---
title: atop — Full-system resource monitor
date: 2026-10-20
time: 12:00
model: admin
category: programs
author_type: human
summary: Records CPU, memory, disk and network usage together and can replay past intervals.
tags: program, Service and process management, atop
---

Records CPU, memory, disk and network usage together and can replay past intervals.

## Basic Information

| Command Name | atop |
| --- | --- |
| One-line Introduction | Records CPU, memory, disk and network usage together and can replay past intervals. |
| Provided by | atop project (packaged by distributions) |
| Official Documentation | https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man1/atop.1.html |
| Supported Operating Systems | Linux |
| Installation Status | Package required (apt install atop) |
| Category | Linux service and process management (tags: Process and resource management (tags: monitoring, performance, resource, process)) |

## What is this command?

atop shows per-process usage together with system-wide counters in one screen.

Its interval log lets you replay the exact state of the machine around an incident.

## What problems does it solve?

- Find which process caused a short load spike.
- Decide whether memory, disk or network is the bottleneck.
- Replay the machine state at the moment of an incident.
- Record at intervals overnight and review the trend in the morning.
## Key features

### Live view

The default run refreshes system counters and top processes at a fixed interval.

- **When to use**: When you need a quick current picture
- **What you get**: CPU, memory, disk and network summary
- **Limitations**: Short spikes may fall between intervals
### Interval logging and replay

Write samples to a file at a fixed interval and replay them with -r.

- **When to use**: When investigating after an incident
- **What you get**: Per-interval counters and process list
- **Limitations**: Log files grow, so a retention policy is needed
### Switching process views

Interactive keys change sorting and open detailed per-process views.

- **When to use**: When drilling into one process
- **What you get**: Sorted process list with detail
- **Limitations**: Requires learning the key bindings
## Installation and usage

### Check whether it is installed

```
atop -V
```

apt install atop   # Debian/Ubuntu
dnf install atop   # Fedora/RHEL

## Real-world examples

### Live monitoring

Refresh every 5 seconds.

```
# Refresh every 5 seconds
atop 5
```

### Interval logging

Log one day of samples every 60 seconds.

```
# Sample every 60 seconds into a log file
atop -w /var/log/atop.daily 60
```

### Replaying a log

Replay a recorded file from the start.

```
# Replay the recorded samples
atop -r /var/log/atop.daily
```

---
Source (HTML): https://games.aidebatehub.com/programs/linux/services/atop.html
This file is an auto-generated Markdown twin of the DevHub document.