ttyload – Shows a Color-coded Graph of Linux Load Average in Terminal

ttyload is a lightweight utility which is intended to offer a color-coded graph of load averages over time on Linux and other Unix-like systems. It enables a graphical tracking of system load average in a terminal (“tty“).

It is known to run on systems such as Linux, IRIX, Solaris, FreeBSD, MacOS X (Darwin) and Isilon OneFS. It is designed to be easy to port to other platforms, but this comes with some hard work.

Some of its notable features are: it uses fairly standard, but hard-coded, ANSI escape sequences for screen manipulation and colorization. And also comes with (but doesn’t install, or even build by default) a relatively self-contained load bomb, if you want to view how things work on an otherwise unloaded system.

Suggested Read: GoTTY – Share Your Linux Terminal (TTY) as a Web Application

In this article, we will show you how to install and use ttyload in Linux to view a color-coded graph of your system load average in a terminal.

How to Install ttyload in Linux Systems

On Debian/Ubuntu based distributions, you can install ttyload from the default system respositores by typing the following apt-get command.

$ sudo apt-get install ttyload

On Other Linux distributions you can install ttyload from the source as shown.

$ git clone https://github.com/lindes/ttyload.git
$ cd ttyload
$ make
$ ./ttyload
$ sudo make install

Once installed, you can start it by typing the following command.

$ ttyload
ttyload - Graphical View of Linux Load Average
ttyload – Graphical View of Linux Load Average

Note: To close the program simply press [Ctrl+C] keys.

You can also define the number of seconds in the interval between refreshes. Default value is 4, and the minimum is 1.

$ ttyload -i 5
$ ttyload -i 1

To run it in a monochrome mode which turns off ANSI escapes, use the -m as follows.

$ ttyload -m
ttyload - Monochrome Mode
ttyload – Monochrome Mode

To get the ttyload usage info and help, type.

$ ttyload -h 

Below are some of its important features yet to be added:

  • Support for arbitrary sizing.
  • Make an X front end using the same basic engine, to have “3xload”.
  • Logging-oriented mode.

For more information, check out the ttyload Homepage: http://www.daveltd.com/src/util/ttyload/

Thats all for now! In this article, we showed you how to install and use ttyload in Linux. Write back to us via the comment section below.

Tutorial Feedback...
Was this article helpful? If you don't find this article helpful or found some outdated info, issue or a typo, do post your valuable feedback or suggestions in the comments to help improve this article...

If You Appreciate What We Do Here On TecMint, You Should Consider:

TecMint is the fastest growing and most trusted community site for any kind of Linux Articles, Guides and Books on the web. Millions of people visit TecMint! to search or browse the thousands of published articles available FREELY to all.

If you like what you are reading, please consider buying us a coffee ( or 2 ) as a token of appreciation.

Support Us

We are thankful for your never ending support.

Got something to say? Join the discussion.

Have a question or suggestion? Please leave a comment to start the discussion. Please keep in mind that all comments are moderated and your email address will NOT be published.