How to monitor, clean and optimize Linux with Stacer

Install Stacer

On Ubuntu, you can install Stacer with the command:

sudo apt install stacer

Arch fans will have to switch to the AUR to install it.

On Fedora and Red Hat, you can download Stacer's RPM file from the release page and then install it with:

sudo rpm --install stacer*.rpm --nodeps --force

However, it would probably be easier to use DNF:

sudo dnf install stacer

Once the installation is complete, you can find it among the installed software and launch the application, or use the stacer command in a Terminal.

Real-time information

Stacer's interface offers about a dozen different pages, accessible through a list of icons on the left side of the window. The first page greets you when you run Stacer for the first time, showing real-time information about CPU usage, memory, drive and bandwidth. They come with static information about your system, like the hostname and kernel, in the lower left corner.

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Is your CPU, memory and drive usage too high? You may need to visit the rest of the Stacer sites for maintenance.

The application and service start

The second page, with its rocket icon, allows you to manage applications that launch after you log on to the desktop. You can also add new apps that you want to start automatically using the Add Startup App button at the bottom right of the window.

In my case this window doesn't show anything, as there aren't any apps that start automatically.

The Services page , accessible via the fifth icon with two gears, is similar in that it allows you to enable or disable those that automatically start. However, instead of the applications, this page handles the services.

You can use the two drop-down menus at the top to show only the list of active or inactive services, and use the two toggle switches to the right of each service to enable or disable it. The first switch controls whether the service starts automatically or not. The second one allows you to start and stop the services at will.

Make sure you know what each service is going to disable. Some services are very important to the operating system itself.

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Disk cleanup

With Stacer, it's easy to recover some valuable memory occupied by useless files. Visit the Stacer third page, System Cleaner , with the brush icon.

Turn on what you want the program to clean by clicking on the check mark icon below each category. Alternatively, to enable all types of cleaning, click Select All at the bottom of this page.

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Click the button with the magnifying glass to let Stacer locate the useless files. After a while, Stacer will present a report. Check the results and choose what you want to remove by clicking the check mark to the left of each entry.

Just like before, there's also a Select All option at the bottom left of the list to highlight everything and clean up with one click. However, we recommend going through the list as it may contain logs or packages you want to keep. To remove everything in Stacer's System Cleaner list, click the big blue round button with a brush shape at the bottom of the window.

Manage packages and archives

The seventh icon will take you to Stacer's uninstaller page where you can remove installed packages. If you're also using snap packages, Stacer will list them in a sub-list, accessible from a button at the top left. The tool also provides a search function in the top right to help you identify specific packages.

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To uninstall a package, select the package by clicking the check mark on the left, then clicking the Uninstall Selected button at the bottom center of the window. Note that you can also select multiple packages.

Ignore the two icons, and if you click on the 10th icon, which looks like a filing cabinet, you'll see Stacer's APT Repository Manager . You can control all of your software sources from this location.

Just like in the previous pages, you can enable or disable an archive by clicking the toggle switch icon to the right of the entry. Two buttons at the bottom left allow you to edit or delete selected item. The Add Repository button at the bottom right allows you to expand with more repositories.

When you try to exit Stacer, it will ask if you want to minimize in the system tray or not. Since it consumes a lot of resources, there is no reason to keep Stacer running in the background.

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Stacer allows you to control many aspects of the system. However, cleaning and maintaining a system in good working condition is the most important thing.

Lesley Montoya

Update 28 September 2020