How to Install and Use Bottom on Linux?

Bottom is a powerful and efficient system monitoring tool for Linux that provides real-time insights into your system's performance. This tool is known for its minimalistic design and user-friendly interface, making it an excellent choice for both beginners and advanced users. In this guide, we'll walk you through the steps to install and use Bottom on your Linux system, helping you to effectively monitor your system's resources and performance.

What is bottom?

The bottom is a better and full of features alternative for system monitoring tools like top and htop. It is developed with Rust and has a clean and user-friendly interface. That is coupled with extensive customization options. You can monitor system resources, processes, and performance metrics from the bottom. It will be real-time which makes it a priceless asset for diagnosing issues. Optimizing resource

Installing Bottom

Installing the bottom is a straightforward process, thanks to its availability on various package managers.

Using Cargo (Rust's package manager)

If you have Rust installed, you can easily install the bottom using Cargo:

cargo install bottom

Note: make sure you have the latest Rust and cargo installed on your system, You may seek help related to this context from the following article: How to install Rust?

Using Package Managers

For users preferring package managers, the bottom is available on popular Linux distributions:

Arch Linux:

sudo pacman -S bottom

Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt install bottom

Fedora:

sudo dnf install bottom

Using Bottom

Once installed, running bottom is as simple as typing bottom in your terminal. Upon launch, you'll be greeted with a sleek and informative dashboard displaying various system metrics.

Key Features

• Interactive Interface: Navigate through different sections using arrow keys and access additional options with intuitive keyboard shortcuts.
• Customizable Views: Tailor the display to your preferences by toggling various metrics, sorting options, and colour schemes.
• Process Management: Easily manage processes by killing, renicing, or searching for specific ones directly from the interface.
• Resource Tracking: Keep an eye on how much your computer's brain power, memory, storage, and internet connection are being used in real-time. This helps find out what's slowing things down or using up too much power.
• Detailed Information: Get all the little details about what's happening on your computer. You can see exactly how much brain power and memory each program is using, what commands they're running, and who's using them.

• Arrow Keys: Navigate through different sections.
• F1: Display help and keyboard shortcuts.
• F5: Refresh screen.
• F9: Toggle process sorting options.
• F10: Exit bottom.

How to use Bottom?

You can start with the following command:

btm

For help, you can use this command:

btm --help

Conclusion

Installing and using bottom on Linux is a straightforward process that can greatly enhance your ability to monitor system performance. With its user-friendly interface and comprehensive monitoring capabilities, bottom is a valuable tool for any Linux user. Follow the steps outlined in this guide to get started with bottom and take control of your system's performance metrics.