3 posts tagged with "linux"

System performance matters—whether you're running a heavy-duty backend server on Linux, multitasking on Windows, or pushing Xcode to its limits on macOS. You don’t want your laptop sounding like a jet engine or your EC2 instance crashing from an out-of-memory error.

This guide walks you through how to check and analyze CPU and memory usage, interpret the data, and take practical actions across Linux, Windows, and macOS. Let’s dive in.

Linux: Your Terminal Is Your Best Friend#

Check CPU and Memory Usage#

Linux gives you surgical control via CLI tools. Start with:

• top or htop: Real-time usage metrics

  top

  sudo apt install htop

  htop

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• ps aux --sort=-%mem: Sorts by memory usage

  ps aux --sort=-%mem | head -n 10

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• free -h: View memory in a human-readable format

  free -h

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• vmstat: Shows memory, swap, and CPU context switching

  vmstat 1 5

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Learn more: Linux Memory Explained

Optimization Tips#

• Enable swap (if disabled) – Many VMs (like EC2) don’t enable swap by default:

  sudo fallocate -l 4G /swapfile

  sudo chmod 600 /swapfile

  sudo mkswap /swapfile

  sudo swapon /swapfile

  echo '/swapfile none swap sw 0 0' | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab

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• Tune Java apps (JVM-based) — Limit memory usage:

  -Xmx512M -Xms512M

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Windows: Task Manager and Beyond#

Check Resource Usage#

• Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc):

  • View CPU usage per core
  • Check memory consumption
  • Review app/resource breakdowns

• Resource Monitor:

  • From Task Manager > Performance > Open Resource Monitor
  • Monitor by process, network, disk, and more

• PowerShell:

  Get-Process | Sort-Object CPU -Descending | Select-Object -First 10

  Get-Process | Sort-Object WS -Descending | Select-Object -First 10

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Learn more: Windows Performance Tuning

Optimization Tips#

• Disable startup apps — Uncheck unnecessary ones in the Startup tab
• Enable paging file (virtual memory)
• Remove bloatware — Pre-installed apps often hog memory

macOS: Spotlight with Muscle#

Check Resource Usage#

• Activity Monitor:

  • Open via Spotlight (Cmd + Space > “Activity Monitor”)
  • Tabs: CPU, Memory, Energy, Disk, Network

• Terminal Tools:

  top

  vm_stat

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  • Get free memory in MB:
    pagesize=$(pagesize)

    vm_stat | awk -v page_size=$pagesize '/Pages free/ {print $3 * page_size / 1024 / 1024 " MB"}'

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• ps + sort:

  ps aux | sort -nrk 3 | head -n 10 # Top CPU

  ps aux | sort -nrk 4 | head -n 10 # Top Memory

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Learn more: Apple Developer Performance Tips

Optimization Tips#

• Close idle Chrome tabs — Each one is a separate process
• Purge caches (dev use only):
  sudo purge

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• Reindex Spotlight (if mds is hogging CPU):
  sudo mdutil -E /

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Key Metrics to Watch (Across OSes)#

Bonus Tools (Cross-Platform)#

• Glances: All-in-one CLI monitor → pip install glances
  Glances GitHub
• Netdata: Live dashboards → Netdata Cloud
• Grafana + Prometheus: For full observability
  Grafana Docs
• Process Explorer: Windows power tool → Microsoft Sysinternals

TL;DR - Fixes in a Flash#

Final Thoughts#

System performance isn’t just about uptime — it’s about user experience, developer productivity, and infrastructure cost. The key is to observe patterns, know what “normal” looks like, and take action before things go south.

Whether you're debugging a dev laptop or running a multi-node Kubernetes cluster, these tools and tips will help you stay fast and lean.

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When you're working with text files—be it config files, logs, or source code—you may need to delete specific lines based on their line numbers. This might sound intimidating, but it’s actually quite easy once you know which tool to use.

In this post, we’ll walk through several methods to remove lines using line numbers, using command-line tools like sed, awk, and even Python. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned developer, there’s a solution here for you.

The Basic Idea#

To delete a specific range of lines from a file:

1. Identify the start line and end line.
2. Use a tool or script to remove the lines between those numbers.
3. Save the changes back to the original file.

Let’s break this down by method.

1. Using sed (Stream Editor)#

sed is a command-line utility that’s perfect for modifying files line-by-line.

Basic Syntax#

• Replace START_LINE and END_LINE with actual numbers.
• d tells sed to delete those lines.

Example#

To delete lines 10 through 20:

With Variables#

📚 More on sed line deletion

2. Using awk#

awk is a pattern scanning tool. It’s ideal for skipping specific lines.

Syntax#

Example#

This prints all lines except lines 10 through 20.

📚 Learn more about awk

3. Using head and tail#

Perfect when you only need to chop lines off the start or end.

Example#

Delete lines 10 to 20:

• head -n 9 gets lines before line 10.
• tail -n +21 grabs everything from line 21 onward.

📚 tail command explained

4. Using perl#

perl is great for more advanced file manipulation.

Syntax#

Example#

• $. is the line number variable in perl.

📚 Perl I/O Line Numbering

5. Using Python#

For full control or if you’re already using Python in your workflow:

Example#

Python is especially useful if you need to add logic or conditions around what gets deleted.

📚 Working with files in Python

Conclusion#

There are plenty of ways to delete lines from a file based on line numbers:

• Use sed for simple, fast command-line editing.
• Choose awk for conditional line selection.
• Go with head/tail for edge-case trimming.
• Try perl if you’re comfortable with regex and quick one-liners.
• Opt for Python when you need logic-heavy, readable scripts.

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You're not alone if you've ever attempted to upload a file to your Bitnami server using SFTP and run into the dreaded Permission denied error. When the person you're connecting as lacks the required write rights for the target directory, this problem frequently occurs. To help you troubleshoot and resolve this issue so you may resume your job, here is a simple instruction.

Recognizing the Issue#

Usually, the error looks something like this:

This occurs because your SFTP account lacks write permissions to the directory you're attempting to upload to, which is held by a user (or group). This is particularly typical for WordPress or other application-related folders on Bitnami servers.

First step: Verify Permissions#

Go to the target directory first by SSHing into your server. To check its permissions, use the ls -ld command:

This is what you'll see:

In this instance, root is the owner of the directory, and only the owner is able to write. Your upload failed because of this.

Learn more about Linux file permissions

Second Step: Modify Permissions Temporarily#

You can let anyone write to the directory if you don't mind temporarily lowering the directory permissions:

Next, use SFTP to upload your file:

Revert the permissions to a more secure level after the upload is finished:

More details on chmod

Step 3: Use scp with sudo#

Another choice if you don't want to change the directory permissions is to upload the file to a temporary directory, such as /tmp, using scp (secure copy), and then use sudo to move it to the target directory.

Transfer the file to /tmp:#

Move the file to the target directory:#

Best Practices#

• Use the Least Privileges Required: To avoid security issues, always reverse directory permissions after finishing an operation.

• Verify Control: If this is a routine task, think about giving the Bitnami user control of the directory:

  sudo chown bitnami:bitnami /path/to/your/directory

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• Automate Using Scripts: If you frequently perform this task, a straightforward script can help you save time and effort.

Bitnami Documentation has additional guidance on managing permissions effectively.

Conclusion#

That's it! You may easily upload your files and get around the Permission denied problem by changing permissions or by utilizing scp with sudo. This technique is applicable to any Linux-based system with comparable permission problems, not just Bitnami servers.

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