LFCS Essential Commands Practice Question
A DevOps engineer wants to list all running processes sorted by memory usage in descending order. Which command should be used?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse `%mem` with `mem` or `%cpu` with `%mem`, and may overlook the minus sign for descending order, leading them to pick ascending sort options or the wrong resource metric.
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
✓
ps aux --sort=-%mem
`ps aux` lists all running processes, and `--sort=-%mem` sorts them by memory usage in descending order (the minus sign indicates descending). This is the standard way to identify memory-heavy processes for troubleshooting or resource monitoring.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
ps aux --sort=-%mem
Why this is correct
Sorts by memory in descending order.
- ✗
ps aux --sort=%mem
Why it's wrong here
Sorts by memory in ascending order.
- ✗
ps aux --sort=+mem
Why it's wrong here
Invalid syntax; %mem should be used.
- ✗
ps aux --sort=-%cpu
Why it's wrong here
Sorts by CPU usage.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This LFCS practice question is part of Courseiva's free Linux Foundation 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 LFCS exam.