3.9 KiB
Stress-ng: Hardware Stress Testing Tool
stress-ng is a powerful tool for performing various stress tests on your hardware components, including CPU, memory, and I/O. This utility helps in assessing hardware stability under heavy loads, making it useful for benchmarking or diagnosing hardware issues.
Table of Contents
Installation
To install stress-ng on Ubuntu or other Debian-based systems, run:
sudo apt install stress-ng
CPU Stress Testing
Use stress-ng to test CPU performance under different configurations:
1. Run a CPU Test with a Specified Number of Threads
You can specify the number of threads to use during a CPU stress test. Using 0 as the thread number utilizes all available CPU cores, maximizing CPU usage.
stress-ng --cpu <thread-number>
Example:
stress-ng --cpu 4
This command uses 4 CPU threads to run the stress test.
2. Run a CPU Test for a Specified Duration
Specify both the number of CPU threads and a time limit for the test.
stress-ng --cpu <thread-number> --timeout <seconds>
Example:
stress-ng --cpu 2 --timeout 60s
This command uses 2 CPU threads and runs the test for 60 seconds.
3. Run a CPU Load Test at a Specific Percentage
You can control the CPU load by specifying a percentage, which is helpful for testing different levels of CPU usage.
stress-ng --cpu-load <percentage>
Example:
stress-ng --cpu-load 50
This command keeps the CPU load at approximately 50%.
Memory Stress Testing
Stress test the system's memory by allocating and releasing blocks of memory. This can help evaluate memory stability and performance.
1. Basic Memory Stress Test
Run a memory test with a specified number of workers (processes) that continuously allocate and deallocate memory.
stress-ng --vm <workers>
Example:
stress-ng --vm 2
This command uses 2 workers to perform memory stress testing.
2. Run a Timed Memory Stress Test
Add a timeout option to run a memory test for a specific duration.
stress-ng --vm <workers> --timeout <seconds>
Example:
stress-ng --vm 2 --timeout 60s
This command uses 2 memory workers and runs the test for 60 seconds.
3. Allocate a Specific Amount of Memory
Specify the amount of memory to allocate per worker.
stress-ng --vm <workers> --vm-bytes <size>
Example:
stress-ng --vm 1 --vm-bytes 512M
This command allocates 512 MB of memory for one worker.
I/O Stress Testing
I/O testing evaluates the performance of your system’s storage by reading and writing files repeatedly. This is useful for identifying storage bottlenecks and stress-testing the I/O subsystem.
1. Basic I/O Stress Test
Run an I/O test with a specified number of workers performing file operations.
stress-ng --io <workers>
Example:
stress-ng --io 4
This command runs 4 I/O workers, continuously reading and writing data to test disk performance.
2. Timed I/O Stress Test
Specify a timeout to limit the duration of the I/O stress test.
stress-ng --io <workers> --timeout <seconds>
Example:
stress-ng --io 4 --timeout 60s
This command runs the I/O stress test for 60 seconds with 4 workers.
Full System Stress Testing
For a comprehensive stress test, stress-ng allows you to stress multiple components at once, such as CPU, memory, and I/O. This puts a combined load on the system to simulate heavy usage conditions.
stress-ng --all --timeout <seconds>
Example:
stress-ng --all --timeout 10s
This command runs a 10-second full system stress test, targeting all components that stress-ng supports.