The Resource Management Vector
When an Ubuntu server suddenly experiences a massive spike in CPU utilization or memory consumption, the administrator must rapidly identify the specific application responsible for the load. Without a graphical interface like the Windows Task Manager, you cannot simply click a tab to sort programs by RAM usage. You must deploy command-line profiling tools to interrogate the kernel and extract real-time metrics on every single active process.
How to View Running Processes
Linux includes a native, real-time diagnostic monitor designed specifically for this purpose.
1. Open your terminal application or connect to your server via SSH.
2. The universal, pre-installed tool for this task is the top command. Execute the following:
top
3. Your terminal window will instantly transform into a live, continuously updating dashboard.
4. The top half of the screen displays aggregate system metrics (uptime, total CPU load, total memory usage). The bottom half displays a highly detailed table of individual processes.
5. Interacting with `top`:
* Press M (capital M) to instantly sort the list by Memory usage.
* Press P (capital P) to sort the list by CPU usage (this is the default).
* Press q (lowercase q) to quit the application and return to your standard bash prompt.
6. The Superior Alternative: While top is universal, it is visually archaic. Most administrators prefer to install htop, which provides full color-coding, bar graphs, and mouse support. Install it by running sudo apt install htop, and then simply type htop to launch it.
These tools allow you to instantly identify rogue scripts, memory-leaking web services, or unauthorized background miners draining your server’s resources.