[SOLVED] How do I know if I am low in RAM in RHEL 6

TrailMix · 10-13-2015, 03:59 PM

I am new to Linux from AIX.

How do I determine if I am running low on RAM? Most UNIX uses as much of what is has as it can based on memory tuning parameters, and so looking at free mem from vmstat seems useless.

In AIX I would look at active virtual memory compared to total physical memory, and pages in was an indication.

How do I tell if I have insufficient RAM on my RHEL 6 server?

Thank you for any help!

astrogeek · 10-13-2015, 04:06 PM

Welcome to LQ.

You don't actually tell us anything about how much RAM you have, so no specific comments.

But in general, this page should get you oriented to GNU/Linux RAM usage and how to interpret the output of free.

John VV · 10-13-2015, 04:06 PM

you can also get that from the "top" command

Shadow_7 · 10-13-2015, 04:35 PM

top, htop, free, cat /proc/meminfo, conky, gkrellm, and probably a few others.

TrailMix · 10-13-2015, 05:52 PM

Thanks to those who replied. Good info all around. Astrogeek -- Your link got me there. I just needed help interpreting the numbers. Was having a hard time with the documentation/man pages.
All my best,
TrailMix