{"external_id":4328,"slug":"high-steal-values-cpu-steal-what-to-do","title":"High Steal Values (CPU Steal): What Can You Do?","content":"High steal values on your vServer almost always come from a configuration that was not fully applied after an upgrade. Check the value with top or vmstat. If it stays high, open a ticket: we check the configuration and then ask you for a regular \u201eStop und Start\u201c (stop and start) so the new values take effect.\nWhat is steal?\nYour vServer runs as a virtual machine on a host. Steal (abbreviated st) is the share of time in which your server wanted to compute, but the host did not give it any CPU time. Linux inside the VM only sees that the cores are waiting and reports it as steal. A few percent during load peaks are normal. Permanently double-digit values are unusual and your server will feel noticeably slow.\nHow to check the steal value\nConnect via SSH and start top. In the line \u201e%Cpu(s)\u201c the value behind st is your steal. Alternatively, vmstat shows it in the last column st:\ntop\nvmstat 1 10\nWatch the value for a few minutes and note the times when it is high. That helps us with the analysis. On Windows, Task Manager does not show a steal value. There you recognize the problem by high CPU usage while the process tab shows little load.\nMost common cause: CPU limit does not match the core count\nIn the vast majority of cases it is a configuration issue after an upgrade. If you added cores, in rare cases the CPU percentage value is not raised with them. Your server then reports, for example, 6 cores but may only use 200 % CPU time. For Linux this looks like steal, usually between 50 and 70 %, although the host is not busy at all.\nThis short test shows the pattern. It loads all cores fully, so stop it again right afterwards:\nfor i in $(seq \"$(nproc)\"); do yes > \/dev\/null & done\ntop\n# stop it afterwards:\npkill yes\nWith 6 cores and a limit of 200 %, the summary line of top shows about a third at us and the rest at st. In that case the limit is very likely the cause.\nWhat to do in this case\nOpen a support ticket and tell us you see high steal values (details below). Normal priority is enough, this is not an emergency.\nWe check your server’s configuration and correct the CPU value.\nAfterwards we ask you to do a regular \u201eStop und Start\u201c (stop and start) in Vionity so the new values are applied. A reboot inside the operating system is not enough for this.\nShort peaks around 0:00: backups\nBackups start at 0:00 (midnight, German time). The host compresses with pigz, a parallel variant of gzip built for speed, which briefly loads many cores heavily. That is why host load is higher at this time and steal can rise for a short while. This is known and expected. If it only affects you in this time window, you do not need to do anything. If your server runs noticeably badly then, write to us anyway and we will look at the host.\nRarely: load on the host\nWe overbook our hosts moderately, but never beyond peak performance. For new servers we choose the host based on its recent average load. Even so, it can rarely happen that a process on the host runs wild or that load shifts because of upgrades and changed usage by customers. In such cases we fix the problem directly on the host. In individual cases we move servers of customers who contact us to another host. Sometimes we also approach customers with permanently very high load.\nYou can see whether there is a disruption right now on our status page.\nWhat to include in your ticket\nName or ID of the server.\nOutput of top or vmstat 1 10 including the steal column.\nSince when the problem exists and whether you added cores or changed the package shortly before.\nTimes when the value is especially high.\nCommon pitfalls\nMixing up steal and your own load: High values at us or sy are your own processes, not steal. Use top to see which process uses the CPU.\nOnly rebooting inside the operating system: A reboot does not apply a new VM configuration. For that you need \u201eStop und Start\u201c (stop and start) in Vionity.\nMeasuring only briefly around midnight: Steal around 0:00 is the backup window and not necessarily a fault.\nHigh priority ticket: High priority is meant for emergencies and gives no speed advantage.\nRelated articles\nWhat is Load? (Load-Average)\nWhat happens if I overload my server?\nMy server is slow! What can I do?","schema":null,"facts":{"What does a high steal value on my vServer mean?":"Your server wanted to compute but the host gave it no CPU time. A few percent during peaks are normal, permanently double-digit values are unusual.","How do I check the steal value?":"Start top via SSH and read the value behind st in the %Cpu(s) line. Alternatively, vmstat 1 10 shows it in the last column st.","What is the most common cause of high steal?":"After an upgrade, the CPU percentage value was not raised in rare cases. Your server then reports, for example, 6 cores but may only use 200 %, which Linux shows as steal of usually 50 to 70 %.","What do I do about high steal after an upgrade?":"Open a ticket. We check the configuration and then ask you for a regular stop and start in Vionity so the new values are applied.","Why is steal often higher around 0:00?":"Backups start at 0:00 and the host compresses with pigz, which briefly loads many cores heavily. This is known and only raises steal for a short time.","Does Prepaid-Hoster overbook its hosts?":"Yes, moderately, but never beyond peak performance. New servers are placed on suitable hosts based on their average load."},"links":[{"type":"external","url":"https:\/\/support.prepaid-hoster.de\/status","data":{"title":"","meta_description":"","meta":[]}},{"type":"external","url":"https:\/\/support.prepaid-hoster.de\/faq\/1054","data":{"title":"What is Load? (Load-Average) - Prepaid-Hoster Support","meta_description":"Learn about Linux operating system load, how it's computed, its interpretations, and ways to check it on your server.","meta":[]}},{"type":"external","url":"https:\/\/support.prepaid-hoster.de\/faq\/1473","data":{"title":"What happens if I overload my server? - Prepaid-Hoster Support","meta_description":"Learn how to avoid overloading your server based on our product terms and conditions. Understand how to properly use your server and how our system monitors server loads.","meta":[]}},{"type":"external","url":"https:\/\/support.prepaid-hoster.de\/faq\/1554","data":{"title":"My server is slow! What can I do? - Prepaid-Hoster Support","meta_description":"Contact us immediately if your server is slow and hindering your work. While waiting for our response, check the processor load in the web interface and detect high bandwidth. Please note that shared hosting may cause slight limitations. We will solve the problem directly.","meta":[]}}]}