Top

TOP(1) User Commands
TOP(1)
NAME
top - display Linux processes
SYNOPSIS
top -hv|-bcEeHiOSs1 -d secs -n max -u|U user -p pids -o field -w [cols]
The traditional switches `-' and whitespace are optional.
DESCRIPTION
The top program provides a dynamic real-time view of a running system.
It can display
system summary information as well as a list of processes or threads
currently being managed
by the Linux kernel. The types of system summary information shown and the
types, order and
size of information displayed for processes are all user configurable and
that configuration
can be made persistent across restarts.
The program provides a limited interactive interface for process

manipulation as well as a
much more extensive interface for personal configuration -- encompassing
every aspect of
its operation. And while top is referred to throughout this document, you
are free to name
the program anything you wish. That new name, possibly an alias, will then
be reflected on
top's display and used when reading and writing a configuration file.
OVERVIEW
Documentation
The remaining Table of Contents
OVERVIEW
Operation
Linux Memory Types
1. COMMAND-LINE Options
2. SUMMARY Display
a. UPTIME and LOAD Averages
b. TASK and CPU States
c. MEMORY Usage
3. FIELDS / Columns Display
a. DESCRIPTIONS of Fields
b. MANAGING Fields
4. INTERACTIVE Commands
a. GLOBAL Commands
b. SUMMARY AREA Commands
c. TASK AREA Commands
1. Appearance
2. Content
3. Size
4. Sorting
d. COLOR Mapping
5. ALTERNATE-DISPLAY Provisions
a. WINDOWS Overview
b. COMMANDS for Windows
c. SCROLLING a Window
d. SEARCHING in a Window
e. FILTERING in a Window
6. FILES
a. PERSONAL Configuration File
b. ADDING INSPECT Entries
c. SYSTEM Configuration File
d. SYSTEM Restrictions File
7. STUPID TRICKS Sampler
a. Kernel Magic
b. Bouncing Windows
c. The Big Bird Window
d. The Ol' Switcheroo
8. BUGS, 9. SEE Also
Operation
When operating top, the two most important keys are the help (h or ?)
key and quit (`q')
key. Alternatively, you could simply use the traditional interrupt key
(^C) when you're
done.
When started for the first time, you'll be presented with these traditional
elements on the
main top screen: 1) Summary Area; 2) Fields/Columns Header; 3) Task Area.
Each of these
will be explored in the sections that follow. There is also an
Input/Message line between
the Summary Area and Columns Header which needs no further explanation.
The main top screen is generally quite adaptive to changes in terminal

dimensions under X-
Windows. Other top screens may be less so, especially those with
static text. It
ultimately depends, however, on your particular window manager and terminal
emulator. There
may be occasions when their view of terminal size and current contents
differs from top's
view, which is always based on operating system calls.
Following any re-size operation, if a top screen is corrupted, appears

incomplete or
disordered, simply typing something innocuous like a punctuation character
or cursor motion
key will usually restore it. In extreme cases, the following sequence
almost certainly
will:
key/cmd objective
^Z suspend top
fg resume top
<Left> force a screen redraw (if necessary)
But if the display is still corrupted, there is one more step you could
try. Insert this
command after top has been suspended but before resuming it.
key/cmd objective
reset restore your terminal settings
Note: the width of top's display will be limited to 512 positions.

Displaying all fields
requires approximately 250 characters. Remaining screen width is usually
allocated to any
variable width columns currently visible. The variable width columns, such
as COMMAND, are
noted in topic 3a. DESCRIPTIONS of Fields. Actual output width may also
be influenced by
the -w switch, which is discussed in topic 1. COMMAND-LINE Options.
Lastly, some of top's screens or functions require the use of cursor motion
keys like the
standard arrow keys plus the Home, End, PgUp and PgDn keys. If your
terminal or emulator
does not provide those keys, the following combinations are accepted as
alternatives:
key equivalent-keys
Left alt + h
Down alt + j
Up alt + k
Right alt + l
Home alt + ctrl + h
PgDn alt + ctrl + j
PgUp alt + ctrl + k
End alt + ctrl + l
The Up and Down arrow keys have special significance when prompted for line
input terminated
with the <Enter> key. Those keys, or their aliases, can be used to
retrieve previous input
lines which can then be edited and re-input. And there are four additional
keys available
with line oriented input.
key special-significance
Up recall older strings for re-editing
Down recall newer strings or erase entire line
Insert toggle between insert and overtype modes
Delete character removed at cursor, moving others left
Home jump to beginning of input line
End jump to end of input line
Linux Memory Types

For our purposes there are three types of memory, and one is optional.
First is physical
memory, a limited resource where code and data must reside when executed
or referenced.
Next is the optional swap file, where modified (dirty) memory can be
saved and later
retrieved if too many demands are made on physical memory. Lastly we have
virtual memory, a
nearly unlimited resource serving the following goals:
1. abstraction, free from physical memory addresses/limits

2. isolation, every process in a separate address space
3. sharing, a single mapping can serve multiple needs
4. flexibility, assign a virtual address to a file
Regardless of which of these forms memory may take, all are managed as pages
(typically 4096
bytes) but expressed by default in top as KiB (kibibyte). The memory
discussed under topic
`2c. MEMORY Usage' deals with physical memory and the swap file for the
system as a whole.
The memory reviewed in topic `3. FIELDS / Columns Display' embraces all
three memory types,
but for individual processes.
For each such process, every memory page is restricted to a single

quadrant from the table
below. Both physical memory and virtual memory can include any of the four,
while the swap
file only includes #1 through #3. The memory in quadrant #4, when modified,
acts as its own
dedicated swap file.
Private | Shared
1 | 2
Anonymous . stack |
. malloc() |
. brk()/sbrk() | . POSIX shm*
. mmap(PRIVATE, ANON) | . mmap(SHARED, ANON)
-----------------------+----------------------
. mmap(PRIVATE, fd) | . mmap(SHARED, fd)
File-backed . pgms/shared libs |
3 | 4
The following may help in interpreting process level memory values

displayed as scalable
columns and discussed under topic `3a. DESCRIPTIONS of Fields'.
%MEM - simply RES divided by total physical memory

CODE - the `pgms' portion of quadrant 3
DATA - the entire quadrant 1 portion of VIRT plus all
explicit mmap file-backed pages of quadrant 3
RES - anything occupying physical memory which, beginning with
Linux-4.5, is the sum of the following three fields:
RSan - quadrant 1 pages, which include any
former quadrant 3 pages if modified
RSfd - quadrant 3 and quadrant 4 pages
RSsh - quadrant 2 pages
RSlk - subset of RES which cannot be swapped out (any quadrant)
SHR - subset of RES (excludes 1, includes all 2 & 4, some 3)
SWAP - potentially any quadrant except 4
USED - simply the sum of RES and SWAP
VIRT - everything in-use and/or reserved (all quadrants)
Note: Even though program images and shared libraries are considered
private to a process,
they will be accounted for as shared (SHR) by the kernel.
1. COMMAND-LINE Options
The command-line syntax for top consists of:
-hv|-bcEeHiOSs1 -d secs -n max -u|U user -p pids -o field -w [cols]
The typically mandatory switch (`-') and even whitespace are completely
optional.
-h | -v :Help/Version
Show library version and the usage prompt, then quit.
-b :Batch-mode operation
Starts top in Batch mode, which could be useful for sending output from
top to other
programs or to a file. In this mode, top will not accept input
and runs until the
iterations limit you've set with the `-n' command-line option or until
killed.
-c:Command-line/Program-name toggle
Starts top with the last remembered `c' state reversed. Thus, if top
was displaying
command lines, now that field will show program names, and vice
versa. See the `c'
interactive command for additional information.
-d :Delay-time interval as: -d ss.t (secs.tenths)

Specifies the delay between screen updates, and overrides the
corresponding value in
one's personal configuration file or the startup default. Later
this can be changed
with the `d' or `s' interactive commands.
Fractional seconds are honored, but a negative number is not allowed.

In all cases,
however, such changes are prohibited if top is running in Secure mode,
except for root
(unless the `s' command-line option was used). For additional
information on Secure
mode see topic 6d. SYSTEM Restrictions File.
-e :Enforce-Task-Memory-Scaling as: -e k | m | g | t | p
Instructs top to force task area memory to be scaled as:
k - kibibytes
m - mebibytes
g - gibibytes
t - tebibytes
p - pebibytes
Later this can be changed with the è' command toggle.
-E :Enforce-Summary-Memory-Scaling as: -E k | m | g | t | p | e
Instructs top to force summary area memory to be scaled as:
k - kibibytes
m - mebibytes
g - gibibytes
t - tebibytes
p - pebibytes
e - exbibytes
Later this can be changed with the È' command toggle.
-H :Threads-mode operation
Instructs top to display individual threads. Without this
command-line option a
summation of all threads in each process is shown. Later this can be
changed with the
`H' interactive command.
-i:Idle-process toggle
Starts top with the last remembered ì' state reversed. When this
toggle is Off, tasks
that have not used any CPU since the last update will not be displayed.
For additional
information regarding this toggle see topic 4c. TASK AREA Commands,
SIZE.
-n:Number-of-iterations limit as: -n number

Specifies the maximum number of iterations, or frames, top
should produce before
ending.
-o:Override-sort-field as: -o fieldname

Specifies the name of the field on which tasks will be sorted,
independent of what is
reflected in the configuration file. You can prepend a `+' or `-' to
the field name to
also override the sort direction. A leading `+' will force sorting
high to low,
whereas a `-' will ensure a low to high ordering.
This option exists primarily to support automated/scripted batch mode

operation.
-O:Output-field-names
This option acts as a form of help for the above -o option. It will
cause top to print
each of the available field names on a separate line, then quit.
Such names are
subject to NLS (National Language Support) translation.
-p:Monitor-PIDs mode as: -pN1 -pN2 ... or -pN1,N2,N3 ...

Monitor only processes with specified process IDs. This option can
be given up to 20
times, or you can provide a comma delimited list with up to 20 pids.
Co-mingling both
approaches is permitted.
A pid value of zero will be treated as the process id of the top

program itself once it
is running.
This is a command-line option only and should you wish to return to

normal operation,
it is not necessary to quit and restart top -- just issue any of
these interactive
commands: `=', ù' or Ù'.
The `p', ù' and Ù' command-line options are mutually exclusive.
-s :Secure-mode operation
Starts top with secure mode forced, even for root. This mode is far
better controlled
through a system configuration file (see topic 6. FILES).
-S :Cumulative-time toggle
Starts top with the last remembered `S' state reversed. When
Cumulative time mode is
On, each process is listed with the cpu time that it and its dead
children have used.
See the `S' interactive command for additional information regarding
this mode.
-u | -U :User-filter-mode as: -u | -U number or name

Display only processes with a user id or user name matching that
given. The `-u'
option matches on effective user whereas the `-U' option matches on
any user (real,
effective, saved, or filesystem).
Prepending an exclamation point (`!') to the user id or name

instructs top to display
only processes with users not matching the one provided.
The `p', ù' and Ù' command-line options are mutually exclusive.
-w :Output-width-override as: -w [ number ]

In Batch mode, when used without an argument top will format output
using the COLUMNS=
and LINES= environment variables, if set. Otherwise, width will
be fixed at the
maximum 512 columns. With an argument, output width can be decreased
or increased (up
to 512) but the number of rows is considered unlimited.
In normal display mode, when used without an argument top will attempt
to format output
using the COLUMNS= and LINES= environment variables, if set. With an
argument, output
width can only be decreased, not increased. Whether using environment
variables or an
argument with -w, when not in Batch mode actual terminal dimensions
can never be
exceeded.
Note: Without the use of this command-line option, output width is

always based on the
terminal at which top was invoked whether or not in Batch mode.
-1 :Single/Separate-Cpu-States toggle
Starts top with the last remembered Cpu States portion of the summary
area reversed.
Either all cpu information will be displayed in a single line or
each cpu will be
displayed separately, depending on the state of the NUMA Node command
toggle ('2').
See the `1' and '2' interactive commands for additional information.
2. SUMMARY Display
Each of the following three areas are individually controlled
through one or more
interactive commands. See topic 4b. SUMMARY AREA Commands for
additional information
regarding these provisions.
2a. UPTIME and LOAD Averages
This portion consists of a single line containing:
program or window name, depending on display mode
current time and length of time since last boot
total number of users
system load avg over the last 1, 5 and 15 minutes
2b. TASK and CPU States

This portion consists of a minimum of two lines. In an SMP environment,
additional lines
can reflect individual CPU state percentages.
Line 1 shows total tasks or threads, depending on the state of the

Threads-mode toggle.
That total is further classified as:
running; sleeping; stopped; zombie
Line 2 shows CPU state percentages based on the interval since the last
refresh.
As a default, percentages for these individual categories are displayed.

Where two labels
are shown below, those for more recent kernel versions are shown first.
us, user : time running un-niced user processes
sy, system : time running kernel processes
ni, nice : time running niced user processes
id, idle : time spent in the kernel idle handler
wa, IO-wait : time waiting for I/O completion
hi : time spent servicing hardware interrupts
si : time spent servicing software interrupts
st : time stolen from this vm by the hypervisor
In the alternate cpu states display modes, beyond the first

tasks/threads line, an
abbreviated summary is shown consisting of these elements:
a b c d
%Cpu(s): 75.0/25.0 100[ ...
Where: a) is the ùser' (us + ni) percentage; b) is the `system' (sy + hi +

si) percentage;
c) is the total; and d) is one of two visual graphs of those
representations. See topic 4b.
SUMMARY AREA Commands and the `t' command for additional information on that
special 4-way
toggle.
2c. MEMORY Usage

This portion consists of two lines which may express values in
kibibytes (KiB) through
exbibytes (EiB) depending on the scaling factor enforced with the È'
interactive command.
As a default, Line 1 reflects physical memory, classified as:

total, free, used and buff/cache
Line 2 reflects mostly virtual memory, classified as:

total, free, used and avail (which is physical memory)
The avail number on line 2 is an estimation of physical memory available

for starting new
applications, without swapping. Unlike the free field, it attempts to
account for readily
reclaimable page cache and memory slabs. It is available on kernels
3.14, emulated on
kernels 2.6.27+, otherwise the same as free.
In the alternate memory display modes, two abbreviated summary lines are
shown consisting of
these elements:
a b c
GiB Mem : 18.7/15.738 [ ...
GiB Swap: 0.0/7.999 [ ...
Where: a) is the percentage used; b) is the total available; and c) is one

of two visual
graphs of those representations.
In the case of physical memory, the percentage represents the total

minus the estimated
avail noted above. The `Mem' graph itself is divided between used and any
remaining memory
not otherwise accounted for by avail. See topic 4b. SUMMARY AREA
Commands and the `m'
command for additional information on that special 4-way toggle.
This table may help in interpreting the scaled values displayed:

KiB = kibibyte = 1024 bytes
MiB = mebibyte = 1024 KiB = 1,048,576 bytes
GiB = gibibyte = 1024 MiB = 1,073,741,824 bytes
TiB = tebibyte = 1024 GiB = 1,099,511,627,776 bytes
PiB = pebibyte = 1024 TiB = 1,125,899,906,842,624 bytes
EiB = exbibyte = 1024 PiB = 1,152,921,504,606,846,976 bytes
3. FIELDS / Columns
3a. DESCRIPTIONS of Fields
Listed below are top's available process fields (columns). They are shown
in strict ascii
alphabetical order. You may customize their position and whether
or not they are
displayable with the `f' or `F' (Fields Management) interactive commands.
Any field is selectable as the sort field, and you control whether they are
sorted high-to-
low or low-to-high. For additional information on sort provisions see
topic 4c. TASK AREA
Commands, SORTING.
The fields related to physical memory or virtual memory reference `(KiB)'

which is the
unsuffixed display mode. Such fields may, however, be scaled from KiB
through PiB. That
scaling is influenced via the è' interactive command or established for
startup through a
build option.
1. %CPU -- CPU Usage

The task's share of the elapsed CPU time since the last screen
update, expressed as a
percentage of total CPU time.
In a true SMP environment, if a process is multi-threaded and top is

not operating in
Threads mode, amounts greater than 100% may be reported. You toggle
Threads mode with
the `H' interactive command.
Also for multi-processor environments, if Irix mode is Off, top will

operate in Solaris
mode where a task's cpu usage will be divided by the total number of
CPUs. You toggle
Irix/Solaris modes with the Ì' interactive command.
Note: When running in forest view mode (`V') with children collapsed
(`v'), this field
will also include the CPU time of those unseen children. See
topic 4c. TASK AREA
Commands, CONTENT for more information regarding the `V' and `v'
toggles.
2. %MEM -- Memory Usage (RES)

A task's currently resident share of available physical memory.
See ÒVERVIEW, Linux Memory Types' for additional details.
3. CGNAME -- Control Group Name

The name of the control group to which a process belongs, or `-' if not
applicable for
that process.
This will typically be the last entry in the full list of control
groups as shown under
the next heading (CGROUPS). And as is true there, this field is also
variable width.
4. CGROUPS -- Control Groups

The names of the control group(s) to which a process belongs, or `-' if
not applicable
for that process.
Control Groups provide for allocating resources (cpu, memory, network

bandwidth, etc.)
among installation-defined groups of processes. They enable fine-
grained control over
allocating, denying, prioritizing, managing and monitoring those
resources.
Many different hierarchies of cgroups can exist simultaneously on a

system and each
hierarchy is attached to one or more subsystems. A subsystem
represents a single
resource.
Note: The CGROUPS field, unlike most columns, is not fixed-width.

When displayed, it
plus any other variable width columns will be allocated all remaining
screen width (up
to the maximum 512 characters). Even so, such variable width fields
could still suffer
truncation. See topic 5c. SCROLLING a Window for additional
information on accessing
any truncated data.
5. CODE -- Code Size (KiB)

The amount of physical memory currently devoted to executable code,
also known as the
Text Resident Set size or TRS.
6. COMMAND -- Command Name or Command Line

Display the command line used to start a task or the name of the
associated program.
You toggle between command line and name with `c', which is both a
command-line option
and an interactive command.
When you've chosen to display command lines, processes without a

command line (like
kernel threads) will be shown with only the program name in
brackets, as in this
example:
[kthreadd]
This field may also be impacted by the forest view display mode.
See the `V'
interactive command for additional information regarding that mode.
Note: The COMMAND field, unlike most columns, is not fixed-width.

When displayed, it
screen width (up
could still suffer
truncation. This is especially true for this field when command
lines are being
displayed (the `c' interactive command.) See topic 5c.
SCROLLING a Window for
additional information on accessing any truncated data.
7. DATA -- Data + Stack Size (KiB)

The amount of private memory reserved by a process. It is also
known as the Data
Resident Set or DRS. Such memory may not yet be mapped to physical
memory (RES) but
will always be included in the virtual memory (VIRT) amount.
8. ENVIRON -- Environment variables

Display all of the environment variables, if any, as seen by the
respective processes.
These variables will be displayed in their raw native order, not the
sorted order you
are accustomed to seeing with an unqualified `set'.
Note: The ENVIRON field, unlike most columns, is not fixed-width. When
displayed, it
screen width (up
could still suffer
truncation. This is especially true for this field. See topic 5c.
SCROLLING a Window
for additional information on accessing any truncated data.
9. Flags -- Task Flags

This column represents the task's current scheduling flags which
are expressed in
hexadecimal notation and with zeros suppressed. These flags are
officially documented
in <linux/sched.h>.
10. GID -- Group Id

The effective group ID.
11. GROUP -- Group Name

The effective group name.
12. LXC -- Lxc Container Name

The name of the lxc container within which a task is running. If a
process is not
running inside a container, a dash (`-') will be shown.
13. NI -- Nice Value

The nice value of the task. A negative nice value means higher
priority, whereas a
positive nice value means lower priority. Zero in this field simply
means priority will
not be adjusted in determining a task's dispatch-ability.
14. NU -- Last known NUMA node

A number representing the NUMA node associated with the last used
processor (`P'). When
-1 is displayed it means that NUMA information is not available.
See the `'2' and `3' interactive commands for additional NUMA provisions
affecting the
summary area.
15. OOMa -- Out of Memory Adjustment Factor

The value, ranging from -1000 to +1000, added to the current out of
memory score (OOMs)
which is then used to determine which task to kill when memory is
exhausted.
16. OOMs -- Out of Memory Score

The value, ranging from 0 to +1000, used to select task(s) to kill
when memory is
exhausted. Zero translates to `never kill' whereas 1000 means àlways
kill'.
17. P -- Last used CPU (SMP)

A number representing the last used processor. In a true SMP
environment this will
likely change frequently since the kernel intentionally uses weak
affinity. Also, the
very act of running top may break this weak affinity and cause more
processes to change
CPUs more often (because of the extra demand for cpu time).
18. PGRP -- Process Group Id

Every process is member of a unique process group which is used for
distribution of
signals and by terminals to arbitrate requests for their input and
output. When a
process is created (forked), it becomes a member of the process group of
its parent. By
convention, this value equals the process ID (see PID) of the first
member of a process
group, called the process group leader.
19. PID -- Process Id

The task's unique process ID, which periodically wraps, though never
restarting at zero.
In kernel terms, it is a dispatchable entity defined by a task_struct.
This value may also be used as: a process group ID (see PGRP); a
session ID for the
session leader (see SID); a thread group ID for the thread group leader
(see TGID); and
a TTY process group ID for the process group leader (see TPGID).
20. PPID -- Parent Process Id

The process ID (pid) of a task's parent.
21. PR -- Priority
The scheduling priority of the task. If you see `rt' in this field,
it means the task
is running under real time scheduling priority.
Under linux, real time priority is somewhat misleading since

traditionally the operating
itself was not preemptible. And while the 2.6 kernel can be made mostly
preemptible, it
is not always so.
22. RES -- Resident Memory Size (KiB)

A subset of the virtual address space (VIRT) representing the non-
swapped physical
memory a task is currently using. It is also the sum of the RSan, RSfd
and RSsh fields.
It can include private anonymous pages, private pages mapped to files

(including program
images and shared libraries) plus shared anonymous pages. All such
memory is backed by
the swap file represented separately under SWAP.
Lastly, this field may also include shared file-backed pages which,
when modified, act
as a dedicated swap file and thus will never impact SWAP.

23. RSan -- Resident Anonymous Memory Size (KiB)
A subset of resident memory (RES) representing private pages not mapped
to a file.
24. RSfd -- Resident File-Backed Memory Size (KiB)

A subset of resident memory (RES) representing the implicitly shared
pages supporting
program images and shared libraries. It also includes explicit
file mappings, both
private and shared.
25. RSlk -- Resident Locked Memory Size (KiB)

A subset of resident memory (RES) which cannot be swapped out.
26. RSsh -- Resident Shared Memory Size (KiB)

A subset of resident memory (RES) representing the explicitly shared
anonymous shm*/mmap
pages.
27. RUID -- Real User Id

The real user ID.
28. RUSER -- Real User Name

The real user name.
29. S -- Process Status

The status of the task which can be one of:
D = uninterruptible sleep
I = idle
R = running
S = sleeping
T = stopped by job control signal
t = stopped by debugger during trace
Z = zombie
Tasks shown as running should be more properly thought of as ready

to run --their
task_struct is simply represented on the Linux run-queue. Even
without a true SMP
machine, you may see numerous tasks in this state depending on top's
delay interval and
nice value.
30. SHR -- Shared Memory Size (KiB)

A subset of resident memory (RES) that may be used by other processes.
It will include
shared anonymous pages and shared file-backed pages. It also
includes private pages
mapped to files representing program images and shared libraries.
31. SID -- Session Id

A session is a collection of process groups (see PGRP), usually
established by the login
shell. A newly forked process joins the session of its creator. By
convention, this
value equals the process ID (see PID) of the first member of the
session, called the
session leader, which is usually the login shell.
32. SUID -- Saved User Id

The saved user ID.
33. SUPGIDS -- Supplementary Group IDs

The IDs of any supplementary group(s) established at login or
inherited from a task's
parent. They are displayed in a comma delimited list.
Note: The SUPGIDS field, unlike most columns, is not fixed-width. When
displayed, it
screen width (up
could still suffer
any truncated data.
34. SUPGRPS -- Supplementary Group Names

The names of any supplementary group(s) established at login or
inherited from a task's
parent. They are displayed in a comma delimited list.
Note: The SUPGRPS field, unlike most columns, is not fixed-width.

When displayed, it
screen width (up
could still suffer
any truncated data.
35. SUSER -- Saved User Name

The saved user name.
36. SWAP -- Swapped Size (KiB)

The formerly resident portion of a task's address space written to
the swap file when
physical memory becomes over committed.
37. TGID -- Thread Group Id

The ID of the thread group to which a task belongs. It is the PID of
the thread group
leader. In kernel terms, it represents those tasks that share an
mm_struct.
38. TIME -- CPU Time

Total CPU time the task has used since it started. When Cumulative
mode is On, each
process is listed with the cpu time that it and its dead children have
used. You toggle
Cumulative mode with `S', which is both a command-line option
and an interactive
command. See the `S' interactive command for additional information
regarding this
mode.
39. TIME+ -- CPU Time, hundredths

The same as TIME, but reflecting more granularity through hundredths of
a second.
40. TPGID -- Tty Process Group Id

The process group ID of the foreground process for the connected tty, or
-1 if a process
is not connected to a terminal. By convention, this value equals the
process ID (see
PID) of the process group leader (see PGRP).
41. TTY -- Controlling Tty

The name of the controlling terminal. This is usually the device
(serial port, pty,
etc.) from which the process was started, and which it uses for
input or output.
However, a task need not be associated with a terminal, in which
case you'll see `?'
displayed.
42. UID -- User Id

The effective user ID of the task's owner.
43. USED -- Memory in Use (KiB)

This field represents the non-swapped physical memory a task is using
(RES) plus the
swapped out portion of its address space (SWAP).
44. USER -- User Name

The effective user name of the task's owner.
45. VIRT -- Virtual Memory Size (KiB)

The total amount of virtual memory used by the task. It includes
all code, data and
shared libraries plus pages that have been swapped out and pages that
have been mapped
but not used.
46. WCHAN -- Sleeping in Function

This field will show the name of the kernel function in which the
task is currently
sleeping. Running tasks will display a dash (`-') in this column.
47. nDRT -- Dirty Pages Count

The number of pages that have been modified since they were last
written to auxiliary
storage. Dirty pages must be written to auxiliary storage before
the corresponding
physical memory location can be used for some other virtual page.
This field was deprecated with linux 2.6 and is always zero.
48. nMaj -- Major Page Fault Count
The number of major page faults that have occurred for a task. A page
fault occurs when
a process attempts to read from or write to a virtual page that is not
currently present
in its address space. A major page fault is when auxiliary storage
access is involved
in making that page available.
49. nMin -- Minor Page Fault count

The number of minor page faults that have occurred for a task. A page
fault occurs when
a process attempts to read from or write to a virtual page that is not
currently present
in its address space. A minor page fault does not involve auxiliary
storage access in
making that page available.
50. nTH -- Number of Threads

The number of threads associated with a process.
51. nsIPC -- IPC namespace

The Inode of the namespace used to isolate interprocess communication
(IPC) resources
such as System V IPC objects and POSIX message queues.
52. nsMNT -- MNT namespace

The Inode of the namespace used to isolate filesystem mount
points thus offering
different views of the filesystem hierarchy.
53. nsNET -- NET namespace

The Inode of the namespace used to isolate resources such as
network devices, IP
addresses, IP routing, port numbers, etc.
54. nsPID -- PID namespace

The Inode of the namespace used to isolate process ID numbers
meaning they need not
remain unique. Thus, each such namespace could have its own
ìnit/systemd' (PID #1) to
manage various initialization tasks and reap orphaned child processes.
55. nsUSER -- USER namespace

The Inode of the namespace used to isolate the user and group ID
numbers. Thus, a
process could have a normal unprivileged user ID outside a user
namespace while having a
user ID of 0, with full root privileges, inside that namespace.
56. nsUTS -- UTS namespace

The Inode of the namespace used to isolate hostname and NIS domain
name. UTS simply
means "UNIX Time-sharing System".
57. vMj -- Major Page Fault Count Delta

The number of major page faults that have occurred since the last update
(see nMaj).
58. vMn -- Minor Page Fault Count Delta
The number of minor page faults that have occurred since the last update
(see nMin).
3b. MANAGING Fields

After pressing the interactive command `f' or `F' (Fields Management) you
will be presented
with a screen showing: 1) the `current' window name; 2) the designated
sort field; 3) all
fields in their current order along with descriptions. Entries marked with
an asterisk are
the currently displayed fields, screen width permitting.
• As the on screen instructions indicate, you navigate among the fields

with the Up and
Down arrow keys. The PgUp, PgDn, Home and End keys can also be used
to quickly reach
the first or last available field.
• The Right arrow key selects a field for repositioning and the Left
arrow key or the
<Enter> key commits that field's placement.
• The `d' key or the <Space> bar toggles a field's display status,
and thus the
presence or absence of the asterisk.
• The `s' key designates a field as the sort field. See topic 4c.
TASK AREA Commands,
SORTING for additional information regarding your selection of a sort
field.
• The à' and `w' keys can be used to cycle through all available
windows and the `q'
or <Esc> keys exit Fields Management.
The Fields Management screen can also be used to change the `current'
window/field group in
either full-screen mode or alternate-display mode. Whatever was targeted
when `q' or <Esc>
was pressed will be made current as you return to the top
display. See topic 5.
ALTERNATE-DISPLAY Provisions and the `g' interactive command for insight
into `current'
windows and field groups.
Note: Any window that has been scrolled horizontally will be reset if any
field changes are
made via the Fields Management screen. Any vertical scrolled position,
however, will not be
affected. See topic 5c. SCROLLING a Window for additional information
regarding vertical
and horizontal scrolling.
4. INTERACTIVE Commands
Listed below is a brief index of commands within categories. Some commands
appear more than
once -- their meaning or scope may vary depending on the context in which
they are issued.
4a. Global-Commands
<Ent/Sp> ?, =, 0,
A, B, d, E, e, g, h, H, I, k, q, r, s, W, X, Y, Z
4b. Summary-Area-Commands
C, l, t, m, 1, 2, 3, 4, !
4c. Task-Area-Commands
Appearance: b, J, j, x, y, z
Content: c, f, F, o, O, S, u, U, V, v
Size: #, i, n
Sorting: <, >, f, F, R
4d. Color-Mapping
<Ret>, a, B, b, H, M, q, S, T, w, z, 0 - 7
5b. Commands-for-Windows
-, _, =, +, A, a, g, G, w
5c. Scrolling-a-Window
C, Up, Dn, Left, Right, PgUp, PgDn, Home, End
5d. Searching-in-a-Window
L, &
4a. GLOBAL Commands

The global interactive commands are always available in both full-
screen mode and
alternate-display mode. However, some of these interactive commands are not
available when
running in Secure mode.
If you wish to know in advance whether or not your top has been secured,
simply ask for help
and view the system summary on the second line.
<Enter> or <Space> :Refresh-Display

These commands awaken top and following receipt of any input the
entire display will
be repainted. They also force an update of any hotplugged cpu or
physical memory
changes.
Use either of these keys if you have a large delay interval and wish
to see current
status,
? | h :Help
There are two help levels available. The first will provide a
reminder of all the
basic interactive commands. If top is secured, that screen will be
abbreviated.
Typing `h' or `?' on that help screen will take you to help for
those interactive
commands applicable to alternate-display mode.
=:Exit-Display-Limits
Removes restrictions on what is shown. This command will
reverse any ì' (idle
tasks), `n' (max tasks) and `v' (hide children) commands that might
be active. It
also provides for an exit from PID monitoring, User filtering,
Other filtering,
Locate processing and Combine Cpus mode.
Additionally, if the window has been scrolled it will be reset with

this command.
0
:Zero-Suppress toggle
This command determines whether zeros are shown or suppressed for
many of the fields
in a task window. Fields like UID, GID, NI, PR or P are not affected
by this toggle.
A
:Alternate-Display-Mode toggle
This command will switch between full-screen mode and alternate-
display mode. See
topic 5. ALTERNATE-DISPLAY Provisions and the `g' interactive
command for insight
into `current' windows and field groups.
B
:Bold-Disable/Enable toggle
This command will influence use of the bold terminfo capability and
alters both the
summary area and task area for the `current' window. While it is
intended primarily
for use with dumb terminals, it can be applied anytime.
Note: When this toggle is On and top is operating in monochrome

mode, the entire
display will appear as normal text. Thus, unless the `x' and/or
`y' toggles are
using reverse for emphasis, there will be no visual confirmation
that they are even
on.
* d | s :Change-Delay-Time-interval
You will be prompted to enter the delay time, in seconds, between
display updates.
Fractional seconds are honored, but a negative number is not

allowed. Entering 0
causes (nearly) continuous updates, with an unsatisfactory display
as the system and
tty driver try to keep up with top's demands. The delay
value is inversely
proportional to system loading, so set it with care.
If at any time you wish to know the current delay time, simply ask
for help and view
the system summary on the second line.
E
:Enforce-Summary-Memory-Scale in Summary Area
With this command you can cycle through the available summary area
memory scaling
which ranges from KiB (kibibytes or 1,024 bytes) through EiB
(exbibytes or
1,152,921,504,606,846,976 bytes).
If you see a `+' between a displayed number and the following label,
it means that
top was forced to truncate some portion of that number. By
raising the scaling
factor, such truncation can be avoided.
e:Enforce-Task-Memory-Scale in Task Area

With this command you can cycle through the available task area
memory scaling which
ranges from KiB (kibibytes or 1,024 bytes) through PiB
(pebibytes or
1,125,899,906,842,624 bytes).
While top will try to honor the selected target range, additional
scaling might still
be necessary in order to accommodate current values. If you
wish to see a more
homogeneous result in the memory columns, raising the scaling
range will usually
accomplish that goal. Raising it too high, however, is likely to
produce an all zero
result which cannot be suppressed with the `0' interactive command.
g:Choose-Another-Window/Field-Group
You will be prompted to enter a number between 1 and 4 designating
the field group
which should be made the `current' window. You will soon grow
comfortable with these
4 windows, especially after experimenting with alternate-display
mode.
H:Threads-mode toggle
When this toggle is On, individual threads will be displayed for all
processes in all
visible task windows. Otherwise, top displays a summation of all
threads in each
process.
I:Irix/Solaris-Mode toggle
When operating in Solaris mode (Ì' toggled Off), a task's cpu usage
will be divided
by the total number of CPUs. After issuing this command, you'll
be told the new
state of this toggle.
* k :Kill-a-task
You will be prompted for a PID and then the signal to send.
Entering no PID or a negative number will be interpreted as the

default shown in the
prompt (the first task displayed). A PID value of zero means the top
program itself.
The default signal, as reflected in the prompt, is SIGTERM.

However, you can send
any signal, via number or name.
If you wish to abort the kill process, do one of the following

depending on your
progress:
1) at the pid prompt, type an invalid number
2) at the signal prompt, type 0 (or any invalid signal)
3) at any prompt, type <Esc>
q :Quit
* r :Renice-a-Task
You will be prompted for a PID and then the value to nice it to.
Entering no PID or a negative number will be interpreted as the

default shown in the
prompt (the first task displayed). A PID value of zero means the top
program itself.
A positive nice value will cause a process to lose priority.

Conversely, a negative
nice value will cause a process to be viewed more favorably by
the kernel. As a
general rule, ordinary users can only increase the nice value and are
prevented from
lowering it.
If you wish to abort the renice process, do one of the following

depending on your
progress:
1) at the pid prompt, type an invalid number
2) at the nice prompt, type <Enter> with no input
3) at any prompt, type <Esc>
W
:Write-the-Configuration-File
This will save all of your options and toggles plus the current
display mode and
delay time. By issuing this command just before quitting top,
you will be able
restart later in exactly that same state.
X:Extra-Fixed-Width
Some fields are fixed width and not scalable. As such, they
are subject to
truncation which would be indicated by a `+' in the last position.
This interactive command can be used to alter the widths of the

following fields:
field default field default field default

GID 5 GROUP 8 WCHAN 10
RUID 5 LXC 8 nsIPC 10
SUID 5 RUSER 8 nsMNT 10
UID 5 SUSER 8 nsNET 10
TTY 8 nsPID 10
USER 8 nsUSER 10
nsUTS 10
You will be prompted for the amount to be added to the default

widths shown above.
Entering zero forces a return to those defaults.
If you enter a negative number, top will automatically increase the

column sizeas
needed until there is no more truncated data. You can accelerate
this process by
reducing the delay interval or holding down the <Space> bar.
Note: Whether explicitly or automatically increased, the widths for

these fields are
never decreased by top. To narrow them you must specify a smaller
number or restore
the defaults.
Y :Inspect-Other-Output
After issuing the `Y' interactive command, you will be prompted for
a target PID.
Typing a value or accepting the default results in a separate
screen. That screen
can be used to view a variety of files or piped command output while
the normal top
iterative display is paused.
Note: This interactive command is only fully realized when

supporting entries have
been manually added to the end of the top configuration file.
For details on
creating those entries, see topic 6b. ADDING INSPECT Entries.
Most of the keys used to navigate the Inspect feature are

reflected in its header
prologue. There are, however, additional keys available once you
have selected a
particular file or command. They are familiar to anyone who
has used the pager
`less' and are summarized here for future reference.
key function
= alternate status-line, file or pipeline
/ find, equivalent to `L' locate
n find next, equivalent to `&' locate next
<Space> scroll down, equivalent to <PgDn>
b scroll up, equivalent to <PgUp>
g first line, equivalent to <Home>
G last line, equivalent to <End>
Z :Change-Color-Mapping
This key will take you to a separate screen where you can change the
colors for the
`current' window, or for all windows. For details regarding this
interactive command
see topic 4d. COLOR Mapping.
* The commands shown with an asterisk (`*') are not available in Secure
mode, nor will they
be shown on the level-1 help screen.
4b. SUMMARY AREA Commands

The summary area interactive commands are always available in both
full-screen mode and
alternate-display mode. They affect the beginning lines of your display and
will determine
the position of messages and prompts.
These commands always impact just the `current' window/field group.

See topic 5.
ALTERNATE-DISPLAY Provisions and the `g' interactive command for insight
into `current'
windows and field groups.
C :Show-scroll-coordinates toggle
Toggle an informational message which is displayed whenever the
message line is not
otherwise being used. For additional information see topic 5c.
SCROLLING a Window.
l :Load-Average/Uptime toggle
This is also the line containing the program name (possibly an alias)
when operating
in full-screen mode or the `current' window name when operating in
alternate-display
mode.
t :Task/Cpu-States toggle
This command affects from 2 to many summary area lines, depending on
the state of the
`1', `2' or `3' command toggles and whether or not top is running
under true SMP.
This portion of the summary area is also influenced by the `H'

interactive command
toggle, as reflected in the total label which shows either Tasks or
Threads.
This command serves as a 4-way toggle, cycling through these modes:

1. detailed percentages by category
2. abbreviated user/system and total % + bar graph
3. abbreviated user/system and total % + block graph
4. turn off task and cpu states display
When operating in either of the graphic modes, the display

becomes muchmore
meaningful when individual CPUs or NUMA nodes are also displayed.
See the the `1',
`2' and `3' commands below for additional information.
m :Memory/Swap-Usage toggle
This command affects the two summary area lines dealing with
physical and virtual
memory.
This command serves as a 4-way toggle, cycling through these modes:

1. detailed percentages by memory type
2. abbreviated % used/total available + bar graph
3. abbreviated % used/total available + block graph
4. turn off memory display
1:Single/Separate-Cpu-States toggle
This command affects how the `t' command's Cpu States portion is
shown. Although
this toggle exists primarily to serve massively-parallel SMP
machines, it is not
restricted to solely SMP environments.
When you see `%Cpu(s):' in the summary area, the `1' toggle
is On and all cpu
information is gathered in a single line. Otherwise, each
cpu is displayed
separately as: `%Cpu0, %Cpu1, ...' up to available screen height.
2 :NUMA-Nodes/Cpu-Summary toggle
This command toggles between the `1' command cpu summary display
(only) or a summary
display plus the cpu usage statistics for each NUMA Node. It is only
available if a
system has the requisite NUMA support.
3 :Expand-NUMA-Node
You will be invited to enter a number representing a NUMA Node.
Thereafter, a node
summary plus the statistics for each cpu in that node will be shown
until the `1',
`2' or `4' command toggle is pressed. This interactive command is
only available if
a system has the requisite NUMA support.
4 :Display-Cpus-Two-Abreast
This command turns the `1' toggle Off for individual cpu display
but prints the
results two abreast. It requires a terminal with a minimum width of
80 columns. If
a terminal's width is decreased below the minimum while top is
running, top reverts
to the normal `1' toggle Off state.
To avoid truncation when displaying detailed cpu statistcs, as

opposed to the graphic
representations, a minimum width of 165 columns would be required.
! :Combine-Cpus-Mode
This command toggle is intended for massively parallel SMP
environments where, even
with the `4' command toggle, not all processors can be displayed.
With each press of
`!' the number of additional cpu's combined is doubled thus reducing
the total number
of cpu lines displayed.
For example, with the first press of `!' one additional cpu will
be combined and
displayed as `0-1, 2-3, ...' instead of the normal `%Cpu0, %Cpu1,
%Cpu2, %Cpu3, ...'.
With a second `!' command toggle two additional cpus are combined
and shown as `0-2,
3-5, ...'. Then the third '!' press, combining four additional cpus,
shows as `0-4,
5-9, ...', etc.
Such progression continues until individual cpus are again displayed

and impacts both
the `1' and `4' toggles (one or two columns). Use the `=' command
to exit Combine
Cpus mode.
Note: If the entire summary area has been toggled Off for any window, you
would be left with
just the message line. In that way, you will have maximized available
task rows but
(temporarily) sacrificed the program name in full-screen mode or the
`current' window name
when in alternate-display mode.
4c. TASK AREA Commands

The task area interactive commands are always available in full-screen mode.
The task area interactive commands are never available in alternate-

display mode if the
`current' window's task display has been toggled Off (see topic 5.
ALTERNATE-DISPLAY
Provisions).
APPEARANCE of task window
J:Justify-Numeric-Columns toggle
Alternates between right-justified (the default) and left-justified
numeric data. If
the numeric data completely fills the available column, this
command toggle may
impact the column header only.
j:Justify-Character-Columns toggle
Alternates between left-justified (the default) and right-justified
character data.
If the character data completely fills the available column, this
command toggle may
impact the column header only.
The following commands will also be influenced by the state of the

global `B' (bold
enable) toggle.
b :Bold/Reverse toggle
This command will impact how the `x' and `y' toggles are
displayed. It may also
impact the summary area when a bar graph has been selected for cpu
states or memory
usage via the `t' or `m' toggles.
x:Column-Highlight toggle
Changes highlighting for the current sort field. If you forget
which field is being
sorted this command can serve as a quick visual reminder, providing
the sort field is
being displayed. The sort field might not be visible because:
1) there is insufficient Screen Width
2) the `f' interactive command turned it Off
Note: Whenever Searching and/or Other Filtering is active in

a window, column
highlighting is temporarily disabled. See the notes at the end
of topics 5d.
SEARCHING and 5e. FILTERING for an explanation why.
y :Row-Highlight toggle
Changes highlighting for "running" tasks. For additional
insight into this task
state, see topic 3a. DESCRIPTIONS of Fields, the `S' field (Process
Status).
Use of this provision provides important insight into your system's

health. The only
costs will be a few additional tty escape sequences.
z :Color/Monochrome toggle
Switches the `current' window between your last used color scheme
and the older form
of black-on-white or white-on-black. This command will alter both
the summary area
and task area but does not affect the state of the `x', `y' or `b'
toggles.
CONTENT of task window
c :Command-Line/Program-Name toggle
This command will be honored whether or not the COMMAND column is
currently visible.
Later, should that field come into view, the change you applied will
be seen.
f | F :Fields-Management
These keys display a separate screen where you can change which
fields are displayed,
their order and also designate the sort field. For additional
information on these
interactive commands see topic 3b. MANAGING Fields.
o | O :Other-Filtering
You will be prompted for the selection criteria which then
determines which tasks
will be shown in the `current' window. Your criteria can be made
case sensitive or
case can be ignored. And you determine if top should include or
exclude matching
tasks.
See topic 5e. FILTERING in a window for details on these and

additional related
interactive commands.
S :Cumulative-Time-Mode toggle
When Cumulative mode is On, each process is listed with the cpu time
that it and its
dead children have used.
When Off, programs that fork into many separate tasks will appear
less demanding.
For programs like ìnit' or a shell this is appropriate but
for others, like
compilers, perhaps not. Experiment with two task windows sharing the
same sort field
but with different `S' states and see which representation you
prefer.
After issuing this command, you'll be informed of the new state of

this toggle. If
you wish to know in advance whether or not Cumulative mode is in
effect, simply ask
for help and view the window summary on the second line.
u | U :Show-Specific-User-Only
You will be prompted for the uid or name of the user to display.
The -u option
matches on effective user whereas the -U option matches on
any user (real,
effective, saved, or filesystem).
Thereafter, in that task window only matching users will be shown,

or possibly no
processes will be shown. Prepending an exclamation point (`!')
to the user id or
name instructs top to display only processes with users not
matching the one
provided.
Different task windows can be used to filter different users.

Later, if you wish to
monitor all users again in the `current' window, re-issue this
command but just press
<Enter> at the prompt.
V :Forest-View-Mode toggle
In this mode, processes are reordered according to their parents
and the layout of
the COMMAND column resembles that of a tree. In forest view
mode it is still
possible to toggle between program name and command line (see the
`c' interactive
command) or between processes and threads (see the `H' interactive
command).
Note: Typing any key affecting the sort order will exit forest
view mode in
the
`current' window. See topic 4c. TASK AREA Commands, SORTING for
information on those
keys.
v :Hide/Show-Children toggle
When in forest view mode, this key serves as a toggle to collapse
or expand the
children of a parent.
The toggle is applied against the first (topmost) process in the

`current' window.
See topic 5c. SCROLLING a Window for additional information
regarding vertical
scrolling.
If the target process has not forked any children, this key has no
effect. It also
has no effect when not in forest view mode.
SIZE of task window
i :Idle-Process toggle
Displays all tasks or just active tasks. When this toggle is Off,
tasks that have
not used any CPU since the last update will not be displayed.
However, due to the
granularity of the %CPU and TIME+ fields, some processes may still be
displayed that
appear to have used no CPU.
If this command is applied to the last task display when in

alternate-display mode,
then it will not affect the window's size, as all prior task
displays will have
already been painted.
n | # :Set-Maximum-Tasks
You will be prompted to enter the number of tasks to display.
The lessor of your
number and available screen rows will be used.
When used in alternate-display mode, this is the command that

gives you precise
control over the size of each currently visible task display,
except for the very
last. It will not affect the last window's size, as all prior task
displays will
have already been painted.
Note: If you wish to increase the size of the last visible task
display when in
alternate-display mode, simply decrease the size of the task
display(s) above it.
SORTING of task window
For compatibility, this top supports most of the former top sort keys.
Since this is
primarily a service to former top users, these commands do not appear on
any help screen.
command sorted-field supported
A start time (non-display) No
M %MEM Yes
N PID Yes
P %CPU Yes
T TIME+ Yes
Before using any of the following sort provisions, top suggests that you
temporarily turn
on column highlighting using the `x' interactive command. That will help
ensure that the
actual sort environment matches your intent.
The following interactive commands will only be honored when the

current sort field is
visible. The sort field might not be visible because:
1) there is insufficient Screen Width
2) the `f' interactive command turned it Off
< :Move-Sort-Field-Left
Moves the sort column to the left unless the current sort field is
the first field
being displayed.
>:Move-Sort-Field-Right
Moves the sort column to the right unless the current sort field
is the last field
being displayed.
The following interactive commands will always be honored whether or not

the current sort
field is visible.
f | F :Fields-Management
These keys display a separate screen where you can change which
field is used as
the sort column, among other functions. This can be a convenient
way to simply
verify the current sort field, when running top with column
highlighting turned
Off.
R :Reverse/Normal-Sort-Field toggle
Using this interactive command you can alternate between high-to-
low and low-to-
high sorts.
Note: Field sorting uses internal values, not those in column display.
Thus, the TTY and
WCHAN fields will violate strict ASCII collating sequence.
4d. COLOR Mapping

When you issue the `Z' interactive command, you will be presented with a
separate screen.
That screen can be used to change the colors in just the `current'
window or in all four
windows before returning to the top display.
The following interactive commands are available.

4 upper case letters to select a target
8 numbers to select a color
normal toggles available
B :bold disable/enable
b :running tasks "bold"/reverse
z :color/mono
other commands available
a/w :apply, then go to next/prior
<Enter> :apply and exit
q :abandon current changes and exit
If you use à' or `w' to cycle the targeted window, you will have applied
the color scheme
that was displayed when you left that window. You can, of course,
easily return to any
window and reapply different colors or turn colors Off completely with the
`z' toggle.
The Color Mapping screen can also be used to change the `current'
window/field group in
either full-screen mode or alternate-display mode. Whatever was
targeted when `q' or
<Enter> was pressed will be made current as you return to the top display.
5. ALTERNATE-DISPLAY Provisions
5a. WINDOWS Overview
Field Groups/Windows:
In full-screen mode there is a single window represented by the entire
screen. That
single window can still be changed to display 1 of 4 different field
groups (see the `g'
interactive command, repeated below). Each of the 4 field groups has a
unique separately
configurable summary area and its own configurable task area.
In alternate-display mode, those 4 underlying field groups can now

be made visible
simultaneously, or can be turned Off individually at your command.
The summary area will always exist, even if it's only the message line.
At any given
time only one summary area can be displayed. However, depending on your
commands, there
could be from zero to four separate task displays currently showing on
the screen.
Current Window:
The `current' window is the window associated with the summary area and
the window to
which task related commands are always directed. Since in alternate-
display mode you can
toggle the task display Off, some commands might be restricted for the
`current' window.
A further complication arises when you have toggled the first summary
area line Off.
With the loss of the window name (the `l' toggled line), you'll not
easily know what
window is the `current' window.
5b. COMMANDS for Windows

- | _ :Show/Hide-Window(s) toggles
The `-' key turns the `current' window's task display On and Off.
When On, that task
area will show a minimum of the columns header you've
established with the `f'
interactive command. It will also reflect any other task area
options/toggles you've
applied yielding zero or more tasks.
The `_' key does the same for all task displays. In other words, it
switches between
the currently visible task display(s) and any task display(s) you
had toggled Off.
If all 4 task displays are currently visible, this interactive
command will leave the
summary area as the only display element.
* = | + :Equalize/Reset-Window(s)
The `=' key forces the `current' window's task display to be
visible. It also
reverses any active ì' (idle tasks), `n' (max tasks), ù/U'
(user filter), ò/O'
(other filter), `v' (hide children), `L' (locate) and `!' (combine
cpus) commands.
Also, if the window had been scrolled, it will be reset with this
command. See topic
5c. SCROLLING a Window for additional information regarding vertical
and horizontal
scrolling.
The `+' key does the same for all windows. The four task
displays will reappear,
evenly balanced, while retaining any customizations previously
applied beyond those
noted for the `=' command toggle.
* A :Alternate-Display-Mode toggle
This command will switch between full-screen mode and alternate-
display mode.
The first time you issue this command, all four task
displays will be shown.
Thereafter when you switch modes, you will see only the task
display(s) you've chosen
to make visible.
* a | w :Next-Window-Forward/Backward
This will change the `current' window, which in turn changes the
window to which
commands are directed. These keys act in a circular fashion so you
can reach any
desired window using either key.
Assuming the window name is visible (you have not toggled `l'
Off), whenever the
`current' window name loses its emphasis/color, that's a reminder the
task display is
Off and many commands will be restricted.
* g:Choose-Another-Window/Field-Group
You will be prompted to enter a number between 1 and 4 designating
the field group
which should be made the `current' window.
In full-screen mode, this command is necessary to alter the

`current' window. In
alternate-display mode, it is simply a less convenient alternative to
the à' and `w'
commands.
G :Change-Window/Field-Group-Name
You will be prompted for a new name to be applied to the `current'
window. It does
not require that the window name be visible (the `l' toggle to be
On).
* The interactive commands shown with an asterisk (`*') have use beyond
alternate-display
mode.
=, A, g are always available
a, w act the same with color mapping
and fields management
5c. SCROLLING a Window

Typically a task window is a partial view into a systems's total
tasks/threads which shows
only some of the available fields/columns. With these scrolling keys,
you can move that
view vertically or horizontally to reveal any desired task or column.
Up,PgUp :Scroll-Tasks
Move the view up toward the first task row, until the first task is
displayed at the top
of the `current' window. The Up arrow key moves a single line while
PgUp scrolls the
entire window.
Down,PgDn :Scroll-Tasks
Move the view down toward the last task row, until the last task is
the only task
displayed at the top of the `current' window. The Down arrow key
moves a single line
while PgDn scrolls the entire window.
Left,Right :Scroll-Columns
Move the view of displayable fields horizontally one column at a time.
Note: As a reminder, some fields/columns are not fixed-width but

allocated all remaining
screen width when visible. When scrolling right or left, that feature
may produce some
unexpected results initially.
Additionally, there are special provisions for any variable width field
when positioned
as the last displayed field. Once that field is reached via the right
arrow key, and is
thus the only column shown, you can continue scrolling horizontally
within such a field.
See the `C' interactive command below for additional information.
Home :Jump-to-Home-Position
Reposition the display to the un-scrolled coordinates.
End :Jump-to-End-Position
Reposition the display so that the rightmost column reflects the last
displayable field
and the bottom task row represents the last task.
Note: From this position it is still possible to scroll down and right
using the arrow
keys. This is true until a single column and a single task is left as
the only display
element.
C:Show-scroll-coordinates toggle
Toggle an informational message which is displayed whenever the
message line is not
otherwise being used. That message will take one of two forms
depending on whether or
not a variable width column has also been scrolled.
scroll coordinates: y = n/n (tasks), x = n/n (fields)

scroll coordinates: y = n/n (tasks), x = n/n (fields) + nn
The coordinates shown as n/n are relative to the upper left corner of
the `current'
window. The additional `+ nn' represents the displacement into a
variable width column
when it has been scrolled horizontally. Such displacement occurs in
normal 8 character
tab stop amounts via the right and left arrow keys.
y = n/n (tasks)
The first n represents the topmost visible task and is controlled by
scrolling keys.
The second n is updated automatically to reflect total tasks.
x = n/n (fields)
The first n represents the leftmost displayed column and is
controlled by scrolling
keys. The second n is the total number of displayable fields
and is established
with the `f' interactive command.
The above interactive commands are always available in full-screen mode but
never available
in alternate-display mode if the `current' window's task display has been
toggled Off.
Note: When any form of filtering is active, you can expect some slight
aberrations when
scrolling since not all tasks will be visible. This is particularly
apparent when using the
Up/Down arrow keys.
5d. SEARCHING in a Window

You can use these interactive commands to locate a task row containing a
particular value.
L:Locate-a-string
You will be prompted for the case-sensitive string to locate starting
from the current
window coordinates. There are no restrictions on search string content.
Searches are not limited to values from a single field or column. All
of thevalues
displayed in a task row are allowed in a search string. You may
include spaces,
numbers, symbols and even forest view artwork.
Keying <Enter> with no input will effectively disable the `&' key until
a new search
string is entered.
&
:Locate-next
Assuming a search string has been established, top will attempt to
locate the next
occurrence.
When a match is found, the current window is repositioned vertically so

the task row
containing that string is first. The scroll coordinates message can provide
confirmation of
such vertical repositioning (see the `C' interactive command).
Horizontal scrolling,
however, is never altered via searching.
The availability of a matching string will be influenced by the following

factors.
a. Which fields are displayable from the total available,

see topic 3b. MANAGING Fields.
b. Scrolling a window vertically and/or horizontally,

see topic 5c. SCROLLING a Window.
c. The state of the command/command-line toggle,

see the `c' interactive command.
d. The stability of the chosen sort column,

for example PID is good but %CPU bad.
If a search fails, restoring the `current' window home (unscrolled)

position, scrolling
horizontally, displaying command-lines or choosing a more stable sort
field could yet
produce a successful `&' search.
The above interactive commands are always available in full-screen mode but
never available
in alternate-display mode if the `current' window's task display has been
toggled Off.
Note: Whenever a Search is active in a window, top will turn column

highlighting Off to
prevent false matches on internal non-display escape sequences. Such
highlighting will be
restored when a window's search string is empty. See the `x'
interactive command for
additional information on sort column highlighting.
5e. FILTERING in a Window

You can use this Òther Filter' feature to establish selection criteria
which will then
determine which tasks are shown in the `current' window. Such
filters can be made
presistent if preserved in the rcfile via the 'W' interactive command.
Establishing a filter requires: 1) a field name; 2) an operator; and 3) a

selection value,
as a minimum. This is the most complex of top's user input requirements so,
when you make a
mistake, command recall will be your friend. Remember the Up/Down
arrow keys or their
aliases when prompted for input.
Filter Basics
1. field names are case sensitive and spelled as in the header
2. selection values need not comprise the full displayed field
3. a selection is either case insensitive or sensitive to case
4. the default is inclusion, prepending `!' denotes exclusions
5. multiple selection criteria can be applied to a task window
6. inclusion and exclusion criteria can be used simultaneously
7. the 1 equality and 2 relational filters can be freely mixed
8. separate unique filters are maintained for each task window
If a field is not turned on or is not currently in view, then your

selection criteria
will not affect the display. Later, should a filtered field
become visible, the
selection criteria will then be applied.
Keyboard Summary
o :Other-Filter (lower case)

You will be prompted to establish a filter that ignores case when
matching.
O :Other-Filter (upper case)

You will be prompted to establish a case sensitive filter.
Ô :Show-Active-Filters (Ctrl key + ò')

This can serve as a reminder of which filters are active in the
`current' window. A
summary will be shown on the message line until you press the <Enter>
key.
= :Reset-Filtering in current window

This clears all of your selection criteria in the `current'
window. It also has
additional impact so please see topic 4a. GLOBAL Commands.
+:Reset-Filtering in all windows

This clears the selection criteria in all windows, assuming
you are in
alternate-display mode. As with the `=' interactive command, it
too has additional
consequences so you might wish to see topic 5b. COMMANDS for Windows.
Input Requirements
When prompted for selection criteria, the data you provide must take one
of twoforms.
There are 3 required pieces of information, with a 4th as optional.
These examples use
spaces for clarity but your input generally would not.
#1 #2 #3 ( required )
Field-Name ? include-if-value
! Field-Name ? exclude-if-value
#4 ( optional )
Items #1, #3 and #4 should be self-explanatory. Item #2 represents

both arequired
delimiter and the operator which must be one of either equality (`=') or
relation (`<' or
`>').
The `=' equality operator requires only a partial match and that
can reduce your
ìf-value' input requirements. The `>' or `<' relational operators
always employ string
comparisons, even with numeric fields. They are designed to work with a
field's default
justification and with homogeneous data. When some field's numeric
amounts have been
subjected to scaling while others have not, that data is no longer
homogeneous.
If you establish a relational filter and you have changed the

default Numeric or
Character justification, that filter is likely to fail. When a
relational filter is
applied to a memory field and you have not changed the scaling, it may
produce misleading
results. This happens, for example, because `100.0m' (MiB) would
appear greater than
`1.000g' (GiB) when compared as strings.
If your filtered results appear suspect, simply altering justification or

scaling may yet
achieve the desired objective. See the `j', `J' and è'
interactive commands for
additional information.
Potential Problems
These GROUP filters could produce the exact same results or the second
one might not
display anything at all, just a blank task window.
GROUP=root ( only the same results when )
GROUP=ROOT ( invoked via lower case ò' )
Either of these RES filters might yield inconsistent and/or misleading

results, depending
on the current memory scaling factor. Or both filters could produce
the exact same
results.
RES>9999 ( only the same results when )
!RES<10000 ( memory scaling is at `KiB' )
This nMin filter illustrates a problem unique to scalable fields. This
particular field
can display a maximum of 4 digits, beyond which values are automatically
scaled to KiB or
above. So while amounts greater than 9999 exist, they will appear as
2.6m, 197k, etc.
nMin>9999 ( always a blank task window )
Potential Solutions
These examples illustrate how Other Filtering can be creatively applied

to achieve almost
any desired result. Single quotes are sometimes shown to delimit the
spaces which are
part of a filter or to represent a request for status (Ô) accurately.
But if you used
them with if-values in real life, no matches would be found.
Assuming field nTH is displayed, the first filter will result in only
multi-threaded
processes being shown. It also reminds us that a trailing space
is part of every
displayed field. The second filter achieves the exact same results with
less typing.
!nTH=` 1 ' ( ' for clarity only )
nTH>1 ( same with less i/p )
With Forest View mode active and the COMMAND column in view, this
filter effectively
collapses child processes so that just 3 levels are shown.
!COMMAND=` `- ' ( ' for clarity only )
The final two filters appear as in response to the status request key
(Ô). In reality,
each filter would have required separate input. The PR example shows the
two concurrent
filters necessary to display tasks with priorities of 20 or more,
since some might be
negative. Then by exploiting trailing spaces, the nMin series of filters
could achieve
the failed `9999' objective discussed above.
`PR>20' + `!PR=-' ( 2 for right result )
`!nMin=0 ' + `!nMin=1 ' + `!nMin=2 ' + `!nMin=3 ' ...
Note: Whenever Other Filtering is active in a window, top will turn column
highlighting Off
to prevent false matches on internal non-display escape sequences. Such
highlighting will
be restored when a window is no longer subject to filtering. See the
`x' interactive
command for additional information on sort column highlighting.
6. FILES
6a. PERSONAL Configuration File
This file is created or updated via the 'W' interactive command.
The legacy version is written as `$HOME/.your-name-4-top' + `rc' with a

leading period.
A newly created configuration file is written as procps/your-name-4-top' +
`rc' without a
leading period. The procps directory will be subordinate to either
$XDG_CONFIG_HOME when
set as an absolute path or the $HOME/.config directory.
While not intended to be edited manually, here is the general layout:

global # line 1: the program name/alias notation
" # line 2: id,altscr,irixps,delay,curwin
per ea # line a: winname,fieldscur
window # line b: winflags,sortindx,maxtasks,etc
" # line c: summclr,msgsclr,headclr,taskclr
global # line 15: additional miscellaneous settings
" # any remaining lines are devoted to optional
" # active 'other filters' discussed in section 5e above
" # plus 'inspect' entries discussed in section 6b below
If a valid absolute path to the rcfile cannot be established,

customizations made to a
running top will be impossible to preserve.
6b. ADDING INSPECT Entries

To exploit the `Y' interactive command, you must add entries at the end of
the top personal
configuration file. Such entries simply reflect a file to be read or
command/pipeline to be
executed whose results will then be displayed in a separate scrollable,
searchable window.
If you don't know the location or name of your top rcfile, use the `W'
interactive command
to rewrite it and note those details.
Inspect entries can be added with a redirected echo or by editing the

configuration file.
Redirecting an echo risks overwriting the rcfile should it replace (>)
rather than append
(>>) to that file. Conversely, when using an editor care must be taken
not to corrupt
existing lines, some of which will contain unprintable data or unusual
characters.
Those Inspect entries beginning with a `#' character are ignored,

regardless of content.
Otherwise they consist of the following 3 elements, each of which must be
separated by a tab
character (thus 2 `\t' total):
.type: literal `file' or `pipe'

.name: selection shown on the Inspect screen
.fmts: string representing a path or command
The two types of Inspect entries are not interchangeable. Those

designated `file' will be
accessed using fopen and must reference a single file in the `.fmts'
element. Entries
specifying `pipe' will employ popen, their `.fmts' element could
contain many pipelined
commands and, none can be interactive.
If the file or pipeline represented in your `.fmts' deals with the specific
PID input or
accepted when prompted, then the format string must also contain the `
%d' specifier, as
these examples illustrate.
.fmts= /proc/%d/numa_maps
.fmts= lsof -P -p %d
For `pipe' type entries only, you may also wish to redirect stderr to
stdout for a more
comprehensive result. Thus the format string becomes:
.fmts= pmap -x %d 2>&1
Here are examples of both types of Inspect entries as they might appear in
the rcfile. The
first entry will be ignored due to the initial `#' character. For clarity,
the pseudo tab
depictions (Î) are surrounded by an extra space but the actual tabs would
not be.
# pipe Î Sockets Î lsof -n -P -i 2>&1

pipe Î Open Files Î lsof -P -p %d 2>&1
file Î NUMA Info Î /proc/%d/numa_maps
pipe Î Log Î tail -n100 /var/log/syslog | sort -Mr
Except for the commented entry above, these next examples show what
could be echoed to
achieve similar results, assuming the rcfile name was `.toprc'.
However, due to the
embedded tab characters, each of these lines should be preceded by
`/bin/echo -e', not just
a simple an ècho', to enable backslash interpretation regardless of which
shell you use.
"pipe\tOpen Files\tlsof -P -p %d 2>&1" >> ~/.toprc

"file\tNUMA Info\t/proc/%d/numa_maps" >> ~/.toprc
"pipe\tLog\ttail -n200 /var/log/syslog | sort -Mr" >> ~/.toprc
If any inspect entry you create produces output with unprintable characters
they will be
displayed in either the ^C notation or hexadecimal <FF> form, depending
on their value.
This applies to tab characters as well, which will show as `Î'. If you
want a truer
representation, any embedded tabs should be expanded. The following
example takes what
could have been a `file' entry but employs a `pipe' instead so as to
expand the embedded
tabs.
# next would have contained `\t' ...

# file Î <your_name> Î /proc/%d/status
# but this will eliminate embedded `\t' ...
pipe Î <your_name> Î cat /proc/%d/status | expand -
Note: Some programs might rely on SIGINT to end. Therefore, if a

`pipe' such as the
following is established, one must use Ctrl-C to terminate it in order
to review the
results. This is the single occasion where a `^C' will not also terminate
top.
pipe Î Trace Î /usr/bin/strace -p %d 2>&1
Lastly, while `pipe' type entries have been discussed in terms of

pipelines and commands,
there is nothing to prevent you from including shell scripts as well.
Perhaps even newly
created scripts designed specifically for the `Y' interactive command.
For example, as the number of your Inspect entries grows over time, the
Òptions:' row will
be truncated when screen width is exceeded. That does not affect operation
other than to
make some selections invisible. However, if some choices are lost to
truncation but you
want to see more options, there is an easy solution hinted at below.
Inspection Pause at pid ...

Use: left/right then <Enter> ...
Options: help 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 ...
The entries in the top rcfile would have a number for the `.name' element
and the `help'
entry would identify a shell script you've written explaining what those
numbered selections
actually mean. In that way, many more choices can be made visible.
6c. SYSTEM Configuration File

This configuration file represents defaults for users who have not
saved their own
configuration file. The format mirrors exactly the personal configuration
file and can also
include ìnspect' entries as explained above.
Creating it is a simple process.
1. Configure top appropriately for your installation and preserve that

configuration with
the `W' interactive command.
2. Add and test any desired ìnspect' entries.
3. Copy that configuration file to the /etc/ directory as `topdefaultrc'.
6d. SYSTEM Restrictions File

The presence of this file will influence which version of the help
screen is shown to an
ordinary user.
More importantly, it will limit what ordinary users are allowed to do when
top is running.
They will not be able to issue the following commands.
k Kill a task
r Renice a task
d or s Change delay/sleep interval
This configuration file is not created by top. Rather, it is created

manually and placed it
in the /etc/ directory as `toprc'.
It should have exactly two lines, as shown in this example:

s # line 1: secure mode switch
5.0 # line 2: delay interval in seconds
7. STUPID TRICKS Sampler

Many of these tricks work best when you give top a scheduling boost. So
plan on starting
him with a nice value of -10, assuming you've got the authority.
7a. Kernel Magic

For these stupid tricks, top needs full-screen mode.
• The user interface, through prompts and help, intentionally

implies that the delay
interval is limited to tenths of a second. However, you're free to
set any desired
delay. If you want to see Linux at his scheduling best, try a delay
of .09 seconds or
less.
For this experiment, under x-windows open an xterm and maximize it.
Then do the
following:
. provide a scheduling boost and tiny delay via:
nice -n -10 top -d.09
. keep sorted column highlighting Off so as to
minimize path length
. turn On reverse row highlighting for emphasis
. try various sort columns (TIME/MEM work well),
and normal or reverse sorts to bring the most
active processes into view
What you'll see is a very busy Linux doing what he's always done for
you, but there was
no program available to illustrate this.
• Under an xterm using `white-on-black' colors, on top's Color Mapping

screen set the task
color to black and be sure that task highlighting is set to bold, not
reverse. Then set
the delay interval to around .3 seconds.
After bringing the most active processes into view, what you'll see
are the ghostly
images of just the currently running tasks.
• Delete the existing rcfile, or create a new symlink. Start this new
version then type
`T' (a secret key, see topic 4c. Task Area Commands, SORTING) followed by
`W' and `q'.
Finally, restart the program with -d0 (zero delay).
Your display will be refreshed at three times the rate of the former
top, a 300% speed
advantage. As top climbs the TIME ladder, be as patient as you can while
speculating on
whether or not top will ever reach the top.
7b. Bouncing Windows

For these stupid tricks, top needs alternate-display mode.
• With 3 or 4 task displays visible, pick any window other than the
last and turn idle
processes Off using the ì' command toggle. Depending on where
you applied ì',
sometimes several task displays are bouncing and sometimes it's like an
accordion, as top
tries his best to allocate space.
• Set each window's summary lines differently: one with no memory (`m');
another with no
states (`t'); maybe one with nothing at all, just the message line.
Then hold down à'
or `w' and watch a variation on bouncing windows -- hopping windows.
• Display all 4 windows and for each, in turn, set idle processes to Off
using the ì'
command toggle. You've just entered the "extreme bounce" zone.
7c. The Big Bird Window

This stupid trick also requires alternate-display mode.
• Display all 4 windows and make sure that 1:Def is the `current'
window. Then, keep
increasing window size with the `n' interactive command until all the
other task displays
are "pushed out of the nest".
When they've all been displaced, toggle between all visible/invisible

windows using the
`_' command toggle. Then ponder this:
is top fibbing or telling honestly your imposed truth?
7d. The Ol' Switcheroo

This stupid trick works best without alternate-display mode, since
justification is active
on a per window basis.
• Start top and make COMMAND the last (rightmost) column displayed. If
necessary, use the
`c' command toggle to display command lines and ensure that forest view
mode is active
with the `V' command toggle.
Then use the up/down arrow keys to position the display so that some
truncated command
lines are shown (`+' in last position). You may have to resize your
xterm to produce
truncation.
Lastly, use the `j' command toggle to make the COMMAND column right
justified.
Now use the right arrow key to reach the COMMAND column. Continuing with
the right arrow
key, watch closely the direction of travel for the command lines being
shown.
some lines travel left, while others travel right
eventually all lines will Switcheroo, and move right
8. BUGS
Please send bug reports to ⟨[email protected]⟩.
9. SEE Also
free(1), ps(1), uptime(1), atop(1), slabtop(1), vmstat(8), w(1)
procps-ng September 2020

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TOP(1) User Commands

The traditional switches `-' and whitespace are optional.

The program provides a limited interactive interface for process

The main top screen is generally quite adaptive to changes in terminal

Following any re-size operation, if a top screen is corrupted, appears

Note: the width of top's display will be limited to 512 positions.

Linux Memory Types

1. abstraction, free from physical memory addresses/limits

For each such process, every memory page is restricted to a single

The following may help in interpreting process level memory values

%MEM - simply RES divided by total physical memory

-hv|-bcEeHiOSs1 -d secs -n max -u|U user -p pids -o field -w [cols]

-d :Delay-time interval as: -d ss.t (secs.tenths)

Fractional seconds are honored, but a negative number is not allowed.

Later this can be changed with the `e' command toggle.

Later this can be changed with the `E' command toggle.

-n:Number-of-iterations limit as: -n number

-o:Override-sort-field as: -o fieldname

This option exists primarily to support automated/scripted batch mode

-p:Monitor-PIDs mode as: -pN1 -pN2 ... or -pN1,N2,N3 ...

A pid value of zero will be treated as the process id of the top

This is a command-line option only and should you wish to return to

-u | -U :User-filter-mode as: -u | -U number or name

Prepending an exclamation point (`!') to the user id or name

-w :Output-width-override as: -w [ number ]

Note: Without the use of this command-line option, output width is

2b. TASK and CPU States

Line 1 shows total tasks or threads, depending on the state of the

As a default, percentages for these individual categories are displayed.

In the alternate cpu states display modes, beyond the first

Where: a) is the `user' (us + ni) percentage; b) is the `system' (sy + hi +

2c. MEMORY Usage

As a default, Line 1 reflects physical memory, classified as:

Line 2 reflects mostly virtual memory, classified as:

The avail number on line 2 is an estimation of physical memory available

Where: a) is the percentage used; b) is the total available; and c) is one

In the case of physical memory, the percentage represents the total

This table may help in interpreting the scaled values displayed:

The fields related to physical memory or virtual memory reference `(KiB)'

1. %CPU -- CPU Usage

In a true SMP environment, if a process is multi-threaded and top is

Also for multi-processor environments, if Irix mode is Off, top will

2. %MEM -- Memory Usage (RES)

See `OVERVIEW, Linux Memory Types' for additional details.

3. CGNAME -- Control Group Name

4. CGROUPS -- Control Groups

Control Groups provide for allocating resources (cpu, memory, network

Many different hierarchies of cgroups can exist simultaneously on a

Note: The CGROUPS field, unlike most columns, is not fixed-width.

5. CODE -- Code Size (KiB)

See `OVERVIEW, Linux Memory Types' for additional details.

6. COMMAND -- Command Name or Command Line

When you've chosen to display command lines, processes without a

Note: The COMMAND field, unlike most columns, is not fixed-width.

7. DATA -- Data + Stack Size (KiB)

See `OVERVIEW, Linux Memory Types' for additional details.

8. ENVIRON -- Environment variables

9. Flags -- Task Flags

10. GID -- Group Id

11. GROUP -- Group Name