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Sysbench

Sysbench is a scriptable, multi-threaded benchmarking tool for evaluating Linux system performance, especially for databases but also CPU, memory, file I/O, and more. It's ideal for quick hardware tests without complex setups.

Information

sysbench is one of the preinstalled packages for our r/Techsupport Rescue Media. If you are using this live image, you can skip the installation section.

How to install sysbench

Refer below for installation instructions if you are not using our live image or want to install it on your own system.

Installing sysbench

Debian / Ubuntu / Linux Mint:

Terminal window
sudo apt update && sudo apt install sysbench

Fedora / RHEL / CentOS / AlmaLinux:

Terminal window
sudo dnf install sysbench

Arch / Manjaro / CachyOS:

Terminal window
sudo pacman -Syu sysbench

Common tests to run

Section titled “Common tests to run”

Use the following if you are not aware of how to use sysbench, or just want to run some common tests.

CPU benchmark (30 minutes):

Terminal window
sysbench cpu --cpu-max-prime=20000 --threads=$(nproc) --time=1800 run
  • Tests CPU performance by calculating prime numbers up to 20,000 using all available threads for 30 minutes.
  • Events/sec shows the performance; higher is better.

Memory benchmark (10 GB write test):

Terminal window
sysbench memory --memory-block-size=1K --memory-total-size=10G --memory-oper=write run
  • Tests memory performance by writing 10 GB of data in 1 KB blocks.
  • Transfer rate indicates memory write speed; higher is better.
  • Note: If your system has less than 10 GB of RAM, adjust --memory-total-size accordingly.

File I/O benchmark (10 GB random read/write test):

Terminal window
sysbench fileio --file-total-size=10G --file-test-mode=rndrw --file-num=4 prepare
sysbench fileio --file-total-size=10G --file-test-mode=rndrw --file-io-mode=async --time=60 run
sysbench fileio --file-total-size=10G cleanup
  • Prepares a 10 GB test file, performs random read/write I/O operations for 60 seconds using 4 files, and then cleans up.
  • IOPS (Input/Output Operations Per Second) indicates disk performance; higher is better.
WARNING

Always monitor system temperatures and stability during these tests to avoid overheating or hardware stress.

Usage guidelines

Section titled “Usage guidelines”

This is a guide for making your own custom tests. Sysbench includes these built-in tests, each focusing on a system component.

  • cpu: Measures CPU performance via prime number calculations.​
  • memory: Tests memory speed for read/write operations.​
  • fileio: Benchmarks file I/O throughput and latency.​
  • threads: Evaluates threads subsystem efficiency.​
  • mutex: Assesses mutex lock contention.

Lua scripts like oltp_read_write add database benchmarks (requires MySQL/PostgreSQL). For more information, please refer to the official Sysbench documentation.

Creating a test

Section titled “Creating a test”

Run sysbench [test] help for test-specific options. Common commands: prepare (setup), run (benchmark), cleanup (teardown). Use --threads=N (e.g., CPU cores), --time=60 for duration (in seconds).​

An example structure would be:

Terminal window
sysbench [test] prepare
sysbench [test] --threads=4 --time=60 run
sysbench [test] cleanup

Key options: --time=N (seconds), --threads=N, --report-interval=10 (periodic stats).