.

Prospects

The future of htop involves continued enhancements in visualizations, improved compatibility with modern Linux distributions, and integration with cloud-based monitoring services to cater to diverse and evolving server environments.

2. iftop

History

iftop emerged in 2001 to fill the gap in monitoring network bandwidth usage in a console-based environment. Paul Warren developed this utility to provide real-time insights into network traffic at the interface level.

Development

iftop's evolution focused on enhancing its usability and functionality. It provided administrators with a clear and concise view of network utilization by tracking individual connections and their respective bandwidth usage. Its simplicity and accuracy made it an essential tool for network monitoring.

Prospects

The future prospects of iftop involve adapting to higher network speeds and incorporating more advanced filtering options to cater to the increasing complexity of modern network architectures.

3. iotop

History

Introduced in 2007, iotop aimed to address the need for monitoring I/O (Input/Output) usage in a comprehensive manner. Developed by Guillaume Chazarain, iotop provided insights into disk I/O activities on a per-process basis.

Development

iotop's evolution centered on refining its capabilities in tracking disk I/O, identifying processes causing significant I/O loads, and displaying I/O usage in real time. Its ability to pinpoint I/O-intensive processes made it invaluable for diagnosing performance bottlenecks related to disk activity.

Prospects

The future trajectory of iotop involves adapting to newer storage technologies like NVMe, enhancing support for monitoring multiple disks simultaneously, and incorporating predictive analytics for proactive identification of I/O-related issues.

4. nload

History

nload, another powerful network connection monitoring tool created in 2003. The developers were inspired to create it by the need for a simple but powerful utility for monitoring network traffic throughput in real time. Its creator, Roland Riegel, designed it to provide clear visualization of network usage.

Development

nload has been developed with a focus on ease of use and accurate monitoring of network traffic. Its ASCII-based graphical interface displayed incoming and outgoing traffic speeds for each interface, making network usage patterns easier to understand and interpret.

Prospects

Future prospects for nload include adapting to higher network speeds, optimizing resource consumption, and incorporating support for modern network interfaces to ensure its relevance for monitoring high-speed network infrastructures.

5. Glances

History

Glances, introduced in 2011, aimed to consolidate various system monitoring tools into a single console-based utility. Developed by Nicolas Hennion, it provided a comprehensive overview of system metrics in real time.

Development

Glances evolved into a feature-rich monitoring tool capable of displaying information on CPU, memory, disk, network, and process metrics in a unified interface. Its extensibility through plugins and ease of installation contributed to its popularity.

Prospects

The future trajectory of Glances involves enhancing its visualization capabilities, integrating with cloud-native environments, and incorporating machine learning for anomaly detection, ensuring its relevance in complex server infrastructures.

6. tcpdump

History

tcpdump, dating back to the late 1980s, was developed by Van Jacobson for monitoring and analyzing network packets. It provided administrators with a powerful command-line packet analyzer.

Development

tcpdump evolved as a standard tool for network troubleshooting and packet capture. Its flexibility in filtering, dissecting, and analyzing network traffic made it indispensable for network administrators and security analysts.

Prospects

The future prospects for tcpdump involve adapting to newer network protocols, enhancing performance in high-speed networks, and incorporating more advanced filtering and analysis capabilities to keep pace with evolving network technologies.

7. sar

History

sar (System Activity Reporter) originated in the 1980s as part of the sysstat package, offering a means to collect, report, and save system activity information. It was designed by Sun Microsystems to assist in system performance analysis.

Development

sar evolved into a comprehensive system monitoring tool, capturing and reporting CPU, memory, disk, and network usage data over time. Its ability to generate historical reports made it valuable for analyzing system behavior and trends.

Prospects

The future trajectory of sar involves enhancing support for newer kernels, improving data visualization, and integrating with modern monitoring stacks to provide deeper insights into system performance in dynamic environments.

8. vnstat

History

vnstat, introduced in 2004, addressed the need for an easy-to-use console-based network traffic monitor. It was developed by Teemu Toivola to provide a simple yet effective way to track network usage.

Development

vnstat evolved into a lightweight utility capable of monitoring network traffic on specific interfaces, offering daily, monthly, and yearly summaries. Its simplicity and low resource consumption made it popular for basic network monitoring tasks.

Prospects

The future prospects for vnstat involve adapting to support more complex network setups, integrating with cloud-based monitoring solutions, and enhancing reporting capabilities to cater to diverse user requirements.

9. watch

History

watch, a fundamental utility available in most Unix-like systems, emerged as a simple yet powerful command-line tool to repeatedly execute commands and display their output. Its origins trace back to the early Unix days.

Development

watch evolved by providing administrators with the ability to monitor command output periodically, enabling real-time observation of changes. Its simplicity and versatility made it a staple for monitoring system changes.

Prospects

The future trajectory of watch involves refining its capabilities in handling complex command sequences, integrating with modern monitoring stacks, and incorporating interactive features to enhance its usability.

10. atop

History

atop, introduced in the mid-2000s, aimed to provide a more comprehensive alternative to 'top' by offering extended system performance statistics. Gerlof Langeveld developed atop to offer insights into resource utilization.

Development

atop evolved by providing detailed information on system resource utilization, process activity, and disk I/O. Its ability to record historical data and display system bottlenecks made it invaluable for performance analysis.

Prospects

The future prospects for atop involve expanding its capabilities in monitoring containerized environments, integrating with orchestration tools, and enhancing visualization for better insights into system behavior.

What else to read about Linux administration:

    - How to find out the size of files or folders in Linux

    - Cron - Schedule tasks on Linux servers correctly

    - Transferring files using SSH in Linux

    - What is LVM and how to create LVM on Ubuntu

Conclusion

Of course, in this article we have collected only the most popular utilities and naturally their list could last forever, since with the development of technologies, operating systems, software and hardware, the requirements for monitoring increasingly complex systems are constantly changing.
These utilities, each with their own unique set of features and capabilities, play a critical role in giving administrators visibility into what's happening on the system so they can quickly respond to events such as running out of disk space or excessive CPU usage.

If necessary, you can read more about each of the utilities on the Internet, which is full of detailed descriptions with examples. And in this article we just wanted to collect in one place a list of the most popular utilities.