The NVIDIA System Management Interface (nvidia-smi) is a command line utility, based on top of the NVIDIA Management Library (NVML), which helps users manage and monitor NVIDIA GPU devices.
This utility is automatically installed with the NVIDIA drivers and lets users query and modify the GPU device state. While it’s probably the most well known NVIDIA monitoring tool, there are many other (and superior) tools available.
nvitop is an interactive NVIDIA device and process monitoring tool and bills itself as “the one-stop solution for GPU process management”. Like nvidia-smi, nvitop is built on top of NVML, but the tool offers a lot more functionality. It’s free and open source software written in Python.
Installation
We strongly recommend installing nvitop in a virtual environment. We’ll use pipx as it’s specifically for application installation, adding isolation yet still making the app available in your shell.
Using a fresh installation of Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, we first need to install pipx.
$ sudo apt install pipx
We can now proceed and install nvitop in an isolated virtual environment. Issue the command:
$ pipx install nvitop
We’ll need ~/.local/bin in our PATH environment variable. We can automatically update our PATH with the command:
$ pipx ensurepath
Next page: Page 2 – In Operation
Pages in this article:
Page 1 – Introduction / Installation
Page 2 – In Operation / Summary
Complete list of articles in this series:
| Excellent Utilities | |
|---|---|
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| Ananicy | Shell daemon created to manage processes’ IO and CPU priorities |
| broot | Next gen tree explorer and customizable launcher |
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| cheat.sh | Community driven unified cheat sheet |
| CopyQ | Advanced clipboard manager |
| croc | Securely transfer files and folders from the command-line |
| Deskreen | Live streaming your desktop to a web browser |
| duf | Disk usage utility with more polished presentation than the classic df |
| eza | A turbo-charged alternative to the venerable ls command |
| Extension Manager | Browse, install and manage GNOME Shell Extensions |
| fd | Wonderful alternative to the venerable find |
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| horcrux | File splitter with encryption and redundancy |
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| KOReader | Document viewer for a wide variety of file formats |
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| Liquid Prompt | Adaptive prompt for Bash & Zsh |
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| lsd | Like exa, lsd is a turbo-charged alternative to ls |
| Mark Text | Simple and elegant Markdown editor |
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| mdless | Formatted and highlighted view of Markdown files |
| navi | Interactive cheatsheet tool |
| noti | Monitors a command or process and triggers a notification |
| Nushell | Flexible cross-platform shell with a modern feel |
| nvitop | GPU process management for NVIDIA graphics cards |
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| Oh My Zsh | Framework to manage your Zsh configuration |
| Paperwork | Designed to simplify the management of your paperwork |
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| Zellij | Terminal workspace with batteries included |