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Groups > linux.debian.user > #231619 > unrolled thread

Why is gvfsd-metadata my top task in top -- is it a problem, and what should I do if it is.

Started byrhkramer@gmail.com
First post2021-02-11 17:00 +0100
Last post2021-02-11 19:40 +0100
Articles 4 — 3 participants

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  Why is gvfsd-metadata my top task in top -- is it a problem, and what should I do if it is. rhkramer@gmail.com - 2021-02-11 17:00 +0100
    Re: Why is gvfsd-metadata my top task in top -- is it a problem, and  what should I do if it is. "Alexander V. Makartsev" <avbetev@gmail.com> - 2021-02-11 18:20 +0100
      Re: Why is gvfsd-metadata my top task in top -- is it a problem, and what should I do if it is. rhkramer@gmail.com - 2021-02-11 19:50 +0100
    Re: Why is gvfsd-metadata my top task in top -- is it a problem, and  what should I do if it is. "Andrew M.A. Cater" <amacater@einval.com> - 2021-02-11 19:40 +0100

#231619 — Why is gvfsd-metadata my top task in top -- is it a problem, and what should I do if it is.

Fromrhkramer@gmail.com
Date2021-02-11 17:00 +0100
SubjectWhy is gvfsd-metadata my top task in top -- is it a problem, and what should I do if it is.
Message-ID<BHmxP-5fg-7@gated-at.bofh.it>
On my Wheezy system, I've noticed that for the past 2 or 3 days, gvfsd-
metadata has been the top running task when I check with top.

Comments:

   * I've never seen that before (I've never even noticed that I had such as 
task running (I didn't look for it, but I didn't see it)

   * I did a little googling to see what it is / does, it seems to have 
something to do (didn't read thoroughly or completely) to do with file access, 
maybe starting with GNOME based files, but maybe also other files.

   * I'm running Wheezy (Debian 7.n, up-to-date (as of when Wheezy stopped 
being updated), with KDE (3.n), and I'm not ready to give up the version of 
kmail there (which does not use Akonadi (sp?).  (I am aware of the Trinity 
system that continues to support KDE 3.n, and, if I have to give up on Debian, 
I would install Trinity on this system).

   * Almost always, when I check top, firefox-esr (sometimes without the esr, 
iirc) or Web Content are the top two tasks.

   * A few days ago, firefox was running very slow (too many tabs open) so I 
restarted firefox.  I can't say for sure that gvfsd-metadata started being the 
top running task after I did that (because I didn't check immediately), but I 
can say that wasn't the top task before I restarted firefox.

   * Before the restart mentioned above, either Web Content (or firefox-esr) 
was using 13 GB of space and often hit 100% CPU (on this two core system).

Firefox is working better since the restart, and I can't say that I notice any 
real problems at this time, firefox might be a little slower than before the 
restart.

I'm looking for comments -- should I be concerned about this?  Should I do 
anything about it?

I suspect that stopping gvfsd would be a mistake (well, unless I restarted 
it).  I do have thoughts about rebooting the system, maybe it is time to clear 
out some cruft (of whatever sort)?

Comments?

Thanks!

Below are the top 6 tasks reported by top:

<quote>
rhk@s19:/rhk$ top
top - 10:40:57 up 67 days, 17:55, 21 users,  load average: 2.26, 2.26, 2.16
Tasks: 229 total,   1 running, 228 sleeping,   0 stopped,   0 zombie
%Cpu(s): 69.3 us,  4.4 sy,  0.0 ni, 20.3 id,  5.5 wa,  0.0 hi,  0.5 si,  0.0 
st
KiB Mem:  16212908 total,  9300160 used,  6912748 free,   181116 buffers
KiB Swap: 19529724 total,  4562804 used, 14966920 free,  1698380 cached

  PID USER      PR  NI  VIRT  RES  SHR S  %CPU %MEM    TIME+  COMMAND                                 
22616 rhk       20   0 63984 1152  336 D  74.4  0.0  40734:56 gvfsd-metadata                          
25018 rhk       20   0 3529m 1.3g 384m S  57.1  8.2   1403:55 Web Content                             
22467 rhk       20   0 6724m 3.4g 301m S   8.6 21.9 386:23.01 firefox-esr                             
 3018 root      20   0 1187m 603m 204m S   2.3  3.8 736:59.19 Xorg                                    
 1540 root      20   0     0    0    0 S   2.0  0.0 965:44.59 jbd2/sdb12-8                            
 3654 rhk       20   0  381m  21m  11m S   1.7  0.1  90:34.37 konsole 
</quote>    

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#231621 — Re: Why is gvfsd-metadata my top task in top -- is it a problem, and what should I do if it is.

From"Alexander V. Makartsev" <avbetev@gmail.com>
Date2021-02-11 18:20 +0100
SubjectRe: Why is gvfsd-metadata my top task in top -- is it a problem, and what should I do if it is.
Message-ID<BHnNg-68C-11@gated-at.bofh.it>
In reply to#231619

[Multipart message — attachments visible in raw view] — view raw

On 11.02.2021 20:58, rhkramer@gmail.com wrote:
> On my Wheezy system, I've noticed that for the past 2 or 3 days, gvfsd-
> metadata has been the top running task when I check with top.
>
> Comments:
>
>     * I've never seen that before (I've never even noticed that I had such as
> task running (I didn't look for it, but I didn't see it)
>
>     * I did a little googling to see what it is / does, it seems to have
> something to do (didn't read thoroughly or completely) to do with file access,
> maybe starting with GNOME based files, but maybe also other files.
>
>     * I'm running Wheezy (Debian 7.n, up-to-date (as of when Wheezy stopped
> being updated), with KDE (3.n), and I'm not ready to give up the version of
> kmail there (which does not use Akonadi (sp?).  (I am aware of the Trinity
> system that continues to support KDE 3.n, and, if I have to give up on Debian,
> I would install Trinity on this system).
>
>     * Almost always, when I check top, firefox-esr (sometimes without the esr,
> iirc) or Web Content are the top two tasks.
>
>     * A few days ago, firefox was running very slow (too many tabs open) so I
> restarted firefox.  I can't say for sure that gvfsd-metadata started being the
> top running task after I did that (because I didn't check immediately), but I
> can say that wasn't the top task before I restarted firefox.
>
>     * Before the restart mentioned above, either Web Content (or firefox-esr)
> was using 13 GB of space and often hit 100% CPU (on this two core system).
>
> Firefox is working better since the restart, and I can't say that I notice any
> real problems at this time, firefox might be a little slower than before the
> restart.
>
> I'm looking for comments -- should I be concerned about this?  Should I do
> anything about it?
>
> I suspect that stopping gvfsd would be a mistake (well, unless I restarted
> it).  I do have thoughts about rebooting the system, maybe it is time to clear
> out some cruft (of whatever sort)?
>
> Comments?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Below are the top 6 tasks reported by top:
>
> <quote>
> rhk@s19:/rhk$ top
> top - 10:40:57 up 67 days, 17:55, 21 users,  load average: 2.26, 2.26, 2.16
> Tasks: 229 total,   1 running, 228 sleeping,   0 stopped,   0 zombie
> %Cpu(s): 69.3 us,  4.4 sy,  0.0 ni, 20.3 id,  5.5 wa,  0.0 hi,  0.5 si,  0.0
> st
> KiB Mem:  16212908 total,  9300160 used,  6912748 free,   181116 buffers
> KiB Swap: 19529724 total,  4562804 used, 14966920 free,  1698380 cached
>
>    PID USER      PR  NI  VIRT  RES  SHR S  %CPU %MEM    TIME+  COMMAND
> 22616 rhk       20   0 63984 1152  336 D  74.4  0.0  40734:56 gvfsd-metadata
> 25018 rhk       20   0 3529m 1.3g 384m S  57.1  8.2   1403:55 Web Content
> 22467 rhk       20   0 6724m 3.4g 301m S   8.6 21.9 386:23.01 firefox-esr
>   3018 root      20   0 1187m 603m 204m S   2.3  3.8 736:59.19 Xorg
>   1540 root      20   0     0    0    0 S   2.0  0.0 965:44.59 jbd2/sdb12-8
>   3654 rhk       20   0  381m  21m  11m S   1.7  0.1  90:34.37 konsole
> </quote>
>
>
It sure looks like a bug of some sort. "gvfsd-metadata" process in "top" 
on my system (Buster) is always idle:
     1519 xxxx      20   0  164688   5832 5284 S   0,0   0,0   0:00.09 
gvfsd-metadata
Maybe this will help. [1] Sounds reasonable enough to try.
As for firefox I remember it was quite a resource hog a few years ago, 
but recent enough versions of it consumes so much less memory and CPU.


[1] 
https://iamparv.wordpress.com/2013/04/12/solved-ubuntu-gvfsd-metadata-cpu-high-usage-100/

-- 
With kindest regards, Alexander.

⢀⣴⠾⠻⢶⣦⠀
⣾⠁⢠⠒⠀⣿⡁ Debian - The universal operating system
⢿⡄⠘⠷⠚⠋⠀ https://www.debian.org
⠈⠳⣄⠀⠀⠀⠀

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#231625

Fromrhkramer@gmail.com
Date2021-02-11 19:50 +0100
Message-ID<BHpcl-6PC-3@gated-at.bofh.it>
In reply to#231621
On Thursday, February 11, 2021 12:12:45 PM Alexander V. Makartsev wrote:
> On 11.02.2021 20:58, rhkramer@gmail.com wrote:
> > On my Wheezy system, I've noticed that for the past 2 or 3 days, gvfsd-
> > metadata has been the top running task when I check with top.

> It sure looks like a bug of some sort. "gvfsd-metadata" process in "top"
> on my system (Buster) is always idle:
>      1519 xxxx      20   0  164688   5832 5284 S   0,0   0,0   0:00.09
> gvfsd-metadata
> Maybe this will help. [1] Sounds reasonable enough to try.
> As for firefox I remember it was quite a resource hog a few years ago,
> but recent enough versions of it consumes so much less memory and CPU.

Thanks!  I'll keep watching, but it seems that simply deleting the gvfsd-
metadata directory also killed the task, and it has not reappeared (so far).

> [1]
> https://iamparv.wordpress.com/2013/04/12/solved-ubuntu-gvfsd-metadata-cpu-h
> igh-usage-100/

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#231624 — Re: Why is gvfsd-metadata my top task in top -- is it a problem, and what should I do if it is.

From"Andrew M.A. Cater" <amacater@einval.com>
Date2021-02-11 19:40 +0100
SubjectRe: Why is gvfsd-metadata my top task in top -- is it a problem, and what should I do if it is.
Message-ID<BHp2G-6Mg-23@gated-at.bofh.it>
In reply to#231619
On Thu, Feb 11, 2021 at 10:58:10AM -0500, rhkramer@gmail.com wrote:
> On my Wheezy system, I've noticed that for the past 2 or 3 days, gvfsd-
> metadata has been the top running task when I check with top.
> 
> Comments:
> 
>    * I've never seen that before (I've never even noticed that I had such as 
> task running (I didn't look for it, but I didn't see it)
> 
>    * I did a little googling to see what it is / does, it seems to have 
> something to do (didn't read thoroughly or completely) to do with file access, 
> maybe starting with GNOME based files, but maybe also other files.
> 
>    * I'm running Wheezy (Debian 7.n, up-to-date (as of when Wheezy stopped 
> being updated), with KDE (3.n), and I'm not ready to give up the version of 
> kmail there (which does not use Akonadi (sp?).  (I am aware of the Trinity 
> system that continues to support KDE 3.n, and, if I have to give up on Debian, 
> I would install Trinity on this system).
> 

Potentially stop there and take the time to disconnect the machine from the 
Internet. You have NO security support, particularly, and no means of getting
fixes for problems.

Please DON'T run software beyond it's security support. It may mean nothing to
you but if your computer were to be compromised by a well-known security 
problem, who knows what it might be used for - it's certainly no longer under 
your control. Any problems you are experiencing now are almnost certainly 
beyond reasonably instant memory recall as to what they might be and 
certainly beyond fixing.

EOL (End of life) was more or less two years eight months ago: please consider upgrading 
to at least Debian 10

All the best,

Andy C.

>    * Almost always, when I check top, firefox-esr (sometimes without the esr, 
> iirc) or Web Content are the top two tasks.
> 
>    * A few days ago, firefox was running very slow (too many tabs open) so I 
> restarted firefox.  I can't say for sure that gvfsd-metadata started being the 
> top running task after I did that (because I didn't check immediately), but I 
> can say that wasn't the top task before I restarted firefox.
> 
>    * Before the restart mentioned above, either Web Content (or firefox-esr) 
> was using 13 GB of space and often hit 100% CPU (on this two core system).
> 
> Firefox is working better since the restart, and I can't say that I notice any 
> real problems at this time, firefox might be a little slower than before the 
> restart.
> 
> I'm looking for comments -- should I be concerned about this?  Should I do 
> anything about it?
> 
> I suspect that stopping gvfsd would be a mistake (well, unless I restarted 
> it).  I do have thoughts about rebooting the system, maybe it is time to clear 
> out some cruft (of whatever sort)?
> 
> Comments?
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Below are the top 6 tasks reported by top:
> 
> <quote>
> rhk@s19:/rhk$ top
> top - 10:40:57 up 67 days, 17:55, 21 users,  load average: 2.26, 2.26, 2.16
> Tasks: 229 total,   1 running, 228 sleeping,   0 stopped,   0 zombie
> %Cpu(s): 69.3 us,  4.4 sy,  0.0 ni, 20.3 id,  5.5 wa,  0.0 hi,  0.5 si,  0.0 
> st
> KiB Mem:  16212908 total,  9300160 used,  6912748 free,   181116 buffers
> KiB Swap: 19529724 total,  4562804 used, 14966920 free,  1698380 cached
> 
>   PID USER      PR  NI  VIRT  RES  SHR S  %CPU %MEM    TIME+  COMMAND                                 
> 22616 rhk       20   0 63984 1152  336 D  74.4  0.0  40734:56 gvfsd-metadata                          
> 25018 rhk       20   0 3529m 1.3g 384m S  57.1  8.2   1403:55 Web Content                             
> 22467 rhk       20   0 6724m 3.4g 301m S   8.6 21.9 386:23.01 firefox-esr                             
>  3018 root      20   0 1187m 603m 204m S   2.3  3.8 736:59.19 Xorg                                    
>  1540 root      20   0     0    0    0 S   2.0  0.0 965:44.59 jbd2/sdb12-8                            
>  3654 rhk       20   0  381m  21m  11m S   1.7  0.1  90:34.37 konsole 
> </quote>    
> 
> 

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