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lsof VS psutil

Compare lsof VS psutil and see what are their differences

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Contents:
  1. ยป Base Details
  2. ยป Videos
  3. ยป Reviews
  4. ยป Alternatives

lsof logo lsof

Lsof lists open files for running UNIX processes. It is a

psutil logo psutil

psutil is a module providing an interface for retrieving information on all running processes and...
  • lsof Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-09-16
  • psutil Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-26

lsof features and specs

No features have been listed yet.

psutil features and specs

  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    Psutil is designed to work across different operating systems including Linux, Windows, and macOS, providing a unified API for system monitoring.
  • Comprehensive Functionality
    It offers a wide range of features for monitoring system performance metrics such as CPU usage, memory, disks, network, and system sensors.
  • Active Maintenance and Support
    Psutil is actively maintained with regular updates and bug fixes, ensuring that it remains reliable and up-to-date with new system metrics and features.
  • Well-Documented
    The library comes with extensive documentation and examples, making it easier for developers to integrate and utilize its functionalities.
  • Pythonic API
    Psutil provides a clear and Pythonic interface, allowing Python developers to easily integrate system monitoring capabilities into their applications.

Possible disadvantages of psutil

  • Resource Intensive
    While providing extensive monitoring capabilities, psutil can be resource-intensive, potentially impacting system performance when monitoring frequently or on resource-constrained systems.
  • Platform-Specific Limitations
    Some functionality may not be available on all platforms, requiring platform-specific considerations or workarounds in application development.
  • Requires Administrative Privileges
    Certain metrics and functionalities may require administrative privileges, potentially limiting usage in restricted environments or without proper permissions.
  • Version Compatibility
    There may be compatibility issues between different versions of psutil and Python, requiring careful management of dependencies in larger projects.

Analysis of lsof

Overall verdict

  • lsof (List Open Files) is a mature, battle-tested Unix/Linux utility that reliably reveals which files, sockets, and resources are opened by processes, making it an indispensable diagnostic tool for system administrators and developers.

Why this product is good

  • Provides comprehensive visibility into open files, network sockets, pipes, and devices tied to running processes
  • Extremely useful for troubleshooting 'device busy' errors, port conflicts, and locating processes holding onto deleted files
  • Highly portable across many Unix-like systems including FreeBSD, Linux, macOS, and Solaris
  • Long history of stable, well-maintained releases with extensive documentation and community support
  • Powerful filtering options let you query by user, process, port, file, or network connection

Recommended for

  • System administrators diagnosing resource and file-locking issues
  • Developers debugging network connections and socket usage
  • Security professionals investigating suspicious process activity and open network ports
  • Anyone needing to identify which process is using a specific file, directory, or port before unmounting or killing

lsof videos

+ Add

8 Basic lsof Commands Every Sysadmin Needs to Know

More videos:

  • Review - HakTip - Network monitoring in Linux with lsof

psutil videos

No psutil videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Add video

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to lsof and psutil)

lsof

psutil

Command Line Tools
17 17%
Command Line Tools
83% 83
Monitoring Tools
11 11%
Monitoring Tools
89% 89
Performance Monitoring
100 100%
Performance Monitoring
0% 0
Tool
0 0%
Tool
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using lsof and psutil. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, psutil seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 1 time since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

lsof mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of lsof yet. Tracking of lsof recommendations started around Mar 2021.

psutil mentions (1)

  • Profiling Python code with memory_profiler
    It uses the psutil library (or can use tracemalloc or posix) to access process information in a cross platform way, so it works on Windows, Mac, and Linux. - Source: dev.to / about 5 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing lsof and psutil, you can also consider the following products

htop - htop - an interactive process viewer for Unix. This is htop, an interactive process viewer for Unix systems. It is a text-mode application (for console or X terminals) and requires ncurses. Latest release: htop 2.

nmon - This systems administrator, tuner, benchmark tool gives you a huge amount of important performance...

Sysdig - Sysdig is an open source, system-level exploration that capture system state and activity from a running Linux instance, then save, filter and analyze.

gtop - System monitoring dashboard for terminal

vtop - vtop is a graphical command-line tool that uses unicode braille to chart CPU and memory usage.

iftop - iftop does for network usage what top(1) does for CPU usage.

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