How to check memory usage per process in Linux

You may have noticed that sometimes your system consumes too much of memory, which makes your application’s slow or unresponsive.

In such a scenario, what do you think would be the best approach to identify the processes that are consuming more memory in a Linux machine?

This can be easily identified using the top command and the ps command and we will explain how to use these two commands to identify which processes are eating all the resources on your system.

I have used both the commands simultaneously and both gave me the same result in my scenario.

I hope some of you have already tried to find this information using one of the below commands. If not, what other commands did you try?

I would request you to share with us any other commands that you have tried in the comment section below to help other users.

Check out the following article(hyperlink) if you want to find a list of processes that consume most of your CPU resources:

In this guide, we’ll show you how to check which process is taking more memory in Linux.

1) Find out top memory consuming process in Linux using ‘ps’ command

The ‘ps’ command is used to report a snapshot of the current processes. The ‘ps’ command stands for process status.

This is a standard Linux application that looks for information about running processes on a Linux system.

It is used to list the currently running processes and their process ID’s (PID), process owner name, process priority (PR), and the absolute path of the running command, etc.

The below ‘ps’ command check memory usage per process in Linux:

# ps aux --sort -rss | head

USER       PID %CPU %MEM    VSZ   RSS TTY      STAT START   TIME COMMAND
mysql     1064  3.2  5.4 886076 209988 ?       Ssl  Oct25  62:40 /usr/sbin/mysqld
varnish  23396  0.0  2.9 286492 115616 ?       SLl  Oct25   0:42 /usr/sbin/varnishd -P /var/run/varnish.pid -f /etc/varnish/default.vcl -a :82 -T 127.0.0.1:6082 -S /etc/varnish/secret -s malloc,256M
named     1105  0.0  2.7 311712 108204 ?       Ssl  Oct25   0:16 /usr/sbin/named -u named -c /etc/named.conf
nobody   23377  0.2  2.3 153096 89432 ?        S    Oct25   4:35 nginx: worker process
nobody   23376  0.1  2.1 147096 83316 ?        S    Oct25   2:18 nginx: worker process
root     23375  0.0  1.7 131028 66764 ?        Ss   Oct25   0:01 nginx: master process /usr/sbin/nginx -c /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
nobody   23378  0.0  1.6 130988 64592 ?        S    Oct25   0:00 nginx: cache manager process
root      1135  0.0  0.9  86708 37572 ?        S    05:37   0:20 cwpsrv: worker process
root      1133  0.0  0.9  86708 37544 ?        S    05:37   0:05 cwpsrv: worker process

Use the below ‘ps’ command format to include a specific information about such processes in the output:

# ps -eo pid,ppid,%mem,%cpu,cmd --sort=-%mem | head

  PID  PPID %MEM %CPU CMD
 1064     1  5.4  3.2 /usr/sbin/mysqld
23396 23386  2.9  0.0 /usr/sbin/varnishd -P /var/run/varnish.pid -f /etc/varnish/default.vcl -a :82 -T 127.0.0.1:6082 -S /etc/varnish/secret -s malloc,256M
 1105     1  2.7  0.0 /usr/sbin/named -u named -c /etc/named.conf
23377 23375  2.3  0.2 nginx: worker process
23376 23375  2.1  0.1 nginx: worker process
 3625   977  1.9  0.0 /usr/local/bin/php-cgi /home/daygeekc/public_html/index.php
23375     1  1.7  0.0 nginx: master process /usr/sbin/nginx -c /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
23378 23375  1.6  0.0 nginx: cache manager process
 1135  3034  0.9  0.0 cwpsrv: worker process

If you want to see only the command name instead of the absolute path of the command, use the following ‘ps’ command format:

# ps -eo pid,ppid,%mem,%cpu,comm --sort=-%mem | head

  PID  PPID %MEM %CPU COMMAND
 1064     1  5.4  3.2 mysqld
23396 23386  2.9  0.0 cache-main
 1105     1  2.7  0.0 named
23377 23375  2.3  0.2 nginx
23376 23375  2.1  0.1 nginx
23375     1  1.7  0.0 nginx
23378 23375  1.6  0.0 nginx
 1135  3034  0.9  0.0 cwpsrv
 1133  3034  0.9  0.0 cwpsrv

2) How to check memory usage per process in Linux using ‘top’ command

The Linux ‘top’ command is the best and widely used command that everyone uses to monitor Linux system performance.

It displays a real-time view of the system processes running on the interactive interface.

You should run the top command in batch mode to find out top memory consuming processes in Linux.

In addition, you need to understand the top command output correctly to fix the performance issue on the system.

# top -c -b -o +%MEM | head -n 20 | tail -15

  PID USER      PR  NI    VIRT    RES    SHR S  %CPU %MEM     TIME+ COMMAND
 1064 mysql     20   0  886076 209740   8388 S   0.0  5.4  62:41.20 /usr/sbin/mysqld
23396 varnish   20   0  286492 115616  83572 S   0.0  3.0   0:42.24 /usr/sbin/varnishd -P /var/run/varnish.pid -f /etc/varnish/default.vcl -a :82 -T 127.0.0.1:6082 -S /etc/varnish/secret -s malloc,256M
 1105 named     20   0  311712 108204   2424 S   0.0  2.8   0:16.41 /usr/sbin/named -u named -c /etc/named.conf
23377 nobody    20   0  153240  89432   2432 S   0.0  2.3   4:35.74 nginx: worker process
23376 nobody    20   0  147096  83316   2416 S   0.0  2.1   2:18.09 nginx: worker process
23375 root      20   0  131028  66764   1616 S   0.0  1.7   0:01.07 nginx: master process /usr/sbin/nginx -c /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
23378 nobody    20   0  130988  64592    592 S   0.0  1.7   0:00.51 nginx: cache manager process
 1135 root      20   0   86708  37572   2252 S   0.0  1.0   0:20.18 cwpsrv: worker process
 1133 root      20   0   86708  37544   2212 S   0.0  1.0   0:05.94 cwpsrv: worker process
 3034 root      20   0   86704  36740   1452 S   0.0  0.9   0:00.09 cwpsrv: master process /usr/local/cwpsrv/bin/cwpsrv
 1067 nobody    20   0 1356200  31588   2352 S   0.0  0.8   0:56.06 /usr/local/apache/bin/httpd -k start
  977 nobody    20   0 1356088  31268   2372 S   0.0  0.8   0:30.44 /usr/local/apache/bin/httpd -k start
  968 nobody    20   0 1356216  30544   2348 S   0.0  0.8   0:19.95 /usr/local/apache/bin/httpd -k start

If you only want to see the command name instead of the absolute path of the command, use the below top command format:

# top -b -o +%MEM | head -n 20 | tail -15

  PID USER      PR  NI    VIRT    RES    SHR S  %CPU %MEM     TIME+ COMMAND
 1064 mysql     20   0  886076 210340   8388 S   6.7  5.4  62:40.93 mysqld
23396 varnish   20   0  286492 115616  83572 S   0.0  3.0   0:42.24 cache-main
 1105 named     20   0  311712 108204   2424 S   0.0  2.8   0:16.41 named
23377 nobody    20   0  153240  89432   2432 S  13.3  2.3   4:35.74 nginx
23376 nobody    20   0  147096  83316   2416 S   0.0  2.1   2:18.09 nginx
23375 root      20   0  131028  66764   1616 S   0.0  1.7   0:01.07 nginx
23378 nobody    20   0  130988  64592    592 S   0.0  1.7   0:00.51 nginx
 1135 root      20   0   86708  37572   2252 S   0.0  1.0   0:20.18 cwpsrv
 1133 root      20   0   86708  37544   2212 S   0.0  1.0   0:05.94 cwpsrv
 3034 root      20   0   86704  36740   1452 S   0.0  0.9   0:00.09 cwpsrv
 1067 nobody    20   0 1356200  31588   2352 S   0.0  0.8   0:56.04 httpd
  977 nobody    20   0 1356088  31268   2372 S   0.0  0.8   0:30.44 httpd
  968 nobody    20   0 1356216  30544   2348 S   0.0  0.8   0:19.95 httpd

3) Bonus Tips: Checking memory usage in Linux by process using ‘ps_mem’ command

The ps_mem utility is used to display the core memory used per program (not per process).

This utility allows you to check how much memory is used per program.

It calculates the amount of private and shared memory against a program and returns the total used memory in the most appropriate way.

It uses the following logic to calculate RAM usage. Total RAM = sum (private RAM for program processes) + sum (shared RAM for program processes).

The below ‘ps_mem’ command showing memory usage in Linux by process.

# ps_mem

 Private  +   Shared  =  RAM used    Program 
128.0 KiB +  27.5 KiB = 155.5 KiB    agetty
228.0 KiB +  47.0 KiB = 275.0 KiB    atd
284.0 KiB +  53.0 KiB = 337.0 KiB    irqbalance
380.0 KiB +  81.5 KiB = 461.5 KiB    dovecot
364.0 KiB + 121.5 KiB = 485.5 KiB    log
520.0 KiB +  65.5 KiB = 585.5 KiB    auditd
556.0 KiB +  60.5 KiB = 616.5 KiB    systemd-udevd
732.0 KiB +  48.0 KiB = 780.0 KiB    crond
296.0 KiB + 524.0 KiB = 820.0 KiB    avahi-daemon (2)
772.0 KiB +  51.5 KiB = 823.5 KiB    systemd-logind
940.0 KiB + 162.5 KiB =   1.1 MiB    dbus-daemon
  1.1 MiB +  99.0 KiB =   1.2 MiB    pure-ftpd
  1.2 MiB + 100.5 KiB =   1.3 MiB    master
  1.3 MiB + 198.5 KiB =   1.5 MiB    pickup
  1.3 MiB + 198.5 KiB =   1.5 MiB    bounce
  1.3 MiB + 198.5 KiB =   1.5 MiB    pipe
  1.3 MiB + 207.5 KiB =   1.5 MiB    qmgr
  1.4 MiB + 198.5 KiB =   1.6 MiB    cleanup
  1.3 MiB + 299.5 KiB =   1.6 MiB    trivial-rewrite
  1.5 MiB + 145.0 KiB =   1.6 MiB    config
  1.4 MiB + 291.5 KiB =   1.6 MiB    tlsmgr
  1.4 MiB + 308.5 KiB =   1.7 MiB    local
  1.4 MiB + 323.0 KiB =   1.8 MiB    anvil (2)
  1.3 MiB + 559.0 KiB =   1.9 MiB    systemd-journald
  1.8 MiB + 240.5 KiB =   2.1 MiB    proxymap
  1.9 MiB + 322.5 KiB =   2.2 MiB    auth
  2.4 MiB +  88.5 KiB =   2.5 MiB    systemd
  2.8 MiB + 458.5 KiB =   3.2 MiB    smtpd
  2.9 MiB + 892.0 KiB =   3.8 MiB    bash (2)
  3.3 MiB + 555.5 KiB =   3.8 MiB    NetworkManager
  4.1 MiB + 233.5 KiB =   4.3 MiB    varnishd
  4.0 MiB + 662.0 KiB =   4.7 MiB    dhclient (2)
  4.3 MiB + 623.5 KiB =   4.9 MiB    rsyslogd
  3.6 MiB +   1.8 MiB =   5.5 MiB    sshd (3)
  5.6 MiB + 431.0 KiB =   6.0 MiB    polkitd
 13.0 MiB + 546.5 KiB =  13.6 MiB    tuned
 22.5 MiB +  76.0 KiB =  22.6 MiB    lfd - sleeping
 30.0 MiB +   6.2 MiB =  36.2 MiB    php-fpm (6)
  5.7 MiB +  33.5 MiB =  39.2 MiB    cwpsrv (3)
 20.1 MiB +  25.3 MiB =  45.4 MiB    httpd (5)
104.7 MiB + 156.0 KiB = 104.9 MiB    named
112.2 MiB + 479.5 KiB = 112.7 MiB    cache-main
 69.4 MiB +  58.6 MiB = 128.0 MiB    nginx (4)
203.4 MiB + 309.5 KiB = 203.7 MiB    mysqld
---------------------------------
                        775.8 MiB
=================================

Over to You

In this tutorial, we have shown you how to use ‘top’ & ‘ps’ commands to identify the most memory consuming processes in Linux.

If you found this article helpful, please do share with your friends and spread the knowledge. Please feel free to comment below if you have any queries/concerns. We will get back to you as soon as we can. Happy learning!

About Magesh Maruthamuthu

Love to play with all Linux distribution

View all posts by Magesh Maruthamuthu

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