Provided by: pcp_6.2.0-1.1build4_amd64 
NAME
pcp-htop - pcp-htop configuration file
DESCRIPTION
pcp-htop is a customizable performance metrics reporting tool. It has a dynamic architecture, where a
set of configuration files provide additional, optional meters and columns to extend the fixed set of
display options provided by regular htop.
These configuration files can be provided from both system-wide locations (first /etc/pcp/htop then
/usr/share/pcp/htop) and below the user's home directory (usually ~/.config/htop). Within these
locations the meters and columns are scanned for dynamic Meter and Column specifications.
Meters are displayed in the top part of the pcp-htop window, and columns are displayed in the lower part.
Meters tend to display system-wide metrics, and Columns display metrics about individual processes.
The formats are similar but have slightly different requirements. Both formats follow the common ini-
style. Blank lines are ignored. Lines starting with the "#" character are treated as comments.
METERS
The following is an example configuration for a new Redis meter:
[redisclient]
caption = Redis clients
type = bar
blocked.metric = redis.blocked_clients
blocked.color = blue
blocked.label = blk
clients.metric = redis.connected_clients
clients.color = green
clients.label = conn
A configuration file can contain multiple meter definitions. Each definition begins with a identifying
name enclosed by square brackets - redisclient in this example. The name is used internally within pcp-
htop and must be unique, must begin with an alphabetic character, and may subsequently only contain
alphanumeric characters or the underscore character. No whitespace or other characters are allowed.
There are several parameters that define the way the meter will be displayed to the user.
caption
This value is displayed on the Setup screen once the meter has been selected. A truncated version
of the caption will also be displayed (followed by a colon) on the primary display while the meter
is updating.
description
This can be used to provide more detail during the meter selection process on the Setup screen, and
if present it is displayed in the "Available Meters" column. If not present, the caption will be
used for this. If neither is present, the internal (mandatory) name will be used.
type This setting allows a preferred default meter type to be specified. The associated value must be
one of bar, text, graph, or led. If no value is provided for a dynamic meter, the default value of
text will be used.
maximum
A numeric value can also be set to size the meter, such that values (e.g. for a bar type meter
display) will be scaled within range zero to maximum.
The remaining definition syntax describes the individual metric(s) which will be used to animate the
meter. One or more metrics must be specified for each meter and there are several properties associated
with each. Once again, these metrics must be named (the same rules described above for meters apply
here) and the following properties can be configured:
name.metric
This is the only mandatory field and associates a PCP metric with the meter. Values sampled for
each metric at runtime provide the animation visible in the pcp-htop display. The metric
specification can be either a PCP metric name as listed by pminfo(1) or a "derived" metric
expression. The format for derived metric expressions is described on the pmRegisterDerived(3)
manual page.
name.color
Setting color to be used when rendering metric values. Possible values are red, green, blue, cyan,
magenta, yellow, gray, darkgray or white.
name.label
An optional, short label to display before the metric value. The ":" character will be appended to
the label before the metric value part of the display.
name.suffix
An optional, short suffix to display after the metric value. Commonly used to indicate values as a
percentage using a "%" suffix value and to provide the base unit of measurement. Note that since
PCP maintains units for metrics, for those metrics that have dimension in "space" (bytes, kilobytes,
megabytes, etc), a suffix will be automatically appended.
COLUMNS
The following is an example configuration for a new column showing open file descriptors for each
process:
[openfds]
heading = FDS
caption = FDCOUNT
description = Open file descriptors
metric = proc.fd.count
width = 3
A configuration file can contain multiple column definitions. Each definition begins with a identifying
name enclosed by square brackets - openfds in this example, and the same rules apply as described above
for meter names.
Each column must specify a metric. Optional parameters can also be set.
metric
As with meters, the metric value must be either a PCP metric name as listed by pminfo(1) or a
derived metric. The metric must have an instance domain (set of values) and that instance domain
must map to the set of processes with the instance identifier being PIDs (process identifiers).
Typically this will be metrics from the proc or hotproc namespace (pmdaproc(1)), but metrics from
other domains (pmdabcc(1), pmdabpf(1), etc) that have per-process values are equally applicable.
width
Column width to use when displaying values for the metric. A negative value can be used to specify
left alignment. An upper column limit of 28 characters is enforced. The default column width is 5
characters.
heading
The short title that will be displayed at the head of the column - usually a short, cryptic, all
uppercase string.
caption
A short identifying word presented to users on the Setup screen under both the Available and Active
Columns lists.
description
Text that assists users to understand the meaning of this column when it is being presented via the
Setup screen in the Available Columns list.
SEE ALSO
pcp-htop(1), pminfo(1), pmcd(1), pmdaproc(1), pmdabcc(1), pmdabpf(1) and pmRegisterDerived(3).
AUTHORS
htop was originally developed by Hisham Muhammad. Nowadays it is maintained by the community at
<htop@groups.io>.
pcp-htop is maintained as a collaboration between the <htop@groups.io> and <pcp@groups.io> communities,
and forms part of the Performance Co-Pilot suite of tools.
Performance Co-Pilot 2024 PCP-HTOP(5)