Stress testing is essential for checking system stability, cooling performance, or power supply limits. The stress tool is a lightweight way to impose a configurable load on the system.
Install Stress Tool
On Debian, Ubuntu, or Proxmox, use the package manager to install it:
apt install stress -yRun the Stress Test
The following command will stress 4 CPU cores for exactly 60 seconds:
stress --cpu 4 --timeout 60Key Parameters
--cpu N: Number of workers spinning onsqrt(). Usually, you should match this to your core count.--timeout N: The duration of the test in seconds. It is safer to start with short bursts (60s) to monitor temperatures.
Monitor Performance (Optional)
While the test is running, it is highly recommended to open a second terminal and monitor your CPU frequency or temperatures with:
watch -n 1 "lscpu | grep MHz"
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