Terminal Tools for System Management
System tools are the utility software that inspect and control the parts of a running machine: services, devices, disks, users, files and processes.
On Unix-like systems most of that work happens at the command line, where one command reports what is installed, what is running, or what is filling a disk. Typical jobs include starting and stopping units under systemd, listing hardware, checking mounts, reading logs and clearing out old files.
The wider grab bag of small programs is under utilities, and the practice itself is under system administration.
Below is a list of terminal tools that operate on the system itself.
amdtop
A TUI system monitor specialized for AMD GPUs.
A TUI system monitor specialized for AMD GPUs.
atop
An advanced interactive monitor for linux systems.
An advanced interactive monitor for linux systems.
bottom
Yet another cross-platform graphical process/system monitor.
Yet another cross-platform graphical process/system monitor.
btop
A terminal monitor of resources.
A terminal monitor of resources.
caligula
A user-friendly, lightweight TUI for disk imaging.
A user-friendly, lightweight TUI for disk imaging.
cpufetch
Simple yet fancy CPU architecture fetching tool.
Simple yet fancy CPU architecture fetching tool.
cronboard
A terminal tool for managing cron jobs locally and on servers.
A terminal tool for managing cron jobs locally and on servers.
cyme
List system USB buses and devices.
List system USB buses and devices.
diskbloom
A pastel, WizTree-style treemap disk visualizer that lives in your terminal.
A pastel, WizTree-style treemap disk visualizer that lives in your terminal.
diskonaut
terminal disk space navigator.
terminal disk space navigator.
diskwatch
Single host disk diagnostics in your terminal.
Single host disk diagnostics in your terminal.
dusage
A command line disk usage information tool.
A command line disk usage information tool.
dust
A more intuitive version of du in rust
A more intuitive version of du in rust
dysk
A linux utility listing your filesystems.
A linux utility listing your filesystems.
erdtree
A general purpose filesystem and disk-usage utility.
A general purpose filesystem and disk-usage utility.
fastfetch
Like neofetch, but much faster.
Like neofetch, but much faster.
fclones
Efficient duplicate file finder and remover.
Efficient duplicate file finder and remover.
gotop
A terminal-based graphical activity monitor written in Go.
A terminal-based graphical activity monitor written in Go.
gruyere
A tiny (and pretty) program for viewing + killing listening ports.
A tiny (and pretty) program for viewing + killing listening ports.
gtop
System monitoring dashboard for terminal.
System monitoring dashboard for terminal.
gtrash
A featureful trash CLI manager.
A featureful trash CLI manager.
has
Checks presence of various CLI tools and their versions on the path.
Checks presence of various CLI tools and their versions on the path.
hostctl
A CLI tool to manage /etc/hosts like a pro!
A CLI tool to manage /etc/hosts like a pro!
htop
An interactive process viewer.
An interactive process viewer.
hyprmoncfg
A terminal first monitor configurator and daemon for Hyprland.
A terminal first monitor configurator and daemon for Hyprland.
intentrace
A better strace(1) for everyone.
A better strace(1) for everyone.
isd
A keyboard-focused, highly customizable systemd units TUI.
A keyboard-focused, highly customizable systemd units TUI.
keep-alive
A lightweight, cross-platform utility to prevent your system from sleeping.
A lightweight, cross-platform utility to prevent your system from sleeping.
kmon
Linux Kernel Manager and Activity Monitor.
Linux Kernel Manager and Activity Monitor.
lemurs
A customizable TUI display/login manager written in Rust.
A customizable TUI display/login manager written in Rust.
lsoff
A CLI / TUI that lists listening TCP/UDP ports.
A CLI / TUI that lists listening TCP/UDP ports.
ly
A lightweight TUI (ncurses-like) display manager.
A lightweight TUI (ncurses-like) display manager.
monitui
A delightfully minimal TUI for wrangling Hyprland monitors.
A delightfully minimal TUI for wrangling Hyprland monitors.
ncdu
A ncurses based disk usage analyzer
A ncurses based disk usage analyzer
needs
checks if bin(s) are installed, oh and the version too.
checks if bin(s) are installed, oh and the version too.
neofetch
A command-line system information tool.
A command-line system information tool.
nvtop
NVIDIA GPUs htop like monitoring tool
NVIDIA GPUs htop like monitoring tool
pgtree
Unix process hierarchy tree for specific processes.
Unix process hierarchy tree for specific processes.
pik
A TUI for interactively stopping processes.
A TUI for interactively stopping processes.
pueue
Manage your shell commands.
Manage your shell commands.
qmassa
Terminal-based tool for displaying GPUs usage stats on Linux.
Terminal-based tool for displaying GPUs usage stats on Linux.
quokka
Inspect and clean iOS / Android devices over USB from your terminal.
Inspect and clean iOS / Android devices over USB from your terminal.
see-tui
A TUI based tool to lookup logs from systemd services.
A TUI based tool to lookup logs from systemd services.
simtool
A beautiful and powerful TUI for managing iOS simulators.
A beautiful and powerful TUI for managing iOS simulators.
strace-tui
A terminal user interface (TUI) for visualizing and exploring strace output.
A terminal user interface (TUI) for visualizing and exploring strace output.
s-tui
terminal-based CPU stress and monitoring utility.
terminal-based CPU stress and monitoring utility.
swaptop
A real-time swap usage monitor with a TUI.
A real-time swap usage monitor with a TUI.
systemctl-tui
A fast, simple TUI for interacting with systemd services and their logs.
A fast, simple TUI for interacting with systemd services and their logs.
Know any terminal tools that would be good for this list? Post a Tool here!
