slabtop

Display kernel slab cache information

TLDR

Start slabtop

$ sudo slabtop

Sort by cache size

$ sudo slabtop -s c

Sort by number of objects

$ sudo slabtop -s o

Sort by object size

$ sudo slabtop -s s

Display once and exit

$ sudo slabtop -o

Set refresh delay to 5 seconds

$ sudo slabtop -d 5

SYNOPSIS

slabtop [-d delay] [-s sortcriteria] [-o]

DESCRIPTION

slabtop displays detailed kernel slab cache information in real time. It shows a listing of the top caches sorted by one of the listed sort criteria, helping to monitor kernel memory allocation.

PARAMETERS

-d, --delay=N

Refresh the display every N seconds (default: 3)

-s, --sort=S

Arrange output by specified sort criteria

-o, --once

Display output once then exit

-V, --version

Show version and exit

-h, --help

Show usage help and exit

SORT CRITERIA

a: Active objects (ACTIVE)b: Objects per slab (OBJ/SLAB)c: Cache size (CACHE SIZE)l: Number of slabs (SLABS)o: Number of objects (OBJS) - defaults: Object size (OBJ SIZE)u: Cache utilization (USE)

INTERACTIVE COMMANDS

Space: Refresh display immediatelyq: Exit programs: Change sort column

INSTALL

sudo apt install procps

sudo dnf install procps-ng

sudo pacman -S procps-ng

sudo apk add procps-ng

sudo zypper install procps

brew install procps

nix profile install nixpkgs#procps

CAVEATS

Requires root privileges to read kernel slab cache information. Sort criteria can be changed during runtime using the corresponding letter key.

HISTORY

slabtop is part of the procps-ng package. It provides insight into the kernel's slab allocator, which manages memory for frequently used kernel objects.