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#1 2008-12-30 16:40:46
- tony5429
- Member
- Registered: 2006-03-28
- Posts: 1,020
RAM is Maxing out but ps aux Can't Find the Memory Leak!
What is going on here? "free -m" says I only have 47 MB of free RAM and yet the top memory user according to "ps aux" is mysql, with only 1.2% memory usage! Can anyone help me? I have no ideas at this point....
[root@norpass ~]# free -m
total used free shared buffers cached
Mem: 2009 1962 47 0 0 1849
-/+ buffers/cache: 112 1896
Swap: 4102 0 4102
[root@norpass ~]# ps aux
USER PID %CPU %MEM VSZ RSS TTY STAT START TIME COMMAND
root 1 0.0 0.0 3800 628 ? Ss Dec25 0:03 init [3]
root 2 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:00 [kthreadd]
root 3 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:00 [migration/0]
root 4 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:00 [ksoftirqd/0]
root 5 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:00 [watchdog/0]
root 6 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:00 [migration/1]
root 7 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:00 [ksoftirqd/1]
root 8 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:00 [watchdog/1]
root 9 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:02 [events/0]
root 10 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:01 [events/1]
root 11 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:00 [khelper]
root 12 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:02 [kblockd/0]
root 13 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:00 [kblockd/1]
root 14 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:00 [kacpid]
root 15 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:00 [kacpi_notify]
root 16 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:00 [kseriod]
root 17 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S Dec25 0:00 [pdflush]
root 18 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S Dec25 0:04 [pdflush]
root 19 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:01 [kswapd0]
root 20 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:00 [aio/0]
root 21 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:00 [aio/1]
root 35 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:00 [ata/0]
root 36 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:00 [ata/1]
root 37 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:00 [ata_aux]
root 46 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:00 [scsi_eh_0]
root 47 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:00 [scsi_eh_1]
root 48 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:00 [scsi_eh_2]
root 49 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:00 [scsi_eh_3]
root 387 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:00 [ksuspend_usbd]
root 388 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:00 [khubd]
root 575 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:00 [xfs_mru_cache]
root 577 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:00 [xfslogd/0]
root 578 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:00 [xfslogd/1]
root 579 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:00 [xfsdatad/0]
root 580 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:00 [xfsdatad/1]
root 595 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:01 [xfsbufd]
root 596 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:00 [xfsaild]
root 597 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:00 [xfssyncd]
root 636 0.0 0.0 6236 900 ? S<s Dec25 0:00 /sbin/udevd --daemon
root 1539 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:00 [kpsmoused]
root 1588 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:01 [xfsbufd]
root 1589 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:01 [xfsaild]
root 1590 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Dec25 0:00 [xfssyncd]
root 2255 0.0 0.0 12880 1140 ? Ss Dec25 0:00 /usr/sbin/syslog-ng
root 2322 0.0 0.0 8084 528 ? Ss Dec25 0:00 /sbin/dhcpcd -t 30 -h norpass.com eth0
root 2338 0.0 0.0 5880 624 ? S Dec25 0:00 /usr/sbin/crond
root 2349 0.0 0.4 215148 8636 ? Ss Dec25 0:06 /usr/sbin/httpd -k start
root 2359 0.0 0.0 49736 1220 ? Ss Dec25 0:00 /usr/sbin/sshd
root 2369 0.0 0.0 15380 1520 ? S Dec25 0:00 /bin/sh /usr/bin/mysqld_safe --datadir=/var/lib/mysql
mysql 2399 0.0 1.2 162760 25816 ? Sl Dec25 4:15 /usr/sbin/mysqld --basedir=/usr --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --user=mysql --pid-file=/var/lib/my
root 2471 0.0 0.1 45320 2256 ? Ss Dec25 0:00 /usr/lib/postfix/master
root 2476 0.0 0.0 3796 584 tty1 Ss+ Dec25 0:00 /sbin/agetty -8 38400 vc/1 linux
root 2477 0.0 0.0 3796 584 tty2 Ss+ Dec25 0:00 /sbin/agetty -8 38400 vc/2 linux
root 2479 0.0 0.0 3796 584 tty3 Ss+ Dec25 0:00 /sbin/agetty -8 38400 vc/3 linux
root 2480 0.0 0.0 3796 580 tty4 Ss+ Dec25 0:00 /sbin/agetty -8 38400 vc/4 linux
root 2482 0.0 0.0 3796 580 tty5 Ss+ Dec25 0:00 /sbin/agetty -8 38400 vc/5 linux
root 2483 0.0 0.0 3796 584 tty6 Ss+ Dec25 0:00 /sbin/agetty -8 38400 vc/6 linux
postfix 2485 0.0 0.1 45456 2376 ? S Dec25 0:00 qmgr -l -t fifo -u
root 2590 28.7 0.0 6552 988 ? R Dec25 2016:23 ./ramsat_sim
root 2592 29.3 0.0 6516 976 ? R Dec25 2054:43 ./ramsat_sim
root 2594 28.3 0.0 6896 1256 ? R Dec25 1986:08 ./ramsat_sim
root 2596 28.4 0.0 7176 1620 ? R Dec25 1989:00 ./ramsat_sim
root 2600 28.3 0.4 16964 10236 ? R Dec25 1984:32 ./ramsat_sim
http 11398 0.0 0.2 203364 4196 ? S Dec28 0:00 /usr/sbin/httpd -k start
http 14110 0.0 0.3 215680 6600 ? S Dec29 0:00 /usr/sbin/httpd -k start
http 14115 0.0 0.3 215736 7332 ? S Dec29 0:00 /usr/sbin/httpd -k start
http 14117 0.0 0.3 215680 7296 ? S Dec29 0:00 /usr/sbin/httpd -k start
http 15221 0.0 0.3 215420 7100 ? S 09:16 0:00 /usr/sbin/httpd -k start
http 15222 0.0 0.2 215284 6100 ? S 09:16 0:00 /usr/sbin/httpd -k start
http 15223 0.0 0.3 215284 6296 ? S 09:16 0:00 /usr/sbin/httpd -k start
http 15224 0.0 0.3 215284 6380 ? S 09:16 0:00 /usr/sbin/httpd -k start
http 15226 0.0 0.3 215680 6516 ? S 09:16 0:00 /usr/sbin/httpd -k start
http 15227 0.0 0.3 215420 7060 ? S 09:16 0:00 /usr/sbin/httpd -k start
postfix 15569 0.0 0.1 45396 2208 ? S 15:29 0:00 pickup -l -t fifo -u
http 15703 0.0 0.2 215284 5292 ? S 16:25 0:00 /usr/sbin/httpd -k start
root 15736 0.0 0.1 64876 3144 ? Ss 16:33 0:00 sshd: root@pts/1
root 15738 0.0 0.1 17048 2152 pts/1 Ss 16:33 0:00 -bash
root 15755 0.0 0.0 9816 1152 pts/1 R+ 16:39 0:00 ps aux
[root@norpass ~]#Offline
#2 2008-12-30 16:47:54
- skottish
- Forum Fellow
- From: Here
- Registered: 2006-06-16
- Posts: 7,942
Re: RAM is Maxing out but ps aux Can't Find the Memory Leak!
You have 112MBs of RAM reserved:
-/+ buffers/cache: 112All the rest of it is cached or buffered. From here everything looks fine.
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#3 2008-12-30 16:53:55
- kjon
- Member
- From: Temuco, Chile
- Registered: 2008-04-16
- Posts: 398
Re: RAM is Maxing out but ps aux Can't Find the Memory Leak!
do you come from windows? don't you?
As phrakture said on a previous post: -"If your ram isn't used, you're wasting your money"-
(I can't recall exactly what was the phrase he used, but the idea remains being the same).
Don't worry about the cache, it will fill up as you're doing 'nothing'. The memory will be freeded as long as you use a memory intensive application.
I'll give you a hint: ps is a very good tool, however, it kinda unfriendly with the mere mortals. Pick htop, for instance, and you will see your processes and related stuff in a more human format 
(but what you choose is up to you)
Last edited by kjon (2008-12-30 16:54:13)
They say that if you play a Win cd backward you hear satanic messages. That's nothing! 'cause if you play it forwards, it installs windows.
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#4 2008-12-30 16:59:11
- andre.ramaciotti
- Member
- From: Brazil
- Registered: 2007-04-06
- Posts: 649
Re: RAM is Maxing out but ps aux Can't Find the Memory Leak!
[root@norpass ~]# free -m
total used free shared buffers cached
Mem: 2009 1962 47 0 0 1849
-/+ buffers/cache: 112 1896
Swap: 4102 0 4102Reading the second line, you'll see how much of RAM you're using without considerating the cache. So your apps are using 112MB and you have 1896MB free. Don't worry about the cache being that large, it increases performance when reading a file from disc (beause it's actually on the RAM) and the kernel will erase it if needed.
(lambda ())
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#5 2008-12-30 17:02:43
- Procyon
- Member
- Registered: 2008-05-07
- Posts: 1,819
Re: RAM is Maxing out but ps aux Can't Find the Memory Leak!
That is one huge swap.
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#6 2008-12-30 17:16:22
- tony5429
- Member
- Registered: 2006-03-28
- Posts: 1,020
Re: RAM is Maxing out but ps aux Can't Find the Memory Leak!
Thanks everyone! That makes a lot more sense. Yes, kjon, I do come from windows. But please don't reference my troubled past. Actually, I typically use "ps aux | sort -n +3 | tail -1" rather than simply "ps aux" - I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something by looking at only the top memory-user. Glad to know there's no massive memory leak in my system 
Procyon, what's wrong with a huge swap? Wouldn't you do it too if you were given a system with 200GB hdd more than necessary and told to make a webserver?
[root@norpass ~]# df -H
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda3 7.9G 1.1G 6.8G 14% /
none 1.1G 0 1.1G 0% /dev/shm
/dev/sda1 40M 9.9M 28M 27% /boot
/dev/sda4 238G 4.5G 234G 2% /homeOffline
#7 2008-12-30 18:19:45
- Ramses de Norre
- Member
- From: Leuven - Belgium
- Registered: 2007-03-27
- Posts: 1,289
Re: RAM is Maxing out but ps aux Can't Find the Memory Leak!
Procyon, what's wrong with a huge swap? Wouldn't you do it too if you were given a system with 200GB hdd more than necessary and told to make a webserver?
With 2GB of RAM? Not really.. You wont gain anything with 4GB of swap and you certainly don't want your webserver to be swapping a lot. If you're tight on memory, I'd suggest buying more memory instead of a large swap partition. (But your situation doesn't look too tight, so I'd suggest kicking the swap 
)
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#8 2008-12-30 18:29:32
- tony5429
- Member
- Registered: 2006-03-28
- Posts: 1,020
Re: RAM is Maxing out but ps aux Can't Find the Memory Leak!
Hm...it won't access the swap unless it runs out of memory - correct?
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#9 2008-12-30 18:32:00
- Ramses de Norre
- Member
- From: Leuven - Belgium
- Registered: 2007-03-27
- Posts: 1,289
Re: RAM is Maxing out but ps aux Can't Find the Memory Leak!
Correct.
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#10 2008-12-30 18:59:47
- wonder
- Developer
- From: Bucharest, Romania
- Registered: 2006-07-05
- Posts: 5,941
- Website
Re: RAM is Maxing out but ps aux Can't Find the Memory Leak!
if you use hibernate you need swap
Give what you have. To someone, it may be better than you dare to think.
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#11 2008-12-30 19:53:51
- kludge
- Member
- Registered: 2008-08-03
- Posts: 294
Re: RAM is Maxing out but ps aux Can't Find the Memory Leak!
sure, but (a) not on a webserver and (b) not 2x2GB!!!
[23:00:16] dr_kludge | i want to invent an olfactory human-computer interface, integrate it into the web standards, then produce my own forked browser.
[23:00:32] dr_kludge | can you guess what i'd call it?
[23:01:16] dr_kludge | nosilla.
[23:01:32] dr_kludge | i really should be going to bed. i'm giggling madly about that.
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