Why Does Aide Use All My Memory and Swap When Running? [Closed]

I have a Linux server running on a Linode.com VPS, where I'm trying to utilize aide to detect any issues. However, the nightly aide run uses up all of my available memory and swap (512MB RAM / 384MB SWAP).

I've tried adding a script to /etc/cron.daily that would stop/start services using a lot of memory (apache2, mysql) during the aide run. Unfortunately, it seems like aide continued to use every available byte (including the space freed up from apache2 and mysql).

Here's a graph from munin showing what happens when aide runs:


Note the spike of memory usage, well into swap, when aide runs

Any suggestions on tuning aide to not use so much memory, or is there an alternative to aide that doesn't behave this way?

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Marcus Vance

Marcus Vance

Cybersecurity & Digital Privacy Researcher

Marcus Vance is a cybersecurity auditor and technology writer dedicated to educating the public about online safety, data privacy regulations, enterprise security, and emerging cyber threats.

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