{s,u}time values of a process wrongly decrease in /proc/<PID>/stat when a thread exits.

Solution Verified - Updated -

Issue

  • top command displayed a 4500% CPU utilization on a 16-CPU system.
  • pidstat shows bogus values
    When the system is running on high load, pidstat will report bogus values for process:
05:45:26 PM     29057    1.00    0.00    0.00    1.00     4  ssmagent.bin
05:45:27 PM     29057    0.00    1.00    0.00    1.00     4  ssmagent.bin
05:45:28 PM     29057    0.00 18446744073709551616.00    0.00 18446744073709551616.00     4  ssmagent.bin
05:45:29 PM     29057    0.00    1.00    0.00    1.00     4  ssmagent.bin
05:45:30 PM     29057    0.00    0.00    0.00    0.00     4  ssmagent.bin

Environment

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
  • kernel-2.6.32-131.6.1.el6
  • kernel-2.6.32-220.el6

Subscriber exclusive content

A Red Hat subscription provides unlimited access to our knowledgebase, tools, and much more.

Current Customers and Partners

Log in for full access

Log In

New to Red Hat?

Learn more about Red Hat subscriptions

Using a Red Hat product through a public cloud?

How to access this content