How to See What is Using RAM on CentOS

When your computer seems to be running slower than normal, it may be due to a program, or process, using more than the normal amount of memory (RAM). The CentOS Linux operating system has two different methods for viewing the running processes and how much memory each is using. The Gnome System Monitor is a graphical program that will show memory usage by process, and the "top" command is a command line utility that shows the same information.

Instructions

Gnome System Monitor

• 1

  Click the "System" menu.

• 2

  Highlight the "Administration" sub-menu.

• 3

  Click the "System Monitor" menu option to start the Gnome System Monitor.

• 4

  Click the "Processes" tab in the System Monitor window.

• 5

  Click the "Memory" cell at the top of the screen to sort the processes by memory usage.

Top Command

• 6

  Click the "Terminal" icon in the desktop panel to open a terminal window and access a command prompt.

• 7

  Type the command "top" to start the top utility.

• 8

  Press the "M" key on your keyboard to sort the processes by memory usage. The amount of memory each process is using is shown in the "%MEM" column.

• 9

  Press "Ctrl" and "C" to stop the top utility.