vmstat

vmstat reports information about memory, paging, processes, disks, block IO, CPU activity, and traps.

Installation

When vmstat is not installed by default, it can be added to the system using the relevant software package.

Package information for vmstat

Operating systemPackage nameInstallation
AlmaLinuxprocps-ng
dnf install procps-ng
Arch Linuxprocps-ng
pacman -S procps-ng
Debianprocps
apt install procps
Fedoraprocps-ng
dnf install procps-ng
Red Hat Enterprise Linuxprocps-ng
dnf install procps-ng
Rocky Linuxprocps-ng
dnf install procps-ng
Ubuntuprocps
apt install procps

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Usage

Available options

Short optionLong optionDescription
-a--activeActive and inactive memory
-f--forksNumber of forks since boot
-m--slabsSlab information
-n--one-headerHeader displayed once
-s--statsEvent counters and memory statistics
-d--diskDisk statistics
-D--disk-sumDisk activity summary
-p--partition deviceStatistics about partition
-S--unit characterChange output unit (k=1000, K=1024, m=1000000, M=1048576)
-t--timestampInclude timestamp with each line
-w--wideWide output, useful when output does not fit
-v--versionVersion information
-h--helpDisplay help

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Relevant articles using the vmstat command

The following articles include an example on how to use vmstat and might be worth further exploring.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which package provides the vmstat command?

The command vmstat is provided by the procps or procps-ng package.