proc_vmstat(5)

💖 NAME 💖

/proc/vmstat — virtual memory statistics 🦋

So yes, it's a file, and it lives in section 5 (File Formats Manual) because manual pages about the shape and contents of files live there. It's giving "I'm a text file but I know everything about your RAM." 👑

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✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

🌸 /proc/vmstat (since Linux 2.6.0)

Bestie. This file is the gossip column for your kernel's virtual memory. Every single line in it is one name-value pair, and the name and the value are separated by white space. That's the whole format. Simple. Clean. Slay. 💅

Fair warning though: some of these lines are only there if your kernel was configured with the right options. And here's the annoying part — in some cases the options needed for particular files have changed across kernel versions, so the manpage doesn't list them here. (Rude, I know.) If you want those details, go consult the kernel source code. That's where the truth lives. 😭

The following fields may be present:

• nr_free_pages — since Linux 2.6.31
• nr_alloc_batch — since Linux 3.12
• nr_inactive_anon — since Linux 2.6.28
• nr_active_anon — since Linux 2.6.28
• nr_inactive_file — since Linux 2.6.28
• nr_active_file — since Linux 2.6.28
• nr_unevictable — since Linux 2.6.28
• nr_mlock — since Linux 2.6.28
• nr_anon_pages — since Linux 2.6.18
• nr_mapped — since Linux 2.6.0
• nr_file_pages — since Linux 2.6.18
• nr_dirty — since Linux 2.6.0
• nr_writeback — since Linux 2.6.0
• nr_slab_reclaimable — since Linux 2.6.19
• nr_slab_unreclaimable — since Linux 2.6.19
• nr_page_table_pages — since Linux 2.6.0
• nr_kernel_stack — since Linux 2.6.32. This one is the amount of memory allocated to kernel stacks.
• nr_unstable — since Linux 2.6.0
• nr_bounce — since Linux 2.6.12
• nr_vmscan_write — since Linux 2.6.19
• nr_vmscan_immediate_reclaim — since Linux 3.2
• nr_writeback_temp — since Linux 2.6.26
• nr_isolated_anon — since Linux 2.6.32
• nr_isolated_file — since Linux 2.6.32
• nr_shmem — since Linux 2.6.32. Pages used by shmem and tmpfs(5).
• nr_dirtied — since Linux 2.6.37
• nr_written — since Linux 2.6.37
• nr_pages_scanned — since Linux 3.17
• numa_hit — since Linux 2.6.18
• numa_miss — since Linux 2.6.18
• numa_foreign — since Linux 2.6.18
• numa_interleave — since Linux 2.6.18
• numa_local — since Linux 2.6.18
• numa_other — since Linux 2.6.18
• workingset_refault — since Linux 3.15
• workingset_activate — since Linux 3.15
• workingset_nodereclaim — since Linux 3.15
• nr_anon_transparent_hugepages — since Linux 2.6.38
• nr_free_cma — since Linux 3.7. Number of free CMA (Contiguous Memory Allocator) pages.
• nr_dirty_threshold — since Linux 2.6.37
• nr_dirty_background_threshold — since Linux 2.6.37
• pgpgin — since Linux 2.6.0
• pgpgout — since Linux 2.6.0
• pswpin — since Linux 2.6.0
• pswpout — since Linux 2.6.0
• pgalloc_dma — since Linux 2.6.5
• pgalloc_dma32 — since Linux 2.6.16
• pgalloc_normal — since Linux 2.6.5
• pgalloc_high — since Linux 2.6.5
• pgalloc_movable — since Linux 2.6.23
• pgfree — since Linux 2.6.0
• pgactivate — since Linux 2.6.0
• pgdeactivate — since Linux 2.6.0
• pgfault — since Linux 2.6.0
• pgmajfault — since Linux 2.6.0
• pgrefill_dma — since Linux 2.6.5
• pgrefill_dma32 — since Linux 2.6.16
• pgrefill_normal — since Linux 2.6.5
• pgrefill_high — since Linux 2.6.5
• pgrefill_movable — since Linux 2.6.23
• pgsteal_kswapd_dma — since Linux 3.4
• pgsteal_kswapd_dma32 — since Linux 3.4
• pgsteal_kswapd_normal — since Linux 3.4
• pgsteal_kswapd_high — since Linux 3.4
• pgsteal_kswapd_movable — since Linux 3.4
• pgsteal_direct_dma — no version tag on this one, it just is 💅
• pgsteal_direct_dma32 — since Linux 3.4
• pgsteal_direct_normal — since Linux 3.4
• pgsteal_direct_high — since Linux 3.4
• pgsteal_direct_movable — since Linux 2.6.23
• pgscan_kswapd_dma — no version tag, living its truth
• pgscan_kswapd_dma32 — since Linux 2.6.16
• pgscan_kswapd_normal — since Linux 2.6.5
• pgscan_kswapd_high — no version tag
• pgscan_kswapd_movable — since Linux 2.6.23
• pgscan_direct_dma — no version tag
• pgscan_direct_dma32 — since Linux 2.6.16
• pgscan_direct_normal — no version tag
• pgscan_direct_high — no version tag
• pgscan_direct_movable — since Linux 2.6.23
• pgscan_direct_throttle — since Linux 3.6
• zone_reclaim_failed — since linux 2.6.31
• pginodesteal — since linux 2.6.0
• slabs_scanned — since linux 2.6.5
• kswapd_inodesteal — since linux 2.6.0
• kswapd_low_wmark_hit_quickly — since Linux 2.6.33
• kswapd_high_wmark_hit_quickly — since Linux 2.6.33
• pageoutrun — since Linux 2.6.0
• allocstall — since Linux 2.6.0
• pgrotated — since Linux 2.6.0
• drop_pagecache — since Linux 3.15
• drop_slab — since Linux 3.15
• numa_pte_updates — since Linux 3.8
• numa_huge_pte_updates — since Linux 3.13
• numa_hint_faults — since Linux 3.8
• numa_hint_faults_local — since Linux 3.8
• numa_pages_migrated — since Linux 3.8
• pgmigrate_success — since Linux 3.8
• pgmigrate_fail — since Linux 3.8
• compact_migrate_scanned — since Linux 3.8
• compact_free_scanned — since Linux 3.8
• compact_isolated — since Linux 3.8
• compact_stall — since Linux 2.6.35. See the kernel source file Documentation/admin-guide/mm/transhuge.rst.
• compact_fail — since Linux 2.6.35. See the kernel source file Documentation/admin-guide/mm/transhuge.rst.
• compact_success — since Linux 2.6.35. See the kernel source file Documentation/admin-guide/mm/transhuge.rst.
• htlb_buddy_alloc_success — since Linux 2.6.26
• htlb_buddy_alloc_fail — since Linux 2.6.26
• unevictable_pgs_culled — since Linux 2.6.28
• unevictable_pgs_scanned — since Linux 2.6.28
• unevictable_pgs_rescued — since Linux 2.6.28
• unevictable_pgs_mlocked — since Linux 2.6.28
• unevictable_pgs_munlocked — since Linux 2.6.28
• unevictable_pgs_cleared — since Linux 2.6.28
• unevictable_pgs_stranded — since Linux 2.6.28
• thp_fault_alloc — since Linux 2.6.39. See the kernel source file Documentation/admin-guide/mm/transhuge.rst.
• thp_fault_fallback — since Linux 2.6.39. See the kernel source file Documentation/admin-guide/mm/transhuge.rst.
• thp_collapse_alloc — since Linux 2.6.39. See the kernel source file Documentation/admin-guide/mm/transhuge.rst.
• thp_collapse_alloc_failed — since Linux 2.6.39. See the kernel source file Documentation/admin-guide/mm/transhuge.rst.
• thp_split — since Linux 2.6.39. See the kernel source file Documentation/admin-guide/mm/transhuge.rst.
• thp_zero_page_alloc — since Linux 3.8. See the kernel source file Documentation/admin-guide/mm/transhuge.rst.
• thp_zero_page_alloc_failed — since Linux 3.8. See the kernel source file Documentation/admin-guide/mm/transhuge.rst.
• balloon_inflate — since Linux 3.18
• balloon_deflate — since Linux 3.18
• balloon_migrate — since Linux 3.18
• nr_tlb_remote_flush — since Linux 3.12
• nr_tlb_remote_flush_received — since Linux 3.12
• nr_tlb_local_flush_all — since Linux 3.12
• nr_tlb_local_flush_one — since Linux 3.12
• vmacache_find_calls — since Linux 3.16
• vmacache_find_hits — since Linux 3.16
• vmacache_full_flushes — since Linux 3.19

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👀 SEE ALSO 👀

• proc(5) — go read it, it's the parent vibe 🫶

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And that's the whole thing, bestie. This page came from Linux man-pages 6.20, dated 2026-02-08. Now go cat /proc/vmstat and watch your kernel overshare. Periodt. 💖✨