5 ms·

Explaining top(1) on FreeBSD

71 points by vermaden 5y ago

tiffanyh 5y ago
Off topic question: what's the current process to make extremely small "minimal" freebsd server install? Is it NanoBSD[1], because the unfortunate downside is that the base can't change (I realize that's a feature) and for a web server or database server that might not be ideal. [1] https://docs.freebsd.org/en/articles/nanobsd/ https://docs.freebsd.org/en/articles/nanobsd/
- 0mp 5y ago
  This may not be the answer you are looking for, but OccamBSD seems to be a way to produce a minimal image for use in FreeBSD jails, FreeBSD bhyve and Xen: https://github.com/michaeldexter/occambsd https://github.com/michaeldexter/occambsd
- drewg123 5y ago
  If you're building from source, then I'd just disable what you don't need via src.conf(5)'s various WITHOUT_FOO settings. They are described in the man page itself.
- sebcat 5y ago
  I did this a while ago. the .iso.xz came in at 22.1 MB and the .iso at ~80MB. That's for a ro image with tmpmfs and varmfs[0], a minimal kernel, base and the packages nginx-lite, jansson, re2, curl, acme.sh and some services. The system boots from an ISO into running nginx and hosting a basic network scanner[1] at a VPS provider. I basically built from source with a custom SRCCONF[2], KERNCONF[3] and some other cleanup[4]. There may be easier ways to do it but it worked out pretty well for me. [0] https://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?rc.conf(5) https://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?rc.conf(5) [1] https://disco1.sajber.se/ https://disco1.sajber.se/ [2] https://github.com/sebcat/yans/blob/master/tools/freebsd/vm/src.conf.buildworld https://github.com/sebcat/yans/blob/master/tools/freebsd/vm/... [3] https://github.com/sebcat/yans/blob/master/tools/freebsd/vm/YANS https://github.com/sebcat/yans/blob/master/tools/freebsd/vm/... [4] https://github.com/sebcat/yans/blob/master/tools/freebsd/vm/create-rootfs https://github.com/sebcat/yans/blob/master/tools/freebsd/vm/...
- 1MachineElf 5y ago
  You may be asking for something different, but FreeBSD Jails can be extremely small, even down to just a single process[0][1]. [0] https://docs.freebsd.org/en/books/handbook/jails/ https://docs.freebsd.org/en/books/handbook/jails/ [1] https://gist.github.com/hiway/2b526fc64748e8d6e9f36f289003f843 https://gist.github.com/hiway/2b526fc64748e8d6e9f36f289003f8...
raj2569 5y ago
> The topic of load average is generally very broad and it is calculated differently on various UNIX systems, so a separate article may be dedicated for just that. I have never seen an article explaining how the load average in Linux is calculated.
- mritzmann 5y ago
  The traffic analogy is a good explanation. Here you go: https://scoutapm.com/blog/understanding-load-averages https://scoutapm.com/blog/understanding-load-averages
- 0xdeadbeee 5y ago
  One thing about load average on Linux which I never really understood was the inclusion of processes waiting for I/O, I never really got a satisfying explantation until I bumped into this post a few years ago: https://www.brendangregg.com/blog/2017-08-08/linux-load-averages.html https://www.brendangregg.com/blog/2017-08-08/linux-load-aver...
- 5e92cb50239222b 5y ago
  Tangentially related: modern kernels have a much better metric (PSI, or pressure stall information) https://lwn.net/Articles/759781/ https://lwn.net/Articles/759781/ https://lwn.net/Articles/775971/ https://lwn.net/Articles/775971/
  - da_chicken 5y ago
    Well, that's still an aggregated value that someone decided to calculate based on what they thought would work best for what they're looking for. It's not necessarily more a correct definition of load, just one that is more appropriately actionable for the problems it's designed for. In other words, PSI is "better" for some definition of "better".
- savoyard 5y ago
  “Examining Load Average” by Ray Walker: https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/9001 https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/9001
arresthimnow 5y ago
NIH admits Fauci lied to congress and FUNDED COVID-19 https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/fauci-lied-knowingly-willfully-and-brazenly-interview-dr-richard-ebright https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/fauci-lied-knowingly-willf...
killfauci 5y ago
Fauci needs to be arrested today. NIH Admits they funded GoF Research at Wuhan. https://www.nationalreview.com/news/nih-admits-to-funding-gain-of-function-research-in-wuhan-says-ecohealth-violated-reporting-requirements/ https://www.nationalreview.com/news/nih-admits-to-funding-ga...

71 points by vermaden 5y ago

Off topic question: what's the current process to make extremely small "minimal" freebsd server install? Is it NanoBSD[1], because the unfortunate downside is that the base can't change (I realize that's a feature) and for a web server or database server that might not be ideal. [1] https://docs.freebsd.org/en/articles/nanobsd/ https://docs.freebsd.org/en/articles/nanobsd/

0mp 5y ago
This may not be the answer you are looking for, but OccamBSD seems to be a way to produce a minimal image for use in FreeBSD jails, FreeBSD bhyve and Xen: https://github.com/michaeldexter/occambsd https://github.com/michaeldexter/occambsd
drewg123 5y ago
If you're building from source, then I'd just disable what you don't need via src.conf(5)'s various WITHOUT_FOO settings. They are described in the man page itself.
sebcat 5y ago
I did this a while ago. the .iso.xz came in at 22.1 MB and the .iso at ~80MB. That's for a ro image with tmpmfs and varmfs[0], a minimal kernel, base and the packages nginx-lite, jansson, re2, curl, acme.sh and some services. The system boots from an ISO into running nginx and hosting a basic network scanner[1] at a VPS provider. I basically built from source with a custom SRCCONF[2], KERNCONF[3] and some other cleanup[4]. There may be easier ways to do it but it worked out pretty well for me. [0] https://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?rc.conf(5) https://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?rc.conf(5) [1] https://disco1.sajber.se/ https://disco1.sajber.se/ [2] https://github.com/sebcat/yans/blob/master/tools/freebsd/vm/src.conf.buildworld https://github.com/sebcat/yans/blob/master/tools/freebsd/vm/... [3] https://github.com/sebcat/yans/blob/master/tools/freebsd/vm/YANS https://github.com/sebcat/yans/blob/master/tools/freebsd/vm/... [4] https://github.com/sebcat/yans/blob/master/tools/freebsd/vm/create-rootfs https://github.com/sebcat/yans/blob/master/tools/freebsd/vm/...
1MachineElf 5y ago
You may be asking for something different, but FreeBSD Jails can be extremely small, even down to just a single process[0][1]. [0] https://docs.freebsd.org/en/books/handbook/jails/ https://docs.freebsd.org/en/books/handbook/jails/ [1] https://gist.github.com/hiway/2b526fc64748e8d6e9f36f289003f843 https://gist.github.com/hiway/2b526fc64748e8d6e9f36f289003f8...

raj2569 5y ago

> The topic of load average is generally very broad and it is calculated differently on various UNIX systems, so a separate article may be dedicated for just that. I have never seen an article explaining how the load average in Linux is calculated.

mritzmann 5y ago
The traffic analogy is a good explanation. Here you go: https://scoutapm.com/blog/understanding-load-averages https://scoutapm.com/blog/understanding-load-averages
0xdeadbeee 5y ago
One thing about load average on Linux which I never really understood was the inclusion of processes waiting for I/O, I never really got a satisfying explantation until I bumped into this post a few years ago: https://www.brendangregg.com/blog/2017-08-08/linux-load-averages.html https://www.brendangregg.com/blog/2017-08-08/linux-load-aver...
5e92cb50239222b 5y ago
Tangentially related: modern kernels have a much better metric (PSI, or pressure stall information) https://lwn.net/Articles/759781/ https://lwn.net/Articles/759781/ https://lwn.net/Articles/775971/ https://lwn.net/Articles/775971/
- da_chicken 5y ago
  Well, that's still an aggregated value that someone decided to calculate based on what they thought would work best for what they're looking for. It's not necessarily more a correct definition of load, just one that is more appropriately actionable for the problems it's designed for. In other words, PSI is "better" for some definition of "better".
savoyard 5y ago
“Examining Load Average” by Ray Walker: https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/9001 https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/9001

arresthimnow 5y ago

NIH admits Fauci lied to congress and FUNDED COVID-19 https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/fauci-lied-knowingly-willfully-and-brazenly-interview-dr-richard-ebright https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/fauci-lied-knowingly-willf...

killfauci 5y ago

Fauci needs to be arrested today. NIH Admits they funded GoF Research at Wuhan. https://www.nationalreview.com/news/nih-admits-to-funding-gain-of-function-research-in-wuhan-says-ecohealth-violated-reporting-requirements/ https://www.nationalreview.com/news/nih-admits-to-funding-ga...