Find the Processes Eating Memory

The server is slow, swap may be active, or processes are getting killed, and you need to see which processes have the largest resident memory footprint.

Command

ps -eo pid,ppid,stat,pcpu,pmem,rss,comm,args --sort=-pmem | head -n 10

Before you run this

System impact: Read-only. Can create load on large logs, directories, filesystems, or process tables.

When not to use it: Do not use it as the whole memory diagnosis. Pair it with `free -h`, swap activity, and recent service logs before restarting anything.

Expected output

A process list sorted by memory percentage, with RSS shown so resident memory stands out from vague percent-only readings.

System impact

Read-only, can be slow. Nothing changes. The command reads process metadata and sorts by memory percentage; it may reveal process arguments, so avoid sharing raw output carelessly.

Scope this to the smallest useful path or service on busy systems.

Recovery / rollback: no state is changed.

When to use it

Use after checking overall memory pressure, or when one service is suspected of leaking memory.

When not to use it

Do not use it as the whole memory diagnosis. Pair it with `free -h`, swap activity, and recent service logs before restarting anything.

next steps

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Study mapping

Use this as independent command practice: read the notes, predict the output, then compare it with the example before using a real shell.

Independent study support only. No affiliation, endorsement, exam dumps, or real exam questions.