Procps: top -b does not display the correct CPU percentages

Bug #1846844 reported by Simon Tideswell
6
This bug affects 1 person
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
procps (Ubuntu)
New
Undecided
Unassigned

Bug Description

Affects: 2:3.3.12-3ubuntu1.2 (bionic) & 2:3.3.10-4ubuntu2.4 (xenial)

If I run 'top -b -n 1' the CPU percentages are the same every single time. If I run with more iterations the CPU percentages of subsequent iterations update in real time. If I run top interactively then the CPU percentages correctly update in real time. Here's an example.

1) With n=1 the same CPU percentages are always displayed.

while true ; do top -b -n 1 | grep -E "^%Cpu" ; sleep 10; done
%Cpu(s): 46.1 us, 4.1 sy, 0.2 ni, 48.1 id, 0.2 wa, 0.0 hi, 1.2 si, 0.0 st
%Cpu(s): 46.1 us, 4.1 sy, 0.2 ni, 48.1 id, 0.2 wa, 0.0 hi, 1.2 si, 0.0 st
%Cpu(s): 46.1 us, 4.1 sy, 0.2 ni, 48.1 id, 0.2 wa, 0.0 hi, 1.2 si, 0.0 st
%Cpu(s): 46.1 us, 4.1 sy, 0.2 ni, 48.1 id, 0.2 wa, 0.0 hi, 1.2 si, 0.0 st
%Cpu(s): 46.1 us, 4.1 sy, 0.2 ni, 48.1 id, 0.2 wa, 0.0 hi, 1.2 si, 0.0 st
%Cpu(s): 46.1 us, 4.1 sy, 0.2 ni, 48.1 id, 0.2 wa, 0.0 hi, 1.2 si, 0.0 st
%Cpu(s): 46.1 us, 4.1 sy, 0.2 ni, 48.1 id, 0.2 wa, 0.0 hi, 1.2 si, 0.0 st
%Cpu(s): 46.1 us, 4.1 sy, 0.2 ni, 48.1 id, 0.2 wa, 0.0 hi, 1.2 si, 0.0 st
%Cpu(s): 46.1 us, 4.1 sy, 0.2 ni, 48.1 id, 0.2 wa, 0.0 hi, 1.2 si, 0.0 st

2) With n=2 the second iteration shows a changing CPU percentage, but the first is still clearly wrong.

while true ; do top -b -n 2 | grep -E "^%Cpu" ; sleep 10; done
%Cpu(s): 46.1 us, 4.1 sy, 0.2 ni, 48.1 id, 0.2 wa, 0.0 hi, 1.2 si, 0.0 st
%Cpu(s): 27.3 us, 1.7 sy, 0.0 ni, 70.5 id, 0.0 wa, 0.0 hi, 0.4 si, 0.0 st
%Cpu(s): 46.1 us, 4.1 sy, 0.2 ni, 48.1 id, 0.2 wa, 0.0 hi, 1.2 si, 0.0 st
%Cpu(s): 50.9 us, 5.4 sy, 0.0 ni, 42.2 id, 0.1 wa, 0.0 hi, 1.4 si, 0.0 st
%Cpu(s): 46.1 us, 4.1 sy, 0.2 ni, 48.1 id, 0.2 wa, 0.0 hi, 1.2 si, 0.0 st
%Cpu(s): 63.3 us, 5.2 sy, 0.0 ni, 29.2 id, 0.1 wa, 0.0 hi, 2.2 si, 0.0 st
%Cpu(s): 46.1 us, 4.1 sy, 0.2 ni, 48.1 id, 0.2 wa, 0.0 hi, 1.2 si, 0.0 st
%Cpu(s): 43.3 us, 2.9 sy, 0.0 ni, 52.4 id, 0.1 wa, 0.0 hi, 1.2 si, 0.0 st
%Cpu(s): 46.1 us, 4.1 sy, 0.2 ni, 48.1 id, 0.2 wa, 0.0 hi, 1.2 si, 0.0 st
%Cpu(s): 38.0 us, 3.7 sy, 0.0 ni, 56.8 id, 0.2 wa, 0.0 hi, 1.4 si, 0.0 st
%Cpu(s): 46.1 us, 4.1 sy, 0.2 ni, 48.1 id, 0.2 wa, 0.0 hi, 1.2 si, 0.0 st
%Cpu(s): 47.9 us, 3.5 sy, 0.0 ni, 47.2 id, 0.1 wa, 0.0 hi, 1.2 si, 0.0 st

This affects both Xenial and Bionic.

Tags: batch procps top
To post a comment you must log in.
This report contains Public information  
Everyone can see this information.

Other bug subscribers

Remote bug watches

Bug watches keep track of this bug in other bug trackers.