$devvkit learn --librarie glances-guide

Glances Guide

[monitoring][system][web-ui][python]

System Monitoring

Install

pip install glances
# or: uv add glances
brew install glances
sudo apt install glances

Glances is an all-in-one system monitor that shows CPU, memory, disk, network, processes, sensors (temperature/fan), Docker containers, and logged-in users — all in a single TUI screen. It auto-refreshes every 2 seconds.

Run `glances -w` to start the web UI on port 61208 — a full dashboard accessible from any browser. `glances -s` starts an XML-RPC server for remote monitoring; connect with `glances -c <server>` from another machine.

Glances exports to CSV, JSON, or InfluxDB. Use `--export influxdb` to push metrics to InfluxDB + Grafana. The `--process-short-name` flag shortens process names. For lightweight monitoring, use htop; for historical graphs, pair Glances + InfluxDB.

Terminal

Terminal mode— Default TUI dashboard.

glances
# Navigation:
# 1: CPU / 2: MEM / 3: SWAP / 4: NET / 5: DISK / 6: SENSORS
# a: auto-sort / e: export / w: web / q: quit
# /: search in process list

Trick: alert config— Set thresholds with alerts.

# ~/.config/glances/glances.conf
[alerts]
cpu_warning=80
cpu_critical=95
mem_warning=85
mem_critical=95

# Glances will color-code and show alert counts
# In web UI: alerts appear as notification badges

Web UI

Web UI— Browser-based dashboard.

glances -w                         # Web UI on port 61208
glances -w -p 8080                 # Custom port
glances -w -P mypassword           # Password-protected
# Open http://localhost:61208 in browser

Remote

Remote monitoring— Server + client.

# On server:
glances -s -B 0.0.0.0 -p 61209     # Server mode

# On client:
glances -c server-ip -p 61209      # Connect to server

# With password:
glances -s -P secret
# then client:
glances -c server-ip --password secret

Export

CSV export— Log to CSV.

glances --export csv --export-csv-file /var/log/glances.csv
# Columns: timestamp, cpu, mem, net, disk, sensors, process count
# Import to Excel or Pandas for analysis

JSON output— One-shot JSON for scripts.

glances --stdout json --disable-checkup | jq '.
# Get specific metrics:
glances --stdout json | jq '.cpu.total'
glances --stdout json | jq '{cpu: .cpu, mem: .mem.percent, net: .network_io}'

InfluxDB + Grafana— Time-series export.

glances --export influxdb \
  --influxdb-host localhost \
  --influxdb-port 8086 \
  --influxdb-db glances \
  --influxdb-password mypass

# Then configure Grafana datasource = InfluxDB
# Dashboard: import Glances dashboard ID from grafana.com

Docker

Docker containers— Monitor Docker in Glances.

glances --docker            # Show Docker containers in process list

# Or run Glances in a container:
docker run -d --restart="always" -p 61208:61208 \
  -e GLANCES_OPT="-w" \
  -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro \
  --pid host \
  nicolargo/glances:latest