mpstat

Overview

The mpstat command reports processor-related statistics. It displays CPU utilization for each available processor and overall averages.

Syntax

mpstat [options] [interval [count]]

Common Options

Option Description
-A Report all CPU statistics
-I Report interrupts statistics
-P {cpu|ALL} Processor to monitor
-u CPU utilization
-V Version information
-n Report summary in JSON format
--dec=N Number of decimal places

Key Use Cases

  1. CPU performance monitoring
  2. Load balancing analysis
  3. System troubleshooting
  4. Performance tuning
  5. Capacity planning

Examples with Explanations

Example 1: Basic Usage

mpstat

Show CPU statistics

Example 2: All CPUs

mpstat -P ALL 2 5

Show all CPU stats every 2 seconds, 5 times

Example 3: Specific CPU

mpstat -P 0

Show statistics for CPU 0

Understanding Output

Fields explained: - %usr: User level processing - %nice: User level with nice priority - %sys: System level processing - %iowait: Waiting for I/O - %irq: Hardware interrupts - %soft: Software interrupts - %steal: Time stolen by virtualization - %guest: Time spent running virtual CPU - %idle: Idle time

Common Usage Patterns

  1. Continuous monitoring:

    mpstat 1

  2. CPU-specific analysis:

    mpstat -P 1 2

  3. JSON output:

    mpstat -n -P ALL

Performance Analysis

  • Per-processor utilization
  • Interrupt handling
  • I/O wait impact
  • Virtualization overhead
  • Load distribution

Additional Resources

Best Practices

  1. Regular monitoring
  2. Baseline establishment
  3. Load balancing checks
  4. Interrupt distribution
  5. Performance correlation

Troubleshooting

  1. High CPU usage
  2. Interrupt storms
  3. I/O bottlenecks
  4. Load imbalances
  5. Virtualization issues