# man > slabtop(1)

> **TLDR:** Display kernel slab cache information in real time.
>
- Start `slabtop`:
  `sudo slabtop`
- Sort by [c]ache size:
  `sudo slabtop {{-s|--sort}} c`
- Sort by number of [o]bjects:
  `sudo slabtop {{-s|--sort}} o`
- Sort by object [s]ize:
  `sudo slabtop {{-s|--sort}} s`
- Display once and then exit:
  `sudo slabtop {{-o|--once}}`
- Display help:
  `slabtop {{-h|--help}}`

*Source: tldr-pages*

---

[_SLABTOP_(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/SLABTOP/1/markdown)                                  User Commands                                 [_SLABTOP_(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/SLABTOP/1/markdown)

## NAME
       slabtop - display kernel slab cache information in real time

## SYNOPSIS
       **slabtop **[_options_]

## DESCRIPTION
       **slabtop  **displays detailed kernel slab cache information in real time.  It displays a listing
       of the top caches sorted by one of the listed sort criteria.  It also displays  a  statistics
       header filled with slab layer information.

## OPTIONS
       Normal  invocation  of  **slabtop  **does not require any options.  The behavior, however, can be
       fine-tuned by specifying one or more of the following flags:

### -d --delay
              Refresh the display every _n_ in seconds.  By default,  **slabtop  **refreshes  the  display
              every three seconds.  To exit the program, hit **q**.  This cannot be combined with the **-o**
              option.

### -s --sort
              Sort by _S_, where _S_ is one of the sort criteria.

### -o --once
              Display the output once and then exit.

### -V --version
              Display version information and exit.

### -h --help
              Display usage information and exit.

## SORT CRITERIA
       The following are valid sort criteria used to sort the individual slab caches and thereby de‐
       termine  what  are the "top" slab caches to display.  The default sort criteria is to sort by
       the number of objects ("o").

       The sort criteria can also be changed while **slabtop **is running  by  pressing  the  associated
       character.
### character   description                header
       a           number of active objects   ACTIVE
       b           objects per slab           OBJ/SLAB
       c           cache size                 CACHE SIZE
       l           number of slabs            SLABS
       v           number of active slabs     N/A
       n           name                       NAME
       o           number of objects          OBJS
       p           pages per slab             N/A
       s           object size                OBJ SIZE
       u           cache utilization          USE

## COMMANDS
       **slabtop **accepts keyboard commands from the user during use.  The following are supported.  In
       the case of letters, both cases are accepted.

       Each of the valid sort characters are also accepted, to change the sort routine. See the sec‐
       tion **SORT CRITERIA**.

### <SPACEBAR>
              Refresh the screen.

       **Q      **Quit the program.

## FILES
       _/proc/slabinfo_
              slab information

## SEE ALSO
       [**free**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/free/1/markdown), [**ps**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/ps/1/markdown), [**top**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/top/1/markdown), [**vmstat**(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/vmstat/8/markdown)

## NOTES
       Currently,  **slabtop  **requires  a  2.4  or  later kernel (specifically, a version 1.1 or later
       _/proc/slabinfo_).  Kernel 2.2 should be supported in the future.

       The **slabtop **statistic header is tracking how many bytes of slabs are being used and is not  a
       measure  of physical memory.  The 'Slab' field in the _/proc/meminfo_ file is tracking informa‐
       tion about used slab physical memory.

       The **CACHE SIZE **column is not accurate, it's the upper limit of memory used by specific  slab.
       When system using slub (most common case) is under high memory pressure, there are slab order
       fallbacks, which means "pages per slab" is not constant and may decrease.

## AUTHORS
       Written by Chris Rivera and Robert Love.

       **slabtop **was inspired by Martin Bligh's perl script, **vmtop**.

## REPORTING BUGS
       Please send bug reports to ]8;;<procps@freelists.org>\<procps@freelists.org>]8;;\

procps-ng                                    2021-03-11                                   [_SLABTOP_(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/SLABTOP/1/markdown)