> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.openiam.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.openiam.com/troubleshooting/performance/disableswap.md).

# Disable swap

Confirming swap is disabled and keeping it off across reboots, which OpenIAM requires rather than merely prefers.

{% hint style="warning" %}
**Swap being off is an installation requirement, not a tuning option.** OpenIAM's memory settings are sized for a host that does not swap, and the installer checks it before it begins — see [What you need](/installation/what-you-need.md). A host that has had swap re-enabled since installation has drifted out of a supported state.
{% endhint %}

Linux swaps pages out to disk to manage memory pressure, and it is fairly aggressive about it by default. For Redis, the cache OpenIAM depends on, a swapped page turns a memory lookup into a disk read, so a host that swaps under load performs far worse than one that does not.

| Symptom                                                          | Likely cause                                                                 | Resolution                 |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------- |
| The platform is slow under load, with no single service at fault | The host is swapping, so every tier is paying disk latency for memory access | Confirm and disable, below |
| The installer refuses to start, reporting swap                   | A swap device is active                                                      | The same                   |

## Confirm whether swap is active

```bash
swapon --show
```

**No output means swap is off** — that is the state you want. Any row is an active swap device.

{% hint style="info" %}
**`blkid` does not answer this question.** It lists partitions by what they are formatted as, so a swap partition that has been disabled still appears with `TYPE="swap"`. Use it to find *which* device to comment out of `/etc/fstab`, not to check whether swap is on.
{% endhint %}

## Disable it

{% stepper %}
{% step %}
**Turn swap off now.** This takes effect immediately.

```bash
swapoff -a
```

{% endstep %}

{% step %}
**Keep it off across reboots.** Edit `/etc/fstab` and comment out the line containing `swap` by putting a `#` at the start of it. Without this, the next reboot brings swap back.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}
**Reload the units generated from `/etc/fstab`**, so systemd stops tracking the swap device:

```bash
systemctl daemon-reload
```

{% endstep %}

{% step %}
**Confirm.** `swapon --show` should now return nothing.
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}


---

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