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).