NAME

       pcp-free - report on free and used memory in the system

SYNOPSIS

       pcp [pcp options] free [-bkmgroltVw?]  [-c count] [-s interval]

DESCRIPTION

       pcp-free  gives a summary display of the total amount of free and used physical memory and
       swap in the system, as well as the caches used by the kernel.

       When  invoked  via  the  pcp(1)  command,  the   -h/--host,   -a/--archive,   -O/--origin,
       -s/--samples, -t/--interval, -Z/--timezone and several other pcp options become indirectly
       available, see PCPIntro(1) for their descriptions.

       The displayed columns are:

       total  Total installed memory (MemTotal and SwapTotal in /proc/meminfo)

       used   Used memory (calculated as total - free - buffers - cache)

       free   Unused memory (MemFree and SwapFree in /proc/meminfo)

       shared Memory used (mostly) by tmpfs (Shmem in /proc/meminfo)

       buffers
              Memory used by kernel buffers (Buffers in /proc/meminfo)

       cache  Memory used by the page cache and slabs (Cached and SReclaimable in /proc/meminfo)

       buff/cache
              Sum of buffers and cache

       available
              Estimation of how much memory is available for starting new  applications,  without
              swapping.   Unlike  the data provided by the cache or free fields, this field takes
              into account page cache and also that not all  reclaimable  memory  slabs  will  be
              reclaimed due to items being in use (MemAvailable in /proc/meminfo).

OPTIONS

       The available command line options are:

       -b, --bytes
            Display the amount of memory in bytes.

       -c count, --samples=count, --count=count
            Terminate the display after count iterations.  See also -s.

       -g, --gigabytes
            Display the amount of memory in gigabytes.

       -k, --kilobytes
            Display the amount of memory in kilobytes.  This is the default.

       -l, --lohi
            Display detailed low and high memory statistics.

       -m, --megabytes
            Display the amount of memory in megabytes.

       -o   Disable  the display of a "buffer adjusted" line.  If the -o option is not specified,
            free subtracts buffer memory from the used memory and adds  it  to  the  free  memory
            reported.

       -r, --terabytes
            Display the amount of memory in terabytes.

       -s delay, --interval=delay, --seconds=delay
            Activate  continuous polling delay seconds apart.  You may specify any floating point
            number for  delay,  or  indeed  any  valid  pmParseInterval(3)  specification,  which
            includes  microsecond  resolution  delay times.  This can be used in conjunction with
            the -c option.

       -t, --total
            Display a line containing the totals.

       -V, --version
            Display version number and exit.

       -w, --wide
            Switch to the wide mode.  The wide mode produces lines longer than 80 characters.  In
            this mode buffers and cache are reported in two separate columns.

       -?, --help
            Display usage message and exit.

NOTES

       pcp-free  is  inspired  by  the  free(1)  command  and  aims to be command line and output
       compatible with it.

PCP ENVIRONMENT

       Environment variables with the prefix PCP_ are used to parameterize the file and directory
       names used by PCP.  On each installation, the file /etc/pcp.conf contains the local values
       for these variables.  The $PCP_CONF  variable  may  be  used  to  specify  an  alternative
       configuration file, as described in pcp.conf(5).

       For environment variables affecting PCP tools, see pmGetOptions(3).

SEE ALSO

       PCPIntro(1), pcp(1), free(1), pmParseInterval(3) and environ(7).