Dstat is a replacement for the vmstat, iostat, netstat and ifstat utility that overcomes some limitations by adding extra features. Dstat is one of the most powerful and flexible utilities for generating and monitoring Linux resource statistics. You can easily view your system resources instantly using dstat. You can also export dstat’s data to aCSV file to be imported and used by OpenOffice.
In this tutorial, we will learn how to install and use dstat on Ubuntu-16.04.
Requirements
- A server runing Ubuntu-16.04.
Installing Dstat
Dstat comes in the Ubuntu-16.04 repository by default, you can easily install it by running the following command:
sudo apt-get install dstat
Output:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following NEW packages will be installed:
dstat
0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 782 not upgraded.
Need to get 68.2 kB of archives.
After this operation, 351 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty/universe dstat all 0.7.2-3build1 [68.2 kB]
Fetched 68.2 kB in 3s (18.4 kB/s)
Selecting previously unselected package dstat.
(Reading database ... 271096 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../dstat_0.7.2-3build1_all.deb ...
Unpacking dstat (0.7.2-3build1) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.6.7.1-1) ...
Setting up dstat (0.7.2-3build1) ...
Getting Started with Dstat
Once dstat is installed, it’s time to monitor your systems performance stats.
Let’s start with the following command:
dstat
Output:
----total-cpu-usage---- -dsk/total- -net/total- ---paging-- ---system--
usr sys idl wai hiq siq| read writ| recv send| in out | int csw
8 9 83 0 0 0| 0 104k| 156B 262B| 0 0 |1915 4165
5 7 88 1 0 0| 0 0 | 28B 42B| 0 0 |1356 3835
5 8 87 0 0 0| 0 0 | 234B 368B| 0 0 |1436 4279
16 8 75 1 0 0| 0 724k| 156B 226B| 0 0 |1886 5693
8 7 85 0 0 0| 0 0 | 0 0 | 0 0 |1689 4546
9 8 81 2 0 0| 0 56k| 437B 2547B| 0 0 |2199 4906
9 9 83 0 0 0| 0 68k| 336B 1556B| 0 0 |2257 4376
18 8 72 2 0 0| 0 28k|1405B 1701B| 0 0 |2363 7171
13 9 78 0 0 0| 0 0 | 196B 152B| 0 0 |1815 5568
6 10 83 1 0 0| 25k 0 | 0 0 | 0 0 |1630 3962
10 8 80 2 0 0| 0 32k| 86B 98B| 0 0 |2227 5095
9 8 80 2 0 0| 0 20k|1540B 9899B| 0 0 |2283 5019
6 8 87 0 0 0| 0 0 | 72B 78B| 0 0 |2119 4382
13 6 80 1 0 0| 0 0 | 0 0 | 0 0 |1495 3731
11 7 81 1 0 0|4096B 220k| 0 0 | 0 0 |1682 4300
13 7 79 1 0 0| 0 0 | 0 0 | 0 0 |1691 4730
8 10 82 0 0 0| 0 0 | 0 0 | 0 0 |2299 6325
8 8 83 1 0 0| 0 0 | 0 0 | 0 0 |2272 5065
6 8 86 0 0 0| 0 724k| 0 0 | 0 0 |3131 3920
7 8 84 1 0 0| 0 0 | 0 0 | 0 0 |2104 4630
12 6 81 1 0 0| 0 52k| 0 0 | 0 0 |2102 4232
11 8 80 1 0 0| 0 40k| 0 0 | 0 0 |2249 4587
9 9 83 0 0 0| 0 0 | 0 0 | 0 0 |2362 6276
When you run dstat command without any arguements, it will use the -cdngy options.
The -cdngy options are as follows:
c : cpu stats
d : disk stats
n : network stats
g : page stats
y : system stats
You can also use other options to customise the dstat output.
If you want to display the information about your cpu, disk (sda2) utilisation and system load, run the following command:
dstat -cdl -D sda2
Output:
----total-cpu-usage---- --dsk/sda2- ---load-avg---
usr sys idl wai hiq siq| read writ| 1m 5m 15m
9 10 78 2 0 0| 84B 0 |1.29 0.93 0.80
6 8 86 0 0 0| 0 0 |1.29 0.93 0.80
13 7 80 1 0 0| 0 0 |1.29 0.93 0.80
10 7 82 0 0 0| 0 0 |1.29 0.93 0.80
10 8 82 0 0 0| 0 0 |1.29 0.93 0.80
12 10 78 1 0 0| 0 0 |1.35 0.95 0.81
7 8 84 1 0 0| 0 0 |1.35 0.95 0.81
5 7 87 1 0 0| 0 0 |1.35 0.95 0.81
6 7 87 0 0 0| 0 0 |1.35 0.95 0.81
5 7 87 1 0 0| 0 0 |1.35 0.95 0.81
6 7 86 0 1 0| 0 0 |1.24 0.93 0.80
5 8 86 1 1 0| 0 0 |1.24 0.93 0.80
6 7 86 0 1 0| 0 0 |1.24 0.93 0.80
5 7 87 1 0 0| 0 0 |1.24 0.93 0.80
13 9 78 0 0 0| 0 0 |1.24 0.93 0.80
5 10 84 1 0 0| 0 0 |1.22 0.94 0.80
6 8 85 1 0 0| 0 0 |1.22 0.94 0.80
13 9 77 1 0 0| 0 0 |1.22 0.94 0.80
7 9 84 0 0 0| 0 0 |1.22 0.94 0.80
5 8 86 1 0 0| 0 0 |1.22 0.94 0.80
7 8 86 0 0 0| 0 0 |1.12 0.92 0.80
6 8 85 1 0 0| 0 0 |1.12 0.92 0.80
7 8 84 1 0 0| 0 0 |1.12 0.92 0.80
5 7 86 1 0 0| 0 0 |1.12 0.92 0.80
If you want to display the information about top cpu, top latency and top memory, run the following command:
dstat --top-cpu-adv --top-latency --top-mem
Output:
-------most-expensive-cpu-process------- --highest-total-- --most-expensive-
process pid cpu read write| latency process | memory process
VirtualBox 3666 6.1%1730B 540B|firefox 13|VirtualBox 1758M
VirtualBox 3666 4.5% 78B 194B|indicator3-ap 11|VirtualBox 1758M
X 1408 3.2%4824B 22k|indicator3-ap 13|VirtualBox 1758M
VirtualBox 3666 7.2% 21B 21B|firefox 19|VirtualBox 1758M
VirtualBox 3666 3.8% 21B 253B|indicator3-ap 10|VirtualBox 1758M
VirtualBox 3666 3.2% 21B 65B|indicator3-ap 16|VirtualBox 1758M
VirtualBox 3666 4.0% 78B 194B|indicator3-ap 16|VirtualBox 1758M
collectl 1596 8.5% 298k 52k|indicator3-ap 16|VirtualBox 1758M
VirtualBox 3666 3.0% 21B 21B|firefox 8357|VirtualBox 1758M
VirtualBox 3666 3.8% 53B 253B|indicator3-ap 10|VirtualBox 1758M
VirtualBox 3666 3.2% 24B 24B|indicator3-ap8701|VirtualBox 1758M
VirtualBox 3666 4.0% 78B 238B|indicator3-ap 15|VirtualBox 1758M
X 1408 3.5%9168B 26k|indicator3-ap8591|VirtualBox 1758M
X 1408 3.5%8648B 24k|indicator3-ap 11|VirtualBox 1758M
X 1408 3.8% 11k 29k|firefox 9189|VirtualBox 1758M
VirtualBox 3666 3.2% 21B 21B|indicator3-ap 11|VirtualBox 1758M
VirtualBox 3666 4.5% 78B 882B|indicator3-ap 11|VirtualBox 1758M
X 1408 3.8%6752B 25k|indicator3-ap7982|VirtualBox 1758M
VirtualBox 3666 6.0% 20B 368B|indicator3-ap7474|VirtualBox 1758M^C
Dstat provides some advanced commands that can be used in production environment. For example, if you want to monitor a single application that is using the most CPU and consuming the most amount of memory, run the following command:
dstat -c --top-cpu -dn --top-mem
Output:
----total-cpu-usage---- -most-expensive- -dsk/total- -net/total- --most-expensive-
usr sys idl wai hiq siq| cpu process | read writ| recv send| memory process
9 10 79 2 0 0|VirtualBox 5.8| 566k 281k| 0 0 |VirtualBox 1759M
6 8 86 0 0 0|VirtualBox 3.5| 0 0 | 0 0 |VirtualBox 1759M
6 9 84 1 0 0|VirtualBox 5.5| 0 0 | 0 0 |VirtualBox 1759M
12 7 80 0 0 0|collectl 8.2| 0 0 | 0 0 |VirtualBox 1759M
12 10 77 0 0 0|compiz 4.2| 0 52k| 86B 98B|VirtualBox 1758M
10 9 81 0 0 0|X 3.8| 0 0 | 0 0 |VirtualBox 1758M
7 8 84 1 0 0|VirtualBox 3.0| 0 0 | 0 0 |VirtualBox 1758M
6 8 85 2 0 0|VirtualBox 4.5| 0 32k| 0 0 |VirtualBox 1758M
6 7 86 1 0 0|VirtualBox 3.0| 0 0 | 0 0 |VirtualBox 1758M
5 8 87 0 0 0|VirtualBox 4.0| 0 0 | 0 0 |VirtualBox 1758M
6 7 86 1 0 0|VirtualBox 3.2| 0 0 | 0 0 |VirtualBox 1758M
5 7 88 0 0 0|VirtualBox 3.5| 0 36k| 0 110B|VirtualBox 1759M
6 8 85 1 0 0|VirtualBox 4.2| 0 16k| 90B 74B|VirtualBox 1759M
5 7 87 0 0 0|VirtualBox 3.5| 0 0 | 0 74B|VirtualBox 1759M
7 11 81 1 0 0|VirtualBox 7.0| 0 0 | 0 0 |VirtualBox 1759M
7 9 85 0 0 0|X 3.8| 0 0 | 0 74B|VirtualBox 1759M
6 8 85 1 0 0|VirtualBox 3.8| 0 0 | 42B 80B|VirtualBox 1759M
6 8 86 0 0 0|VirtualBox 4.8| 0 144k| 0 0 |VirtualBox 1759M
6 7 86 1 0 0|VirtualBox 3.2| 0 0 | 0 0 |VirtualBox 1759M
6 7 87 0 0 0|VirtualBox 3.8|1024B 124k| 586B 74B|VirtualBox 1759M
6 8 85 1 0 0|VirtualBox 4.0| 0 0 | 0 0 |VirtualBox 1759M
5 8 85 1 0 0|VirtualBox 3.5| 0 32k| 0 0 |VirtualBox 1758M^C
Where, -c used to display cpu usage, --top-cpu used to display most cpu consuming process, -dn used to display disk and network stats and --top-mem
used to display top memory consuming process.
You can also store the output of dstat command in a .csv file using --output option:
For example, if you want to display the time, cpu, mem, system load stats with a two second delay between 10 updates and store the output in report.csv file, run the following command:
dstat --time --cpu --mem --load --output report.csv 2 10
Output:
----system---- ----total-cpu-usage---- ------memory-usage----- ---load-avg---
time |usr sys idl wai hiq siq| used buff cach free| 1m 5m 15m
20-10 23:40:05| 9 10 80 2 0 0|2782M 43.7M 841M 170M|0.94 0.79 0.79
20-10 23:40:07| 6 8 85 1 0 0|2782M 43.7M 841M 169M|0.94 0.79 0.79
20-10 23:40:09| 6 8 86 1 0 0|2785M 43.7M 841M 166M|0.86 0.78 0.79
20-10 23:40:11| 4 20 76 1 0 0|2785M 43.7M 841M 166M|0.86 0.78 0.79
20-10 23:40:13| 4 14 81 0 0 0|2785M 43.7M 841M 166M|0.87 0.78 0.79
20-10 23:40:15| 5 8 86 1 0 0|2785M 43.7M 841M 166M|0.87 0.78 0.79
20-10 23:40:17| 5 7 87 1 0 0|2786M 43.8M 841M 165M|0.87 0.78 0.79
20-10 23:40:19| 5 7 87 1 0 0|2787M 43.8M 841M 164M|0.80 0.77 0.78
20-10 23:40:21| 6 8 86 0 0 0|2788M 43.8M 841M 163M|0.80 0.77 0.78
20-10 23:40:23| 5 7 86 1 1 0|2789M 43.8M 841M 162M|0.74 0.75 0.78
20-10 23:40:25| 11 9 79 0 1 0|2791M 43.8M 846M 156M|0.74 0.75 0.78
You can also use several internal and external plugins with dstat.
To list out all available plugins, run the following command:
dstat --list
Output:
internal:
aio, cpu, cpu24, disk, disk24, disk24old, epoch, fs, int, int24, io, ipc, load, lock, mem, net, page, page24, proc, raw, socket, swap,
swapold, sys, tcp, time, udp, unix, vm
/usr/share/dstat:
battery, battery-remain, cpufreq, dbus, disk-tps, disk-util, dstat, dstat-cpu, dstat-ctxt, dstat-mem, fan, freespace, gpfs, gpfs-ops,
helloworld, innodb-buffer, innodb-io, innodb-ops, lustre, memcache-hits, mysql-io, mysql-keys, mysql5-cmds, mysql5-io, mysql5-keys,
net-packets, nfs3, nfs3-ops, nfsd3, nfsd3-ops, ntp, postfix, power, proc-count, qmail, rpc, rpcd, sendmail, snooze, squid, test, thermal,
top-bio, top-bio-adv, top-childwait, top-cpu, top-cpu-adv, top-cputime, top-cputime-avg, top-int, top-io, top-io-adv, top-latency,
top-latency-avg, top-mem, top-oom, utmp, vm-memctl, vmk-hba, vmk-int, vmk-nic, vz-cpu, vz-io, vz-ubc, wifi
There are lots of useful options available with dstat, you can list out all available options with the following command:
dstat -h
Output:
Usage: dstat [-afv] [options..] [delay [count]]
Versatile tool for generating system resource statistics
Dstat options:
-c, --cpu enable cpu stats
-C 0,3,total include cpu0, cpu3 and total
-d, --disk enable disk stats
-D total,hda include hda and total
-g, --page enable page stats
-i, --int enable interrupt stats
-I 5,eth2 include int5 and interrupt used by eth2
-l, --load enable load stats
-m, --mem enable memory stats
-n, --net enable network stats
-N eth1,total include eth1 and total
-p, --proc enable process stats
-r, --io enable io stats (I/O requests completed)
-s, --swap enable swap stats
-S swap1,total include swap1 and total
-t, --time enable time/date output
-T, --epoch enable time counter (seconds since epoch)
-y, --sys enable system stats
--aio enable aio stats
--fs, --filesystem enable fs stats
--ipc enable ipc stats
--lock enable lock stats
--raw enable raw stats
--socket enable socket stats
--tcp enable tcp stats
--udp enable udp stats
--unix enable unix stats
--vm enable vm stats
--plugin-name enable plugins by plugin name (see manual)
--list list all available plugins
-a, --all equals -cdngy (default)
-f, --full automatically expand -C, -D, -I, -N and -S lists
-v, --vmstat equals -pmgdsc -D total
--float force float values on screen
--integer force integer values on screen
--bw, --blackonwhite change colors for white background terminal
--nocolor disable colors (implies --noupdate)
--noheaders disable repetitive headers
--noupdate disable intermediate updates
--output file write CSV output to file
delay is the delay in seconds between each update (default: 1)
count is the number of updates to display before exiting (default: unlimited)
That’s it. Enjoy….
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