|
Quick links About top
Syntax
Examples
Related commands
Linux / Unix main page
About top
Display Linux tasks.
Syntax
top -hv | -bcisS -d delay -n iterations -p pid [,
pid ...]
The traditional switches '-' and whitespace are
optional.
| -b |
Batch mode operation
Starts top in 'Batch mode', which could be useful for
sending output from top to other programs or to a file. In
this mode, top will not accept input and runs until the
iterations limit you've set with the '-n' command-line
option or until killed. |
| -c |
Command line/Program name toggle
Starts top with the last remembered 'c' state reversed.
Thus, if top was displaying command lines, now that field
will show program names, and visa versa. See the 'c'
interactive command for additional information. |
| -d |
Delay time interval as: -d ss.tt
(seconds.tenths)
Specifies the delay between screen updates, and overrides
the corresponding value in one's personal configuration file
or the startup default. Later this can be changed with the
'd' or 's' interactive commands.Fractional seconds are
honored, but a negative number is not allowed. In all cases,
however, such changes are prohibited if top is running in
'Secure mode', except for root (unless the 's' command-line
option was used). For additional information on 'Secure
mode' see topic 5a. SYSTEM Configuration File. |
| -h |
Help
Show library version and the usage prompt, then quit. |
| -i |
Idle Processes toggle
Starts top with the last remembered 'i' state reversed. When
this toggle is Off, tasks that are idled or zombied will not
be displayed. |
| -n |
Number of iterations limit as:
-n number
Specifies the maximum number of iterations, or frames, top
should produce before ending. |
| -u |
Monitor by user as: -u somebody
Monitor only processes with an effective UID or user name
matching that given. |
| -U |
Monitor by user as: -U somebody
Monitor only processes with a UID or user name matching that
given. This matches real, effective, saved, and filesystem
UIDs. |
| -p |
Monitor PIDs as: -pN1 -pN2 ...
or -pN1, N2 [,...]
Monitor only processes with specified process IDs. This
option can be given up to 20 times, or you can provide a
comma delimited list with up to 20 pids. Co-mingling both
approaches is permitted.This is a command-line option
only. And should you wish to return to normal operation, it
is not necessary to quit
and and restart top -- just issue the '=' interactive
command. |
| -s |
Secure mode operation
Starts top with secure mode forced, even for root. This mode
is far better controlled through the system configuration
file (see topic 5. FILES). |
| -S |
Cumulative time mode toggle
Starts top with the last remembered 'S' state reversed. When
'Cumulative mode' is On, each process is listed with the cpu
time that it and its dead children have used. See the 'S'
interactive command for additional information regarding
this mode. |
| -v |
Version
Show library version and the usage prompt, then quit. |
Examples
When operating top, the two most important keys
are help ('h' or '?') and quit ('q') key. Alternatively, you
could simply use the traditional interrupt key ('^C') when
you're done.
top
Running the above command would give you a display
similar to the below example. While the tasks are being displayed
you can use any of the startup commands listed after the below
example output.
top - 20:50:55 up 167 days, 14:26, 82 users, load average: 0.13, 0.05, 0.01
Tasks: 3 total, 1 running, 2 sleeping, 0 stopped, 0 zombie
Cpu(s): 0.0% user, 2.2% system, 0.0% nice, 97.8% idle
Mem: 514964k total, 507860k used, 7104k free, 30404k buffers
Swap: 1630588k total, 158708k used, 1471880k free, 275380k cached
PID USER PR NI VIRT RES SHR S %CPU %MEM TIME+ COMMAND
3747 hope 11 0 2004 1608 1608 S 0.3 0.3 0:00.56 sshd
22245 hope 10 0 688 676 672 S 0.0 0.1 0:00.06 csh
14015 hope 10 0 1024 1024 848 R 0.0 0.2 0:00.00 top
Startup Defaults
The following startup defaults assume no configuration file, thus no
user customizations. Even so, items shown with an
asterisk ('*') could be overridden through the command-line.
| A |
Alt display Off (full-screen) |
| * d |
Delay time 3.0 seconds |
| I |
Irix mode On (no, 'solaris' smp) |
| * p |
PID monitoring Off |
| * s |
Secure mode Off (unsecured) |
| B |
Bold disable Off |
| l |
Load Avg/Uptime On (thus program
name) |
| t |
Task/Cpu states On (1+1 lines,
see '1') |
| m |
Mem/Swap usage On (2 lines
worth) |
| 1 |
Single Cpu On (thus 1 line if
smp) |
| b |
Bold hilite On (not 'reverse') |
| * c |
Command line Off (name, not
cmdline) |
| * i |
Idle tasks On (show all tasks) |
| R |
Reverse sort On (pids
high-to-low) |
| * S |
Cumulative time Off (no, dead
children) |
| x |
Column hilite Off (no, sort
field) |
| y |
Row hilite On (yes, running
tasks) |
| z |
color/mono Off (no, colors) |
Related commands
ps
uptime
|
|
| Resolved |
Were you able to locate the answer to your questions? |
|
|
