# Notice: Changes to Linux memory usage tracking with the Telegraf \`mem\` input plugin **URL:** \ **Category:** Telegraf\ **Created:** [March 24, 2026, 4:31pm UTC](https://community.influxdata.com/t/notice-changes-to-linux-memory-usage-tracking-with-the-telegraf-mem-input-plugin/58387 "2026-03-24T16:31:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![scott](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/community.influxdata.com/scott/32/16492_2.png) [@scott](https://community.influxdata.com/u/scott)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2026, 4:31pm UTC](https://community.influxdata.com/t/notice-changes-to-linux-memory-usage-tracking-with-the-telegraf-mem-input-plugin/58387/1 "2026-03-24T16:31:00Z")
Starting in **Telegraf v1.36.0** , the `used_percent` field reported by the `mem` input plugin on Linux increased by roughly 6-20% for the same memory state. This was caused by an upstream change in the [gopsutil](https://github.com/shirou/gopsutil) dependency (v4.25.8), which changed the `Used` memory calculation from `Total - Free - Buffers - Cached` to `Total - Available` (using the kernel’s `MemAvailable` from `/proc/meminfo`). The new formula is more accurate as the old one assumed all cached and buffered memory was immediately reclaimable, which is not always the case. Dashboards or alerts based on `used_percent` thresholds may need adjustment. The raw fields (`free`, `buffered`, `cached`, `available`, `total`) are unaffected and can be used to compute either definition in queries. [Telegraf Release Notes](https://docs.influxdata.com/telegraf/v1/release-notes/#v1380) ---
**Author:** ![scott](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/community.influxdata.com/scott/32/16492_2.png) [@scott](https://community.influxdata.com/u/scott)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2026, 4:32pm UTC](https://community.influxdata.com/t/notice-changes-to-linux-memory-usage-tracking-with-the-telegraf-mem-input-plugin/58387/2 "2026-03-24T16:32:21Z")