Command line and full screen utilities for browsing procfs, a "pseudo" file system dynamically generated by Linux to provide information about the status of entries in its process table.
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Jim Warner d69a2b6899 library: normalize/standardize interface, <VMSTAT> api
This interface represented a 2nd generation attempt at
the opaque newlib approach. In other words, it did not
involve the 1st generation 'chains'. Instead, 'stacks'
were employed. But the interface wasn't user friendly.

Users were required to create their own stacks, before
calling 'getstack' to retrieve multiple results with a
single call. Even worse, sometimes 'read' was required
before calling 'get' when working with single results.

So this commit represents the 3rd generation approach.
We eliminate the burden of 'read' and creating stacks.
Rather, beyond those standard 'new', 'ref' and 'unref'
functions, we'll offer just 'get' (single result) plus
a 'select' function (for multiple results in 1 stack).

And along the way, this commit vastly expands the data
extracted from /proc/vmstat. All values that currently
exist (and their delta equivalents) are now available.
Deltas were included for everything because there's no
real runtime costs beyond using a little extra memory.

The only problem is a lack of documentation for all of
those fields, as is reflected in the references below.
Oh well, maybe someday someone will dig through kernel
sources & finally plug that rather large document gap.

[ as an aside, rather than using a 'strcmp' approach ]
[ when parsing the /proc/vmstat file, as is found in ]
[ the <meminfo> module, we exploit those hash search ]
[ provisions that are found in the <search.h> header ]

Reference(s):
http://www.spinics.net/lists/linux-man/msg09096.html
http://www.linuxinsight.com/proc_vmstat.html

Signed-off-by: Jim Warner <james.warner@comcast.net>
2016-06-07 21:04:43 +10:00
contrib miscellaneous: clean up trailing whitespace once again 2013-04-07 18:05:01 +10:00
doc library: protect against large version numbers. 2016-05-01 17:14:48 +10:00
Documentation miscellaneous: remove some trailing whitespace buildup 2015-06-20 07:46:23 +10:00
include tests: update template and add pids 2016-04-19 21:33:02 +10:00
lib misc: Few more resource leak fixes 2016-05-03 21:58:13 +10:00
man-po translations: Update all and fix Polish 2015-08-09 17:37:44 +10:00
misc build-sys: rename the 'tools' subdirectory to 'misc' 2012-03-02 21:25:38 +11:00
po lang: Update language files 2016-04-16 17:20:06 +10:00
proc library: normalize/standardize interface, <VMSTAT> api 2016-06-07 21:04:43 +10:00
ps ps+top: adapt for changes in results types, <PIDS> api 2016-05-16 19:58:20 +10:00
testsuite testsuite: kill test fails on signal names 2016-04-11 22:12:58 +10:00
top top: just miscellaneous tweaks to code and/or comments 2016-06-07 21:04:43 +10:00
.gitignore pgrep: some coverity fixes 2016-04-27 22:50:25 +10:00
.gitlab-ci.yml test: Update gitlab CI YAML to use shared runner 2016-04-20 22:20:55 +10:00
AUTHORS Changed git site to gitlab 2015-05-10 14:57:50 +10:00
autogen.sh Fix a remaining util-linux word in autogen 2012-02-26 08:39:16 +11:00
ChangeLog Changed git site to gitlab 2015-05-10 14:57:50 +10:00
configure.ac build-sys: Enable optional hardening flags 2016-04-25 17:07:22 +10:00
COPYING license: update FSF addresses 2012-03-04 08:04:24 +11:00
COPYING.LIB miscellaneous: clean up trailing whitespace once again 2013-04-07 18:05:01 +10:00
create-man-pot.sh docs: with systemd now in library, remember openproc.3 2014-07-18 20:49:57 +02:00
free.1 free: use SReclaimable in cached 2015-10-24 14:29:25 +11:00
free.c misc: adapted other programs to changes, <MEMINFO> api 2016-05-12 07:51:10 +10:00
INSTALL.md docs: Updated documentation 2015-05-10 17:23:54 +10:00
kill.1 docs: fix manual page warnings 2012-04-16 12:55:53 +02:00
kill.c kill: print usage if no pid is passed in command line 2016-04-11 21:04:41 +10:00
Makefile.am library: rename those readstat.c & h sources to 'stat' 2016-04-26 22:27:16 +10:00
NEWS pidof: check cmd if space in argv0 2016-04-17 16:55:44 +10:00
pgrep.1 misc: eliminate accumulated trailing whitespace, again 2016-03-12 14:53:53 +11:00
pgrep.c misc: adapt others to changes in interface, <PIDS> api 2016-05-16 19:58:20 +10:00
pidof.1 pidof: support for omitted %PPID and additional separators 2013-10-14 15:38:33 +02:00
pidof.c misc: adapt others to changes in interface, <PIDS> api 2016-05-16 19:58:20 +10:00
pkill.1 procps 010114 2002-02-01 22:47:29 +00:00
pmap.1 pmap: Including -p in the man page 2013-11-26 13:45:22 +01:00
pmap.c pmap: Minor fixes 2016-05-17 21:55:14 +10:00
pwdx.1 docs: fix manual page warnings 2012-04-16 12:55:53 +02:00
pwdx.c Handle out of memory conditions. 2015-07-11 21:28:47 +02:00
README.md misc: eliminate accumulated trailing whitespace, again 2016-03-12 14:53:53 +11:00
skill.1 skill: support namespaces 2013-04-18 13:59:44 -04:00
skill.c misc: adapt others to changes in interface, <PIDS> api 2016-05-16 19:58:20 +10:00
slabtop.1 procps: Add a zero-width break point in slabtop.1 2015-06-01 22:04:40 +10:00
slabtop.c library: cleanup of library includes 2016-04-16 17:03:57 +10:00
snice.1 procps 010114 2002-02-01 22:47:29 +00:00
sysctl.8 docs: Fix typos in slabtop.1, sysctl.8 and uptime.1 2014-09-16 19:35:28 +02:00
sysctl.c Merge branch 'master' into newlib 2015-10-28 21:09:26 +11:00
sysctl.conf docs: remove tcp_default_win_scale from sysctl.conf sample 2012-01-24 22:34:12 +01:00
sysctl.conf.5 docs: Fix typos in sysctl.8 and sysctl.conf.5 2014-09-15 16:24:59 +02:00
tload.1 docs: fix manual page warnings 2012-04-16 12:55:53 +02:00
tload.c library: cleanup of library includes 2016-04-16 17:03:57 +10:00
translate-man.sh Fixed translate-man.sh for no top ps 2014-05-28 20:12:33 +10:00
uptime.1 docs: Fix typos in slabtop.1, sysctl.8 and uptime.1 2014-09-16 19:35:28 +02:00
uptime.c library: cleanup of library includes 2016-04-16 17:03:57 +10:00
vmstat.8 library: reverting tmpfs subtraction from cached (18-FEB-2014) 2014-04-30 13:59:34 +02:00
vmstat.c vmstat: fix 1st time enumerators so zeros aren't shown 2016-06-07 21:04:43 +10:00
w.1 w: correct program help & man page regarding arguments 2015-09-07 18:11:48 +10:00
w.c misc: adapt others to changes in interface, <PIDS> api 2016-05-16 19:58:20 +10:00
watch.1 watch: typo in man (closign->closing) 2014-09-12 14:22:48 +02:00
watch.c watch: interpret esc[m sequence 2016-03-10 22:21:13 +11:00

build status procps

procps is a set of command line and full-screen utilities that provide information out of the pseudo-filesystem most commonly located at /proc. This filesystem provides a simple interface to the kernel data structures. The programs of procps generally concentrate on the structures that describe the processess running on the system.

The following programs are found in procps:

  • free - Report the amount of free and used memory in the system
  • kill - Send a signal to a process based on PID
  • pgrep - List processes based on name or other attributes
  • pkill - Send a signal to a process based on name or other attributes
  • pmap - Report memory map of a process
  • ps - Report information of processes
  • pwdx - Report current directory of a process
  • skill - Obsolete version of pgrep/pkill
  • slabtop - Display kernel slab cache information in real time
  • snice - Renice a process
  • sysctl - Read or Write kernel parameters at run-time
  • tload - Graphical representation of system load average
  • top - Dynamic real-time view of running processes
  • uptime - Display how long the system has been running
  • vmstat - Report virtual memory statistics
  • w - Report logged in users and what they are doing
  • watch - Execute a program periodically, showing output fullscreen

Reporting Bugs

There are a few ways of reporting bugs or feature requests:

  1. Your distributions bug reporter. If you are using a distribution your first port of call is their bug tracker. This is because each distribution has their own patches and way of dealing with bugs. Also bug reporting often does not need any subscription to websites.
  2. GitLab Issues - To the left of this page is the issue tracker. You can report bugs here.
  3. Email list - We have an email list (see below) where you can report bugs. The problem with this method is bug reports often get lost and cannot be tracked. This is especially a big problem when its something that will take time to resolve.

If you need to report bugs, there is more details on the Bug Reporting page.

Email List

The email list for the developers and users of procps is found at http://www.freelists.org/archive/procps/ This email list discusses the development of procps and is used by distributions to also forward or discuss bugs.