Context
You just received your Linux VPS at Winheberg and want to check its technical specs. Whether it's to confirm the resources you ordered, diagnose slowness, or simply get to know your machine better, Linux offers many commands to find out everything about your system.
This guide covers the essential commands for checking your server's CPU, RAM, storage, operating system, and network. It covers every distribution we offer at deployment, Debian 11/12/13, Ubuntu 23.10/24.04/25.04, AlmaLinux 9/10, Rocky Linux 9/10, Fedora 41/42, and Alpine Linux 3.22.
Alpine Linux uses BusyBox, which provides lightweight versions of many commands. Some options change or require installing the full package. Affected cases are flagged throughout this guide.
Why check your VPS's specs?
- Verify your plan by confirming you actually have the CPU, RAM, and disk resources you ordered
- Diagnose slowness by spotting whether your server is saturated on memory, CPU, or storage
- Size an application by checking your resources are enough before installing a new service
- Plan for scaling by anticipating an upgrade as you approach your limits
Prerequisites
- An active Linux VPS at Winheberg
- Root SSH access to your server
1. Operating system
Let's start by identifying the installed Linux distribution and version.
Distribution and version
cat /etc/os-release
This gives you the distribution's name, version, and codename.
PRETTY_NAME="Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)"
NAME="Debian GNU/Linux"
VERSION_ID="12"
VERSION="12 (bookworm)"
Linux kernel version
uname -r
The result looks like this.
6.1.0-18-amd64
Processor architecture
uname -m
You'll usually see x86_64, the standard 64-bit architecture, or aarch64 for 64-bit ARM. This information is useful later for picking the right package during a manual installation.
To get all this information in a single command, use uname -a.
2. Processor (CPU)
Detailed CPU specs
lscpu
This command shows a lot of useful information.
Architecture: x86_64
CPU(s): 4
Thread(s) per core: 2
Core(s) per socket: 2
Model name: Intel(R) Xeon(R) Platinum 8168 CPU @ 2.70GHz
CPU MHz: 2700.000
Cache L3: 33 MiB
The most telling lines are detailed below.
| Line | Meaning |
|---|---|
CPU(s) |
Total number of virtual cores available |
Model name |
Exact processor model |
CPU MHz |
Frequency in megahertz |
On Alpine, lscpu isn't provided by BusyBox. Install it with apk add util-linux before using it.
Number of cores only
nproc
This command directly returns the number of available cores, handy in a script.
Raw CPU details
cat /proc/cpuinfo
This command shows the kernel's raw information, with one block per core. Very thorough, but verbose.
3. Memory (RAM)
RAM determines your server's ability to run several services in parallel.
Total and used RAM
free -h
The -h option shows values in GB and MB rather than kilobytes.
total used free shared buff/cache available
Mem: 7.8Gi 1.2Gi 4.5Gi 50Mi 2.1Gi 6.3Gi
Swap: 2.0Gi 0B 2.0Gi
Here's how to read this table.
| Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
total |
Total amount of RAM installed |
used |
RAM actually used by processes |
free |
Fully free RAM |
available |
RAM available for new applications, the most relevant value |
Swap |
Disk space used as virtual memory when RAM is saturated |
On Alpine, BusyBox's free doesn't show the available column and doesn't always support the -h option. To get the full display, install apk add procps.
4. Storage
Storage is often the first resource to fill up on a server.
Disk space used
df -h
This command shows the available space on each partition.
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda1 75G 12G 63G 16% /
tmpfs 3.9G 0 3.9G 0% /dev/shm
The Use% column shows the usage percentage. Beyond 80%, it becomes worth cleaning up or expanding your disk.
Disks and partitions
lsblk
This command shows a tree view of disks and their partitions.
NAME SIZE TYPE MOUNTPOINT
sda 75G disk
└─sda1 75G part /
On Alpine, lsblk also comes from util-linux, install it with apk add util-linux if the command is missing.
Detailed usage of a folder
If your disk is filling up, identify the largest folders.
du -h --max-depth=1 /var
You can replace /var with any folder, the command shows the size of each subfolder.
To sort from largest to smallest, add sort at the end, for example du -h --max-depth=1 /var | sort -h. On Alpine, BusyBox uses the short form du -d 1 /var.
5. Network
Knowing your server's network configuration is essential for diagnosing connectivity.
Network interfaces and IP addresses
ip a
You'll see every network interface, loopback and ethernet, with their associated IP addresses.
Public IP address
curl -s ifconfig.me
This command contacts an external service to retrieve your public IP as seen from the Internet.
curl isn't always preinstalled on minimal images. Install it with apt install curl -y, dnf install curl -y, or apk add curl depending on your distribution, or use the wget -qO- ifconfig.me alternative.
Connectivity test
ping -c 4 google.com
The -c 4 option limits the command to 4 pings, otherwise it runs continuously.
Real-time network traffic with nload
The nload tool shows the bandwidth used by your server live, for example during a download. Install it depending on your distribution.
apt install nload -y
dnf install nload -y
These distributions don't provide nload in their base repositories. First enable the EPEL repository.
dnf install epel-release -y
dnf install nload -y
apk add nload
Then launch the tool.
nload
You get a text-mode interface with two graphs. The top one shows incoming traffic (Incoming), the bottom one outgoing traffic (Outgoing), with instant speed, average, and peak. To exit, press q.
If your server has several network interfaces, the left and right arrow keys let you switch between them.
6. Full summary with Fastfetch
The Fastfetch tool shows a visual summary of your system, along with an ASCII logo of your distribution. In one command, you get the distribution, kernel, uptime, installed packages, shell, CPU, RAM, and more.
Neofetch, long the go-to tool, has been archived since April 2024, its development has stopped. Fastfetch is its successor, faster, more modern, and actively maintained.
Install Fastfetch depending on your distribution.
On Debian 13 and Ubuntu 25.04 and later versions, the package is available directly.
apt install fastfetch -y
dnf install fastfetch -y
First enable the EPEL repository, which provides fastfetch.
dnf install epel-release -y
dnf install fastfetch -y
apk add fastfetch
On Debian 11, Debian 12, as well as Ubuntu 23.10 and 24.04, fastfetch isn't present in the repositories, the apt install fastfetch command fails. The package is only directly available via apt starting with Debian 13 and Ubuntu 25.04. On older versions, download the .deb package matching the architecture found with uname -m, from the fastfetch project's releases page on GitHub, then install it with dpkg -i package-name.deb.
Then launch the tool.
fastfetch
7. Real-time monitoring with htop
The htop tool monitors your server's processes, CPU, and RAM live. Install it depending on your distribution.
apt install htop -y
dnf install htop -y
First enable the EPEL repository, which provides htop.
dnf install epel-release -y
dnf install htop -y
apk add htop
Then launch the tool.
htop
You get an interactive interface listing every running process, with a CPU and RAM usage graph at the top. To exit, press q.
The F6 key sorts by column, CPU or RAM for example, and F9 ends a process directly from the interface.
Summary of useful commands
| Information | Command |
|---|---|
| Linux distribution | cat /etc/os-release |
| Kernel version | uname -r |
| CPU specs | lscpu |
| Number of cores | nproc |
| RAM | free -h |
| Disk space | df -h |
| Disks and partitions | lsblk |
| Network interfaces | ip a |
| Live network traffic | nload |
| Full summary | fastfetch |
| Real-time monitoring | htop |
Need help?
If you run into an issue getting your VPS's specs, or if the values shown don't match your plan, our team is available. Open a ticket in the Technical department from your client area and fill in the Related Product field with the VPS in question.
You now know how to inspect your Linux VPS from top to bottom 🐧
