A Linux systems administrator receives an alert that a web server is responding slowly. Upon logging in, the administrator runs the uptime command and notices a very high load average. Suspecting a process is consuming excessive CPU resources, which of the following commands should the administrator run to get a real-time, sorted list of processes to quickly identify the one with the highest CPU utilization?
The correct command is top. The top command provides a dynamic, real-time view of a running system and displays a list of processes or threads currently being managed by the kernel. By default, this list is sorted by CPU usage, making it the most direct and effective tool for identifying a process that is causing high CPU utilization.
The iostat command is used for monitoring system input/output device loading and is not the primary tool for identifying CPU-bound processes.
The free -h command displays the amount of free and used memory in the system in a human-readable format, but it does not provide information about CPU usage by individual processes.
The ps aux --sort=-%mem command lists all running processes but sorts them by memory usage, not CPU usage. While useful for memory issues, it does not directly address the immediate need to find the top CPU consumer.
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What is the `top` command, and how does it help identify resource-hogging processes?
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What is the difference between `top` and `htop`?
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Why can't commands like `iostat`, `free -h`, or `ps aux --sort=-%mem` replace `top` for identifying high CPU usage?
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