bpftop – dynamic real-time view of running eBPF programs

bpftop is a command-line monitoring tool developed by Netflix that provides a real-time, top-like interface for observing running eBPF programs on Linux systems. It surfaces key performance metrics such as average runtime, events per second, and estimated CPU usage, helping developers and system engineers understand the behaviour and impact of eBPF workloads directly from the terminal.

The tool is designed to make low-level kernel telemetry more accessible by presenting eBPF statistics in a clear, continuously updating view, along with optional graphical trends over time. It enables performance data collection only while running, minimising overhead and avoiding unnecessary system impact.

This is free and open source software.

Key Features

• Real-time monitoring: Displays a list of all running eBPF programs with ID, type, and name.
• Performance metrics: Shows period and total average runtime, events per second, and estimated CPU utilization.
• Interactive navigation: Navigate using arrow keys (↑/↓) or vim-style keys (j/k).
• Time-series graphs: Press Enter on a program to view graphical representations of performance metrics over time.
• Program filtering: Press ‘f’ to filter programs by name or type.
• Column sorting: Press ‘s’ to sort by different columns (ascending/descending).
• Process information: Displays process names and PIDs that reference each eBPF program.
• Scrollbar navigation: Automatically shows scrollbar when the program list exceeds terminal height.
• Customizable refresh rate: Set update interval with -d/--delay option (1-3600 seconds).
• Backward compatibility: Supports Linux kernels from version 5.8+ (older kernels via procfs).
• Minimal overhead: Enables statistics gathering only while active, automatically disables on exit.
• Logging integration: Logs to systemd journal when available.

Website: github.com/jfernandez/bpftop
Support:
Developer: Netflix
License: Apache License 2.0

bpftop is written in C. Learn C with our recommended free books and free tutorials.

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