15 Command Line Tools to Monitor Linux Performance.pdf

7/29/13 15 Command Line Tools to Monitor Linux Performance

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15 Command Line Tools to Monitor Linux Performance

By Ravi Saive Under: CentOS, Fedora, Linux Commands, Linux Distros, Monitoring Tools, RedHat On: May 4, 2013

Linux CPU Sniffer Bandwidth Linux Tools



Its really very tough job for every System or Network administrator to monitor and debug Linux System Performance problems every day. After being a LinuxAdministrator for 5 years in IT industry, I came to know that how hard is to monitor and keep systems up and running. For this reason, weve compiled the list of Top 15frequently used command line monitoring tools that might be useful for every Linux/Unix System Administrator. These commands are available under all flavors of Linux and

can be useful to monitor and find the actual causes of performance problem. This list of commands shown here are very enough for you to pick the one that is suitable for yourmonitoring scenario.

Linux Command Line Monitoring

1. Top Linux Process Monitoring

Linux Top command is a performance monitoring program which is used frequently by many system administrators to monitor Linux performance and it is available under manyLinux/Unix like operating systems. The top command used to dipslay all the running and active real-time processes in ordered list and updates it regularly. It display CPU usage,Memory usage, Swap Memory, Cache Size, Buffer Size, Process PID, User, Commands and much more. It also shows high memory and cpu utilization of a runningprocessess. The top command is much userful for system administrator to monitor and take correct action when required. Lets see top command in action.

# top



Top Command Example

For more examples of Top command read : 12 TOP Command Examples in Linux

2. VmStat Virtual Memory Statistics

Linux VmStat command used to display statistics of virtual memory, kernerl threads, disks, system processes, I/O blocks, interrupts, CPU activity and much more. Bydefault vmstat command is not available under Linux systems you need to install a package called sysstat that includes a vmstat program. The common usage of command formatis.

# vmstat

procs -----------memory---------- ---swap-- -----io---- --system-- -----cpu----- r b swpd free inact active si so bi bo in cs us sy id wa st 1 0 0 810420 97380 70628 0 0 115 4 89 79 1 6 90 3 0

For more Vmstat examples read : 6 Vmstat Command Examples in Linux

3. Lsof List Open Files



Lsof command used in many Linux/Unix like system that is used to display list of all the open files and the processes. The open files included are disk files, network sockets,pipes, devices and processes. One of the main reason for using this command is when a disk cannot be unmounted and displays the error that files are being used or opened.With this commmand you can easily identify which files are in use. The most common format for this command is.

# lsof

COMMAND PID USER FD TYPE DEVICE SIZE NODE NAMEinit 1 root cwd DIR 104,2 4096 2 /init 1 root rtd DIR 104,2 4096 2 /init 1 root txt REG 104,2 38652 17710339 /sbin/initinit 1 root mem REG 104,2 129900 196453 /lib/ld-2.5.soinit 1 root mem REG 104,2 1693812 196454 /lib/libc-2.5.soinit 1 root mem REG 104,2 20668 196479 /lib/libdl-2.5.soinit 1 root mem REG 104,2 245376 196419 /lib/libsepol.so.1init 1 root mem REG 104,2 93508 196431 /lib/libselinux.so.1init 1 root 10u FIFO 0,17 953 /dev/initctl

More lsof command usage and examples : 10 lsof Command Examples in Linux

4. Tcpdump Network Packet Analyzer

Tcpdump one of the most widely used command-line network packet analyzer or packets sniffer program that is used capture or filter TCP/IP packets that received or

transferred on a specific interface over a network. It also provides a option to save captured packages in a file for later analysis. tcpdump is almost available in all major Linuxdistributions.

# tcpdump -i eth0

tcpdump: verbose output suppressed, use -v or -vv for full protocol decodelistening on eth0, link-type EN10MB (Ethernet), capture size 96 bytes22:08:59.617628 IP tecmint.com.ssh > 115.113.134.3.static-mumbai.vsnl.net.in.28472: P 2532133365:2532133481(116) ack 3561562349 win 964822:09:07.653466 IP tecmint.com.ssh > 115.113.134.3.static-mumbai.vsnl.net.in.28472: P 116:232(116) ack 1 win 964822:08:59.617916 IP 115.113.134.3.static-mumbai.vsnl.net.in.28472 > tecmint.com.ssh: . ack 116 win 64347

For more tcpdump usage read : 12 Tcpdump Command Examples in Linux

5. Netstat Network Statistics

Netstat is a command line tool for monitoring incoming and outgoing network packets statistics as well as interface statistics. It is very useful tool for every system administratorto monitor network performance and troubleshoot network related problems.

# netstat -a | more

Active Internet connections (servers and established)Proto Recv-Q Send-Q Local Address Foreign Address Statetcp 0 0 *:mysql *:* LISTENtcp 0 0 *:sunrpc *:* LISTENtcp 0 0 *:realm-rusd *:* LISTEN



tcp 0 0 *:ftp *:* LISTENtcp 0 0 localhost.localdomain:ipp *:* LISTENtcp 0 0 localhost.localdomain:smtp *:* LISTENtcp 0 0 localhost.localdomain:smtp localhost.localdomain:42709 TIME_WAITtcp 0 0 localhost.localdomain:smtp localhost.localdomain:42710 TIME_WAITtcp 0 0 *:http *:* LISTENtcp 0 0 *:ssh *:* LISTENtcp 0 0 *:https *:* LISTEN

More Netstat examples : 20 Netstat Command Examples in Linux.

6. Htop Linux Process Monitoring

Htop is a much advanced interactive and real time Linux process monitoring tool. This is much similar to Linux top command but it has some rich features like user friendly

interface to manage process, shortcut keys, vertical and horizontal view of the processes and much more. Htop is a third party tool and doesnt included in Linux systems,

you need to install it using YUM package manager tool. For more information on installation read our article below.

# htop

Htop Command Example Screenshot

For Htop installation read : Install Htop (Linux Process Monitoring) in Linux

7. Iotop Monitor Linux Disk I/O



Iotop is also much similar to top command and Htop program, but it has accounting function to monitor and display real time Disk I/O and processes. This tool is much useful

for finding the exact process and high used disk read/writes of the processes.

# iotop

Iotop Command Example Screenshot

For Ioptop installation and usage read : Install Iotop in Linux

8. Iostat Input/Output Statistics

IoStat is simple tool that will collect and show system input and output storage device statistics. This tool is often used to trace storage device performance issues includingdevices, local disks, remote disks such as NFS.

# iostat

Linux 2.6.18-238.9.1.el5 (tecmint.com) 09/13/2012

avg-cpu: %user %nice %system %iowait %steal %idle 2.60 3.65 1.04 4.29 0.00 88.42



Device: tps Blk_read/s Blk_wrtn/s Blk_read Blk_wrtncciss/c0d0 17.79 545.80 256.52 855159769 401914750cciss/c0d0p1 0.00 0.00 0.00 5459 3518cciss/c0d0p2 16.45 533.97 245.18 836631746 384153384cciss/c0d0p3 0.63 5.58 3.97 8737650 6215544cciss/c0d0p4 0.00 0.00 0.00 8 0cciss/c0d0p5 0.63 3.79 5.03 5936778 7882528cciss/c0d0p6 0.08 2.46 2.34 3847771 3659776

For more Iostat usage and examples visit : 6 Iostat Command Examples in Linux

9. IPTraf Real Time IP LAN Monitoring

IPTraf is an open source console-based real time network (IP LAN) monitoring utility for Linux. It collects a variety of information such as IP traffic monitor that passes over thenetwork, including TCP flag information, ICMP details, TCP/UDP traffic breakdowns, TCP connection packet and byne counts. It also gathers information of general and detaled

interface statistics of TCP, UDP, IP, ICMP, non-IP, IP checksum errors, interface activity etc.

IP Traffic Monitor

For more information and usage of IPTraf tool, please visit : IPTraf Network Monitoring Tool

10. Psacct or Acct Monitor User Activity



psacct or acct tools are very useful for monitoring each users activity on the system. Both daemons runs in the background and keeps a close watch on the overall activity of each

user on the system and also what resources are being consumed by them.

These tools are very useful for system administrators to track each users activity like what they are doing, what commands they issued, how much resources are used by them, howlong they are active on the system etc.

For installation and example usage of commands read the article on Monitor User Activity with psacct or acct

11. Monit Linux Process and Services Monitoring

Monit is a free open source and web based process supervision utility that automatically monitors and managers system processes, programs, files, directories, permissions,checksums and filesystems.

It monitors services like Apache, MySQL, Mail, FTP, ProFTP, Nginx, SSH and so on. The system status can be viewed from the command line or using it own web interface.

Monit Linux Process Monitoring

Read More : Linux Process Monitoring with Monit



12. NetHogs Monitor Per Process Network Bandwidth

NetHogs is an open source nice small program (similar to Linux top command) that keeps a tab on each process network activity on your system. It also keeps a track of real

time network traffic bandwidth used by each program or application.

NetHogs Linux Bandwidth Monitoring

Read More : Monitor Linux Network Bandwidth Using NetHogs

13. iftop Network Bandwidth Monitoring

iftop is another terminal-based free open source system monitoring utility that displays a frequently updated list of network bandwidth utilization (source and destination hosts) that

passing through the network interface on your system. iftop is considered for network usage, what top does for CPU usage. iftop is a top family tool that monitor a selected

interface and displays a current bandwidth usage between two hosts.



iftop Network Bandwidth Monitoring

Read More : iftop Monitor Network Bandwidth Utilization

14. Monitorix System and Network Monitoring

Monitorix is a free lightweight utility that is designed to run and monitor system and network resources as many as possible in Linux/Unix servers. It has a built in HTTP webserver that regularly collects system and network information and display them in graphs. It Monitors system load average and usage, memory allocation, disk driver health,

system services, network ports, mail statistics (Sendmail, Postfix, Dovecot, etc), MySQL statistics and many more. It designed to monitor overall system performance

and helps in detecting failures, bottlenecks, abnormal activities etc.



Bio Latest Posts

Monitorix Monitoring

Read More : Monitorix a System and Network Monitoring Tool for Linux

15. Arpwatch Ethernet Activity Monitor

Arpwatch is a kind of program that is designed to monitor Address Resolution (MAC and IP address changes) of Ethernet network traffic on a Linux network. It continuouslykeeps watch on Ethernet traffic and produces a log of IP and MAC address pair changes along with a timestamps on a network. It also has a feature to send an email alerts to

administrator, when a pairing added or changes. It is very useful in detecting ARP spoofing on a network.

Read More : Arpwatch to Monitor Ethernet Activity

We would like to know what kind of monitoring programs you use to monitor performance of your Linux servers? If weve missed any important tool that you would like us

to include in this list, please inform us via comments and please dont forget to share it.



Ravi SaiveOwner at TecMint.com

Simple Word a Computer Geek and Linux Guru who loves to share tricks and tips on Internet. Most Of My Servers runs on Open Source Platform called

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41 Responses

1. itoctopus says:

September 16, 2012 at 7:44 pm

While top is one of the most used Linux tools, it is also one of the most annoying. htop is a better alternative, but rare are those system administrators who are willing to

install it especially if their server has a lot of sensitive information.

Linux is really behind when it comes to performance monitoring, and I dont see any major advancements in this field 15 years ago.

Reply

Victor says:April 6, 2013 at 8:43 pm

Whats annoying about top..?

Reply

Techie Talks says:

Linux Tools LAN Network CPU Memory Unix Linux



April 7, 2013 at 9:43 am

Yeah, I wonder what annoys you.

Reply

~oliver says:

May 4, 2013 at 8:34 pm

I understand what he is saying. TOP is not where I would go first. vmstat is still my favorite for initial diagnosis. You can use TOP to drill further down

into the issue.

Reply

2. Free Linux says:November 19, 2012 at 4:57 am

Good read, I have Mint 13 installed and some of these tools are not installed by default. top is, of course, and is one of my favorites for a good summary of current usage

information.

Reply

3. Gilank says:March 4, 2013 at 3:11 pm

+1 Also used dstat command to see live process of send / receive over the ethernet

Reply

4. Jericho says:

March 20, 2013 at 5:44 pm

Great stuff. I love jnettop. Its siimilar to IPTraf but superior to it, IMO.

All the tools are great but nothing compares to getting a baseline on your servers before they freak out so you know what normal is for that specific box.

Reply

5. Nicolargo says:

April 4, 2013 at 11:46 pm



Also have a look on Glances, a new system monitoring tool with CPU, MEM, LOAD, Network, IO disk, Filesystem and processes stats.

Will be included in the next Debian release.

Reply

6. Rahul Ghose says:

April 6, 2013 at 2:18 pm

Very informative indeed! I was familiar with most items here. Netstat is undoubtedly one of the most used for network monitoring. Well monit came as a surprise really.

Reply

7. Naveen says:

April 6, 2013 at 4:18 pm

Thanks!

Reply

8. DocJ says:April 6, 2013 at 6:13 pm

No mention of sar? In my opinion, sar is one of the most versatile tools for system performance monitoring. Not only can you see stats in realtime, but historical data is saved

as well. This can provide valuable insight into what is normal (a baseline, if you will) for system performance as it relates to I/O, memory use, and CPU use, amongst other

things. While the rest of these are good tools, Im surprised there is absolutely no mention of sar.

Reply

Ravi Saive says:April 6, 2013 at 10:12 pm

The article is on its way, will include soon to this list..Thanks..

Reply

9. Mariano says:

April 6, 2013 at 9:38 pm

Thank you!



Reply

10. Jon says:

April 7, 2013 at 1:55 am

I like rainbarf too.

Reply

11. dclsv says:

April 7, 2013 at 3:19 am

While all of these tools are nice, I find the approach of logging into each machine you manage to get this info to be laborious.

If you can run the command locally, you should be able to create a plugin for Nagios (or whatever youre using ) to present the data as part of the larger picture.

Reply

12. Xenon says:April 7, 2013 at 4:48 pm

WTF ! You have used PuTTY to introduce audience to Linux terminal !? Why did you do this to us ? And Its not at all a full list. I recommend using free instead vmstat

because its more simple. Just check this out:

xenon@xenon-dev:~$ free -h

total used free shared buffers cached

Mem: 7,5G 4,3G 3,2G 0B 346M 2,5G

-/+ buffers/cache: 1,5G 6,0G

Swap: 1,9G 0B 1,9G

Reply

13. id_rsa says:April 7, 2013 at 6:02 pm

Let me add to top family iftop tool. It monitors specified network interface in a real time. And there is ss tool, that is doing almost the same job as netstat does, but it is

simpler. Finally, there is tool named watch, which executes a program periodically, showing output fullscreen. This tool doesnt do monitoring itself, but can run other tools,

e.g. watch df -h for diskspace monitoring.

Reply



14. Joe says:April 7, 2013 at 10:23 pm

iftop is missing!!!

Reply

Ravi Saive says:

April 8, 2013 at 5:10 pm

Included iftop tool as suggested..Thanks..

Reply

15. Pawan says:

April 17, 2013 at 1:43 pm

Very informative post. I never new there were so many commands for same work.

Reply

16. Edueloco says:

April 26, 2013 at 12:10 am

I found nmon quite useful.

Reply

17. Alen says:

May 4, 2013 at 5:05 pm

Quite useful collection.

Reply

18. angelblade says:

May 5, 2013 at 9:13 am



i will add nmon

Reply

19. Joe says:

May 7, 2013 at 8:50 pm

Can ss get some love?

Reply

20. Phil Kingston says:

May 7, 2013 at 9:31 pm

Great list. If you are an Apache httpd user, I would also recommend apache-top:

http://www.fr3nd.net/projects/apache-top/

Reply

Ravi Saive says:

May 7, 2013 at 9:33 pm

Thanks Phil.

Reply

21. RoseHosting says:

May 8, 2013 at 8:51 am

hi,

thanks for sharing such a great post. I wanted to add atop to the list as it is very nice tool. really you should check it if you havent already.

http://linux.die.net/man/1/atop

Reply

22. Manikandan says:

June 6, 2013 at 3:59 pm



Hi Friend,

blog was very use. one more doubt can you help me

Thanks & Regards

Manikandan.K

Reply

Ravi Saive says:

June 6, 2013 at 4:08 pm

Yes! we are here to help you all. Post your query here.

Reply

23. joe satch says:June 6, 2013 at 7:27 pm

hi thx for sharing.

80 % of those tools i have use also . great info

rs

Reply

24. Ganesh says:

June 6, 2013 at 10:24 pm

uptime and prstat commands are missing here.

Reply

Ravi Saive says:

June 7, 2013 at 1:47 pm

Will add it these two missing commands to the list.

Reply



25. NgocPT says:

June 24, 2013 at 5:31 pm

I think dstat is one of best command for monitoring linux system?? I always use iostat and dstat, may be dstat is missing here

Reply

Ravi Saive says:

June 24, 2013 at 7:10 pm

Thanks, will soon be included dstat in the list.

Reply

26. Yizhar says:

June 26, 2013 at 3:36 pm

One of the best post in this subject weel done Ravi

I used for quit long some of this: htop, iptraf, nmon (should added as some of the guys

said) and other genral cmd like: netstat, vmstat, sar, dig, traceroute (should added, default in Red Hat & SuSE).

Today I added to my arsenal he above: iotop, dstat, nethogs, iftop, monit.

Suggesting some other free stuff (some are built-in in distrebutions like: Ubuntu/mint, Fedora, SuSE and other but not in Red Hat 5 and below for example):

mtr Monitor network TRaffice.

iperf Ip Performance a beat old school

vnstat Another network monitor monitor + logging.

lshw LiSt HardWare.

figlet banner.

tree a hierarchy look on file system.

Reply



27. Marek says:

July 9, 2013 at 11:18 am

Idont see between them sar statistics or Ksar tool.

Reply

28. Realbanda says:

July 12, 2013 at 12:32 am

This is an amazing review Thanks for sharing

Keep posting new things..

Reply

29. Lion says:

July 12, 2013 at 12:47 pm

Is there any tools to monitor the loading of GPU?

Reply

30. rigel says:July 19, 2013 at 1:08 pm

Include NMON, this is very useful

Reply

Ravi Saive says:

July 19, 2013 at 2:17 pm

Yes! surely will write up on NMON tool. Thanks..

Reply

31. Karl Crampton says:

July 25, 2013 at 8:31 pm



I think a very useful command is w this shows who is logged on and what they are doing. you can also use watch w to view this information in real time.

Reply

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15 Command Line Tools to Monitor Linux Performance.pdf