SLABTOP(1)                                             Linux User's Manual                                            SLABTOP(1)



NAME
       slabtop - display kernel slab cache information in real time


SYNOPSIS
       slabtop [ options ]


DESCRIPTION
       slabtop(1)  displays detailed kernel slab cache information in real time.  It displays a listing of the top caches sorted
       by one of the listed sort criteria.  It also displays a statistics header filled with slab layer information.


OPTIONS
       Normal invocation of slabtop(1) does not require any options.  The behavior, however, can be fine-tuned by specifying one
       or more of the following flags:

       --delay=n, -d n
              Refresh  the  display every n seconds.  By default, slabtop(1) refreshes the display every three seconds.  To exit
              the program, hit q.

       --sort=S, -s S
              Sort by S, where S is one of the sort criteria.

       --once, -o
              Display the output once and then exit.

       --version, -V
              Display version information and exit.

       --help Display usage information and exit.


SORT CRITERIA
       The following are valid sort criteria used to sort the individual slab caches and thereby determine what  are  the  "top"
       slab caches to display.  The default sort criteria is to sort by the number of objects ("o").

       The sort criteria can also be changed while slabtop is running by pressing the associated character.

       a:     sort by number of active objects

       b:     sort by objects per slab

       c:     sort by cache size

       l:     sort by number of slabs

       v      sort by number of active slabs

       n:     sort by name

       o:     sort by number of objects

       p:     sort by pages per slab

       s:     sort by object size

       u:     sort by cache utilization


COMMANDS
       slabtop(1)  accepts  keyboard  commands  from the user during use.  The following are supported.  In the case of letters,
       both cases are accepted.

       Each of the valid sort characters are also accepted, to change the sort routine. See the section SORT CRITERIA.


       <SPACEBAR>
              Refresh the screen.

       Q      Quit the program.


FILES
       /proc/slabinfo -- slab information


SEE ALSO
       free(1), ps(1), top(1), vmstat(8)


NOTES
       Currently, slabtop(1) requires a 2.4 or later kernel (specifically, a version 1.1 or later /proc/slabinfo).   Kernel  2.2
       should be supported in the future.

       The  slabtop statistic header is tracking how many bytes of slabs are being used and it not a measure of physical memory.
       The 'Slab' field in the /proc/meminfo file is tracking information about used slab physical memory.


AUTHORS
       Written by Chris Rivera and Robert Love.

       slabtop(1) was inspired by Martin Bligh's perl script, vmtop.   The  procps  package  is  maintained  by  Albert  Cahalan
       <albertATusers.net>.

       Please send bug reports to <procps-feedbackATlists.net>.



Linux                                                      13 Sep 2003                                                SLABTOP(1)