This XK0-005 practice question tests your understanding of troubleshooting. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A Linux administrator suspects a memory leak in a process. Which TWO commands can be used to monitor memory usage over time for a specific process? (Choose two.)
top
top shows real-time memory usage per process in the RES and VIRT columns.
vmstat
Why wrong: vmstat reports system-wide memory, swap, and CPU statistics.
iostat
Why wrong: iostat is for monitoring disk I/O, not memory.
ps aux --sort=-%mem
ps can show memory usage for all processes; used with watch or in a loop it can monitor over time.
free
Why wrong: free shows total, used, and free memory system-wide, not per process.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
top
Option A (top) is correct because it provides a real-time, interactive view of system processes, including memory usage (RES, VIRT, %MEM) that updates by default every 3 seconds. You can filter by PID to monitor a specific process over time, making it ideal for detecting memory growth patterns indicative of a leak.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
top
Why this is correct
top shows real-time memory usage per process in the RES and VIRT columns.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
vmstat
Why it's wrong here
vmstat reports system-wide memory, swap, and CPU statistics.
iostat
Why it's wrong here
iostat is for monitoring disk I/O, not memory.
ps aux --sort=-%mem
Why this is correct
ps can show memory usage for all processes; used with watch or in a loop it can monitor over time.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
free
Why it's wrong here
free shows total, used, and free memory system-wide, not per process.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates may think vmstat or free can monitor per-process memory, but they only show aggregate system memory, while top and ps are the correct tools for per-process memory tracking over time.
Trap categories for this question
Command / output trap
free shows total, used, and free memory system-wide, not per process.
Detailed technical explanation
The 'ps aux --sort=-%mem' command (Option D) is also correct because it lists all processes sorted by memory percentage descending, and when run repeatedly (e.g., via watch) it can track a specific process's memory growth over time. A memory leak occurs when a process allocates memory (e.g., via malloc) but fails to free it, causing its RSS (Resident Set Size) to increase monotonically until the system runs out of memory or the OOM killer terminates it.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A small business has 20 workstations on the 192.168.1.0/24 network and one public IP from its ISP. The router uses PAT (NAT overload) so all 20 devices share one public address using different source ports. NAT questions test whether you understand the four address terms and which direction each translation applies.
What to study next
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FAQ
Troubleshooting — This question tests Troubleshooting — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: top — Option A (top) is correct because it provides a real-time, interactive view of system processes, including memory usage (RES, VIRT, %MEM) that updates by default every 3 seconds. You can filter by PID to monitor a specific process over time, making it ideal for detecting memory growth patterns indicative of a leak.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
This XK0-005 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the XK0-005 exam.
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