How to monitor usage of system resources in a period of time using atop?

Question

How to check what process loads CPU, memory and other system resources in a period of time using atop utility?

Answer

1. Install atop package:

   • For RHEL/CentOS:

     # yum install epel-release

     # yum install atop

   • For Debian/Ubuntu:

     # apt-get install atop

2. Start atop service to begin automatic system resources logging:

   # service atop start

   Note: atop automatically creates a task in cron to begin logging at midnight if it is not running.

3. Adjust interval to the preferences:

   • For RHEL/CentOS:
     

     Modify INTERVAL=<value> in /etc/sysconfig/atop

   • For Debian/Ubuntu:
     

     Modify INTERVAL=<value> in /etc/init.d/atop

4. Logged data might be opened via the command:

   # atop -r /var/log/atop/atop_<date>

   To move between intervals use arrow buttons or hotkeys t and Shift+T.

   Note: For more information on available hotkeys refer to the atop manual page.