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# 8 Notes on memtype parameter in proc.mem items

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#### Overview

The **memtype** parameter is supported on Linux, AIX, FreeBSD, and
Solaris platforms.

Three common values of 'memtype' are supported on all of these
platforms: `pmem`, `rss` and `vsize`. Additionally, platform-specific
'memtype' values are supported on some platforms.

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#### AIX

See values supported for 'memtype' parameter on AIX in the table.

|Supported value|Description|Source in procentry64 structure|Tries to be compatible with|
|---------------|-----------|-------------------------------|---------------------------|
|vsize (( - default value))|Virtual memory size|pi\_size|<|
|pmem|Percentage of real memory|pi\_prm|ps -o pmem|
|rss|Resident set size|pi\_trss + pi\_drss|ps -o rssize|
|size|Size of process (code + data)|pi\_dvm|"ps gvw" SIZE column|
|dsize|Data size|pi\_dsize|<|
|tsize|Text (code) size|pi\_tsize|"ps gvw" TSIZ column|
|sdsize|Data size from shared library|pi\_sdsize|<|
|drss|Data resident set size|pi\_drss|<|
|trss|Text resident set size|pi\_trss|<|

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Notes for AIX:

1. When choosing parameters for proc.mem[] item key on AIX, try to specify narrow process selection criteria. Otherwise there is a risk of getting unwanted processes counted into proc.mem[] result.

Example:
```
\$ zabbix_agentd -t proc.mem[,,,NonExistingProcess,rss]
proc.mem[,,,NonExistingProcess,rss]           [u|2879488]
```

This example shows how specifying only command line (regular expression to match) parameter results in Zabbix agent self-accounting - probably not what you want.

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2. Do not use "ps -ef" to browse processes - it shows only non-kernel processes. Use "ps -Af" to see all processes which will be seen by Zabbix agent.

3. Let's go through example of 'topasrec' how Zabbix agent proc.mem[] selects processes.

```
\$ ps -Af | grep topasrec
root 10747984        1   0   Mar 16      -  0:00 /usr/bin/topasrec  -L -s 300 -R 1 -r 6 -o /var/perf daily/ -ypersistent=1 -O type=bin -ystart_time=04:08:54,Mar16,2023
```

proc.mem[] has arguments:

```
proc.mem[<name>,<user>,<mode>,<cmdline>,<memtype>]
```

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The 1st criterion is a process name (argument <name>). In our example Zabbix agent will see it as 'topasrec'. In order to match, you need to either specify 'topasrec' or to leave it empty.
The 2nd criterion is a user name (argument <user>). To match, you need to either specify 'root' or to leave it empty.
The 3rd criterion used in process selection is an argument <cmdline>. Zabbix agent will see its value as '/usr/bin/topasrec -L -s 300 -R 1 -r 6 -o /var/perf/daily/ -ypersistent=1 -O type=bin -ystart_time=04:08:54,Mar16,2023'. To match, you need to either specify a regular expression which matches this string or to leave it empty.

Arguments <mode> and <memtype> are applied after using the three criteria mentioned above. 

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#### FreeBSD

See values supported for 'memtype' parameter on FreeBSD in the table.

|Supported value|Description|Source in kinfo\_proc structure|Tries to be compatible with|
|---------------|-----------|-------------------------------|---------------------------|
|vsize|Virtual memory size|kp\_eproc.e\_vm.vm\_map.size or ki\_size|ps -o vsz|
|pmem|Percentage of real memory|calculated from rss|ps -o pmem|
|rss|Resident set size|kp\_eproc.e\_vm.vm\_rssize or ki\_rssize|ps -o rss|
|size (( - default value))|Size of process (code + data + stack)|tsize + dsize + ssize|<|
|tsize|Text (code) size|kp\_eproc.e\_vm.vm\_tsize or ki\_tsize|ps -o tsiz|
|dsize|Data size|kp\_eproc.e\_vm.vm\_dsize or ki\_dsize|ps -o dsiz|
|ssize|Stack size|kp\_eproc.e\_vm.vm\_ssize or ki\_ssize|ps -o ssiz|

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#### Linux

See values supported for 'memtype' parameter on Linux in the table.

|Supported value|Description|Source in /proc/<pid>/status file|
|---------------|-----------|---------------------------------------|
|vsize (( - default value))|Virtual memory size|VmSize|
|pmem|Percentage of real memory|(VmRSS/total\_memory) \* 100|
|rss|Resident set size|VmRSS|
|data|Size of data segment|VmData|
|exe|Size of code segment|VmExe|
|hwm|Peak resident set size|VmHWM|
|lck|Size of locked memory|VmLck|
|lib|Size of shared libraries|VmLib|
|peak|Peak virtual memory size|VmPeak|
|pin|Size of pinned pages|VmPin|
|pte|Size of page table entries|VmPTE|
|size|Size of process code + data + stack segments|VmExe + VmData + VmStk|
|stk|Size of stack segment|VmStk|
|swap|Size of swap space used|VmSwap|

Notes for Linux:

1.  Not all 'memtype' values are supported by older Linux kernels. For
    example, Linux 2.4 kernels do not support `hwm`, `pin`, `peak`,
    `pte` and `swap` values.
2.  We have noticed that self-monitoring of the Zabbix agent active
    check process with `proc.mem[...,...,...,...,data]` shows a value
    that is 4 kB larger than reported by `VmData` line in the agent's
    /proc/<pid>/status file. At the time of self-measurement the
    agent's data segment increases by 4 kB and then returns to the
    previous size.

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#### Solaris

See values supported for 'memtype' parameter on Solaris in the table.

|Supported value|Description|Source in psinfo structure|Tries to be compatible with|
|---------------|-----------|--------------------------|---------------------------|
|vsize (( - default value))|Size of process image|pr\_size|ps -o vsz|
|pmem|Percentage of real memory|pr\_pctmem|ps -o pmem|
|rss|Resident set size<br>It may be underestimated - see rss description in "man ps".|pr\_rssize|ps -o rss|

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##### Footnotes

^**1**^ Default value.

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