How to diagnose high load with the "ps" command

The ps command will allow you to see all of the processes running on the server:

ps faux

Here are a few practical examples 

Sort processes by memory used and see the top 10 processes:

ps faux --sort -rss | head -10

Sort processes by CPU and see the top 10 processes:

ps faux --sort -%cpu | head -10

If you are having trouble finding the process causing the high load, it is recommended you reach out to your System Administrator or hire a qualified System Administrator. You can find many for hire on our website here:

System Administrator Services