apachetop: Watching Apache Directly from the scoreboard

When Apache is under heavy load, one of the first things you usually want to know is simple: what are all those workers doing right now?

Normally, the obvious answer is mod_status:

/server-status

But there is a practical problem: when Apache is completely saturated, /server-status itself may become difficult or impossible to access because there may be no worker available to serve the request.

That is why I built apachetop.

Reading the scoreboard directly

Instead of making an HTTP request to /server-status, apachetop reads the Apache HTTP Server scoreboard directly from its APR shared-memory file, which must be enabled in apache config:

ScoreboardFile /dev/shm/scoreboard

Also mod_status and ExtendedStatus on need to be enabled.

Screenshot in action:

Debian and Ubuntu packages

Check github for latest release:

• apachetop_0.1.0-4_bookworm_amd64.deb
• apachetop_0.1.0-4_jammy_amd64.deb
• apachetop_0.1.0-4_noble_amd64.deb
• apachetop_0.1.0-4_resolute_amd64.deb
• apachetop_0.1.0-4_trixie_amd64.deb