Arch Load Manager

A lightweight, native Linux process manager for controlling CPU affinity and process priorities. Built in C with GTK3 for the GUI and an event-driven daemon for automatic rule application.

Disclaimer: This application was entirely "Vibe-Coded" - developed through AI-assisted programming. While functional and tested, there may be edge cases or improvements that could be made. If you encounter any issues, have suggestions, or want to contribute improvements, please feel free to open an issue or pull request. Your feedback is welcome!

Warnings

Functional Risks

This application modifies low-level process scheduling parameters. Improper use can cause:

System instability: Pinning critical system processes to too few CPUs can cause freezes or lag
Application crashes: Some applications expect access to all CPU cores
Priority inversion: Setting inappropriate priorities can starve important processes
Real-time priority dangers: Real-time priority (nice -20) can lock up your system if a process runs away

Recommendations:

Use Test Mode first to verify settings before saving
Avoid modifying system processes (PID < 1000) unless you know what you're doing
Don't set Real-time priority on untrusted or unstable applications
Keep at least 2 CPU cores unassigned as a safety margin

Vibe-Coded Software Risks

This software was developed with AI assistance ("vibe-coded"). This means:

Limited real-world testing: Edge cases may not have been thoroughly tested
Potential for subtle bugs: AI-generated code can have non-obvious issues
No warranty: Use at your own risk

Recommendations:

Review the config file (~/.config/arch-load-manager.json) before enabling the daemon
Monitor system behavior after applying new rules
Keep backups of working configurations
Report any issues you encounter

Overview

Arch Load Manager lets you:

Pin processes to specific CPU cores to optimize performance or isolate workloads
Set process priorities from background (nice 19) to real-time (nice -20)
Automatically apply rules to new processes via the background daemon
Save rules by executable path or process name for persistent configuration

Features

Process Management: View all running processes with real-time CPU and memory usage
CPU Affinity Control: Pin processes to specific CPU cores
Priority Management: Set process priorities from Lowest to Real-time
Automatic Rule Application: Background daemon automatically applies saved rules
Rule Persistence: Rules saved by executable path or process name
Test Mode: Try settings without saving
Apply to Process Family: Apply settings to related processes with the same executable
Ultra-Lightweight: Daemon uses <0.05% CPU idle, ~2-5MB RAM
Sortable Columns: Sort by PID, Name, CPU%, or Memory%
Color-Coded Processes: Green (low), Yellow (medium), Red (high CPU usage)

Limitations

Root required for negative nice values: High, Highest, and Real-time priorities require the daemon to be running as root
Daemon config scope: The systemd service runs as root by default and reads /root/.config/arch-load-manager.json. To use a user config, you can use the --config flag, run the daemon as that user, or set Environment=HOME=/home/USER in the service.
Linux only: Uses Linux-specific APIs (/proc, sched_setaffinity, inotify)
Process matching: Rules match exact executable paths or process names; no wildcard/regex support

Components

arch-load-manager (GTK3 GUI)
- Visual process management interface
- Create and edit rules
- Manual rule application
- Memory: ~20-30MB
- Startup: <100ms
arch-load-daemon (Background Service)
- Event-driven with inotify/epoll
- Monitors for new processes
- Auto-applies matching rules
- Hot-reloads configuration
- CPU: <0.05% idle, <0.2% active
- Memory: ~2-5MB

Configuration

Rules are stored in: ~/.config/arch-load-manager.json

Format:

{
  "exe": {
    "/usr/bin/firefox": {
      "cpus": [0, 1, 2],
      "priority": "High",
      "mode": "active"
    }
  },
  "name": {
    "python3": {
      "cpus": [4, 5, 6, 7],
      "priority": "Normal",
      "mode": "active"
    }
  }
}

Installation

🚀 Easy Installation (Any Distribution)

The easiest way to install Arch Load Manager on any Linux distribution is using the provided installation script. This script will check for dependencies, build the project, and install all necessary files.

git clone https://github.com/gitporker/Arch-Load-Manager.git
cd Arch-Load-Manager
chmod +x install.sh
./install.sh

🏔️ Arch Linux (Official Installer)

For Arch Linux and its derivatives (Manjaro, EndeavourOS, etc.), you can use the PKGBUILD to install it as a native package:

git clone https://github.com/gitporker/Arch-Load-Manager.git
cd Arch-Load-Manager
makepkg -si

🛠️ Manual Installation

If you prefer to install manually:

Install dependencies:
- GTK3 (e.g., libgtk-3-dev on Debian/Ubuntu, gtk3 on Arch)
- JSON-C (e.g., libjson-c-dev on Debian/Ubuntu, json-c on Arch)
- UThash (e.g., uthash-dev on Debian/Ubuntu, uthash on Arch)
- Build tools: gcc, make, pkg-config
Build and Install:

make
sudo make install

Start the daemon:

sudo systemctl enable --now arch-load-daemon

Maintainer

Porker Roland - gitporker@gmail.com

Dependencies

Build-time:

gcc
make
pkg-config
gtk3 development headers
json-c development headers
uthash headers

Runtime:

gtk3
json-c

Arch Linux:

sudo pacman -S base-devel gtk3 json-c uthash libdbusmenu-gtk3

Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt install build-essential libgtk-3-dev libjson-c-dev uthash-dev appmenu-gtk3-module

Fedora/RHEL:

sudo dnf install gcc make pkg-config gtk3-devel json-c-devel uthash-devel appmenu-gtk3-module

Usage

GUI Application

Launch from:

Application menu: Search for "Arch Load Manager"
Terminal: arch-load-manager

Creating Rules

Select a process from the list
Choose CPU cores by checking/unchecking boxes
Select priority level from dropdown
Choose rule type:
- Executable path: Rule applies to specific binary
- Process name: Rule applies to any process with that name
Click "Apply"

Options

Test Mode: Apply settings without saving; the daemon skips those PIDs while the GUI is open
Apply to process family: Also apply to related processes with the same executable

Daemon Service (enable or rules won't auto-apply)

# Start daemon
sudo systemctl start arch-load-daemon

# Enable on boot
sudo systemctl enable arch-load-daemon

# Run manually with custom config
arch-load-daemon --config /path/to/config.json

Configuration File

Edit ~/.config/cpu_affinity_manager.json manually or use the GUI. The systemd daemon runs as root by default and reads /root/.config/cpu_affinity_manager.json unless you override HOME in the service or run the daemon as your user.

The daemon automatically reloads when the file changes. The mode field is currently always saved as active and ignored by the daemon.

Priority Levels

Priority	Nice Value	Use Case
Lowest	19	Background tasks
Low	10	Non-critical processes
Normal	0	Default priority
High	-5	Important applications
Highest	-10	Critical processes
Real-time	-20	Time-sensitive tasks

Note: Negative nice values require root privileges

UI Features

Color-Coded Process Names

🟢 Green: CPU usage 0-30% (low)
🟡 Yellow: CPU usage 30-70% (medium)
🔴 Red: CPU usage 70%+ (high)

Sortable Columns

Click column headers to sort by:

PID: Process ID
Process Name: Alphabetically
CPU %: Percentage of total CPU (all processes sum to ~100%)
Memory %: Percentage of total RAM

Default: Sorted by CPU% (descending)

Performance

GUI (arch-load-manager)

Memory: ~20-30MB
Startup: <100ms
Update interval: 500ms
Updates pause when minimized

Daemon (arch-load-daemon)

CPU: <0.05% idle (event-driven)
CPU: <0.2% when applying rules
Memory: ~2-5MB resident
Response time: <100ms for new processes

Troubleshooting

Daemon Not Starting

# Check logs
sudo journalctl -u arch-load-daemon

# Check permissions
ls -l /usr/local/bin/arch-load-daemon

# Verify config
cat ~/.config/cpu_affinity_manager.json | jq
sudo cat /root/.config/cpu_affinity_manager.json | jq

Permission Denied

Setting negative nice values (High, Highest, Real-time) requires root:

Daemon must run as root (systemd service handles this)
GUI can only apply these priorities with sudo/pkexec

Rules Not Applying

Check daemon is running: systemctl status arch-load-daemon
Verify config file exists and is valid JSON
Check daemon logs: journalctl -u arch-load-daemon -f
Ensure process names/paths match exactly

GUI Not Showing Some Processes

Some processes may not be accessible due to permissions. Run GUI with sudo to see all:

sudo arch-load-manager

Uninstallation

# Using uninstall script
chmod +x uninstall.sh
./uninstall.sh

# Or manually
sudo make uninstall

This removes:

Binaries from /usr/local/bin/
Systemd service
Desktop entry
Optionally, user configuration

Building from Source

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/arch-load-manager.git
cd arch-load-manager

# Build
make all

# Build only GUI
make gui

# Build only daemon
make daemon

# Clean build artifacts
make clean

# View help
make help

Development

Project Structure

arch-load-manager/
├── common.h               # Shared definitions
├── config.h               # Config management header
├── config.c               # Config implementation (json-c)
├── arch-load-manager.c    # GTK3 GUI application
├── arch-load-daemon.c     # Background daemon
├── Makefile               # Build system
├── install.sh             # Installation script
├── uninstall.sh           # Removal script
└── README.md              # This file

Code Style

C11 standard
Optimized with -O3 -march=native
Wall, Wextra enabled
Event-driven architecture
Zero-copy where possible

License

MIT License - See LICENSE file for details

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please:

Fork the repository
Create a feature branch
Make your changes
Submit a pull request

Credits

Development: AI-assisted "Vibe-Coded" with Claude
UI Design: Dark theme inspired by modern desktop aesthetics
Libraries: GTK3, json-c, uthash
System: Linux kernel process management APIs (sched_setaffinity, setpriority, inotify, epoll)

Version

Current version: 1.0.0

Feedback & Contributions

This project is open to improvements! If you find bugs, have feature requests, or want to contribute:

Open an issue to report problems or suggest features
Submit a pull request with your improvements
Share your feedback - it helps make the app better for everyone

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 10 Commits
.gitignore		.gitignore
Arch Load Manager.png		Arch Load Manager.png
Makefile		Makefile
PKGBUILD		PKGBUILD
README.md		README.md
arch-load-daemon.c		arch-load-daemon.c
arch-load-daemon.service		arch-load-daemon.service
arch-load-manager.c		arch-load-manager.c
arch-load-manager.desktop		arch-load-manager.desktop
common.h		common.h
config.c		config.c
config.h		config.h
install.sh		install.sh
uninstall.sh		uninstall.sh

l3afyb0y/Arch-Load-Manager

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