1PCP-FREE(1)                 General Commands Manual                PCP-FREE(1)
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NAME

6       pcp-free - report on free and used memory in the system
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SYNOPSIS

9       pcp [pcp options] free [-bkmgroltVw?]  [-c count] [-s interval]
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DESCRIPTION

12       pcp-free  gives  a summary display of the total amount of free and used
13       physical memory and swap in the system, as well as the caches  used  by
14       the kernel.
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16       When  invoked  via  the  pcp(1)  command,  the -h/--host, -a/--archive,
17       -O/--origin, -s/--samples,  -t/--interval,  -Z/--timezone  and  several
18       other  pcp  options  become  indirectly  available, see PCPIntro(1) for
19       their descriptions.
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21       The displayed columns are:
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23       total  Total installed memory (MemTotal and SwapTotal in /proc/meminfo)
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25       used   Used memory (calculated as total - free - buffers - cache)
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27       free   Unused memory (MemFree and SwapFree in /proc/meminfo)
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29       shared Memory used (mostly) by tmpfs (Shmem in /proc/meminfo)
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31       buffers
32              Memory used by kernel buffers (Buffers in /proc/meminfo)
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34       cache  Memory used by the page cache and slabs (Cached and SReclaimable
35              in /proc/meminfo)
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37       buff/cache
38              Sum of buffers and cache
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40       available
41              Estimation  of how much memory is available for starting new ap‐
42              plications, without swapping.  Unlike the data provided  by  the
43              cache  or  free fields, this field takes into account page cache
44              and also that not all reclaimable memory slabs will be reclaimed
45              due to items being in use (MemAvailable in /proc/meminfo).
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OPTIONS

48       The available command line options are:
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50       -b, --bytes
51            Display the amount of memory in bytes.
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53       -c count, --samples=count
54            Terminate the display after count iterations.  See also -s.
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56       -g, --gigabytes
57            Display the amount of memory in gigabytes.
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59       -k, --kilobytes
60            Display the amount of memory in kilobytes.  This is the default.
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62       -l, --lohi
63            Display detailed low and high memory statistics.
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65       -m, --megabytes
66            Display the amount of memory in megabytes.
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68       -o   Disable the display of a "buffer adjusted" line.  If the -o option
69            is not specified, free subtracts buffer memory from the used  mem‐
70            ory and adds it to the free memory reported.
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72       -r, --terabytes
73            Display the amount of memory in terabytes.
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75       -s delay, --interval=delay
76            Activate  continuous polling delay seconds apart.  You may specify
77            any floating point number for delay, or indeed  any  valid  pmPar‐
78            seInterval(3) specification, which includes microsecond resolution
79            delay times.  This can be used in conjunction with the -c option.
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81       -t, --total
82            Display a line containing the totals.
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84       -V, --version
85            Display version number and exit.
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87       -w, --wide
88            Switch to the wide mode.  The wide mode produces lines longer than
89            80 characters.  In this mode buffers and cache are reported in two
90            separate columns.
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92       -?, --help
93            Display usage message and exit.
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NOTES

96       pcp-free is inspired by the free(1) command and aims to be command line
97       and output compatible with it.
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PCP ENVIRONMENT

100       Environment variables with the prefix PCP_ are used to parameterize the
101       file and directory names used by PCP.  On each installation,  the  file
102       /etc/pcp.conf  contains  the  local  values  for  these variables.  The
103       $PCP_CONF variable may be used to specify an alternative  configuration
104       file, as described in pcp.conf(5).
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106       For environment variables affecting PCP tools, see pmGetOptions(3).
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SEE ALSO

109       PCPIntro(1), pcp(1), free(1), pmParseInterval(3) and environ(7).
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113Performance Co-Pilot                  PCP                          PCP-FREE(1)
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