ps
The ps (process status) command produces a list of processes on the system that can be used to determine how long a process has been running, how much CPU resource processes are using, and if processes are being penalized by the system. It will also show how much memory processes are using, how much I/O a process is performing, the priority and nice values for the process, and who created the process.
The ps command has a variety of options. Helpful ps commands shows some helpful ps commands.
Helpful ps commands
| Action | Command |
|---|---|
| To display the top 5 CPU consuming processes. | ps aux | sort -rnk 3,3 | head -n 6 |
| To display the top 10 memory consuming processes. | ps aux | sort -rnk 4,4 | head |