Janitorial Services

Classic command-line utilities are considered the go-to tools for system administration, but some powerful graphical tools also are available for monitoring and optimizing a Linux system. One of those tools is Stacer, which lives on GitHub [1]. Sourceforge [2] also offers sources for compiling, as well as a DEB packages for 32- and 64-bit systems and an AppImage for 64-bit machines. In this article, I take a close look at the Stacer AppImage version. (See the box titled "AppImage" for more on the AppImage format.)

What Is Stacer?

Stacer was designed for Ubuntu but works with any distribution, with a couple of restrictions. The application, created by GitHub developers, is based on the Electron framework [4] and can be used for building cross-platform apps on the basis of JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. Skype for Linux and the Atom editor, Franz messenger, and Darktable image processing tool are some of the better known representatives of the framework.

After downloading the AppImage, I distributed it to various virtual machines running Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Mageia, Manjaro, Apricity OS, and openSUSE and tried a static installation with Siduction (Debian Unstable). Stacer ran on all the distributions tested. On systems with KDE Plasma desktop, however, you need to launch Stacer as root because of a kdesu authorization error.

Before the first start, you need to make the AppImage executable, which you can do as a user working in the directory where the package is located; then, run Stacer from the same directory:

$ chmod a+x Stacer-1.0.6-x86_64.AppImage
$ ./Stacer-1.0.6-x86_64.AppImage

A message tells you that the setup routine is adding the application to the menu and putting an icon on the desktop, which is the only way in which the application changes your computer. Alternatively, you can launch Stacer, like all AppImage applications, by double-clicking on the executable file.

Graphically Managed

Stacer welcomes you with a modern window featuring six tabs: Dashboard, System Cleaner, Startup Apps, Services, Uninstaller, and Resources (Figure 1). The window is static, which means you can neither increase nor decrease its size.

Figure 1: Among other things, the Stacer start screen displays animated CPU, Memory, and Disk Space gauges.

The program always starts with the Dashboard, which only provides information and does not allow any interaction. The Dashboard gives you a animated view of CPU, Memory, Disk Space, and network interface utilization, as well as information about the installed processor and operating system.

System Cleaner

The System Cleaner tab (Figure 2) helps you ditch the ballast: This is where you can remove unnecessary log or cache files and empty the trash can on your system. In the initial state, Stacer does not provide any data for trash disposal; you first need to enable the desired categories and then launch a system scan.

Figure 2: In the System Cleaner section, you can get rid of temporary files, caches, and old logfiles.

Caution is advisable in the App Cache tab: Deleting here could slow down application launch, and you should proceed with caution when it comes to the logs and keep at least the current X.org log and the Apt and Dpkg logfiles. Numbered logs are always older and can typically be disposed of without any worries.

Apps and Services

In the Startup Apps tab, you can view the applications the system launches at boot time (Figure 3) and set up new startup apps. This is especially handy if you work with different distributions: You do not always need to think about where you need to set up applications that run at boot time on the respective systems, and you can also tell Stacer to lock an application for the next start as a test, without having to plumb the depths of the Control Panel.

Figure 3: In the Startup Apps section, you can add and remove applications to be launched at boot time.

Starting and stopping system services is just as easy in the Services tab (Figure 4). A search function facilitates finding a particular service. A word of caution: If you shut down the wrong service here, you can look forward to a reboot.

Figure 4: Consider carefully starting and stopping services to avoid endangering the running system.

Out!

Like the first tab, the last two tabs are purely informative: As the name suggests, the penultimate tab, Uninstaller, lets you remove packages (Figure 5). You will find many of the applications installed on the system here, and you can point and click to uninstall and remove. Stacer does not list basic packages, to keep users from pulling the rug out from under their own feet.

Figure 5: The Uninstaller section only works on Ubuntu and Arch Linux distros and their derivatives.

The uninstaller works perfectly with Ubuntu and Apricity OS, but not with any other distribution tested in the lab. Rummaging around the bug reports on GitHub revealed an announcement stating that Stacer can only handle this function on Ubuntu and Arch Linux (on which Apricity OS is based). Failure to uninstall here is not really tragic, because it makes more sense to delete packages with your distribution's package manager anyway.

Colorful Plots

The Resources tab displays the last 30 seconds of CPU, RAM, and network activity (Figure 6). If you have four, eight, or more cores, Stacer shows them individually in contrasting colors. To view each plot separately, press the Cpu History button, for example.

Figure 6: In the Resources section, you can open selected objects (e.g., the CPU) and view animations of all the cores individually.

Conclusions

All tasks handled by Stacer can be run at the command line, with standard graphical tools, or even with the use of competitor products such as BleachBit [5], but not with the same graphical appeal. Stacer looked best on Apricity OS [6] because it perfectly matches the modern appearance of this Arch Linux-based distribution.

Delivery as an AppImage lets you distribute Stacer to multiple distributions in a single package; additionally, you save yourself the installation overhead. However, the AppImage weighs in at more than 50MB, and the executable file is around 75MB after unpacking; the complete package tips the scales at 130MB. Keep in mind when using Stacer that you could shoot yourself in the foot with poorly considered actions.