xref: /openbsd/usr.bin/ktrace/ktrace.1 (revision d415bd75)
1.\"	$OpenBSD: ktrace.1,v 1.33 2023/09/30 13:03:40 naddy Exp $
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30.\"	from: @(#)ktrace.1	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/6/93
31.\"
32.Dd $Mdocdate: September 30 2023 $
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 aBdiT
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 traced are system calls, namei translations,
59signal 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 9n
77.It Fl a
78Append to the trace file instead of recreating it.
79.It Fl B
80Set the
81.Ev LD_BIND_NOW
82environment variable to specify that the dynamic linker should process
83relocations immediately instead of as they are encountered.
84This eliminates the resulting
85.Xr ld.so 1
86relocation sequences.
87.It Fl C
88Disable tracing on all user owned processes and, if executed by root, all
89processes in the system.
90.It Fl c
91Clear the trace points associated with the trace file or any specified
92processes.
93.It Fl d
94Descendants; perform the operation for all current children of the
95designated processes.
96.It Fl f Ar trfile
97Log trace records to
98.Ar trfile
99instead of
100.Pa ktrace.out .
101.It Fl g Ar pgid
102Enable (disable) tracing on all processes in the process group (only one
103.Fl g
104flag is permitted).
105.It Fl i
106Inherit; pass the trace flags to all future children of the designated
107processes.
108.It Fl p Ar pid
109Enable (disable) tracing on the indicated process ID (only one
110.Fl p
111flag is permitted).
112.It Fl T
113Disable userland timekeeping, making time related system calls more prevalent.
114.It Fl t Ar trstr
115Select which information to put into the dump file.
116The argument can contain one or more of the following letters.
117By default all trace points except for
118.Cm X
119are enabled.
120.Pp
121.Bl -tag -width flag -offset indent -compact
122.\" Keep this list in sync with kdump(1) and ltrace(1).
123.It Cm c
124trace system calls
125.It Cm i
126trace I/O
127.It Cm n
128trace namei translations
129.It Cm p
130trace violation of
131.Xr pledge 2
132restrictions
133.It Cm s
134trace signal processing
135.It Cm t
136trace various structures
137.It Cm u
138trace user data coming from
139.Xr utrace 2
140.It Cm x
141trace argument vector in
142.Xr execve 2
143.It Cm X
144trace environment in
145.Xr execve 2
146.It Cm +
147trace the default points
148.El
149.It Ar command
150Execute
151.Ar command
152with the specified trace flags.
153.El
154.Pp
155The
156.Fl p ,
157.Fl g ,
158and
159.Ar command
160options are mutually exclusive.
161.Sh FILES
162.Bl -tag -width ktrace.out -compact
163.It Pa ktrace.out
164default ktrace dump file
165.El
166.Sh EXAMPLES
167Trace all kernel operations of process ID 34:
168.Dl $ ktrace -p 34
169.Pp
170Trace all kernel operations of processes in process group 15 and
171pass the trace flags to all current and future children:
172.Dl $ ktrace -idg 15
173.Pp
174Disable all tracing of process 65:
175.Dl $ ktrace -cp 65
176.Pp
177Disable tracing signals on process 70 and all current children:
178.Dl $ ktrace -t s -cdp 70
179.Pp
180Enable tracing of I/O on process 67:
181.Dl $ ktrace -ti -p 67
182.Pp
183Run the command
184.Xr w 1 ,
185tracing only system calls:
186.Dl $ ktrace -tc w
187.Pp
188Disable all tracing to the file "tracedata":
189.Dl $ ktrace -c -f tracedata
190.Pp
191Disable tracing of all processes owned by the user:
192.Dl $ ktrace -C
193.Sh SEE ALSO
194.Xr kdump 1 ,
195.Xr ktrace 2 ,
196.Xr utrace 2
197.Sh HISTORY
198The
199.Nm ktrace
200command appeared in
201.Bx 4.3 Reno .
202