There are several tools and techniques that can be used to diagnose and resolve performance bottlenecks in RHEL. Here are some common tools that I usually use them:
top / htop : These are realtime system monitoring tools that provide an overview of CPU, memory, and process usage.
vmstat : This tool gives a snapshot of the system’s virtual memory statistics, including memory paging, swap usage, and CPU activity.
iostat : It provides information about CPU utilization and input/output statistics for devices, partitions, and network file systems.
netstat / ss: To diagnose network performance and identify any issues related to network connections or congestion.
strace: This tool traces system calls. It's useful for debugging performance bottlenecks at the process level.
lsof: It lists open files and their associated processes. Useful for identifying excessive file I/O.
systemd-analyze: Used to analyze boot-up performance and identify any delays in the boot process.
free: Provides a snapshot of system memory usage, including total, used, and free memory, as well as swap usage.
9.journalctl: A log management tool for analyzing system logs, which can help identify any underlying system issues causing performance degradation.
Continuously monitor system performance to track changes and identify new bottlenecks. Use tools like top, htop, and iostat. Additionally, you can also take the help of AI Tools..!
Primarily an OpenShift guy, been a minute since my Linux & Unix sysadmin days, but I would use top, sar, netstat, lsof as needed. I'll still use top on RHCOS nodes to spot check MEM consumption vs buffer/cache, high CPU processes and saturation and of course CPU steal time if I'm running on a virtualized infrastructure.
We can use a variety of tools that provide insights into different aspects of system performance. Here are some key tools which includes -
top/htop: These tools offer real-time monitoring of system processes and resource usage. They help identify processes consuming excessive CPU or memory, allowing you to pinpoint which applications or services might be causing performance issues.
vmstat: This tool provides detailed reports on processes, memory, paging, block I/O, and CPU activity. It helps you understand memory pressure, swap usage, and I/O bottlenecks, giving a comprehensive view of system health.
iostat: It delivers detailed I/O statistics for disk devices. By analyzing disk I/O patterns, you can identify if your storage devices are a bottleneck, which is crucial for applications with heavy disk usage.
sar: The System Activity Reporter (sar) collects and reports system activity data over time. It is useful for historical analysis, allowing you to identify trends and recurring issues that might not be apparent in real-time monitoring.
perf: This powerful tool provides in-depth CPU performance profiling. It helps you understand CPU usage patterns, identify hotspots, and optimize code or system configurations to improve performance.
netstat: This tool provides network statistics, helping you identify network-related bottlenecks. It shows active connections, routing tables, and interface statistics, which are essential for diagnosing network performance issues.
strace: It traces system calls and signals. By monitoring the system calls made by a process, you can identify inefficiencies and understand how an application interacts with the operating system.
dstat: This versatile tool combines the functionality of vmstat, iostat, netstat, and others, providing a comprehensive view of system performance. It is useful for real-time monitoring and troubleshooting.
systemd-analyze: This tool helps analyze and optimize the boot process. It provides insights into the time taken by different services to start, allowing you to streamline the boot process and reduce startup times.
tuned: This utility manages tuning profiles to optimize system performance based on workload requirements. It dynamically adjusts system settings to ensure optimal performance and efficiency.
Using these tools, we can monitor and analyze various aspects of system performance, quickly identify bottlenecks, and take corrective actions to improve overall system efficiency. Regular monitoring and proactive tuning are essential to maintaining optimal performance in a RHEL environment.
After identifying the respective bottleneck in Cockpit, I prefer to use a dedicated tool for monitoring CPU, RAM, network, and disk, whichever has the actual bottleneck like top, atop, nload, free, netstat, vmstat, iostat etc.
