1 .\" NOTE: changes to the manual page for "top" should be made in the 2 .\" file "top.X" and NOT in the file "top.1". 3 .\" $FreeBSD$ 4 .nr N %topn% 5 .nr D %delay% 6 .TH TOP 1 Local 7 .UC 4 8 .SH NAME 9 top \- display and update information about the top cpu processes 10 .SH SYNOPSIS 11 .B top 12 [ 13 .B \-abCHIijnPqStuvz 14 ] [ 15 .BI \-d count 16 ] [ 17 .BI \-m io | cpu 18 ] [ 19 .BI \-o field 20 ] [ 21 .BI \-s time 22 ] [ 23 .BI \-J jail 24 ] [ 25 .BI \-U username 26 ] [ 27 .I number 28 ] 29 .SH DESCRIPTION 30 .\" This defines appropriate quote strings for nroff and troff 31 .ds lq \&" 32 .ds rq \&" 33 .if t .ds lq `` 34 .if t .ds rq '' 35 .\" Just in case these number registers aren't set yet... 36 .if \nN==0 .nr N 10 37 .if \nD==0 .nr D 2 38 .I Top 39 displays the top 40 .if !\nN==-1 \nN 41 processes on the system and periodically updates this information. 42 .if \nN==-1 \ 43 \{\ 44 If standard output is an intelligent terminal (see below) then 45 as many processes as will fit on the terminal screen are displayed 46 by default. Otherwise, a good number of them are shown (around 20). 47 .\} 48 Raw cpu percentage is used to rank the processes. If 49 .I number 50 is given, then the top 51 .I number 52 processes will be displayed instead of the default. 53 .PP 54 .I Top 55 makes a distinction between terminals that support advanced capabilities 56 and those that do not. This 57 distinction affects the choice of defaults for certain options. In the 58 remainder of this document, an \*(lqintelligent\*(rq terminal is one that 59 supports cursor addressing, clear screen, and clear to end of line. 60 Conversely, a \*(lqdumb\*(rq terminal is one that does not support such 61 features. If the output of 62 .I top 63 is redirected to a file, it acts as if it were being run on a dumb 64 terminal. 65 .SH OPTIONS 66 .TP 67 .B \-C 68 Toggle CPU display mode. 69 By default top displays the weighted CPU percentage in the WCPU column 70 (this is the same value that 71 .IR ps (1) 72 displays as CPU). 73 Each time 74 .B \-C 75 flag is passed it toggles between \*(lqraw cpu\*(rq mode 76 and \*(lqweighted cpu\*(rq mode, showing the \*(lqCPU\*(rq or 77 the \*(lqWCPU\*(rq column respectively. 78 .TP 79 .B \-S 80 Show system processes in the display. Normally, system processes such as 81 the pager and the swapper are not shown. This option makes them visible. 82 .TP 83 .B \-a 84 Display command names derived from the argv[] vector, rather than real 85 executable name. It's useful when you want to watch applications, that 86 puts their status information there. If the real name differs from argv[0], 87 it will be displayed in parenthesis. 88 .TP 89 .B \-b 90 Use \*(lqbatch\*(rq mode. In this mode, all input from the terminal is 91 ignored. Interrupt characters (such as ^C and ^\e) still have an effect. 92 This is the default on a dumb terminal, or when the output is not a terminal. 93 .TP 94 .B \-H 95 Display each thread for a multithreaded process individually. 96 By default a single summary line is displayed for each process. 97 .TP 98 .B \-i 99 Use \*(lqinteractive\*(rq mode. In this mode, any input is immediately 100 read for processing. See the section on \*(lqInteractive Mode\*(rq 101 for an explanation of 102 which keys perform what functions. After the command is processed, the 103 screen will immediately be updated, even if the command was not 104 understood. This mode is the default when standard output is an 105 intelligent terminal. 106 .TP 107 .B \-I 108 Do not display idle processes. 109 By default, top displays both active and idle processes. 110 .TP 111 .B \-j 112 Display the 113 .IR jail (8) 114 ID. 115 .TP 116 .B \-t 117 Do not display the 118 .I top 119 process. 120 .TP 121 .BI \-m display 122 Display either 'cpu' or 'io' statistics. Default is 'cpu'. 123 .TP 124 .B \-n 125 Use \*(lqnon-interactive\*(rq mode. This is identical to \*(lqbatch\*(rq 126 mode. 127 .TP 128 .B \-P 129 Display per-cpu CPU usage statistics. 130 .TP 131 .B \-q 132 Renice 133 .I top 134 to -20 so that it will run faster. This can be used when the system is 135 being very sluggish to improve the possibility of discovering the problem. 136 This option can only be used by root. 137 .TP 138 .B \-u 139 Do not take the time to map uid numbers to usernames. Normally, 140 .I top 141 will read as much of the file \*(lq/etc/passwd\*(rq as is necessary to map 142 all the user id numbers it encounters into login names. This option 143 disables all that, while possibly decreasing execution time. The uid 144 numbers are displayed instead of the names. 145 .TP 146 .B \-v 147 Write version number information to stderr then exit immediately. 148 No other processing takes place when this option is used. To see current 149 revision information while top is running, use the help command \*(lq?\*(rq. 150 .TP 151 .B \-z 152 Do not display the system idle process. 153 .TP 154 .BI \-d count 155 Show only 156 .I count 157 displays, then exit. A display is considered to be one update of the 158 screen. This option allows the user to select the number of displays he 159 wants to see before 160 .I top 161 automatically exits. For intelligent terminals, no upper limit 162 is set. The default is 1 for dumb terminals. 163 .TP 164 .BI \-s time 165 Set the delay between screen updates to 166 .I time 167 seconds. The default delay between updates is \nD seconds. 168 .TP 169 .BI \-o field 170 Sort the process display area on the specified field. The field name is 171 the name of the column as seen in the output, but in lower case. Likely 172 values are \*(lqcpu\*(rq, \*(lqsize\*(rq, \*(lqres\*(rq, and \*(lqtime\*(rq, 173 but may vary on different operating systems. Note that 174 not all operating systems support this option. 175 .TP 176 .BI \-J jail 177 Show only those processes owned by 178 .IR jail . 179 This may be either the 180 .B jid 181 or 182 .B name 183 of the jail. 184 Use 185 .B 0 186 to limit to host processes. 187 Using this option implies the 188 .B \-j 189 flag. 190 .PP 191 .BI \-U username 192 Show only those processes owned by 193 .IR username . 194 This option currently only accepts usernames and will not understand 195 uid numbers. 196 .PP 197 Both 198 .I count 199 and 200 .I number 201 fields can be specified as \*(lqinfinite\*(rq, indicating that they can 202 stretch as far as possible. This is accomplished by using any proper 203 prefix of the keywords 204 \*(lqinfinity\*(rq, 205 \*(lqmaximum\*(rq, 206 or 207 \*(lqall\*(rq. 208 The default for 209 .I count 210 on an intelligent terminal is, in fact, 211 .BI infinity . 212 .PP 213 The environment variable 214 .B TOP 215 is examined for options before the command line is scanned. This enables 216 a user to set his or her own defaults. The number of processes to display 217 can also be specified in the environment variable 218 .BR TOP . 219 The options 220 .BR \-a , 221 .BR \-C , 222 .BR \-H , 223 .BR \-I , 224 .BR \-j , 225 .BR \-P , 226 .BR \-S , 227 .BR \-t , 228 .BR \-u , 229 and 230 .B \-z 231 are actually toggles. A second specification of any of these options 232 will negate the first. Thus a user who has the environment variable 233 .B TOP 234 set to \*(lq\-I\*(rq may use the command \*(lqtop \-I\*(rq to see idle processes. 235 .SH "INTERACTIVE MODE" 236 When 237 .I top 238 is running in \*(lqinteractive mode\*(rq, it reads commands from the 239 terminal and acts upon them accordingly. In this mode, the terminal is 240 put in \*(lqCBREAK\*(rq, so that a character will be 241 processed as soon as it is typed. Almost always, a key will be 242 pressed when 243 .I top 244 is between displays; that is, while it is waiting for 245 .I time 246 seconds to elapse. If this is the case, the command will be 247 processed and the display will be updated immediately thereafter 248 (reflecting any changes that the command may have specified). This 249 happens even if the command was incorrect. If a key is pressed while 250 .I top 251 is in the middle of updating the display, it will finish the update and 252 then process the command. Some commands require additional information, 253 and the user will be prompted accordingly. While typing this information 254 in, the user's erase and kill keys (as set up by the command 255 .IR stty ) 256 are recognized, and a newline terminates the input. 257 .PP 258 These commands are currently recognized (^L refers to control-L): 259 .TP 260 .B ^L 261 Redraw the screen. 262 .IP "\fBh\fP\ or\ \fB?\fP" 263 Display a summary of the commands (help screen). Version information 264 is included in this display. 265 .TP 266 .B q 267 Quit 268 .IR top. 269 .TP 270 .B d 271 Change the number of displays to show (prompt for new number). 272 Remember that the next display counts as one, so typing 273 .B d1 274 will make 275 .I top 276 show one final display and then immediately exit. 277 .TP 278 .B m 279 Toggle the display between 'cpu' and 'io' modes. 280 .TP 281 .B n or # 282 Change the number of processes to display (prompt for new number). 283 .TP 284 .B s 285 Change the number of seconds to delay between displays 286 (prompt for new number). 287 .TP 288 .B S 289 Toggle the display of system processes. 290 .TP 291 .B a 292 Toggle the display of process titles. 293 .TP 294 .B k 295 Send a signal (\*(lqkill\*(rq by default) to a list of processes. This 296 acts similarly to the command 297 .IR kill (1)). 298 .TP 299 .B r 300 Change the priority (the \*(lqnice\*(rq) of a list of processes. 301 This acts similarly to the command 302 .IR renice (8)). 303 .TP 304 .B u 305 Display only processes owned by a specific username (prompt for username). 306 If the username specified is simply \*(lq+\*(rq, then processes belonging 307 to all users will be displayed. 308 .TP 309 .B o 310 Change the order in which the display is sorted. This command is not 311 available on all systems. The sort key names vary from system to system 312 but usually include: \*(lqcpu\*(rq, \*(lqres\*(rq, \*(lqsize\*(rq, 313 \*(lqtime\*(rq. The default is cpu. 314 .TP 315 .B e 316 Display a list of system errors (if any) generated by the last 317 .BR k ill 318 or 319 .BR r enice 320 command. 321 .TP 322 .B H 323 Toggle the display of threads. 324 .TP 325 .B i 326 (or 327 .BR I ) 328 Toggle the display of idle processes. 329 .TP 330 .B j 331 Toggle the display of 332 .IR jail (8) 333 ID. 334 .TP 335 .B J 336 Display only processes owned by a specific jail (prompt for jail). 337 If the jail specified is simply \*(lq+\*(rq, then processes belonging 338 to all jails and the host will be displayed. 339 This will also enable the display of JID. 340 .TP 341 .B P 342 Toggle the display of per-CPU statistics. 343 .TP 344 .B t 345 Toggle the display of the 346 .I top 347 process. 348 .TP 349 .B z 350 Toggle the display of the system idle process. 351 .SH "THE DISPLAY" 352 The actual display varies depending on the specific variant of Unix 353 that the machine is running. This description may not exactly match 354 what is seen by top running on this particular machine. Differences 355 are listed at the end of this manual entry. 356 .PP 357 The top few lines of the display show general information 358 about the state of the system, including 359 the last process id assigned to a process (on most systems), 360 the three load averages, 361 the current time, 362 the number of existing processes, 363 the number of processes in each state 364 (sleeping, running, starting, zombies, and stopped), 365 and a percentage of time spent in each of the processor states 366 (user, nice, system, and idle). 367 It also includes information about physical and virtual memory allocation. 368 .PP 369 The remainder of the screen displays information about individual 370 processes. This display is similar in spirit to 371 .IR ps (1) 372 but it is not exactly the same. PID is the process id, 373 JID, when displayed, is the 374 .IR jail (8) 375 ID corresponding to the process, 376 USERNAME is the name of the process's owner (if 377 .B \-u 378 is specified, a UID column will be substituted for USERNAME), 379 PRI is the current priority of the process, 380 NICE is the nice amount (in the range \-20 to 20), 381 SIZE is the total size of the process (text, data, and stack), 382 RES is the current amount of resident memory (both SIZE and RES are 383 given in kilobytes), 384 STATE is the current state (one of \*(lqSTART\*(rq, \*(lqRUN\*(rq 385 (shown as \*(lqCPUn\*(rq on SMP systems), \*(lqSLEEP\*(rq, \*(lqSTOP\*(rq, 386 \*(lqZOMB\*(rq, \*(lqWAIT\*(rq, \*(lqLOCK\*(rq or the event on which the 387 process waits), 388 C is the processor number on which the process is executing 389 (visible only on SMP systems), 390 TIME is the number of system and user cpu seconds that the process has used, 391 WCPU, when displayed, is the weighted cpu percentage (this is the same 392 value that 393 .IR ps (1) 394 displays as CPU), 395 CPU is the raw percentage and is the field that is sorted to determine 396 the order of the processes, and 397 COMMAND is the name of the command that the process is currently running 398 (if the process is swapped out, this column is marked \*(lq<swapped>\*(rq). 399 .SH NOTES 400 If a process is in the \*(lqSLEEP\*(rq or \*(lqLOCK\*(rq state, 401 the state column will report the name of the event or lock on which the 402 process is waiting. 403 Lock names are prefixed with an asterisk \*(lq*\*(rq while sleep events 404 are not. 405 .SH AUTHOR 406 William LeFebvre, EECS Department, Northwestern University 407 .SH ENVIRONMENT 408 .DT 409 TOP user-configurable defaults for options. 410 .SH FILES 411 .DT 412 /dev/kmem kernel memory 413 .br 414 /dev/mem physical memory 415 .br 416 /etc/passwd used to map uid numbers to user names 417 .br 418 /boot/kernel/kernel system image 419 .SH BUGS 420 Don't shoot me, but the default for 421 .B \-I 422 has changed once again. So many people were confused by the fact that 423 .I top 424 wasn't showing them all the processes that I have decided to make the 425 default behavior show idle processes, just like it did in version 2. 426 But to appease folks who can't stand that behavior, I have added the 427 ability to set \*(lqdefault\*(rq options in the environment variable 428 .B TOP 429 (see the OPTIONS section). Those who want the behavior that version 430 3.0 had need only set the environment variable 431 .B TOP 432 to \*(lq\-I\*(rq. 433 .PP 434 The command name for swapped processes should be tracked down, but this 435 would make the program run slower. 436 .PP 437 As with 438 .IR ps (1), 439 things can change while 440 .I top 441 is collecting information for an update. The picture it gives is only a 442 close approximation to reality. 443 .SH "SEE ALSO" 444 kill(1), 445 ps(1), 446 stty(1), 447 mem(4), 448 renice(8) 449