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How do you troubleshoot and fix performance issues in Linux?

Author

Christopher Snyder

Updated on March 16, 2026

How do you troubleshoot and fix performance issues in Linux?

Linux Performance Tools To Troubleshoot Problems
  1. top command. The top program provides a dynamic real-time view of a running system.
  2. sar command. The sar command is performance monitoring tool.
  3. vmstat command. vmstat reports information about processes, memory, paging, block IO, traps, and cpu activity.
  4. iostat command.
  5. free command.

Herein, how do you troubleshoot performance issues in Linux?

  1. Top – Linux Process Monitoring.
  2. VmStat – Virtual Memory Statistics.
  3. Lsof – List Open Files.
  4. Tcpdump – Network Packet Analyzer.
  5. Netstat – Network Statistics.
  6. Htop – Linux Process Monitoring.
  7. Iotop – Monitor Linux Disk I/O.
  8. Iostat – Input/Output Statistics.

Beside above, how do you troubleshoot server performance issues? Troubleshoot server performance problems

  1. Check the server type and ensure that it has the necessary CPU and RAM resources to meet your application requirements and user load.
  2. Check if your application is using a cache.
  3. Check if there are any cron jobs running on the server and consuming resources.

Herein, how do I troubleshoot memory issues in Linux?

How to troubleshoot Linux server memory issues

  1. Process stopped unexpectedly. Suddenly killed tasks are often the result of the system running out of memory, which is when the so-called Out-of-memory (OOM) killer steps in.
  2. Current resource usage.
  3. Check if your process is at risk.
  4. Disable over commit.
  5. Add more memory to your server.

Why is my Linux machine slow?

Your Linux computer seems to be slow because of some of the following reasons: Many RAM consuming applications such as LibreOffice on your computer. Your (old) hard drive is malfunctioning, or its processing speed cannot keep up with the modern application.

What is causing high load average Linux?

If you spawn 20 threads on a single-CPU system, you might see a high load average, even though there are no particular processes that seem to tie up CPU time. The next cause for high load is a system that has run out of available RAM and has started to go into swap.

What will you check if a server is performing very slow?

Idle time of 10% or less generally indicates a CPU-bound application. A CPU that's 100% busy with system tasks might benefit from system tuning, or might indicate a memory, disk, or network bottleneck. One way to see if your disk is the bottleneck is to stand in front of the server when it's running slowly.

What to do when the server is online but is operating extremely slowly?

5 Ways To Fix Your Slow-Loading Site
  1. Enable Caching.
  2. Remove Resource-Hogging Plugins and Add-ons.
  3. Optimize and Reduce the Size of Your Images.
  4. Minimize Your Code.
  5. Use a CDN.

How do I check resources in Linux?

6 quick tools to monitor system resources on Linux
  1. Top. The Top command is the most popular tool to check the cpu and memory utilization processwise.
  2. Htop. This is your all time favorite tool.
  3. Atop. Atop is a tool to monitor system resources and processes.
  4. Nmon.
  5. Glances.
  6. Saidar.

How do I see performance in Linux?

A much more “handy” and straightforward approach on system monitoring is to simply open a terminal, type “top” and hit enter. This will display all processes currently running in your system. If you want to sort the processes by size, press “P” and you're done.

How do you troubleshoot application slowness?

Learn how you can easily:
  1. Monitor end-user experience for web apps.
  2. Break down response time into network vs. server delay to quick find issues.
  3. Easily identify anomalous transactions.
  4. Quickly diagnose performance issues.
  5. Configure your own web transaction to monitor exactly what you want.

How do I check the health of a Linux server?

vmstat is a Unix/Linux command that displays the status of the virtual memory kernel plus some other useful system statistics. It can be run by typing 'vmstat 5 ' which will display one line of data every 5 seconds until it is canceled.

How do I clear my RAM cache?

Clear Memory Cache on Windows 7
  1. Right-click anywhere on the desktop and select "New" > "Shortcut."
  2. Enter the following line when asked for location of the shortcut:
  3. Hit "Next."
  4. Enter a descriptive name (such as "Clear Unused RAM") and hit "Finish."
  5. Open this newly created shortcut and you will notice a slight increase in performance.

What is the command to check memory in Linux?

5 commands to check memory usage on Linux
  1. free command. The free command is the most simple and easy to use command to check memory usage on linux.
  2. 2. /proc/meminfo. The next way to check memory usage is to read the /proc/meminfo file.
  3. vmstat. The vmstat command with the s option, lays out the memory usage statistics much like the proc command.
  4. top command.
  5. htop.

How do you clear the cache in Linux?

How to Clear Cache in Linux?
  1. Clear PageCache only. # sync; echo 1 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches.
  2. Clear dentries and inodes. # sync; echo 2 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches.
  3. Clear PageCache, dentries and inodes. # sync; echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches.
  4. sync will flush the file system buffer.

How do I fix high memory?

How to Fix High RAM and CPU Usage of Windows 10:
  1. Registry Hack: Hit Win Key + R.
  2. Fix the driver issue: Open 'Device manager' and 'Scan for hardware changes.
  3. Adjust your Windows 10 for the best performance. Right click on “Computer” icon and select “Properties.”
  4. Disable startup programs. Hit Win Key + R.
  5. Defragment Hard DrivesHit Win Key + R. Hit Win Key + R.

What is inactive memory in Linux?

Inactive memory is memory that was allocated to a process that is no longer running. Because top or vmstat command still shows the used memory as sum of active and inactive memory and I can see only processes that are using active memory but what processes are using inactive memory is still a question for me.

How do I see how much RAM is being used?

How to check RAM usage in Android 10?
  1. Enable the Developer Options menu if you haven't done it already.
  2. Next, go to Developer Options.
  3. Tap on the Memory option present at the top.
  4. Here, you will be able to see how much RAM is being used.
  5. Now, tap on Memory used by apps if you want to know exactly which apps are eating your RAM.

How do you check physical memory on Linux?

Linux
  1. Open the command line.
  2. Type the following command: grep MemTotal /proc/meminfo.
  3. You should see something similar to the following as output: MemTotal: 4194304 kB.
  4. This is your total available memory.

What does problem with the server mean?

It's the server's problem
An internal server error is an error on the web server you're trying to access. That server is misconfigured in some way that prevents it from responding properly to what you're asking it to do. Think of it like the web's version of a blue screen.

What causes performance issues?

Causes of poor performance
  • unsatisfactory work content — in terms of quantity, quality, etc;
  • breaches of work practices, procedures and rules — such as breaching occupational health and safety requirements, excessive absenteeism, theft, harassment of other employees, etc; and.

What are the common performance issues in SQL Server?

Our SQL Server Performance Tuning Services and Training Offerings
  • General workload slowdown.
  • Connection/query timeouts.
  • Excessive CPU usage.
  • Memory pressure.
  • Excessive I/O read/write latency.
  • Query plan analysis.
  • Indexing strategy.
  • Excessive transaction log or tempdb size.

What makes a server slow?

Slow server. The problem: Server teams don't like to hear it, but the most common causes of slow application performance are the applications or servers themselves, not the network. A front-end web server talks with an application server that talks with a middleware server that queries one or more database servers.

What is the reason for server down?

Server down: some of its possible causes
Physical causes: accidents such as falling from a rack, or accidents such as a fire or a flood can cause serious problems for servers. Power supply failures: of course, servers need power to continue working, so if that is missing, they end up shutting down.

How do I know if my Linux server is slow?

Reference this diagram as you go through the steps below:
  1. Step 1: Check I/O wait and CPU Idletime.
  2. Step 2: IO Wait is low and idle time is low: check CPU user time.
  3. Step 3: IO wait is low and idle time is high.
  4. Step 4: IO Wait is high: check your swap usage.
  5. Step 5: swap usage is high.
  6. Step 6: swap usage is low.

Why is Linux Mint slow?

I let Mint Update do its thing once at startup then close it. Slow disk response can also indicate impending disk failure or misaligned partitions or a USB fault and a few other things. Test with a live version of Linux Mint Xfce to see if it makes a difference. Look at memory usage by processor under Xfce.

Does Linux get slower over time?

Almost any Linux distro would not slow down over period of time, why? Because: Windows NTFS file system tends to become fragmented over short time, but Linux uses EXT4 which does not fragment your physical drive.

How do I troubleshoot a slow Linux server?

Reference this diagram as you go through the steps below:
  1. Step 1: Check I/O wait and CPU Idletime.
  2. Step 2: IO Wait is low and idle time is low: check CPU user time.
  3. Step 3: IO wait is low and idle time is high.
  4. Step 4: IO Wait is high: check your swap usage.
  5. Step 5: swap usage is high.
  6. Step 6: swap usage is low.

How make Linux run faster?

  1. How to make Linux boot faster.
  2. Remove the timeout.
  3. timeout=3.
  4. Improve disk performance.
  5. hdparm -d1 /dev/hda1.
  6. FASTER BOOTS: You could edit a text file and restart your machine to profile your system, or just click a few buttons in Grub.
  7. Run boot processes in parallel.
  8. CONCURRENCY=none.

Why is Ubuntu 18.04 so slow?

Turbo charge your Ubuntu installation
The Ubuntu operating system is based on the Linux kernel. Over time however, your Ubuntu 18.04 installation can become more sluggish. This can be due to small amounts of free disk space or possible low virtual memory due to the number of programs you've downloaded.

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How do you troubleshoot and fix performance issues in Linux?