AIX swap space, physical memory & cache

UNIX AIX
1

Hi,

I am new to AIX, Can someone please help me how to know the swap space, total physical memory and system cache?

We are using AIX 5.3.

Thanks!

2

For Memory and swap, run svmon -G -O unit=MB

3

man pages will tell you that - the commands necessary to find it out, that is.

man -k paging

for instance, will list the following:

# man -k paging
chps(1) - Changes theattributes of a paging space.
lsps(1) - Displays thecharacteristics of a paging space.
mkps(1) - Adds an additionalpaging space.
rmps(1) - Removes aninactive paging space.
swap(1) - Provides a paging space administrativeinterface.
swapoff(1)      - Deactivates one or more pagingspaces.
swapon(1)       - Activates apaging space.

Now try man lsps and you will soon be guided to lsps -a , which displays everything you probably want to know about your swap(s):

# lsps -a
Page Space      Physical Volume   Volume Group    Size %Used Active Auto  Type Chksum
hd6             hdisk0            rootvg       16384MB     1   yes   yes    lv     0

To get the attributes of a device - like the memory - you sue the "lsattr" utility in AIX. Here is one of my systems (AME factor 1.2):

# lsattr -El mem0
ent_mem_cap         I/O memory entitlement in Kbytes           False
goodsize       3328 Amount of usable physical memory in Mbytes False
mem_exp_factor 1.20 Memory expansion factor                    False
size           3328 Total amount of physical memory in Mbytes  False
var_mem_weight      Variable memory capacity weight            False

What you do mean with "system cache" is not clear. If you want to know the current amount of memory dedicated to the file cache issue vmstat -v and look for the "numperm" value. This is the percentage of real memory used for file caching right now. The value may change any time.

If you want to use more about how and why this value changes i suggest you search this forum for "memory utilization", but i can wholeheartedly suggest this thread as a starter. If you have specific questions, just check back.

I hope this helps.

bakunin

1 Like
4

Thanks much!! It worked for me :slight_smile: