Linux Terminal: Monitoring CPU Usage with ps Command

The Linux terminal provides various commands for system administrators and developers to monitor and manage system resources. One essential tool is the `ps` command, which displays information about running processes. In this article, we will explore how to use the `ps` command to monitor CPU usage and identify top 10 CPU consuming processes.

To start, you can use the `ps` command with the `-p` option followed by a process ID or a list of process IDs to display detailed information about those specific processes. For example:

```

$ ps -p

```

This will show you the details of the specified process, including its CPU usage.

To view the top 10 CPU consuming processes, use the `ps` command with the `-o` option and specify the `%cpu` column to display the CPU utilization of each process. You can also add other columns such as `%mem` to display the ratio of the process's resident set size to physical memory.

```

$ ps -eo pcpu,pid,cmd --sort=-pcpu | head -10

```

This command will sort the output by CPU usage in descending order and show you the top 10 processes consuming the most CPU resources.

The `%mem` column displays the ratio of the process's resident set size to physical memory on the machine. It is calculated as a percentage, which represents the proportion of physical memory used by the process.

In addition to displaying individual process information, `ps` also allows you to specify the output format using various options. For instance, you can use the `-f` option to display full-format output or the `-o` option to specify custom columns.

```

$ ps -eo pid,%cpu,%mem,cmd --sort=-%cpu

```

This command will show you a list of processes with their PID, CPU usage, memory usage, and command name. You can sort the output by CPU usage in descending order using the `--sort` option.

By leveraging the `ps` command's various options and formatting capabilities, system administrators and developers can effectively monitor and manage CPU resources on Linux systems. This enables them to identify and address potential performance issues, optimize system configuration, and ensure optimal resource utilization.

Linux terminal cpu usage