How to manage memory hotplug using lsmem and chmem commands ?

Solution Verified - Updated -

Environment

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.5
    • util-linux

Issue

  • How to manage memory hotplug using lsmem and chmem commands ?
  • How to set a particular size or range of memory online or offline ?

Resolution

  • The lsmem command lists the ranges of available memory with their online status

  • The lsmem command also shows the memory block size, the device size, and the amount of memory in online and offline state

  • The chmem command to set a particular size or range of memory online or offline

Example:

# lsmem
RANGE                                  SIZE  STATE REMOVABLE   BLOCK
0x0000000000000000-0x0000000007ffffff  128M online        no       0
0x0000000008000000-0x0000000027ffffff  512M online       yes     1-4
0x0000000028000000-0x0000000037ffffff  256M online        no     5-6
0x0000000038000000-0x00000000b7ffffff    2G online       yes    7-22
0x00000000b8000000-0x00000000bfffffff  128M online        no      23
0x0000000100000000-0x0000000107ffffff  128M online        no      32
0x0000000108000000-0x0000000137ffffff  768M online       yes   33-38
0x0000000138000000-0x000000013fffffff  128M online        no      39
0x0000000140000000-0x00000003e7ffffff 10.6G online       yes  40-124
0x00000003e8000000-0x0000000447ffffff  1.5G online        no 125-136
0x0000000448000000-0x00000007efffffff 14.6G online       yes 137-253
0x00000007f0000000-0x000000080fffffff  512M online        no 254-257
0x0000000810000000-0x000000081fffffff  256M online       yes 258-259    <<--------
0x0000000820000000-0x000000083fffffff  512M online        no 260-263

Memory block size:       128M
Total online memory:      32G
Total offline memory:      0B
  • To set the online memory to offline, use:
# chmem -d 0x0000000810000000-0x000000081fffffff
  • To list the ranges of available memory with their online status
# lsmem
RANGE                                  SIZE   STATE REMOVABLE   BLOCK
0x0000000000000000-0x0000000007ffffff  128M  online        no       0
0x0000000008000000-0x0000000027ffffff  512M  online       yes     1-4
0x0000000028000000-0x0000000037ffffff  256M  online        no     5-6
0x0000000038000000-0x00000000b7ffffff    2G  online       yes    7-22
0x00000000b8000000-0x00000000bfffffff  128M  online        no      23
0x0000000100000000-0x0000000107ffffff  128M  online        no      32
0x0000000108000000-0x0000000137ffffff  768M  online       yes   33-38
0x0000000138000000-0x000000013fffffff  128M  online        no      39
0x0000000140000000-0x00000003e7ffffff 10.6G  online       yes  40-124
0x00000003e8000000-0x00000003efffffff  128M  online        no     125
0x00000003f0000000-0x00000003f7ffffff  128M  online       yes     126
0x00000003f8000000-0x00000003ffffffff  128M  online        no     127
0x0000000400000000-0x0000000407ffffff  128M  online       yes     128
0x0000000408000000-0x0000000447ffffff    1G  online        no 129-136
0x0000000448000000-0x00000007efffffff 14.6G  online       yes 137-253
0x00000007f0000000-0x000000080fffffff  512M  online        no 254-257
0x0000000810000000-0x000000081fffffff  256M offline         - 258-259   <<--------
0x0000000820000000-0x000000083fffffff  512M  online        no 260-263

Memory block size:       128M
Total online memory:    31.8G
Total offline memory:    256M
  • To set the offline memory to online, use:
# chmem -e 0x0000000810000000-0x000000081fffffff
  • To list the ranges of available memory with their online status
# lsmem
RANGE                                  SIZE  STATE REMOVABLE   BLOCK
0x0000000000000000-0x0000000007ffffff  128M online        no       0
0x0000000008000000-0x0000000027ffffff  512M online       yes     1-4
0x0000000028000000-0x0000000037ffffff  256M online        no     5-6
0x0000000038000000-0x00000000b7ffffff    2G online       yes    7-22
0x00000000b8000000-0x00000000bfffffff  128M online        no      23
0x0000000100000000-0x0000000107ffffff  128M online        no      32
0x0000000108000000-0x0000000137ffffff  768M online       yes   33-38
0x0000000138000000-0x000000013fffffff  128M online        no      39
0x0000000140000000-0x00000003dfffffff 10.5G online       yes  40-123
0x00000003e0000000-0x00000003efffffff  256M online        no 124-125
0x00000003f0000000-0x00000003f7ffffff  128M online       yes     126
0x00000003f8000000-0x00000003ffffffff  128M online        no     127
0x0000000400000000-0x000000040fffffff  256M online       yes 128-129
0x0000000410000000-0x0000000447ffffff  896M online        no 130-136
0x0000000448000000-0x00000007f7ffffff 14.8G online       yes 137-254
0x00000007f8000000-0x000000080fffffff  384M online        no 255-257
0x0000000810000000-0x000000081fffffff  256M online       yes 258-259    <<--------
0x0000000820000000-0x000000083fffffff  512M online        no 260-263

Memory block size:       128M
Total online memory:      32G
Total offline memory:      0B

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