RustDesk High Process Spawn Rate: Causes & Solutions

Nov 18, 2025 by Alex Johnson 53 views

Is your system bogged down by a high number of processes spawned by RustDesk? You're not alone! Many users have reported this issue, where RustDesk seems to be creating and killing processes at an alarming rate, even when idle. This article dives deep into the causes behind this behavior, provides steps to reproduce the issue, and offers potential solutions to keep your system running smoothly.

Understanding the Issue: RustDesk's Process Spawning Problem

If you've noticed your system's process ID (PID) climbing rapidly, it could indicate that applications are creating and terminating processes frequently. One user discovered that RustDesk, a popular remote desktop application, was spawning numerous processes every second. These processes include commands like ps aux, loginctl show-session, and pgrep -a Xwayland. While these commands are used to gather system information, the frequency with which RustDesk executes them raises concerns about performance and resource utilization.

Why is this happening?

The core issue seems to stem from RustDesk's method of checking for specific processes. Instead of directly querying the /proc filesystem, which is a more efficient way to gather process information on Linux systems, RustDesk relies on external binaries like ps, loginctl, and pgrep. These binaries, while standard tools, involve overhead in terms of process creation and execution. When these checks are performed every second, the cumulative impact on system resources can be significant, especially when RustDesk is running as a background service.

The Impact on Your System

The constant spawning and killing of processes can lead to several negative consequences:

Increased CPU Usage: Each process execution consumes CPU cycles, potentially slowing down other applications and impacting overall system responsiveness.
Higher Memory Consumption: Even short-lived processes consume memory. A large number of processes, even if they exit quickly, can put a strain on available memory.
Disk I/O: Executing external binaries involves reading the executable from disk, adding to disk I/O operations.
System Log Clutter: The repeated execution of these commands may generate numerous log entries, making it harder to identify other important events.
Higher PID Usage: The rapid turnover of PIDs can, in extreme cases, lead to PID exhaustion, preventing new processes from being started.

Reproducing the Issue: Seeing the Process Spawning Firsthand

To confirm if you're experiencing this issue with RustDesk, you can use system monitoring tools or scripting techniques to observe process creation. Here’s a step-by-step guide:

Run RustDesk as a Background Service: Ensure that RustDesk is running in the background, even without an active connection or visible interface. This is when the issue is most likely to manifest.
Use a System Monitoring Tool: Tools like top, htop, or Process Explorer (on Windows) can show you a real-time list of running processes and their resource usage. Monitor the process list and look for frequent appearances and disappearances of the commands mentioned earlier (ps aux, loginctl show-session, pgrep -a Xwayland).
Employ SystemTap (Linux): For a more detailed view, you can use SystemTap, a scripting language and tool for analyzing the Linux kernel. The script provided in the original bug report is an excellent way to observe process creation. Here’s the script again for your convenience:
```
probe syscall.execve {
    printf("%d %d %s\n", ppid(), pid(), args)
}
```
To use this script:
- Install SystemTap on your Linux system (if it’s not already installed). You may need to install kernel debug symbols as well.
- Save the script to a file, for example, process_monitor.stap.
- Run the script with sudo stap process_monitor.stap. This will print information about every process executed on your system, including the parent process ID (PPID), process ID (PID), and arguments.
- Observe the output and look for the commands spawned by RustDesk. You should see them appearing frequently, even when the system is otherwise idle.
Analyze the Results: If you observe the commands being executed multiple times per second, you’ve likely reproduced the issue. This confirms that RustDesk is indeed spawning processes at a high rate.

Expected Behavior: What RustDesk Should Ideally Do

Ideally, RustDesk should minimize its reliance on external binaries for system information. A more efficient approach would be to directly query the /proc filesystem. This virtual filesystem provides a wealth of information about processes and the system in general, without the overhead of creating new processes. By reading the contents of files within /proc, RustDesk could obtain the necessary information with significantly less resource consumption.

Furthermore, the frequency of these checks should be reduced, especially when the application is idle. There's no need to poll for process information every second if nothing has changed. A more intelligent approach would be to use event-driven mechanisms or to perform checks at longer intervals.

Potential Solutions and Workarounds

While a permanent fix requires changes to RustDesk's codebase, there are some potential workarounds and solutions you can try in the meantime:

Monitor RustDesk's Resource Usage: Keep an eye on RustDesk's CPU and memory usage using system monitoring tools. If you notice excessive resource consumption, consider restarting RustDesk or temporarily disabling it when not in use.
Adjust RustDesk's Settings: Explore RustDesk's settings to see if there are any options related to process monitoring or performance. While there might not be a direct setting to control the process spawning behavior, tweaking other settings could indirectly alleviate the issue.
Run RustDesk On-Demand: Instead of running RustDesk as a background service, consider launching it only when you need to use it. This will prevent the constant process spawning when the application is idle.
Use Alternative Remote Desktop Software: If the issue is severely impacting your system's performance, you might consider using alternative remote desktop software that is more resource-efficient. There are many options available, each with its own strengths and weaknesses.
Report the Issue: If you're experiencing this problem, it's important to report it to the RustDesk developers. This helps them understand the scope of the issue and prioritize a fix. You can report the issue on their GitHub repository or through their official support channels.
Contribute to RustDesk (if possible): If you have the technical skills, consider contributing to the RustDesk project. You could help implement a more efficient process monitoring mechanism or optimize other parts of the codebase.

Looking Ahead: Awaiting a Permanent Fix

The ideal solution to this issue is for the RustDesk developers to address the underlying cause by implementing a more efficient method of process monitoring. This could involve:

Switching to /proc: Using the /proc filesystem directly instead of relying on external binaries.
Reducing Polling Frequency: Decreasing the frequency of process checks, especially when idle.
Event-Driven Monitoring: Implementing event-driven mechanisms to detect process changes, rather than constant polling.

By addressing these points, RustDesk can significantly reduce its resource footprint and provide a smoother experience for its users.

Conclusion

The high process spawn rate in RustDesk is a known issue that can impact system performance. By understanding the causes, reproducing the problem, and implementing temporary workarounds, you can mitigate its effects. The long-term solution lies in RustDesk adopting a more efficient process monitoring approach. By reporting the issue and contributing to the project, you can help ensure that RustDesk becomes an even better remote desktop solution.

For more information on process monitoring and system performance optimization, you can visit the official Linux documentation.