To identify a runaway process, which approach is recommended?

• A. Use top to sort by CPU or MEM, identify PID, inspect logs, and consider restart/kill with caution.
• B. Use the ps command to list processes and immediately kill the highest CPU process.
• C. Use df to examine disk usage.
• D. Reboot the system without investigating.

Answer: (A)

When diagnosing a runaway process, the key is to locate what’s consuming resources and understand why before taking action. Start by using a tool like top to sort processes by CPU or memory so the heavy hitter becomes obvious, and note its PID. With that PID in hand, inspect related logs and the behavior of the associated service to determine whether the spike is a normal workload, a bug, or a runaway loop. Only after gathering this context should you consider restarting or terminating the process, and you should do so carefully to avoid disrupting important services or losing work. This careful, informed approach reduces the risk of collateral damage and helps you address the root cause. Jumping straight to killing the highest-CPU process without context can terminate a critical task or miss a legitimate spike, while using df to check disk usage doesn’t address CPU/memory runaway, and rebooting without investigation can cause data loss and service disruption.