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vmstat(C)


vmstat -- report paging and system statistics

Syntax

vmstat [ -fs ] [ -n namelist ] [ -l lines ] [ interval [ count ]]

Description

vmstat reports some statistics kept by the system on processes, demand paging, and CPU and trap activity. Three types of reports are available:

If no interval or count is specified, the totals since system bootup are displayed.

If an interval is given, the number of events that have occurred in the last interval seconds is shown. If no count is specified, this display is repeated forever every interval seconds. Otherwise, when a count is also specified, the information is displayed count times.

Other options that may be specified include:


-n namelist
Use file namelist as an alternate symbol table instead of /unix.

-l lines
For the default display, repeat the header every lines reports (default is 20).

The fields in the default report are:


procs
The number of processes which are:


r
In the run queue.

b
Blocked waiting for resources.

w
Swapped out.

These values always reflect the current situation, even if the totals since boot are being displayed.


paging
Reports on the performance of the demand paging system. Unless the totals since boot are being displayed, this information is averaged over the preceding interval seconds:


frs
Free swap space.

dmd
Demand zero and demand fill pages.

sw
Pages on swap.

cch
Pages in cache.

fil
Pages on file.

pft
Protection faults.

frp
Pages freed.

pos
Processes swapped out successfully.

pif
Processes swapped in unsuccessfully.

pis
Processes swapped in successfully.

rso
Regions swapped out.

rsi
Regions swapped in.


system
Reports on the general system activity. Unless the totals since boot are being shown, these figures are averaged over the last interval seconds:


sy
Number of system calls.

cs
Number of context switches.


cpu
Percentage of CPU cycles spent in various operating modes:


us
User.

su
System.

id
Idle.

The -f and -s reports are a series of lines of the form:

number description

which means that number of the items described by description happened (either since boot or in the last interval seconds, as appropriate). These reports should be self-explanatory.

Files


/unix
default namelist

/dev/kmem
default source of statistics

See also

fork(S), ps(C), pstat(C)

Standards conformance

vmstat is not part of any currently supported standard; it is an extension of AT&T System V provided by The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc.
© 2003 Caldera International, Inc. All rights reserved.
SCO OpenServer Release 5.0.7 -- 11 February 2003