NSE7 Troubleshooting and Diagnostics Practice Question
A FortiGate administrator needs to identify which process is consuming the most memory. Which command should be used?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently confuse system-level memory commands (like 'diagnose hardware sysinfo memory' or 'show system resource usage') with process-level memory diagnostics, assuming any 'memory' or 'resource' command will show per-process details.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
diagnose sys top
The 'diagnose sys top' command displays a real-time list of running processes sorted by CPU and memory usage, allowing the administrator to identify which process is consuming the most memory. This is the standard FortiGate CLI command for process-level resource monitoring, similar to 'top' on Linux systems.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
diagnose sys top
Why this is correct
The diagnose sys top command displays a live, refreshable list of running FortiGate processes ranked by CPU and memory consumption. This directly identifies the process using the most memory, which is the administrator's stated goal.
- ✗
show system resource usage
Why it's wrong here
This command displays overall CPU, memory and session counters, not a per-process breakdown, so the top memory consumer stays hidden. It suits a quick health check of total resource consumption rather than attributing usage to individual daemons.
- ✗
diagnose hardware sysinfo memory
Why it's wrong here
This command reports physical memory totals, cache and swap figures, not per-process consumption, so no individual daemon is ranked. It suits verifying installed RAM, free memory and hardware-level memory status rather than identifying which process is largest.
- ✗
get system performance status
Why it's wrong here
This shows overall memory usage, not per-process.
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Same concept, more angles
1 more way this is tested on NSE7
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A FortiGate administrator wants to quickly identify which process is consuming the most CPU on the device. Which CLI command should be used?
easy- A.diagnose hardware sysinfo memory
- ✓ B.diagnose sys top
- C.diagnose debug application crashlog read
- D.get system performance status
Why B: 'diagnose sys top' displays a real-time list of running processes sorted by CPU usage, allowing the administrator to quickly identify the most CPU-intensive process. This command is the standard FortiGate CLI tool for live process-level CPU monitoring, similar to the Linux 'top' command.
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This NSE7 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Fortinet 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 NSE7 exam.