SLABTOP(1)		     Linux User's Manual		   SLABTOP(1)



NAME
       slabtop - display kernel slab cache information in real time


SYNOPSIS
       slabtop [ options ]


DESCRIPTION
       slabtop(1)  displays  detailed  kernel  slab cache information in real
       time.  It displays a listing of the top caches sorted by	 one  of  the
       listed  sort  criterias.	  It also displays a statistics header filled
       with slab layer information.


OPTIONS
       Normal invocation of slabtop(1) does not	 require  any  options.	  The
       behavior,  however, can be fine-tuned by specifying one or more of the
       following flags:

       --delay=n, -d n
	      Refresh the display every n seconds.   By	 default,  slabtop(1)
	      refreshes	 the  display  every three seconds.  To exit the pro-
	      gram, hit q.

       --sort=S, -s S
	      Sort by S, where S is one of the sort criteria.

       --once, -o
	      Display the output once and then exit.

       --version, -V
	      Display version information and exit.

       --help Display usage information and exit.


SORT CRITERIA
       The following are valid sort criteria used to sort the individual slab
       caches  and  thereby  determine what are the "top" slab caches to dis-
       play.  The default sort criteria is to sort by the number  of  objects
       ("o").

       The  sort  criteria  can	 also  be changed while slabtop is running by
       pressing the associated character.

       a:     sort by number of active objects

       b:     sort by objects per slab

       c:     sort by cache size

       l:     sort by number of slabs

       v      sort by number of active slabs

       n:     sort by name

       o:     sort by number of objects

       p:     sort by pages per slab

       s:     sort by object size

       u:     sort by cache utilization


COMMANDS
       slabtop(1) accepts keyboard commands from the user  during  use.	  The
       following  are  supported.   In	the  case  of letters, both cases are
       accepted.

       Each of the valid sort characters are also  accepted,  to  change  the
       sort routine. See the section SORT CRITERIA.


       
	      Refresh the screen.

       Q      Quit the program.


FILES
       /proc/slabinfo -- slab information


SEE ALSO
       free(1), ps(1), top(1), vmstat(8)


NOTES
       Currently,  slabtop(1) requires a 2.4 or later kernel (specifically, a
       version 1.1 or later /proc/slabinfo).  Kernel 2.2 should be  supported
       in the future.

       The  slabtop  statistic header is tracking how many bytes of slabs are
       being used and it not a measure of physical memory. The	'Slab'	field
       in  the	/proc/meminfo  file  is	 tracking information about used slab
       physical memory.


AUTHORS
       Written by Chris Rivera and Robert Love.

       slabtop(1) was inspired by Martin Bligh's  perl	script,	 vmtop.	  The
       procps  package is maintained by Albert Cahalan .

       Please send bug reports to .



Linux				 13 Sep 2003			   SLABTOP(1)

UNIX/Linux commands referenced on this page:

1. display
2. top
3. sort
4. more
5. file