# nvtop **Repository Path**: EnflameTechnology/nvtop ## Basic Information - **Project Name**: nvtop - **Description**: GPU & Accelerator process monitoring for AMD, Apple, Huawei, Intel, NVIDIA and Qualcomm - **Primary Language**: Unknown - **License**: GPL-3.0 - **Default Branch**: master - **Homepage**: None - **GVP Project**: No ## Statistics - **Stars**: 0 - **Forks**: 0 - **Created**: 2026-01-30 - **Last Updated**: 2026-01-30 ## Categories & Tags **Categories**: Uncategorized **Tags**: None ## README NVTOP ===== What is NVTOP? -------------- NVTOP stands for Neat Videocard TOP, a (h)top like task monitor for GPUs and accelerators. It can handle multiple GPUs and print information about them in a htop-familiar way. Currently supported vendors are AMD (Linux amdgpu driver), Apple (limited M1 & M2 support), Huawei (Ascend), Intel (Linux i915/Xe drivers), NVIDIA (Linux proprietary divers), Qualcomm Adreno (Linux MSM driver), Broadcom VideoCore (Linux v3d driver), Rockchip, MetaX (MXSML driver), Enflame (Linux EFML driver). Because a picture is worth a thousand words: ![NVTOP interface](/screenshot/NVTOP_ex1.png) Table of Contents ----------------- - [NVTOP Options and Interactive Commands](#nvtop-options-and-interactive-commands) - [Interactive Setup Window](#interactive-setup-window) - [Saving Preferences](#saving-preferences) - [NVTOP Manual and Command line Options](#nvtop-manual-and-command-line-options) - [GPU Support](#gpu-support) - [AMD](#amd) - [Intel](#intel) - [NVIDIA](#nvidia) - [Adreno](#adreno) - [Apple](#apple) - [Ascend](#ascend) (only tested on 910B) - [VideoCore](#videocore) - [Rockchip](#rockchip) - [MetaX](#metax) - [Enflame](#enflame) - [Build](#build) - [Distribution Specific Installation Process](#distribution-specific-installation-process) - [Ubuntu / Debian](#ubuntu--debian) - [Ubuntu Impish (21.10) / Debian buster (stable) and more recent (stable)](#ubuntu-impish-2110-debian-buster-stable-and-more-recent) - [Fedora / Red Hat / CentOS](#fedora--red-hat--centos) - [OpenSUSE](#opensuse) - [Arch Linux](#arch-linux) - [Gentoo](#gentoo) - [AppImage](#appimage) - [Snap](#snap) - [Conda-forge](#conda-forge) - [Docker](#docker) - [NVTOP Build](#nvtop-build) - [Troubleshoot](#troubleshoot) - [License](#license) NVTOP Options and Interactive Commands -------------------------------------- ### Interactive Setup Window NVTOP has a builtin setup utility that provides a way to specialize the interface to your needs. Simply press ``F2`` and select the options that are the best for you. ![NVTOP Setup Window](/screenshot/Nvtop-config.png) ### Saving Preferences You can save the preferences set in the setup window by pressing ``F12``. The preferences will be loaded the next time you run ``nvtop``. ### NVTOP Manual and Command line Options NVTOP comes with a manpage! ```bash man nvtop ``` For quick command line arguments help ```bash nvtop -h nvtop --help ``` GPU Support ----------- ### AMD NVTOP supports AMD GPUs using the `amdgpu` driver through the exposed DRM and sysfs interface. AMD introduced the fdinfo interface in kernel 5.14 ([browse kernel source](https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/tree/drivers/gpu/drm/amd/amdgpu/amdgpu_fdinfo.c?h=linux-5.14.y)). Hence, you will need a kernel with a version greater or equal to 5.14 to see the processes using AMD GPUs. Support for recent GPUs are regularly mainlined into the linux kernel, so please use a recent-enough kernel for your GPU. ### Intel NVTOP supports Intel GPUs using the `i915` or `xe` linux driver. Intel introduced the fdinfo interface in kernel 5.19 ([browse kernel source](https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/tree/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_drm_client.c?h=linux-5.19.y)). Hence, you will need a kernel with a version greater or equal to 5.19 to see the processes using Intel GPUs. Intel requires CAP_PERFMON or CAP_SYS_ADMIN capabilities to access the total memory usage, you can run `sudo setcap cap_perfmon=ep nvtop` to grant the necessary permissions or run nvtop as root. ### NVIDIA The *NVML library* does not support some of the queries for GPUs coming before the Kepler microarchitecture. Anything starting at GeForce 600, GeForce 800M and successor should work fine. For more information about supported GPUs please take a look at the [NVML documentation](http://docs.nvidia.com/deploy/nvml-api/nvml-api-reference.html#nvml-api-reference). ### Adreno NVTOP supports Adreno GPUs using the `msm` linux driver. msm introduced the fdinfo interface in kernel 6.0 ([browse kernel source](https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/tree/drivers/gpu/drm/msm/msm_drv.c?h=linux-6.0.y)). Hence, you will need a kernel with a version greater or equal to 6.0 to see the processes using Adreno GPUs. ### Apple NVTOP includes some initial support for Apple using Metal. This is only supported when building for Apple, and when building for Apple only this vendor is supported. **APPLE SUPPORT STATUS** - Apple support is still being worked on. Some bugs and limitations may apply. ### Ascend NVTOP supports Ascend (testing on Altas 800 (910B)) by DCMI API (version 6.0.0). Currently, the DCMI only supports limited APIs, missing PCIe generation, tx/rx throughput info, max power draw etc. ### VideoCore NVTOP supports VideoCore (testing on raspberrypi 4B). Supports GPU frequency, temperature, utilization, per-process utilization, GPU memory usage, and H264 decoding utilization. On non-raspberry pi os, you need to use the `linux-rpi 6.12.y` kernel and above, and ensure the presence of the `/dev/vcio` device. ### Rockchip NVTOP supports Rockchip (testing on orangepi 5 plus). Supports NPU frequency, temperature, utilization. ### MetaX NVTOP supports MetaX (testing on MXC500) by MXSML LIBRARY. For more information about GPUs please take a look at the [METAX documentation](https://developer.metax-tech.com/doc/index) ### Enflame NVTOP supports Enflame GCUs (testing on Enflame S60, Enflame L300 and Enflame L600) by EFML LIBRARY GCU, which refers to General Compute Unit, is a type of accelerator card that is used to perform general-purpose computing tasks just like GPGPU. Build ----- Several libraries are required in order for NVTOP to display GPU info: * The *ncurses* library driving the user interface. * This makes the screen look beautiful. * For NVIDIA: the *NVIDIA Management Library* (*NVML*) which comes with the GPU driver. * This queries the GPU for info. * For AMD: the libdrm library used to query AMD GPUs through the kernel driver. * For METAX: the *MetaX System Management Library* (*MXSML*) which comes with the GPU driver. * This queries the GPU for info. * For Enflame: the *Enflame Management Library* (*EFML*) which comes with the GCU driver. ## Distribution Specific Installation Process ### Ubuntu / Debian If your distribution provides the snap utility, follow the [snap installation process](#snap) to obtain an up-to-date version of `nvtop`. A standalone application is available as [AppImage](#appimage). #### Ubuntu Focal (20.04), Debian buster (stable) and more recent ```bash sudo apt install nvtop ``` #### Ubuntu PPA A [PPA supporting Ubuntu 20.04 and newer](https://launchpad.net/~quentiumyt/+archive/ubuntu/nvtop) is provided by [Quentin Lienhardt](https://github.com/QuentiumYT) that offers an up-to-date version of `nvtop`, enabled for NVIDIA, AMD and Intel. ```bash sudo add-apt-repository ppa:quentiumyt/nvtop sudo apt install nvtop ``` #### Older - AMD and Intel Dependencies ```bash sudo apt install libdrm-dev libsystemd-dev # Ubuntu 18.04 sudo apt install libudev-dev ``` - NVIDIA Depenency - NVIDIA drivers (see [Ubuntu Wiki](https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BinaryDriverHowto/Nvidia) or [Ubuntu PPA](https://launchpad.net/~graphics-drivers/+archive/ubuntu/ppa) or [Debian Wiki](https://wiki.debian.org/NvidiaGraphicsDrivers#NVIDIA_Proprietary_Driver)) - NVTOP Dependencies - CMake, ncurses and Git ```bash sudo apt install cmake libncurses5-dev libncursesw5-dev git ``` - NVTOP - Follow the [NVTOP Build](#nvtop-build) ### Fedora / Red Hat / CentOS A standalone application is available as [AppImage](#appimage). #### Fedora 36 and newer - ```bash sudo dnf install nvtop ``` #### Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 and 9 - ```bash sudo dnf install -y https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/epel-release-latest-$(rpm -E %{rhel}).noarch.rpm sudo dnf install nvtop ``` #### CentOS Stream, Rocky Linux, AlmaLinux - ```bash sudo dnf install -y epel-release sudo dnf install nvtop ``` #### Build process for Fedora / Red Hat / CentOS: - AMD and Intel Dependencies ```bash sudo dnf install libdrm-devel systemd-devel ``` - NVIDIA Depenency - NVIDIA drivers, **CUDA required for nvml libraries** (see [RPM Fusion](https://rpmfusion.org/Howto/NVIDIA)) - NVTOP Dependencies - CMake, ncurses, C++ and Git ```bash sudo dnf install cmake ncurses-devel git gcc-c++ ``` - NVTOP - Follow the [NVTOP Build](#nvtop-build) ### OpenSUSE A standalone application is available as an [AppImage](#appimage). Build process for OpenSUSE: - AMD Dependecy ```bash sudo zypper install libdrm-devel ``` - NVIDIA Depenency - NVIDIA drivers (see [SUSE Support Database](https://en.opensuse.org/SDB:NVIDIA_drivers)) - NVTOP Dependencies - CMake, ncurses and Git ```bash sudo zypper install cmake ncurses-devel git ``` - NVTOP - Follow the [NVTOP Build](#nvtop-build) ### Arch Linux - ```bash sudo pacman -S nvtop ``` ### Gentoo - ```bash sudo emerge -av nvtop ``` ### AppImage An AppImage is a standalone application. Just download the AppImage, make it executable and run it! - Go to the [release page](https://github.com/Syllo/nvtop/releases/latest) and download `nvtop-x86_64.AppImage` - ```bash # Go to the download location ** The path may differ on your system ** cd $HOME/Downloads # Make the AppImage executable chmod u+x nvtop-x86_64.AppImage # Enjoy nvtop ./nvtop-x86_64.AppImage ``` If you are curious how that works, please visit the [AppImage website](https://appimage.org/). ### Snap - ```bash snap install nvtop # Add the capability to kill processes inside nvtop snap connect nvtop:process-control # Add the capability to inspect GPU information (fan, PCIe, power, etc) snap connect nvtop:hardware-observe # AMDGPU process list support (read /proc/) snap connect nvtop:system-observe # Temporary workaround to get per-process GPU usage (read /proc//fdinfo) snap connect nvtop:kubernetes-support ``` Notice: The connect commands allow ### Conda-forge A [conda-forge feedstock for `nvtop`](https://github.com/conda-forge/nvtop-feedstock) is available. #### conda / mamba / miniforge ```bash conda install --channel conda-forge nvtop ``` #### pixi ```bash pixi global install nvtop ``` ### Docker - NVIDIA drivers (same as above) - [nvidia-docker](https://github.com/NVIDIA/nvidia-docker) (See [Container Toolkit Installation Guide](https://docs.nvidia.com/datacenter/cloud-native/container-toolkit/install-guide.html#docker)) - ```bash git clone https://github.com/Syllo/nvtop.git && cd nvtop sudo docker build --tag nvtop . sudo docker run -it --rm --runtime=nvidia --gpus=all --pid=host nvtop ``` ## NVTOP Build ```bash git clone https://github.com/Syllo/nvtop.git mkdir -p nvtop/build && cd nvtop/build cmake .. -DNVIDIA_SUPPORT=ON -DAMDGPU_SUPPORT=ON -DINTEL_SUPPORT=ON make # Install globally on the system sudo make install # Alternatively, install without privileges at a location of your choosing # cmake .. -DNVIDIA_SUPPORT=ON -DAMDGPU_SUPPORT=ON -DINTEL_SUPPORT=ON -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/path/to/your/dir # make # make install ``` If you use **conda** as environment manager and encounter an error while building NVTOP, try `conda deactivate` before invoking `cmake`. The build system supports multiple build types (e.g. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=RelWithDebInfo): * Release: Binary without debug info * RelWithDebInfo: Binary with debug info * Debug: Compile with warning flags and address/undefined sanitizers enabled (for development purposes) Troubleshoot ------------ - The plot looks bad: - Verify that you installed the wide character version of the ncurses library (libncurses**w**5-dev for Debian / Ubuntu), clean the build directory and restart the build process. - **Putty**: Tell putty not to lie about its capabilities (`$TERM`) by setting the field ``Terminal-type string`` to ``putty`` in the menu ``Connection > Data > Terminal Details``. License ------- NVTOP is licensed under the GPLv3 license or any later version. You will find a copy of the license inside the COPYING file of the repository or at the GNU website <[www.gnu.org/licenses/](http://www.gnu.org/licenses/)>.