How to find what is slowing server

**Nixforce** · September 20th, 2012

Hi,

I have my live virtual server running good, up until earlier today. I cant seem to find what is making it so so slow.

I currently only have 6mb free, on my 512mb VPS. Is there a way to see what is using memory?

**Cheesemill** · September 20th, 2012

Originally Posted by Nixforce

Hi,

I have my live virtual server running good, up until earlier today. I cant seem to find what is making it so so slow.

I currently only have 6mb free, on my 512mb VPS. Is there a way to see what is using memory?

I like to use htop.

Code:

sudo apt-get install htop

When it's running just hit F6 and select MEM% to sort processes by memory use.

**cybercity@localhost** · September 23rd, 2012

don't forget to check your logs too.

Code:

tail -f /var/log/messages

or

Code:

tail -f /var/log/syslog

**sectio aurea** · September 23rd, 2012

Top variants like mtop and htop are a good choice for this. I also sometimes loop 'w' with:

Code:

watch -n 1 w

Another option: If you run 'byobi' as your screen session:

Code:

sudo apt-get install byobi

you get some core metrics built into your screen display.

Don't forget to check with your hosting provider in case there is any problem on the host server. You can also often request additional burstable RAM for your VPS - some hosts will increase the amount for your VPS, just for the asking.

**LHammonds** · September 23rd, 2012

Without installing anything, you can use "top" to check on processes and memory used by them. The "free" command is used to see how much memory is consumed and available. Make sure you know the difference between used memory and available memory (which may be in use by disk cache but immediately available to apps if needed).

"htop" is very nice and I recommend it as a basic package for all servers but it is not necessary and in a pinch, just use what came with the OS (top)

LHammonds