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topNotes
Open the classic realtime process viewer.
Linux Process Monitoring
Interactive and sampled monitoring for Linux processes, threads, memory, sockets, and scheduler behavior.
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Interactive Monitors
Realtime views of CPU, memory, and thread activity.
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top -HNotes
Display per-thread activity inside top.
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top -p 1234Notes
Focus top on one or more processes.
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htopNotes
Open the interactive ncurses process monitor if installed.
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sudo atopNotes
Capture system-wide resource and per-process metrics.
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btopNotes
Use a modern TUI monitor if available.
Per-Process Metrics
Capture CPU, memory, and scheduler statistics over time.
pidstat all processes
Sample process activity every second for five intervals.
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pidstat 1 5Notes
Sample process activity every second for five intervals.
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pidstat -u 1 5Notes
Report CPU utilization by process.
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pidstat -r 1 5Notes
Show RSS and memory faults per process.
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pidstat -d 1 5Notes
Show per-process block I/O activity.
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pidstat -t -u 1 5Notes
Break metrics down to thread level.
vmstat run queue and context switches
Inspect run queue, context switches, and system pressure.
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vmstat 1 5Notes
Inspect run queue, context switches, and system pressure.
Combine iostat with process view
Inspect disk pressure while correlating with pidstat or ps output.
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iostat -xz 1Notes
Inspect disk pressure while correlating with pidstat or ps output.
Memory and Open File Views
Inspect RSS, maps, and open files of running processes.
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pmap -x 1234 | head -40Notes
Display a process memory map with sizes and permissions.
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smem -r | headNotes
Compare memory usage with PSS if smem is installed.
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lsof -p 1234Notes
Show files, sockets, and descriptors opened by a process.
List open files by process name
Show open files for processes matching a name prefix.
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lsof -c nginxNotes
Show open files for processes matching a name prefix.
Find deleted files still open
Find processes keeping deleted files open and consuming disk.
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lsof +L1Notes
Find processes keeping deleted files open and consuming disk.
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cat /proc/1234/statusNotes
Inspect status, memory, capabilities, and thread counts.
Ports and Socket Monitoring
Relate processes to network sockets.
Show all TCP/UDP sockets with process info
List listening and connected sockets with owning processes.
bashANYsssocketsprocesses
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ss -tulpnNotes
List listening and connected sockets with owning processes.
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ss -tnp state establishedNotes
Inspect established connections and owning processes.
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lsof -i :5432Notes
Find which process uses a local port.
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fuser -v 5432/tcpNotes
Show owners of a TCP or UDP port.
More in Linux Processes
Linux systemd and Service Processes
systemd-oriented process inspection, signaling, cgroup views, transient units, and service troubleshooting.
Linux /proc and Process Debugging
Low-level Linux process inspection with /proc, syscall tracing, profilers, debuggers, and core dumps.
Linux Signals and Job Control
Linux signals, process groups, shell job control, and safe batch-termination patterns.
Linux Processes Cheat Sheet
Comprehensive Linux process inspection, control, scheduling, and backgrounding workflows.