Random Access Memory (RAM) is the memory in the computer that is used to store running process and data. RAM provides faster data access as compared to the disk drive. This page shows how to find out the amount of free and used memory in the Debian Linux system.
Check memory Debian Linux
The procedure to check memory is as follows:
- Open the terminal app or login to the remote Debian server using ssh command:
ssh user@server-name-here - Type the free command to see memory in mebibytes:
free -m - You can also /proc/meminfo:
cat /pro/meminfo
Let us see all commands to check memory usage on Debian Linux cloud or bare metal server.
1. free command
Display the amount of memory in bytes:
free -b
Show the amount of memory in mebibytes:
free -m
Get the amount of memory in megabytes:
free --mega
Find the amount of memory in gibibyte:
free -g
Want to see the amount of memory in gigabytes? Pass --giga option as follows:
free --giga
Pass the -t option to get totals info about memory:
free --giga -t
Fig.01: free command in action
2. /proc/meminfo
Use cat command as follows:
cat /proc/meminfo
This file reports statistics about memory usage on the system. It is used by free to report the amount of free and used memory (both physical and swap) on the system as well as the shared memory and buffers used by the kernel
3. top command
Just type top command:
top
top command displays Linux processes including CPU and memory/swap usage
4. vmstat command
To get report about virtual memory statistics on Debian Linux, run:
vmstat
vmstat 2 5
vmstat -a
Get info about processes, memory, paging, block IO, traps, disks and cpu activity.
Understanding memory output of vmstat
- swpd: the amount of virtual memory used.
- free: the amount of idle memory.
- buff: the amount of memory used as buffers.
- cache: the amount of memory used as cache.
- inact: the amount of inactive memory. (-a option)
- active: the amount of active memory. (-a option)
htop command
Install htop using apt command/apt-get command:
sudo apt install htop
Now run it:
htop
htop – interactive process viewer in action
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| Category | List of Unix and Linux commands |
|---|---|
| File Management | cat |
| Firewall | CentOS 8 • OpenSUSE • RHEL 8 • Ubuntu 16.04 • Ubuntu 18.04 • Ubuntu 20.04 |
| Network Utilities | dig • host • ip • nmap |
| OpenVPN | CentOS 7 • CentOS 8 • Debian 10 • Debian 8/9 • Ubuntu 18.04 • Ubuntu 20.04 |
| Package Manager | apk • apt |
| Processes Management | bg • chroot • disown • fg • jobs • killall • kill • pidof • pstree • pwdx • time |
| Searching | grep • whereis • which |
| User Information | groups • id • lastcomm • last • lid/libuser-lid • logname • members • users • whoami • who • w |
| WireGuard VPN | CentOS 8 • Debian 10 • Firewall • Ubuntu 20.04 |
Easy to follow guide. thanks!