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Htop Remote, Container, and Server Recipes

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Common htop workflows for SSH sessions, containers, services, and production troubleshooting on Linux hosts.

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## Remote SSH workflows
Run htop over SSH
↗#
ssh user@server 'htop'

# Open a remote session directly into htop.

Run htop inside tmux on a remote host
↗#
ssh user@server 'tmux new-session -A -s ops htop'

# Keep monitoring alive if your connection drops.

Run with elevated privileges
↗#
sudo htop

# See more processes and use all process actions.

Run read-only with sudo
↗#
sudo htop --readonly

# Full visibility without accidental mutations.

Focus on PostgreSQL processes
↗#
sudo htop -u postgres -t

# Monitor a database host by user.

## Containers and services
Run htop inside a running container
↗#
docker exec -it web htop

# Inspect the process table from the container's perspective.

Run htop in a Kubernetes pod
↗#
kubectl exec -it deploy/api -- htop

# Attach an interactive process view to a pod shell.

Watch only systemd-managed service processes by pattern
↗#
htop -p "$(pgrep -d, -f 'nginx:|nginx')"

# Generate a PID list for one service family.

Start a memory-focused out-of-memory investigation
↗#
sudo htop --sort-key=PERCENT_MEM -d 5

# Sort by memory and refresh quickly.

Watch for short CPU spikes
↗#
sudo htop --sort-key=PERCENT_CPU -d 5

# Use faster refresh and CPU sorting.

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