It's important to remember that RSS increases is no indication of a leak - it will rise and fall according to how busy the machine is and not how much new memory the process has allocated. Please ignore all RSS values as they are going to be unpredictable and misleading.
As for VSZ, that's kind of related to potential leaks. The problem with VSZ is that it's a measure of the address space mappings size and is also not a measure of regular memory allocated by the process. Although you can use changes in VSZ to detect leaks and bloat, address space used by VSZ is not an indication of the memory requirements of the process. Probably a better field to monitor for actual leaks is VmData which you can find in: /proc/PID/status VmData is a more realistic indication of memory allocated by the process. -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Desktop Packages, which is subscribed to gnome-shell in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1672297 Title: gnome-shell uses lots of memory, and grows over time Status in GNOME Shell: Unknown Status in Mutter: Fix Released Status in gnome-shell package in Ubuntu: Triaged Status in mutter package in Ubuntu: Triaged Bug description: gnome-shell's RSS is growing by 1 MiB every few minutes, and is now at almost 2 GiB. user 3039 1.8 16.1 4302340 1968476 tty2 Sl+ Mar09 120:17 /usr/bin/gnome-shell strace output is voluminous; here is a representative sample: poll([{fd=5, events=POLLIN|POLLOUT}], 1, -1) = 1 ([{fd=5, revents=POLLOUT}]) writev(5, [{"\231\n\10\0\n\0 \0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\1\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0", 32}], 1) = 32 poll([{fd=5, events=POLLIN}], 1, -1) = 1 ([{fd=5, revents=POLLIN}]) recvmsg(5, {msg_name(0)=NULL, msg_iov(1)=[{"\1\0{\224\0\0\0\0H\0\0\0\0\23\266\32\0\0\0\0\201\242\204\0\0\0\0\0\261.\0\0", 4096}], msg_controllen=0, msg_flags=0}, 0) = 32 recvmsg(5, 0x7fff60efac90, 0) = -1 EAGAIN (Resource temporarily unavailable) recvmsg(5, 0x7fff60efac90, 0) = -1 EAGAIN (Resource temporarily unavailable) poll([{fd=5, events=POLLIN|POLLOUT}], 1, -1) = 1 ([{fd=5, revents=POLLOUT}]) writev(5, [{"\212\5\4\0a\2228\0y\3\5\0%\3\27\4\231\6\5\0\n\0 \0a\2228\0\0\0\0\0"..., 36}, {NULL, 0}, {"", 0}], 3) = 36 poll([{fd=5, events=POLLIN}], 1, -1) = 1 ([{fd=5, revents=POLLIN}]) recvmsg(5, {msg_name(0)=NULL, msg_iov(1)=[{"\1\0}\224\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0", 4096}], msg_controllen=0, msg_flags=0}, 0) = 32 recvmsg(5, 0x7fff60efac90, 0) = -1 EAGAIN (Resource temporarily unavailable) poll([{fd=5, events=POLLIN|POLLOUT}], 1, -1) = 1 ([{fd=5, revents=POLLOUT}]) writev(5, [{"\212\n\2\0a\2228\0", 8}, {NULL, 0}, {"", 0}], 3) = 8 recvmsg(5, 0x7fff60efb020, 0) = -1 EAGAIN (Resource temporarily unavailable) recvmsg(12, 0x7fff60efb000, 0) = -1 EAGAIN (Resource temporarily unavailable) poll([{fd=4, events=POLLIN}, {fd=5, events=POLLIN}, {fd=11, events=POLLIN}, {fd=12, events=POLLIN}, {fd=14, events=POLLIN}, {fd=16, events=POLLIN}, {fd=26, events=POLLIN}, {fd=29, events=POLLIN}, {fd=32, events=POLLIN}, {fd=34, events=POLLIN}, {fd=37, events=POLLIN}, {fd=38, events=POLLIN}, {fd=40, events=POLLIN}, {fd=42, events=POLLIN}, {fd=43, events=POLLIN}], 15, 0) = 0 (Timeout) recvmsg(5, 0x7fff60efb040, 0) = -1 EAGAIN (Resource temporarily unavailable) recvmsg(5, 0x7fff60efb020, 0) = -1 EAGAIN (Resource temporarily unavailable) recvmsg(12, 0x7fff60efb000, 0) = -1 EAGAIN (Resource temporarily unavailable) poll([{fd=4, events=POLLIN}, {fd=5, events=POLLIN}, {fd=11, events=POLLIN}, {fd=12, events=POLLIN}, {fd=14, events=POLLIN}, {fd=16, events=POLLIN}, {fd=26, events=POLLIN}, {fd=29, events=POLLIN}, {fd=32, events=POLLIN}, {fd=34, events=POLLIN}, {fd=37, events=POLLIN}, {fd=38, events=POLLIN}, {fd=40, events=POLLIN}, {fd=42, events=POLLIN}, {fd=43, events=POLLIN}], 15, 0) = 0 (Timeout) recvmsg(5, 0x7fff60efb040, 0) = -1 EAGAIN (Resource temporarily unavailable) open("/proc/self/stat", O_RDONLY) = 36 fstat(36, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0444, st_size=0, ...}) = 0 fcntl(36, F_GETFL) = 0x8000 (flags O_RDONLY|O_LARGEFILE) fstat(36, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0444, st_size=0, ...}) = 0 read(36, "3039 (gnome-shell) R 2930 2917 2"..., 4096) = 354 read(36, "", 3072) = 0 close(36) = 0 recvmsg(5, 0x7fff60efb020, 0) = -1 EAGAIN (Resource temporarily unavailable) recvmsg(12, 0x7fff60efb000, 0) = -1 EAGAIN (Resource temporarily unavailable) poll([{fd=4, events=POLLIN}, {fd=5, events=POLLIN}, {fd=11, events=POLLIN}, {fd=12, events=POLLIN}, {fd=14, events=POLLIN}, {fd=16, events=POLLIN}, {fd=26, events=POLLIN}, {fd=29, events=POLLIN}, {fd=32, events=POLLIN}, {fd=34, events=POLLIN}, {fd=37, events=POLLIN}, {fd=38, events=POLLIN}, {fd=40, events=POLLIN}, {fd=42, events=POLLIN}, {fd=43, events=POLLIN}], 15, 117885) = 1 ([{fd=4, revents=POLLIN}]) read(4, "\1\0\0\0\0\0\0\0", 16) = 8 recvmsg(5, 0x7fff60efb040, 0) = -1 EAGAIN (Resource temporarily unavailable) recvmsg(5, 0x7fff60efb020, 0) = -1 EAGAIN (Resource temporarily unavailable) recvmsg(12, {msg_name(0)=NULL, msg_iov(1)=[{"[\2\327&h\0@\0i\0@\0(nu\22\n\0I\0\336\2\232\1\265\0038\2\362\2\355\1", 4096}], msg_controllen=0, msg_flags=0}, 0) = 32 recvmsg(12, 0x7fff60efb000, 0) = -1 EAGAIN (Resource temporarily unavailable) poll([{fd=4, events=POLLIN}, {fd=5, events=POLLIN}, {fd=11, events=POLLIN}, {fd=12, events=POLLIN}, {fd=14, events=POLLIN}, {fd=16, events=POLLIN}, {fd=26, events=POLLIN}, {fd=29, events=POLLIN}, {fd=32, events=POLLIN}, {fd=34, events=POLLIN}, {fd=37, events=POLLIN}, {fd=38, events=POLLIN}, {fd=40, events=POLLIN}, {fd=42, events=POLLIN}, {fd=43, events=POLLIN}], 15, 0) = 0 (Timeout) recvmsg(5, 0x7fff60efb040, 0) = -1 EAGAIN (Resource temporarily unavailable) write(4, "\1\0\0\0\0\0\0\0", 8) = 8 recvmsg(12, 0x7fff60efaed0, 0) = -1 EAGAIN (Resource temporarily unavailable) recvmsg(5, 0x7fff60efb020, 0) = -1 EAGAIN (Resource temporarily unavailable) recvmsg(12, 0x7fff60efb000, 0) = -1 EAGAIN (Resource temporarily unavailable) poll([{fd=4, events=POLLIN}, {fd=5, events=POLLIN}, {fd=11, events=POLLIN}, {fd=12, events=POLLIN}, {fd=14, events=POLLIN}, {fd=16, events=POLLIN}, {fd=26, events=POLLIN}, {fd=29, events=POLLIN}, {fd=32, events=POLLIN}, {fd=34, events=POLLIN}, {fd=37, events=POLLIN}, {fd=38, events=POLLIN}, {fd=40, events=POLLIN}, {fd=42, events=POLLIN}, {fd=43, events=POLLIN}], 15, 0) = 1 ([{fd=4, revents=POLLIN}]) read(4, "\1\0\0\0\0\0\0\0", 16) = 8 recvmsg(5, 0x7fff60efb040, 0) = -1 EAGAIN (Resource temporarily unavailable) open("/proc/self/stat", O_RDONLY) = 36 fstat(36, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0444, st_size=0, ...}) = 0 fcntl(36, F_GETFL) = 0x8000 (flags O_RDONLY|O_LARGEFILE) fstat(36, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0444, st_size=0, ...}) = 0 read(36, "3039 (gnome-shell) R 2930 2917 2"..., 4096) = 354 read(36, "", 3072) = 0 close(36) = 0 recvmsg(5, 0x7fff60efb020, 0) = -1 EAGAIN (Resource temporarily unavailable) recvmsg(12, 0x7fff60efb000, 0) = -1 EAGAIN (Resource temporarily unavailable) poll([{fd=4, events=POLLIN}, {fd=5, events=POLLIN}, {fd=11, events=POLLIN}, {fd=12, events=POLLIN}, {fd=14, events=POLLIN}, {fd=16, events=POLLIN}, {fd=26, events=POLLIN}, {fd=29, events=POLLIN}, {fd=32, events=POLLIN}, {fd=34, events=POLLIN}, {fd=37, events=POLLIN}, {fd=38, events=POLLIN}, {fd=40, events=POLLIN}, {fd=42, events=POLLIN}, {fd=43, events=POLLIN}], 15, 1) = 0 (Timeout) recvmsg(5, 0x7fff60efb040, 0) = -1 EAGAIN (Resource temporarily unavailable) poll([{fd=12, events=POLLIN|POLLOUT}], 1, -1) = 1 ([{fd=12, revents=POLLOUT}]) writev(12, [{"\217\3\4\0i\0@\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0+\0\1\0", 20}, {NULL, 0}, {"", 0}], 3) = 20 poll([{fd=12, events=POLLIN}], 1, -1) = 1 ([{fd=12, revents=POLLIN}]) recvmsg(12, {msg_name(0)=NULL, msg_iov(1)=[{"\1\2\331&\0\0\0\0\250\0`\2\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0", 4096}], msg_controllen=0, msg_flags=0}, 0) = 32 recvmsg(12, 0x7fff60efaf60, 0) = -1 EAGAIN (Resource temporarily unavailable) recvmsg(12, 0x7fff60efaf60, 0) = -1 EAGAIN (Resource temporarily unavailable) ioctl(6, DRM_IOCTL_I915_GEM_MADVISE, 0x7fff60efa960) = 0 ioctl(6, DRM_IOCTL_I915_GEM_BUSY, 0x7fff60efa910) = 0 ioctl(6, DRM_IOCTL_I915_GEM_MADVISE, 0x7fff60efa900) = 0 ioctl(6, DRM_IOCTL_I915_GEM_PWRITE, 0x7fff60efa9b0) = 0 ioctl(6, DRM_IOCTL_I915_GEM_BUSY, 0x7fff60efac50) = 0 ioctl(6, DRM_IOCTL_I915_GEM_SET_DOMAIN, 0x7fff60efaba0) = 0 ioctl(6, DRM_IOCTL_I915_GEM_SW_FINISH, 0x7fff60efad30) = 0 ioctl(6, DRM_IOCTL_I915_GEM_SW_FINISH, 0x7fff60efae30) = 0 ioctl(6, _IOC(_IOC_READ|_IOC_WRITE, 0x64, 0x69, 0x40), 0x7fff60efadb0) = 0 ioctl(6, DRM_IOCTL_I915_GEM_SET_DOMAIN, 0x7fff60efae30) = 0 ioctl(6, DRM_IOCTL_I915_GEM_MADVISE, 0x7fff60efadb0) = 0 ioctl(6, DRM_IOCTL_I915_GEM_BUSY, 0x7fff60efad80) = 0 ioctl(6, DRM_IOCTL_I915_GEM_MADVISE, 0x7fff60efad70) = 0 ioctl(6, DRM_IOCTL_I915_GEM_SET_DOMAIN, 0x7fff60efad90) = 0 ioctl(6, DRM_IOCTL_I915_GEM_SET_DOMAIN, 0x7fff60efae90) = 0 ProblemType: Bug DistroRelease: Ubuntu 17.04 Package: gnome-shell 3.23.91-0ubuntu4 ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.10.0-11.13-generic 4.10.1 Uname: Linux 4.10.0-11-generic x86_64 ApportVersion: 2.20.4-0ubuntu2 Architecture: amd64 Date: Mon Mar 13 19:17:51 2017 DisplayManager: gdm3 InstallationDate: Installed on 2016-12-02 (100 days ago) InstallationMedia: Ubuntu-GNOME 16.10 "Yakkety Yak" - Release amd64 (20161012.1) ProcEnviron: LANGUAGE=en_AU:en TERM=xterm-256color PATH=(custom, no user) LANG=en_AU.UTF-8 SHELL=/bin/bash SourcePackage: gnome-shell UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install) To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/gnome-shell/+bug/1672297/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages Post to : 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