Atop Viewer

June 7, 2026 · View on GitHub

Desktop GUI for Linux atop historical logs — atop log analyzer, atop visualizer, performance forensics.

Not a browser app. Linux desktop application (Electron). Requires atop installed on the same machine. Reads logs via atop -r … -J … (no custom binary parser, no atop -P step).

Status: beta (0.0.x) · License: MIT

Downloaddavidpestana.github.io/atop-viewer
ReleasesGitHub Releases
Sourcegithub.com/davidpestana/atop-viewer

What it does

Turn daily atop binary logs (/var/log/atop/atop_YYYYMMDD) into an explorable UI for Linux admins, SRE, DevOps, and platform engineers:

  • Time slider across atop samples (load, CPU, memory charts)
  • Process table with live status (running / terminated / PID reused)
  • Live mode — polls the log every 15 s when atop writes a new sample
  • Process timelines — heatmap, stack, lifecycle for top processes
  • Configurable filters — CPU threshold, row limits, timeline top N
  • ES / EN UI locale
  • Local only — data stays on your machine; no upload server

How parsing works

/var/log/atop/atop_YYYYMMDD  →  atop -r LOG -J JSON  →  Atop Viewer UI

The app shells out to /usr/bin/atop. It does not parse raw .atop binaries in JavaScript and does not require converting logs with atop -P first.

Screenshot

Atop Viewer — charts, process map, lifecycle, and process table

Quick start

1. Install atop (if needed)

sudo apt install atop
sudo systemctl enable --now atop
grep LOGINTERVAL /etc/default/atop   # e.g. 600 = one sample every 10 min

2. Install Atop Viewer

Download the latest .deb from Releases or GitHub Pages.

Recommended (avoids apt _apt warnings when the file is in $HOME):

sudo dpkg -i ~/atop-viewer-*-beta-amd64.deb
sudo apt -f install   # only if dependencies are missing

Alternative:

cp ~/atop-viewer-*-beta-amd64.deb /tmp/
sudo apt install /tmp/atop-viewer-*-beta-amd64.deb

Note: sudo apt install ./file.deb from $HOME may print an _apt / Permiso denegado information line. That is not a failed install if you see Configurando atop-viewer and ii in dpkg -l atop-viewer.

3. Launch

atop-viewer

Or open Atop Viewer from the GNOME application menu.

AppImage (other distros): see Releases — still requires atop and often libfuse2.

Using the app

  1. Pick a daily log (atop_YYYYMMDD) in the dropdown.
  2. Move the time slider to inspect a sample interval.
  3. Review system charts (load, CPU, memory).
  4. Inspect the process table for that interval.
  5. Enable Live to follow the current day's log (refresh bounded by atop's LOGINTERVAL).
  6. Open Settings (Display relevance) to tune filters and locale.

By default, processes below 0.05% CPU in a sample are hidden. Set minimum CPU to 0% to show idle workloads.

Requirements

OSLinux (Ubuntu/Debian tested; AppImage for others)
atopInstalled, writing to /var/log/atop/
PermissionsRead access to atop logs (user/group or root)
DisplayX11/Wayland desktop (GNOME tested)

Limitations (beta)

  • Linux desktop only — not a web UI, not Windows/macOS.
  • Requires atop CLI on the host — cannot open arbitrary .atop files from USB unless readable and passed via atop.
  • Default log path — /var/log/atop/atop_YYYYMMDD (system atop layout).
  • Live refresh cannot exceed atop's sampling interval (LOGINTERVAL, often 600 s).
  • Beta packaging — .deb / AppImage for amd64; APIs and settings may change.

Roadmap

  • Open user-selected log files (not only /var/log/atop)
  • Disk and network charts from atop JSON labels
  • Export sample / process data (CSV, JSON)
  • Stable 1.0 after broader distro testing

Development

Prerequisites

  • Node.js 20+ and npm
  • atop installed with logs under /var/log/atop/ (needed to exercise the UI)
  • Linux desktop (Electron targets Linux only in this repo)

Run from source

git clone https://github.com/davidpestana/atop-viewer.git
cd atop-viewer
npm install
npm run dev

npm run dev wraps Electron with a clean environment (scripts/run.sh) to avoid GTK/Wayland crashes on some setups. Equivalent:

bash scripts/run.sh dev

Build and package

npm run build              # compile main, preload, renderer → out/
npm run preview            # run the built app locally
npm run dist:linux         # .deb + AppImage → dist/
npm run dist:linux:check   # build + validate packages (CI uses this)
npm run clean:artifacts    # remove old dist/ output

Project layout

PathRole
electron/Main process, atop integration, IPC
electron/atop/Calls atop -r … -J …, log listing, live watch
src/React renderer (charts, tables, settings)
build/.desktop, launcher, Debian postinst
docs/GitHub Pages download site
.github/workflows/CI build and release automation

Releases are tagged v0.0.x / v0.0.x-beta; CI builds installers and updates the download page.

License

MIT