System statistics: Linux stat commands to know

Take a look through our collection of articles about tools that help you pull the data you need to better manage your Linux systems.

Posted: August 20, 2020 by Tyler Carrigan (Editorial Team, Red Hat)

statistics tracking on a monitor — ^{Photo from Pexels}

How do we, as system administrators, stay on top of real, actionable, system data in an ever-changing landscape? That question has many answers. The gist of it is this: Know how to pull the data you need using the most efficient methods available.

There are an absolute ton of statistics to keep track of within a Linux environment, and it can be tough to know what stats to pay attention to or how to get them into the most user-friendly formats. I have compiled a list of articles to enable you to do just that. Below, you will find links to several articles written to help you explore a specific statistics command and its options. The tools provide information for everything, from input/output to networking to hardware stats.

I am confident that you will find this information useful in your system data tracking.

[ Need to monitor lots of systems? Check out the open source guide to DevOps monitoring tools. ]

Linux networking: 13 uses for netstat

Though it's largely been replaced in recent years, netstat is still a powerful tool providing network analytics at your fingertips.

Linux networking: socket stats via ss

Remember netstat? Say hello to ss as netstat's chattier replacement.

I/O reporting from the Linux command line

Learn the iostat tool, its common command-line flags and options, and how to use it to better understand input/output performance in Linux.

Person's hand with a pen pointing to a graph on paper

Using the nstat network statistics command in Linux

Discover nstat, a tool for monitoring kernel SNMP and network interface stats and a part of the iproute2 package in Linux.

Using ifstat for Linux network statistics

A basic look at the ifstat command, its options, and output.

4 tips to help you get the most out of the Linux df command

Take another look at df and learn its secrets.

Inodes and the Linux filesystem

What's so important about inodes that I need to keep an eye on them? Find out in this introductory article.

Linux commands: exploring virtual memory with vmstat

A detailed look at the vmstat command, its basic syntax, and how to use it.

Topics: Linux

Tyler Carrigan

Tyler is the Sr. Community Manager at Enable Sysadmin, a submarine veteran, and an all-round tech enthusiast! He was first introduced to Red Hat in 2012 by way of a Red Hat Enterprise Linux-based combat system inside the USS Georgia Missile Control Center. More about me

System statistics: Linux stat commands to know

Tyler Carrigan

Try Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Download it at no charge from the Red Hat Developer program.

System statistics: Linux stat commands to know

Tyler Carrigan

Try Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Download it at no charge from the Red Hat Developer program.

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