top -c command in linux to filter processes listed based on processname

Question

Using pgrep to get pid's of matching command lines:

top -c -p $(pgrep -d',' -f string_to_match_in_cmd_line)

top -p expects a comma separated list of pids so we use -d',' in pgrep. The -f flag in pgrep makes it match the command line instead of program name.

It can be done interactively

After running top -c , hit o and write a filter on a column, e.g. to show rows where COMMAND column contains the string foo, write COMMAND=foo

If you just want some basic output this might be enough:

top -bc |grep name_of_process

You can add filters to top while it is running. Just press the o key and then type in a filter expression.

For example, to monitor all processes containing the string "java", use the filter expression COMMAND=java.

You can add multiple filters by pressing o again.

You can filter by user with u. Clear all filters with =.

@perreal's command works great! If you forget, try in two steps...

example: filter top to display only application called yakuake:

$ pgrep yakuake
1755

$ top -p 1755

useful top interactive commands 'c' : toggle full path vs. command name 'k' : kill by PID 'F' : filter by... select with arrows... then press 's' to set the sort

the answer below is good too... I was looking for that today but couldn't find it. Thanks

After looking for so many answers on StackOverflow, I haven't seen an answer to fit my needs.

That is, to make top command to keep refreshing with given keyword, and we don't have to CTRL+C / top again and again when new processes spawn.

Thus I make a new one...

Here goes the no-restart-needed version.

__keyword=name_of_process; (while :; do __arg=$(pgrep -d',' -f $__keyword); if [ -z "$__arg" ]; then top -u 65536 -n 1; else top -c -n 1 -p $__arg; fi; sleep 1; done;)

Modify the __keyword and it should works. (Ubuntu 2.6.38 tested)

2.14.2015 added: The system workload part is missing with the code above. For people who cares about the "load average" part:

__keyword=name_of_process; (while :; do __arg=$(pgrep -d',' -f $__keyword); if [ -z "$__arg" ]; then top -u 65536 -n 1; else top -c -n 1 -p $__arg; fi; uptime; sleep 1; done;)