| GLANCES(1) | Glances | GLANCES(1) |
glances - An eye on your system
glances [OPTIONS]
glances is a cross-platform curses-based monitoring tool that aims to present a maximum of information in a minimum of space, ideally fitting in a classic 80x24 terminal or larger for more details. It can adapt dynamically to the displayed information depending on the terminal size. It can also work in client/server mode. Remote monitoring can be performed via a terminal or web interface.
glances is written in Python and uses the psutil library to get information from your system.
The following commands (key pressed) are supported while in Glances:
NOTE:
The filter is a regular expression pattern:
The task’s CPU usage will be divided by the total number of CPUs
In the Glances client browser (accessible through the --browser command line argument):
No configuration file is mandatory to use Glances.
Furthermore, a configuration file is needed to access more settings.
NOTE:
You can place your 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: |
| ~/.config/glances/, |
| ~/Library/Application Support/glances/, |
| /usr/local/etc/glances/, |
| /usr/share/docs/glances/ |
| Windows: |
| %APPDATA%\eglances\eglances.conf |
| All: |
| <venv_root_folder>/share/doc/glances/ |
User-specific options override system-wide options, and options given on the command line overrides both.
Glances read 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 overwritten by the -t <sec> option # It is also possible to overwrite it in each plugin section refresh=2 # Should Glances check if a newer version is available on PyPI ? check_update=true # History size (maximum number of values) # Default is 1200 values (~1h with the default refresh rate) history_size=1200 # Set the way Glances should display the date (default is %Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S %Z) #strftime_format="%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S %Z" # Define external directory for loading additional plugins # The layout follows the glances standard for plugin definitions #plugin_dir=/home/user/dev/plugins
than a second one concerning the user interface:
[outputs] # Options for all UIs #-------------------- # Separator in the Curses and WebUI interface (between top and others plugins) separator=True # Set the the Curses and WebUI interface left menu plugin list (comma-separated) #left_menu=network,wifi,connections,ports,diskio,fs,irq,folders,raid,smart,sensors,now # Limit the number of processes to display (in the WebUI) max_processes_display=25 # Options for WebUI #------------------ # Set URL prefix for the WebUI and the API # Example: url_prefix=/glances/ => http://localhost/glances/ # Note: The final / is mandatory # Default is no prefix (/) #url_prefix=/glances/ # Set root path for WebUI statics files # Why ? On Debian system, WebUI statics files are not provided. # You can download it in a specific folder # thanks to https://github.com/nicolargo/glances/issues/2021 # then configure this folder with the webui_root_path key # Default is folder where glances_restfull_api.py is hosted #webui_root_path= # CORS options # Comma separated list of origins that should be permitted to make cross-origin requests. # Default is * #cors_origins=* # Indicate that cookies should be supported for cross-origin requests. # Default is True #cors_credentials=True # Comma separated list of HTTP methods that should be allowed for cross-origin requests. # Default is * #cors_methods=* # Comma separated list of HTTP request headers that should be supported for cross-origin requests. # Default is * #cors_headers=*
Each plugin, export module, and application monitoring process (AMP) can have a section. Below is 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 enabled (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, you can use dynamic configuration values by utilizing system commands. For example, if you want 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`
Glances logs all of its internal messages to a log file.
DEBUG messages can be logged using the -d option on the command line.
The location of the Glances log file depends on your operating system. You can display the full path of the Glances log file using the glances -V command line.
The file is automatically rotated when its size exceeds 1 MB.
If you want to use another system path or change the log message, you can use your 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:
Monitor local machine, also called standalone mode, with the Text-based user interface (TUI):
To monitor the local machine with the Web user interface (WebUI), , run the following command line:
then, open a Web Browser to the provided URL.
Monitor local machine and export stats to a CSV file:
Monitor local machine and export stats to an InfluxDB server with 5s refresh time (also possible to export to OpenTSDB, Cassandra, Statsd, ElasticSearch, RabbitMQ, and Riemann):
It is also possible to export stats to multiple endpoints:
Start a Glances server (server mode):
Connect Glances to a Glances server (client mode):
Connect to a Glances server and export stats to a StatsD server:
Start the TUI Central Glances Browser:
Start the WebUI Central Glances Browser (new in Glances 4.3 or higher):
If you do not want to see the local Glances Web Server in the browser list please use –disable-autodiscover option.
Nicolas Hennion aka Nicolargo <contact@nicolargo.com>
2025, Nicolas Hennion
| March 22, 2025 | 4.3.1 |