# stress-ng Cheatsheet - Cheatsheets - Launch Pad

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# stress-ng Cheatsheet

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stress-ng is a system stress testing tool. Tests various system components including CPU, memory, I/O, disk, and network under load. Useful for system testing, benchmarking, and thermal testing.

## Basic Usage

- stress-ng --cpu <num> - Stress CPU with specified workers

- stress-ng --vm <num> - Stress virtual memory

- stress-ng --io <num> - Stress I/O

- stress-ng --timeout <time> - Run for specified time

- stress-ng --metrics-brief - Show brief metrics

- stress-ng --verbose - Verbose output

## CPU Stress

- stress-ng --cpu <num> - Number of CPU workers

- stress-ng --cpu-load <percent> - CPU load percentage

- stress-ng --cpu-method <method> - CPU stress method

- stress-ng --cpu-ops <num> - Stop after N operations

## Memory Stress

- stress-ng --vm <num> - Number of memory workers

- stress-ng --vm-bytes <size> - Memory per worker

- stress-ng --vm-method <method> - Memory stress method

- stress-ng --vm-ops <num> - Stop after N operations

## I/O Stress

- stress-ng --io <num> - Number of I/O workers

- stress-ng --hdd <num> - Stress hard disk

- stress-ng --hdd-bytes <size> - Disk write size

- stress-ng --hdd-ops <num> - Stop after N operations

## Timing and Control

- stress-ng --timeout <time> - Run for specified time

- stress-ng --timeout <time>s - Time in seconds

- stress-ng --timeout <time>m - Time in minutes

- stress-ng --timeout <time>h - Time in hours

- stress-ng --kill-after <time> - Kill after timeout

## Output Options

- stress-ng --metrics - Show metrics

- stress-ng --metrics-brief - Brief metrics

- stress-ng --verbose - Verbose output

- stress-ng --quiet - Quiet mode

- stress-ng --dry-run - Show what would be done

## Common Examples

### CPU Stress

    stress-ng --cpu 4 --timeout 60s

Stress 4 CPUs for 60 seconds.

### Memory Stress

    stress-ng --vm 2 --vm-bytes 1G --timeout 30s

Stress memory with 2 workers, 1GB each, for 30 seconds.

### I/O Stress

    stress-ng --io 4 --timeout 60s

Stress I/O with 4 workers for 60 seconds.

### Disk Stress

    stress-ng --hdd 1 --hdd-bytes 1G --timeout 120s

Stress disk with 1GB writes for 120 seconds.

### Combined Stress

    stress-ng --cpu 2 --vm 1 --io 1 --timeout 60s

Stress CPU, memory, and I/O simultaneously.

### With Metrics

    stress-ng --cpu 4 --timeout 60s --metrics-brief

Show brief metrics during stress test.

### CPU Load Percentage

    stress-ng --cpu 4 --cpu-load 50 --timeout 60s

Stress CPUs at 50% load.

### Verbose Output

    stress-ng --cpu 2 --timeout 30s --verbose

Show detailed output.

## Tips

- Use --timeout to limit test duration

- Use --metrics-brief to monitor performance during test

- Start with low worker counts and short timeouts

- Monitor system temperatures while running stress tests

- Use watch sensors to monitor temperatures in real-time: watch -n 1 sensors

- Use --cpu-load to control CPU utilization percentage

- Use --vm-bytes to control memory stress size

- Use --dry-run to see what would be executed

- Essential for thermal testing and system stability verification