-V, --version
Display version information, then quit.
-w, --width [=COLUMNS]
In Batch mode, when used without an argument top will format output using the COLUMNS= and LINES= environment variables, if set. Otherwise, width will be fixed at the maximum 512 columns. With an argument, output
width can be decreased or increased (up to 512) but the number of rows is considered unlimited.
In normal display mode, when used without an argument top will attempt to format output using the COLUMNS= and LINES= environment variables, if set. With an argument, output width can only be decreased, not
increased. Whether using environment variables or an argument with -w, when not in Batch mode actual terminal dimensions can never be exceeded.
Note: Without the use of this command-line option, output width is always based on the terminal at which top was invoked whether or not in Batch mode.
-1, --single‐cpu‐toggle
Starts top with the last remembered Cpu States portion of the summary area reversed. Either all cpu information will be displayed in a single line or each cpu will be displayed separately, depending on the state
of the NUMA Node command toggle (‘2’).
See the ‘1’ and ‘2’ interactive commands for additional information.
2. SUMMARY Display
Each of the following three areas are individually controlled through one or more interactive commands. See topic 4b. SUMMARY AREA Commands for additional information regarding these provisions.
2a. UPTIME and LOAD Averages
This portion consists of a single line containing:
program or window name, depending on display mode
current time and length of time since last boot
total number of users
system load avg over the last 1, 5 and 15 minutes
2b. TASK and CPU States
This portion consists of a minimum of two lines. In an SMP environment, additional lines can reflect individual CPU state percentages.
Line 1 shows total tasks or threads, depending on the state of the Threads‐mode toggle. That total is further classified as:
running; sleeping; stopped; zombie
Line 2 shows CPU state percentages based on the interval since the last refresh.
As a default, percentages for these individual categories are displayed. Depending on your kernel version, the st field may not be shown.
us : time running un‐niced user processes
sy : time running kernel processes
ni : time running niced user processes
id : time spent in the kernel idle handler
wa : time waiting for I/O completion
hi : time spent servicing hardware interrupts
si : time spent servicing software interrupts
st : time stolen from this vm by the hypervisor
Beyond the first tasks/threads line, there are alternate CPU display modes available via the 4‐way ‘t’ command toggle. They show an abbreviated summary consisting of these elements:
a b c d
%Cpu(s): 75.0/25.0 100[ ... ]
Where: a) is the ‘user’ (us + ni) percentage; b) is the ‘system’ (sy + hi + si) percentage; c) is the total percentage; and d) is one of two visual graphs of those representations. Such graphs also reflect separate
‘user’ and ‘system’ portions.
If the ‘4’ command toggle is used to yield more than two cpus per line, results will be further abridged eliminating the a) and b) elements. However, that information is still reflected in the graph itself assuming
color is active or, if not, bars vs. blocks are being shown.
See topic 4b. SUMMARY AREA Commands for additional information on the ‘t’ and ‘4’ command toggles.
2c. MEMORY Usage
This portion consists of two lines which may express values in kibibytes (KiB) through exbibytes (EiB) depending on the scaling factor enforced