1execsnoop(8) System Manager's Manual execsnoop(8)
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6 execsnoop.bt - Trace new processes via exec() syscalls. Uses bpf‐
7 trace/eBPF.
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10 execsnoop.bt
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13 This traces when processes call exec() (execve()). It is handy for
14 identifying new processes created via the usual fork()->exec() se‐
15 quence. Note that the return value is not currently traced, so the
16 exec() may have failed.
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18 This tool is useful for debugging shell scripts, including application
19 startup. It is also useful for identifying a type of performance is‐
20 sue: a flood of short-lived processes, that end quickly and aren't
21 readily visible in top(1).
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23 Since this uses BPF, only the root user can use this tool.
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26 CONFIG_BPF and bpftrace.
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29 Trace all new processes calling execve():
30 # execsnoop.bt
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33 TIME Time of the exec() call, in milliseconds since program start.
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35 PID Process ID
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37 ARGS Process name and arguments (16 word maximum).
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40 This traces the execve() tracepoint and prints output for each event.
41 As the rate of this is generally expected to be low (< 100/s), the
42 overhead is also expected to be negligible. If you have an application
43 that is spawning a high rate of new processes for a reason (large build
44 process), this could cause a small amount of overhead: test and under‐
45 stand overhead before use.
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48 This is from bpftrace.
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50 https://github.com/iovisor/bpftrace
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52 Also look in the bpftrace distribution for a companion _examples.txt
53 file containing example usage, output, and commentary for this tool.
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55 This is a bpftrace version of the bcc tool of the same name. The bcc
56 tool provides more fields and options to customize the output.
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58 https://github.com/iovisor/bcc
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61 Linux
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64 Unstable - in development.
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67 Brendan Gregg
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70 opensnoop(8)
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74USER COMMANDS 2018-09-11 execsnoop(8)