xref: /openbsd/usr.bin/ktrace/ktrace.1 (revision 17df1aa7)
1.\"	$OpenBSD: ktrace.1,v 1.19 2007/05/31 19:20:11 jmc Exp $
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30.\"	from: @(#)ktrace.1	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/6/93
31.\"
32.Dd $Mdocdate: May 31 2007 $
33.Dt KTRACE 1
34.Os
35.Sh NAME
36.Nm ktrace
37.Nd enable kernel process tracing
38.Sh SYNOPSIS
39.Nm ktrace
40.Op Fl aCcdi
41.Op Fl f Ar trfile
42.Op Fl g Ar pgid
43.Op Fl p Ar pid
44.Op Fl t Ar trstr
45.Nm ktrace
46.Op Fl adi
47.Op Fl f Ar trfile
48.Op Fl t Ar trstr
49.Ar command
50.Sh DESCRIPTION
51.Nm ktrace
52enables kernel trace logging for the specified processes.
53By default, kernel trace data is logged to the file
54.Pa ktrace.out ,
55unless overridden by the
56.Fl f
57option.
58The kernel operations that are traced include system calls, namei
59translations, signal processing, and I/O.
60.Pp
61Once tracing is enabled on a process, trace data will be logged until
62either the process exits or the trace point is cleared.
63A traced process can generate enormous amounts of log data quickly;
64it is strongly suggested that users memorize how to disable tracing before
65attempting to trace a process.
66The following command is sufficient to disable tracing on all user owned
67processes, and, if executed by root, all processes:
68.Pp
69.Dl $ ktrace -C
70.Pp
71The trace file is not human-readable; use
72.Xr kdump 1
73to decode it.
74.Pp
75The options are as follows:
76.Bl -tag -width "-t trstr"
77.It Fl a
78Append to the trace file instead of recreating it.
79.It Fl C
80Disable tracing on all user owned processes, and, if executed by root, all
81processes in the system.
82.It Fl c
83Clear the trace points associated with the specified file or processes.
84.It Fl d
85Descendants; perform the operation for all current children of the
86designated processes.
87.It Fl f Ar trfile
88Log trace records to
89.Ar trfile
90instead of
91.Pa ktrace.out .
92.It Fl g Ar pgid
93Enable (disable) tracing on all processes in the process group (only one
94.Fl g
95flag is permitted).
96.It Fl i
97Inherit; pass the trace flags to all future children of the designated
98processes.
99.It Fl p Ar pid
100Enable (disable) tracing on the indicated process ID (only one
101.Fl p
102flag is permitted).
103.It Fl t Ar trstr
104The string argument represents the kernel trace points, one per letter.
105The default flags are
106.Cm c ,
107.Cm e ,
108.Cm i ,
109.Cm n ,
110and
111.Cm s .
112The following table equates the letters with the tracepoints:
113.Pp
114.Bl -tag -width flag -offset indent -compact
115.It Cm c
116trace system calls
117.It Cm e
118trace emulation changes
119.It Cm i
120trace I/O
121.It Cm n
122trace namei translations
123.It Cm s
124trace signal processing
125.It Cm w
126trace context switch points
127.El
128.It Ar command
129Execute
130.Ar command
131with the specified trace flags.
132.El
133.Pp
134The
135.Fl p ,
136.Fl g ,
137and
138.Ar command
139options are mutually exclusive.
140.Sh FILES
141.Bl -tag -width ktrace.out -compact
142.It Pa ktrace.out
143default ktrace dump file
144.El
145.Sh EXAMPLES
146Trace all kernel operations of process ID 34:
147.Dl $ ktrace -p 34
148.Pp
149Trace all kernel operations of processes in process group 15 and
150pass the trace flags to all current and future children:
151.Dl $ ktrace -idg 15
152.Pp
153Disable all tracing of process 65:
154.Dl $ ktrace -cp 65
155.Pp
156Disable tracing signals on process 70 and all current children:
157.Dl $ ktrace -t s -cdp 70
158.Pp
159Enable tracing of I/O on process 67:
160.Dl $ ktrace -ti -p 67
161.Pp
162Run the command
163.Xr w 1 ,
164tracing only system calls:
165.Dl $ ktrace -tc w
166.Pp
167Disable all tracing to the file "tracedata":
168.Dl $ ktrace -c -f tracedata
169.Pp
170Disable tracing of all processes owned by the user:
171.Dl $ ktrace -C
172.Sh SEE ALSO
173.Xr kdump 1 ,
174.Xr ktrace 2
175.Sh HISTORY
176The
177.Nm ktrace
178command appeared in
179.Bx 4.4 .
180