What it does
Glances is a cross-platform system-monitoring tool for viewing CPU, memory, network, disk, process, sensor, and container information. Run it locally in a terminal or use client/server and web modes for remote monitoring. It also provides a RESTful API and exports to files, databases, and messaging systems.
Run Glances directly for an interactive view of a machine, or start its server mode and connect from a terminal or browser to monitor a remote host. The RESTful API and exporters, including Prometheus, InfluxDB, and Graphite, allow integration with other tools. Glances is especially suited to direct host inspection rather than hosted fleet monitoring.
The web interface and API require optional dependencies; they are not part of the default installation. The server is not password-protected by default, so configure authentication before exposing it remotely.
Strengths
- Displays a broad range of host and process metrics in one interactive view.
- Supports local, client/server, and web workflows, plus a RESTful API.
- Can export statistics to files and external monitoring or data systems.
Watch out for
- The web interface and API require optional dependencies.
- The server is not protected by a password by default.
Best for
- Inspecting live resource use on individual machines.
- Monitoring remote hosts through its client/server or web modes.
- Exporting selected host metrics to an existing monitoring stack.