Show Top Memory Processes

You need a sorted process list by memory use.

Command

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

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 kill a process before identifying owner, service, and workload role.

The highest memory processes with PID, command, memory percent, and CPU percent.

Read-only, can be slow. Nothing changes. The command reads current state and prints diagnostic evidence.

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

Recovery / rollback: no state is changed.

Use during high-memory or OOM triage.

Do not kill a process before identifying owner, service, and workload role.

Example run

These are the commands shown for inspection. Treat them as an example, not proof that your system will behave identically.

next steps

Linux Survival Basics Can be slow

The server felt slow. Memory pressure was the first thing to rule out.

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

Hosting Operations Can be slow

A server feels slow, but you need proof before restarting anything.

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

Hosting Operations Can be slow

Memory pressure can look like a slow app, a stuck deploy, or random crashes.

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

Linux Survival Basics Can be slow

The disk was full, but guessing at folders was the slow part.

find /var -type f -printf '%s %p\n' | sort -nr | head -20

Linux Survival Basics Read-only

You can inspect an archive without extracting it.

tar -tf archives/site-backup.tar | sort | head

next diagnostic step

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.