1.\" $OpenBSD: top.1,v 1.81 2022/03/31 17:27:28 naddy Exp $ 2.\" 3.\" Copyright (c) 1997, Jason Downs. All rights reserved. 4.\" 5.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without 6.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions 7.\" are met: 8.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright 9.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer. 10.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright 11.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the 12.\" documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution. 13.\" 14.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR(S) ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS 15.\" OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED 16.\" WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE 17.\" DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR(S) BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, 18.\" INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES 19.\" (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR 20.\" SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER 21.\" CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT 22.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY 23.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF 24.\" SUCH DAMAGE. 25.\" 26.Dd $Mdocdate: March 31 2022 $ 27.Dt TOP 1 28.Os 29.Sh NAME 30.Nm top 31.Nd display and update information about the top CPU processes 32.Sh SYNOPSIS 33.Nm top 34.Bk -words 35.Op Fl 1bCHIinqStu 36.Op Fl d Ar count 37.Op Fl g Ar string 38.Op Fl o Oo - Oc Ns Ar field 39.Op Fl p Ar pid 40.Op Fl s Ar time 41.Op Fl T Oo - Oc Ns Ar rtable 42.Op Fl U Oo - Oc Ns Ar user 43.Op Ar number 44.Ek 45.Sh DESCRIPTION 46.Nm 47displays the top processes on the system and periodically updates this 48information. 49If standard output is an intelligent terminal (see below) then 50as many processes as will fit on the terminal screen are displayed 51by default. 52Otherwise, a good number of them are shown (around 20). 53Raw CPU percentage is used to rank the processes. 54If 55.Ar number 56is given, then the top 57.Ar number 58processes will be displayed instead of the default. 59.Pp 60.Nm 61makes a distinction between terminals that support advanced capabilities 62and those that do not. 63This distinction affects the choice of defaults for certain options. 64In the remainder of this document, an 65.Em intelligent 66terminal is one that supports cursor addressing, clear screen, and clear 67to end of line. 68Conversely, a 69.Em dumb 70terminal is one that does not support such features. 71If the output of 72.Nm 73is redirected to a file, it acts as if it were being run on a dumb 74terminal. 75.Pp 76The options are as follows: 77.Bl -tag -width Ds 78.It Fl 1 79Display combined CPU statistics for all processors on a single line 80instead of one line per CPU. 81If there are more than 8 CPUs detected in the system, this option 82is automatically enabled. 83.It Fl b 84Use 85.Em batch 86mode. 87In this mode, all input from the terminal is ignored. 88Interrupt characters (such as 89.Ql ^C 90and 91.Ql ^\e ) 92still have an effect. 93This is the default on a dumb terminal, or when the output is not a terminal. 94.It Fl C 95Show command line arguments 96as well as the process itself. 97.It Fl d Ar count 98Show only 99.Ar count 100displays, then exit. 101A display is considered to be one update of the screen. 102This option allows the user to select the number of displays 103to be shown before 104.Nm 105automatically exits. 106For intelligent terminals, no upper limit is set. 107The default is 1 for dumb terminals. 108.It Fl g Ar string 109Display only processes that contain 110.Ar string 111in their command name. 112If displaying of arguments is enabled, the arguments are searched too. 113.It Fl H 114Show process threads in the display. 115Normally, only the main process is shown. 116This option makes all threads visible. 117.It Fl I 118Do not display idle processes. 119By default, 120.Nm 121displays both active and idle processes. 122.It Fl i 123Use 124.Em interactive 125mode. 126In this mode, any input is immediately read for processing. 127See the section on 128.Sx INTERACTIVE MODE 129for an explanation of which keys perform what functions. 130After the command 131is processed, the screen will immediately be updated, even if the command was 132not understood. 133This mode is the default when standard output is an intelligent terminal. 134.It Fl n 135Use 136.Em non-interactive 137mode. 138This is identical to 139.Em batch 140mode. 141.It Fl o Oo - Oc Ns Ar field 142Sort the process display area using the specified 143.Ar field 144as the primary key. 145The field name is the name of the column as seen in the output, 146but in lower case. 147The 148.Sq - 149prefix reverses the order. 150The 151.Ox 152version of 153.Nm 154supports 155.Ar cpu , 156.Ar size , 157.Ar res , 158.Ar time , 159.Ar pri , 160.Ar pid , 161and 162.Ar command . 163.It Fl p Ar pid 164Show only the process 165.Ar pid . 166.It Fl q 167Renice 168.Nm 169to \-20 so that it will run faster. 170This can be used when the system is 171being very sluggish to improve the possibility of discovering the problem. 172This option can only be used by root. 173.It Fl S 174Show system processes in the display. 175Normally, system processes such as the pager and the swapper are not shown. 176This option makes them visible. 177.It Fl s Ar time 178Set the delay between screen updates to 179.Ar time 180seconds. 181The value may be fractional, to permit delays of less than 1 second. 182The default delay between updates is 5 seconds. 183.It Fl T Oo - Oc Ns Ar rtable 184Display only processes associated with the specified routing table 185.Ar rtable . 186.Sq T+ 187shows processes associated with all routing tables. 188The 189.Sq - 190prefix hides processes associated with a single routing table. 191.It Fl t 192Display routing tables. 193By default, routing tables are not shown. 194.It Fl U Oo - Oc Ns Ar user 195Show only those processes owned by username or UID 196.Ar user . 197The prefix 198.Sq - 199hides processes owned by that user. 200.It Fl u 201Do not take the time to map UID numbers to usernames. 202Normally, 203.Nm 204will read as much of the password database as is necessary to map 205all the user ID numbers it encounters into login names. 206This option 207disables all that, while possibly decreasing execution time. 208The UID numbers are displayed instead of the names. 209.El 210.Pp 211Both 212.Ar count 213and 214.Ar number 215fields can be specified as 216.Li infinite , 217indicating that they can stretch as far as possible. 218This is accomplished by using any proper prefix of the keywords 219.Li infinity , 220.Li maximum , 221or 222.Li all . 223The default for 224.Ar count 225on an intelligent terminal is, in fact, 226.Li infinity . 227.Pp 228The environment variable 229.Ev TOP 230is examined for options before the command line is scanned. 231This enables users to set their own defaults. 232The number of processes to display 233can also be specified in the environment variable 234.Ev TOP . 235.Pp 236The options 237.Fl I , 238.Fl S , 239and 240.Fl u 241are actually toggles. 242A second specification of any of these options 243will negate the first. 244Thus a user who has the environment variable 245.Ev TOP 246set to 247.Dq -I 248may use the command 249.Dq top -I 250to see idle processes. 251.Sh INTERACTIVE MODE 252When 253.Nm 254is running in 255.Em interactive mode , 256it reads commands from the terminal and acts upon them accordingly. 257In this mode, the terminal is put in 258.Dv CBREAK , 259so that a character will be processed as soon as it is typed. 260Almost always, a key will be pressed when 261.Nm 262is between displays; that is, while it is waiting for 263.Ar time 264seconds to elapse. 265If this is the case, the command will be 266processed and the display will be updated immediately thereafter 267(reflecting any changes that the command may have specified). 268This happens even if the command was incorrect. 269If a key is pressed while 270.Nm 271is in the middle of updating the display, it will finish the update and 272then process the command. 273Some commands require additional information, 274and the user will be prompted accordingly. 275While typing this information 276in, the user's erase and kill keys (as set up by the command 277.Xr stty 1 ) 278are recognized, and a newline terminates the input. 279.Pp 280These commands are currently recognized (^L refers to control-L): 281.Bl -tag -width XxXXXX 282.It h | \&? 283Display a summary of the commands (help screen). 284.It ^L 285Redraw the screen. 286.It <space> 287Update the screen. 288.It q 289Quit 290.Nm . 291.El 292.Bl -tag -width XxXXXX 293.It + 294Reset any filters put in place by the 295.Sq g , 296.Sq p , 297and 298.Sq u 299interactive commands, 300or their command line equivalents, 301or any process highlighting put in place by the 302.Sq P 303interactive command. 304.It 1 305Toggle the display of per CPU or combined CPU statistics. 306.It 9 | 0 307Scroll up/down the process list by one line. 308.It \&( | \&) 309Scroll up/down the process list by screen half. 310.It C 311Toggle the display of process command line arguments. 312.It d Ar count 313Show only 314.Ar count 315displays, 316then exit. 317.It e 318Display a list of system errors (if any) generated by the last 319.Li kill 320or 321.Li renice 322command. 323.It g|/ Ar string 324Display only processes that contain 325.Ar string 326in their command name. 327If displaying of arguments is enabled, the arguments are searched too. 328.Sq g+ 329or 330.Sq /+ 331shows all processes. 332.It H 333Toggle the display of process threads. 334.It I | i 335Toggle the display of idle processes. 336.It Xo k 337.Op - Ns Ar sig 338.Ar pid 339.Xc 340Send signal 341.No - Ns Ar sig 342.Pf ( Dv TERM 343by default) to process 344.Ar pid . 345This acts similarly to the command 346.Xr kill 1 . 347.It n|# Ar count 348Show 349.Ar count 350processes. 351.It o Oo - Oc Ns Ar field 352Sort the process display area using the specified 353.Ar field 354as the primary key. 355The 356.Sq - 357prefix reverses the order. 358Values are the same as for the 359.Fl o 360flag, as detailed above. 361.It P Ar pid 362Highlight a specific process, selected by 363.Ar pid . 364.Sq P+ 365removes process highlighting. 366.It p Ar pid 367Show only the process 368.Ar pid . 369.Sq p+ 370shows all processes. 371.It r Ar count pid 372Change the priority (the 373.Em nice ) 374of a list of processes to 375.Ar count 376for process 377.Ar pid . 378This acts similarly to the command 379.Xr renice 8 . 380.It S 381Toggle the display of system processes. 382.It s Ar time 383Set the delay between screen updates to 384.Ar time 385seconds. 386.It T Oo - Oc Ns Ar rtable 387Display only processes associated with the specified routing table 388.Ar rtable . 389.Sq T+ 390shows processes associated with all routing tables. 391The 392.Sq - 393prefix hides processes associated with a single routing table. 394.It t 395Toggle the display of routing tables. 396.It u Oo - Oc Ns Ar user 397Show only those processes owned by username or UID 398.Ar user . 399.Sq u+ 400shows processes belonging to all users. 401The 402.Sq - 403prefix hides processes belonging to a single 404.Ar user . 405.El 406.Sh THE DISPLAY 407.\" The actual display varies depending on the specific variant of Unix 408.\" that the machine is running. This description may not exactly match 409.\" what is seen by top running on this particular machine. Differences 410.\" are listed at the end of this manual entry. 411.\" .Pp 412The top few lines of the display show general information 413about the state of the system, including 414.\" the last process ID assigned to a process, 415.\" (on most systems), 416the three load average numbers, 417the hostname, 418the current time, 419the number of existing processes, 420the number of processes in each state 421(starting, running, idle, stopped, zombie, dead, and on processor), 422and a percentage of time spent in each of the processor states 423(user, nice, system, spinning, interrupt, and idle). 424It also includes information about physical and virtual memory allocation. 425The load average numbers give the number of jobs in the run queue averaged 426over 1, 5, and 15 minutes. 427.Pp 428The remainder of the screen displays information about individual 429processes. 430This display is similar in spirit to 431.Xr ps 1 432but it is not exactly the same. 433The following fields are displayed: 434.Bl -tag -width USERNAME -offset indent 435.It PID 436The process ID. 437.It USERNAME 438The name of the process's owner. 439.It TID 440The thread ID, used instead of USERNAME if 441.Fl H 442is specified. 443.It UID 444Used instead of USERNAME if 445.Fl u 446is specified. 447.It PRI 448The current priority of the process. 449.It NICE 450The nice amount (in the range \-20 to 20). 451.It SIZE 452The total size of the process (the text, data, and stack segments). 453.It RES 454The current amount of resident memory. 455.It STATE 456The current state (one of 457.Li start , 458.Li run , 459.Li sleep , 460.Li stop , 461.Li idle , 462.Li zomb , 463.Li dead , 464or 465.Li onproc ) . 466On multiprocessor systems, this is followed by a slash and the CPU 467number on which the process is bound. 468.It WAIT 469A description of the wait channel the process is sleeping on if it's 470asleep. 471.It RTABLE 472The routing table, used instead of WAIT if 473.Fl t 474is specified. 475.It TIME 476The number of system and user CPU seconds that the process has used. 477.It CPU 478The raw percentage of CPU usage and the default field on which the 479display is sorted. 480.It COMMAND 481The name (and arguments if 482.Fl C 483is specified) of the command that the process is currently running. 484.El 485.Sh ENVIRONMENT 486.Bl -tag -width Ev 487.It Ev TOP 488User-configurable defaults for options. 489.El 490.Sh FILES 491.Bl -tag -width "/etc/passwdXXX" -compact 492.It Pa /dev/kmem 493kernel memory 494.It Pa /dev/mem 495physical memory 496.It Pa /etc/passwd 497used to map user ID to user 498.It Pa /bsd 499kernel image 500.El 501.Sh SEE ALSO 502.Xr fstat 1 , 503.Xr kill 1 , 504.Xr netstat 1 , 505.Xr ps 1 , 506.Xr stty 1 , 507.Xr systat 1 , 508.Xr mem 4 , 509.Xr iostat 8 , 510.Xr pstat 8 , 511.Xr renice 8 , 512.Xr vmstat 8 513.Sh AUTHORS 514.An William LeFebvre , 515EECS Department, Northwestern University 516.Sh CAVEATS 517As with 518.Xr ps 1 , 519.Nm 520only provides snapshots of a constantly changing system. 521