Master Real-Time Container Monitoring with ctop: Features, Installation & Shortcuts

What is ctop?

ctop is a top‑style command‑line tool that provides a concise, compact, real‑time overview of multiple containers. It offers a detailed view for individual containers, supports Docker and runC, and plans to add more platforms and orchestration systems.

Key Features

Real‑time container status : Shows running containers with key metrics such as name, CPU, memory, Disk I/O, and Net TX/RX.

Easy filtering and sorting : Press

s

to sort by CPU, memory, or name; press

f

to filter containers by keyword.

Monitoring actions : After selecting a container, use shortcuts to restart, stop, pause, or resume it.

High compatibility : Works with Docker and runc, and runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, etc.

Installation

Linux (generic)

<code>sudo wget https://github.com/bcicen/ctop/releases/download/v0.7.7/ctop-0.7.7-linux-amd64 -O /usr/local/bin/ctop
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/ctop</code>

Docker

<code>docker run --rm -ti \
   --name=ctop \
   --volume /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro \
   quay.io/vektorlab/ctop:latest</code>

Windows (via Scoop)

<code>scoop install ctop</code>

Usage

Options

a

: Show only active containers

f <string>

: Set initial filter string

h

: Show help dialog

i

: Invert default colors

r

: Reverse container sorting order

s

: Choose initial container sort field

v

: Print version and exit

Shortcuts

a

: Toggle display of all containers (running and stopped)

f

: Filter displayed containers (clear with ESC)

H

: Toggle ctop title bar

h

: Open help dialog

s

: Choose container sort field

r

: Reverse container sorting order

o

: Open single‑view mode

l

: View container logs (press

t

to toggle timestamps)

e

: Enter shell terminal

c

: Configure column display

S

: Save current configuration to file

q

: Quit ctop

Conclusion

Whether you need a quick glance at container performance or deep inspection of a single container’s logs, ctop offers an intuitive, visual alternative to cumbersome CLI commands, making operations more straightforward and efficient.