Memory usage has doubled from 2.7.0 to 2.7.1RC

vizi0n

Hello pfSensers !

I have upgraded las night to 2.7.1RC and I have noticed that my memory usage has "dramatically" increased from 1.4G to 2.8G and now the new floor seems to be at 2.6G

I am just wondering if this js normal ?

vizi0n

This post is deleted!

vizi0n

Here is the log from the upgrade before the device rebooted :

Installed packages to be REMOVED:
	devcpu-data-amd: 20230424
	devcpu-data-intel: 20230512
	nut: 2.8.0_23
	pfSense-rc: 2.7.0

New packages to be INSTALLED:
	boost-libs: 1.83.0 [pfSense]
	cpu-microcode-amd: 20230808 [pfSense]
	cpu-microcode-intel: 20230808 [pfSense]
	cpu-microcode-rc: 1.0 [pfSense]
	dhcpcd: 10.0.3 [pfSense]
	dhcpleases6: 0.1_3 [pfSense]
	kea: 2.4.0_1 [pfSense]
	log4cplus: 2.1.0 [pfSense]
	nut-devel: 2023.10.07_1 [pfSense]
	pfSense-composer-deps: 0.1 [pfSense]

Installed packages to be UPGRADED:
	bind-tools: 9.18.14 -> 9.18.19 [pfSense]
	brotli: 1.0.9,1 -> 1.1.0,1 [pfSense]
	ca_root_nss: 3.89.1 -> 3.93_2 [pfSense]
	curl: 8.1.0 -> 8.4.0 [pfSense]
	cyrus-sasl: 2.1.28 -> 2.1.28_1 [pfSense]
	dbus: 1.14.6,1 -> 1.14.10,1 [pfSense]
	filterlog: 0.1_9 -> 0.1_10 [pfSense]
	freeipmi: 1.6.10 -> 1.6.11 [pfSense]
	freetype2: 2.12.1_2 -> 2.13.1 [pfSense]
	gettext-runtime: 0.21.1 -> 0.22_1 [pfSense]
	glib: 2.76.2,2 -> 2.78.0,2 [pfSense]
	gmp: 6.2.1 -> 6.3.0 [pfSense]
	hostapd: 2.10_5 -> 2.10_8 [pfSense]
	icu: 73.1,1 -> 73.2,1 [pfSense]
	isc-dhcp44-relay: 4.4.3P1 -> 4.4.3P1_3 [pfSense]
	isc-dhcp44-server: 4.4.3P1 -> 4.4.3P1_3 [pfSense]
	jpeg-turbo: 2.1.5.1 -> 3.0.0 [pfSense]
	jq: 1.6 -> 1.7_1 [pfSense]
	json-c: 0.16 -> 0.17 [pfSense]
	libdeflate: 1.18 -> 1.19 [pfSense]
	libedit: 3.1.20221030,1 -> 3.1.20230828,1 [pfSense]
	libgcrypt: 1.9.4_1 -> 1.10.2 [pfSense]
	libgd: 2.3.3_5,1 -> 2.3.3_8,1 [pfSense]
	libmaxminddb: 1.7.1 -> 1.7.1_1 [pfSense]
	libnghttp2: 1.52.0 -> 1.57.0 [pfSense]
	libssh2: 1.10.0_1,3 -> 1.11.0_1,3 [pfSense]
	libuv: 1.45.0 -> 1.46.0 [pfSense]
	libxml2: 2.10.4 -> 2.10.4_1 [pfSense]
	lighttpd: 1.4.70 -> 1.4.72 [pfSense]
	links: 2.29,1 -> 2.29_2,1 [pfSense]
	lua-resty-core: 0.1.26 -> 0.1.27 [pfSense]
	lua54: 5.4.4 -> 5.4.6 [pfSense]
	luajit-openresty: 2.1.20230410 -> 2.1.20230911_1 [pfSense]
	miniupnpd: 2.3.3,1 -> 2.3.3_1,1 [pfSense]
	mobile-broadband-provider-info: 20221107 -> 20230416 [pfSense]
	net-snmp: 5.9.1_3,1 -> 5.9.1_4,1 [pfSense]
	nettle: 3.8.1 -> 3.9.1 [pfSense]
	nginx: 1.24.0_6,3 -> 1.24.0_12,3 [pfSense]
	ntp: 4.2.8p15_5 -> 4.2.8p17_1 [pfSense]
	openldap26-client: 2.6.4 -> 2.6.6 [pfSense]
	openvpn: 2.6.4 -> 2.6.6 [pfSense]
	pcsc-lite: 1.9.9,2 -> 2.0.0,2 [pfSense]
	perl5: 5.32.1_3 -> 5.34.1_3 [pfSense]
	pfSense: 2.7.0 -> 2.7.1.r.20231107.1622 [pfSense]
	pfSense-base: 2.7.0 -> 2.7.1.r.20231107.1622 [pfSense-core]
	pfSense-boot: 2.7.0 -> 2.7.1.r.20231107.1622 [pfSense-core]
	pfSense-default-config-serial: 2.7.0 -> 2.7.1.r.20231107.1622 [pfSense]
	pfSense-kernel-pfSense: 2.7.0 -> 2.7.1.r.20231107.1622 [pfSense-core]
	pfSense-pkg-nut: 2.8.0_2 -> 2.8.1 [pfSense]
	pfSense-repo: 2.7.0 -> 2.7.1.r.20231107.1622 [pfSense]
	pftop: 0.8_2 -> 0.8_4 [pfSense]
	php82: 8.2.6 -> 8.2.11 [pfSense]
	php82-bcmath: 8.2.6 -> 8.2.11 [pfSense]
	php82-bz2: 8.2.6 -> 8.2.11 [pfSense]
	php82-ctype: 8.2.6 -> 8.2.11 [pfSense]
	php82-curl: 8.2.6 -> 8.2.11 [pfSense]
	php82-dom: 8.2.6 -> 8.2.11 [pfSense]
	php82-filter: 8.2.6 -> 8.2.11 [pfSense]
	php82-ftp: 8.2.6 -> 8.2.11 [pfSense]
	php82-gettext: 8.2.6 -> 8.2.11 [pfSense]
	php82-gmp: 8.2.6 -> 8.2.11 [pfSense]
	php82-intl: 8.2.6 -> 8.2.11 [pfSense]
	php82-ldap: 8.2.6 -> 8.2.11 [pfSense]
	php82-mbstring: 8.2.6 -> 8.2.11 [pfSense]
	php82-opcache: 8.2.6 -> 8.2.11 [pfSense]
	php82-openssl_x509_crl: 1.3_2 -> 1.3_3 [pfSense]
	php82-pcntl: 8.2.6 -> 8.2.11 [pfSense]
	php82-pdo: 8.2.6 -> 8.2.11 [pfSense]
	php82-pdo_sqlite: 8.2.6 -> 8.2.11 [pfSense]
	php82-pear-Mail: 1.4.1,1 -> 1.5.1,1 [pfSense]
	php82-posix: 8.2.6 -> 8.2.11 [pfSense]
	php82-readline: 8.2.6 -> 8.2.11 [pfSense]
	php82-session: 8.2.6 -> 8.2.11 [pfSense]
	php82-shmop: 8.2.6 -> 8.2.11 [pfSense]
	php82-simplexml: 8.2.6 -> 8.2.11 [pfSense]
	php82-sockets: 8.2.6 -> 8.2.11 [pfSense]
	php82-sqlite3: 8.2.6 -> 8.2.11 [pfSense]
	php82-sysvmsg: 8.2.6 -> 8.2.11 [pfSense]
	php82-sysvsem: 8.2.6 -> 8.2.11 [pfSense]
	php82-sysvshm: 8.2.6 -> 8.2.11 [pfSense]
	php82-tokenizer: 8.2.6 -> 8.2.11 [pfSense]
	php82-xml: 8.2.6 -> 8.2.11 [pfSense]
	php82-xmlreader: 8.2.6 -> 8.2.11 [pfSense]
	php82-xmlwriter: 8.2.6 -> 8.2.11 [pfSense]
	php82-zlib: 8.2.6 -> 8.2.11 [pfSense]
	png: 1.6.39 -> 1.6.40 [pfSense]
	py311-maxminddb: 2.3.0 -> 2.4.0 [pfSense]
	py311-setuptools: 63.1.0 -> 63.1.0_1 [pfSense]
	py311-sqlite3: 3.11.3_8 -> 3.11.6_8 [pfSense]
	python311: 3.11.3 -> 3.11.6 [pfSense]
	smartmontools: 7.3 -> 7.4 [pfSense]
	sqlite3: 3.41.2,1 -> 3.43.1,1 [pfSense]
	strongswan: 5.9.10_2 -> 5.9.11_2 [pfSense]
	tiff: 4.4.0_1 -> 4.4.0_2 [pfSense]
	unbound: 1.17.1_3 -> 1.18.0 [pfSense]
	vnstat: 2.10 -> 2.11_1 [pfSense]
	voucher: 0.1_2 -> 0.1_3 [pfSense]
	webp: 1.3.0 -> 1.3.2 [pfSense]
	wpa_supplicant: 2.10_6 -> 2.10_9 [pfSense]
	xxhash: 0.8.1_2 -> 0.8.2 [pfSense]
	zstd: 1.5.4_2 -> 1.5.5 [pfSense]

Installed packages to be REINSTALLED:
	rrdtool-1.8.0_2 [pfSense] (direct dependency changed: perl5)

Number of packages to be removed: 4
Number of packages to be installed: 10
Number of packages to be upgraded: 101
Number of packages to be reinstalled: 1

The process will require 370 MiB more space.
>>> Downloading pkg... 

No packages are required to be fetched.
Integrity check was successful.
>>> Upgrading pfSense-boot...>>> Unmounting /boot/efi...

nimrod

I think this was discussed before. All release candidates are running kernel in debugging mode which takes more CPU and memory. When release goes from RC to full, kernel debugging is disabled and you get your memory back.

@stephenw10 - Correct me if im wrong.

vizi0n

@nimrod aaah that would make sense indeed. I just « needed » the new NUT package to fix my UPS monitoring. I’ll live with it and it was in my plans to upgrade the RAM eventually anyway. I was just curious and wanted to raise that in case it wasn’t normal.

Thanks

stephenw10

I don't think that's the case with 2.7.1-RC. What does happen though is a lot of memory is used during the upgrade. It will eventually be freed or freed immediately if something else needs it. Or if you reboot I would expect it to go back to similar levels to 2.7.1.

Steve

vizi0n

@stephenw10

I have upgraded again to the latest 2.7.1RC from today. Mem usage dropped, then I have rebooted again and now it is even lower than before. Thanks for the advice

jimp

That is pretty common if you are using ZFS.

The details about what is happening there are covered in the docs, particularly this point:

https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/hardware/memory.html#zfs-disk-activity-increases-memory-usage

Bob.Dig

@jimp I also noticed a higher usage, even after another reboot with the RC-build from before the current RC.

vizi0n

@jimp thanks for the info !

mer

In general ZFS may try to use more RAM than other filesystems (like UFS) but a lot depends on the actual usage patterns. Reads cause ARC (read cache) to increase which increases RAM useage, writes wind up in a different location, simplistically "transaction groups". Writes are held until either a timer expires (nominally 30secs) or a lot of items need to be written (not sure but on the order of maybe 4K or 4M).

A firewall would be mostly writes so I'd expect it to go up and down if you are logging a lot. Not sure if pfSense is creating a RAM disk for anything, but that would also increase useage.
The cached memory could be ZFS buffers, could also be network buffers.