EX200 Essential Tools Practice Question
A system is experiencing high CPU usage. The administrator suspects a process is stuck in an infinite loop. Which command can be used to identify the most CPU-intensive process in real-time?
⚠ Common exam trap
Red Hat often tests the distinction between real-time monitoring (`top`) and static snapshots (`ps`), where candidates mistakenly choose `ps aux` because they see CPU columns, but fail to recognize that `ps` does not refresh dynamically to catch a looping process.
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
✓
top
The `top` command provides a real-time, dynamic view of system processes, sorted by CPU usage by default. It continuously refreshes, making it ideal for identifying the most CPU-intensive process as it runs, which directly addresses the scenario of a suspected infinite loop causing high CPU usage.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
top
Why this is correct
top is a real-time process monitoring utility that continuously updates the list of running processes and sorts by CPU usage by default, making it easy to spot which process is consuming high CPU. It refreshes every few seconds and provides interactive sorting and filtering options, allowing administrators to quickly identify and act on the CPU-intensive process.
- ✗
lsof
Why it's wrong here
lsof lists all open files and the processes that hold them, including regular files, sockets, pipes, and device files. It does not report CPU utilization or any process performance metrics, so it cannot be used to diagnose high CPU usage directly. While it might be useful later to investigate what resources a suspicious process has open, it is not a CPU monitoring tool.
- ✗
ps aux
Why it's wrong here
ps aux generates a static snapshot of the current process table, showing columns such as PID, %CPU, and %MEM, but that %CPU value is calculated over the process's entire lifetime, not the current moment. The output does not auto-refresh, so a rapid CPU spike can be missed unless the command is run repeatedly at the exact right time. For an evolving high CPU situation, top provides a fresh view every few seconds rather than a one-time snapshot.
- ✗
strace
Why it's wrong here
strace traces system calls and signals made by a process, printing each call, its arguments, and the return value, which is invaluable for debugging kernel interactions and I/O behavior. It does not measure CPU usage or show a process's overall resource consumption, and the tracing overhead actually perturbs the system's performance. Using strace solely to check CPU usage is an indirect and heavyweight approach, so top remains the appropriate first-line diagnostic tool.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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