2 virt-top - 'top'-like utility for virtualization stats
8 virt-top is a top(1)-like utility for showing stats of virtualized
9 domains. Many keys and command line options are the same as for ordinary
12 It uses libvirt so it is capable of showing stats across a variety of
13 different virtualization systems.
16 -1 Display physical CPUs by default (instead of domains). When virt-top
17 is running, use the *1* key to toggle between physical CPUs and
20 -2 Display network interfaces by default (instead of domains). When
21 virt-top is running, use the *2* key to toggle between network
22 interfaces and domains display.
24 -3 Display block devices (virtual disks) by default (instead of
25 domains). When virt-top is running, use the *3* key to toggle
26 between block devices and domains display.
28 -b Batch mode. In this mode keypresses are ignored.
30 -c uri or --connect uri
31 Connect to URI given. The default is to connect to the Xen
34 To connect to QEMU/KVM you would normally do *-c qemu:///system*
36 To connect to libvirtd on a remote machine you would normally do *-c
39 Full details on connection URIs is available at
40 <http://libvirt.org/uri.html>
43 Set the delay between screen updates in seconds. The default is 3.0
44 seconds. You can change this while virt-top is running by pressing
45 either *s* or *d* key.
48 Set the number of iterations to run. The default is to run
52 Set the sort order to one of: cpu (sort by %CPU used), mem (sort by
53 total memory), time (sort by total time), id (sort by domain ID),
54 name (sort by domain name), netrx (sort by network received bytes),
55 nettx (sort by network transmitted bytes), blockrdrq (sort by block
56 device [disk] read requests), blockwrrq (sort by block device [disk]
59 While virt-top is running you can change the sort order using keys
60 *P* (cpu), *M* (memory), *T* (total time), *N* (domain ID), *F*
61 (interactively select the sort field).
63 -s Secure mode. Currently this does nothing.
66 Set the time in seconds between updates of the historical %CPU at
67 the top right of the display.
70 Write the statistics to file *file.csv*. First a header is written
71 showing the statistics being recorded in each column, then one line
72 is written for each screen update. The CSV file can be loaded
73 directly by most spreadsheet programs.
75 Currently the statistics which this records vary between releases of
76 virt-top (but the column headers will stay the same, so you can use
77 those to process the CSV file).
79 Not every version of virt-top supports CSV output - it depends how
80 the program was compiled (see *README* file in the source
81 distribution for details).
83 To save space you can compress your CSV files (if your shell
84 supports this feature, eg. *bash*):
86 virt-top --csv >(gzip -9 > output.csv.gz)
88 You can use a similar trick to split the CSV file up. In this
89 example the CSV file is split every 1000 lines into files called
90 *output.csv.00*, *output.csv.01* etc.
92 virt-top --csv >(split -d -l 1000 - output.csv.)
95 Disable domain CPU stats in CSV output.
98 Disable domain block device stats in CSV output.
101 Disable domain network interface stats in CSV output.
104 Send debug and error messages to *filename*. To send error messages
105 to syslog you can do:
107 virt-top --debug >(logger -t virt-top)
109 See also REPORTING BUGS below.
112 Read *filename* as the init file instead of the default which is
113 *$HOME/.virt-toprc*. See also INIT FILE below.
116 Do not read any init file.
119 Script mode. There will be no user interface. This is most useful
120 when used together with the *--csv* and *-n* options.
123 Stream mode. All output is sent to stdout. This can be used from
124 shell scripts etc. There is no user interface.
127 Show I/O statistics in Bytes. Default is shown in the number of
131 The program will exit at the *time* given.
133 The time may be given in one of the following formats:
135 *YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS*
136 End time is the date and time given.
139 End time is the time given, today.
142 End time is HH hours, MM minutes, SS seconds in the future
143 (counted from the moment that program starts).
146 End time is *secs* seconds in the future.
148 For example to run the program for 3 minutes you could do:
150 virt-top --end-time +00:03:00
154 virt-top --end-time +180
156 Not every version of virt-top supports this option - it depends how
157 the program was compiled (see *README* file in the source
158 distribution for details).
161 Display usage summary.
164 Display version number and exit.
167 Note that keys are case sensitive. For example use upper-case *P* (shift
168 P) to sort by %CPU. *^* before a key means a Ctrl key, so *^L* is Ctrl
174 *q* Quits the program.
179 Change the delay between screen updates.
181 *B* Toggle Block I/O statistics so they are shown in either bytes or
185 Show the normal list of domains display.
188 Toggle into showing physical CPUs. If pressed again toggles back to
189 showing domains (the normal display).
191 *2* Toggle into showing network interfaces. If pressed again toggles
192 back to showing domains.
194 *3* Toggle into showing block devices (virtual disks). If pressed again
195 toggles back to showing domains.
199 *M* Sort by total memory. Note that this shows the total memory
200 allocated to the guest, not the memory being used.
202 *T* Sort by total time.
204 *N* Sort by domain ID.
206 *F* Select the sort field interactively (there are other sort fields you
207 can choose using this key).
209 *W* This creates or overwrites the init file with the current settings.
211 This key is disabled if *--no-init-file* was specified on the
212 command line or if *overwrite-init-file false* is given in the init
216 When virt-top starts up, it reads initial settings from the file
217 *.virt-toprc* in the user's home directory.
219 The name of this file may be overridden using the *--init-file filename*
220 command line option or may be disabled entirely using *--no-init-file*.
222 The init file has a simple format. Blank lines and comments beginning
223 with *#* are ignored. Everything else is a set of *key value* pairs,
226 display *task|pcpu|block|net*
227 Sets the major display mode to one of *task* (tasks, the default),
228 *pcpu* (physical CPUs), *block* (block devices), or *net* (network
232 Sets the delay between display updates in seconds.
235 Sets the historical CPU delay in seconds.
238 Sets the number of iterations to run before we exit. Setting this to
239 *-1* means to run continuously.
241 sort *cpu|mem|time|id|name|...*
242 Sets the sort order. The option names are the same as for the
243 command line *-o* option.
246 Sets the default connection URI.
249 Sets the default filename to use for debug and error messages.
252 Enables CSV output to the named file.
255 Enable or disable domain CPU stats in CSV output.
257 csv-block *true|false*
258 Enable or disable domain block device stats in CSV output.
261 Enable or disable domain network interface stats in CSV output.
275 block-in-bytes *true|false*
276 Show block device statistics in bytes.
279 Set the time at which the program exits. See above for the time
282 overwrite-init-file *false*
283 If set to *false* then the *W* key will not overwrite the init file.
285 Note that in the current implementation, options specified in the init
286 file override options specified on the command line. This is a bug and
287 this behaviour may change in the future.
291 This I/O value is the amount of I/O since the previous iteration of
292 virt-top. To calculate speed of I/O, you should divide the number by
295 NETWORK RX BYTES AND PACKETS
296 Libvirt/virt-top has no way to know that a packet transmitted to a guest
297 was received (eg. if the guest is not listening). In the network RX
298 stats, virt-top reports the packets transmitted to the guest, on the
299 basis that the guest might receive them.
301 In particular this includes broadcast packets. Because of the way that
302 Linux bridges work, if the guest is connected to a bridge, it will
303 probably see a steady "background noise" of RX packets even when the
304 network interface is idle or down. These are caused by STP packets
305 generated by the bridge.
308 top(1), virsh(1), <http://www.libvirt.org/ocaml/>,
309 <http://www.libvirt.org/>, <http://people.redhat.com/~rjones/>,
310 <http://caml.inria.fr/>
313 Richard W.M. Jones <rjones @ redhat . com>
316 (C) Copyright 2007-2011 Red Hat Inc., Richard W.M. Jones
319 This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
320 under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
321 Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your
322 option) any later version.
324 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
325 WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
326 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General
327 Public License for more details.
329 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
330 with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
331 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
334 Bugs can be viewed on the Red Hat Bugzilla page:
335 <https://bugzilla.redhat.com/>.
337 If you find a bug in virt-top, please follow these steps to report it:
339 1. Check for existing bug reports
340 Go to <https://bugzilla.redhat.com/> and search for similar bugs.
341 Someone may already have reported the same bug, and they may even
344 2. Capture debug and error messages
347 virt-top --debug virt-top.log
349 and keep *virt-top.log*. It contains error messages which you should
350 submit with your bug report.
352 3. Get version of virt-top and version of libvirt.
357 If you can get the precise version of libvirt you are using then
360 4. Submit a bug report.
361 Go to <https://bugzilla.redhat.com/> and enter a new bug. Please
362 describe the problem in as much detail as possible.
364 Remember to include the version numbers (step 3) and the debug
365 messages file (step 2).
367 5. Assign the bug to rjones @ redhat.com
368 Assign or reassign the bug to rjones @ redhat.com (without the
369 spaces). You can also send me an email with the bug number if you
370 want a faster response.