How can memory space be released in Linux?
In the Linux system, there are several ways to free up memory space, such as:
- Rebooting the system: Restarting the system will clear all memory space, releasing all memory upon restarting. However, this method is rather cumbersome and can result in interruptions to system services.
- The sync command helps to write data from memory to disk, freeing up memory space. You can execute the sync command through the command line.
- Utilize the sysctl command to control kernel parameters. You can release memory space by modifying the vm.drop_caches parameter. Here are the specific steps.
- Execute the command “sudo sysctl vm.drop_caches=3” to set the vm.drop_caches parameter to 3.
- This allows for the release of data in the kernel cache, thereby freeing up memory space.
- The swap command is used to enable or disable a swap partition, which is a technique used to expand memory. You can disable a swap partition with the swapoff command and then re-enable it with the swapon command, which will free up some memory space.
- Use memory reclaim tools: In Linux systems, there are several memory reclaim tools available that can help free up memory space. For example, one can use the memory reclaim tool malloc_trim() to release memory allocated by the malloc library.
It should be noted that freeing up memory space may lead to a decrease in system performance or the occurrence of abnormal situations, so it is important to carefully evaluate the risks before freeing up memory space and ensure the normal operation of the system and applications.