Linux Process Manager - A Simple htop Clone

A minimal htop-like command-line process manager built in C++ for Linux systems.
It reads system and process information from the /proc filesystem and displays a real-time summary of running processes, CPU usage, memory consumption, and other system-level statistics.

Features

• Displays a list of active processes
• Shows PID, command, state, memory usage, and priority
• Parses data from the Linux /proc virtual filesystem
• Lightweight and minimal dependencies
• Designed for Linux (works in WSL too)

Project Structure

process-manager/
├── bin/                     # Compiled binary (after build)
├── include/
│   └── parser.h             # Header for parsing utilities
├── src/
│   └── process-manager.cpp  # Main logic for process manager
├── Makefile                 # Build configuration
└── README.md                # Project documentation

Installation & Usage

Prerequisites

• Linux or WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux)
• g++ (C++11 or higher)
• make utility

Build Instructions

git clone https://github.com/codemuggle09/process-manager.git
cd process-manager
make

This will compile the code and generate the executable in the bin/ directory.

Run the Program

./bin/process_manager

How It Works

This process manager accesses and parses the virtual /proc filesystem, which contains detailed runtime information about system processes. The following files are used:

• /proc/[pid]/status – For retrieving process metadata
• /proc/[pid]/cmdline – To get the command-line arguments
• /proc/[pid]/stat – For state, priority, and memory information

The data is processed using standard C++ file handling mechanisms (ifstream, sstream, etc.).

Clean Build

To remove compiled binaries and object files:

make clean

Author

Monisha B.
GitHub: codemuggle09

License

This project is open-source and licensed under the MIT License.

Contributions

Contributions are welcome. Feel free to fork the project and open a pull request with your improvements, bug fixes, or suggestions.

Future Improvements

• Add CPU and memory usage bars
• Refresh the view dynamically (like htop)
• Add unit tests for parser functions
• Implement support to kill or renice processes