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Top Command in ChromeOS: Monitoring System Resources

The top command in the ChromeOS developer shell (crosh) provides a real-time view of system resource usage. This includes CPU, memory, and other process-level statistics, helping users analyze performance and troubleshoot resource bottlenecks.

Command Syntax

top

When invoked, the top command displays a dynamic, updating snapshot of resource usage on the system.

Features

The top command provides: - CPU usage for individual processes. - Memory usage details. - Real-time updates for monitoring system performance. - A breakdown of system processes, enabling users to identify high-resource consumers.

Usage

Starting the Command

Run the top command to view resource usage:

top

Example Output

The command will display a table with the following columns: - PID: Process ID. - USER: User owning the process. - CPU%: Percentage of CPU usage. - MEM%: Percentage of memory usage. - COMMAND: The name of the process or command being executed.

Example:

 PID   USER      CPU%   MEM%   COMMAND
  1234  user      12.0   25.5   chrome
  5678  root      3.5    1.2    crosh

Notes

  • The top command is a direct interface to observe system performance in real-time.
  • It is read-only and does not allow direct process control. For terminating processes, other commands such as kill or the Chrome Task Monitor (Search+Escape) should be used.

Best Practices

  1. Regular Monitoring:
  2. Use top periodically to detect resource-intensive processes.

  3. Keep an eye on memory and CPU usage trends during application usage.

  4. Process Identification:

  5. Identify processes consuming excessive resources and consider alternatives or optimizations.

  6. Correlating Data:

  7. Combine top output with other diagnostic tools like meminfo for a comprehensive analysis.

By leveraging the top command, users can maintain optimal performance and quickly address resource-intensive issues on their ChromeOS devices.