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Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors .\" may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software .\" without specific prior written permission. .\" .\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND .\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE .\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE .\" ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE .\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL .\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS .\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) .\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT .\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY .\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF .\" SUCH DAMAGE. .\" .\" @(#)ktrace.1 8.1 (Berkeley) 6/6/93 .\" .Dd August 26, 2019 .Dt KTRACE 1 .Os .Sh NAME .Nm ktrace .Nd enable kernel process tracing .Sh SYNOPSIS .Nm .Op Fl aCcdi .Op Fl f Ar trfile .Op Fl g Ar pgrp | Fl p Ar pid .Op Fl t Ar trstr .Nm .Op Fl adi .Op Fl f Ar trfile .Op Fl t Ar trstr .Ar command .Sh DESCRIPTION The .Nm utility enables kernel trace logging for the specified processes. Kernel trace data is logged to the file .Pa ktrace.out . The kernel operations that are traced include system calls, namei translations, signal processing, and .Tn I/O . .Pp Once tracing is enabled on a process, trace data will be logged until either the process exits or the trace point is cleared. A traced process can generate enormous amounts of log data quickly; It is strongly suggested that users memorize how to disable tracing before attempting to trace a process. The following command is sufficient to disable tracing on all user-owned processes, and, if executed by root, all processes: .Pp .Dl \&$ ktrace -C .Pp The trace file is not human readable; use .Xr kdump 1 to decode it. .Pp The utility may be used only with a kernel that has been built with the .Dq KTRACE option in the kernel configuration file. .Pp The options are: .Bl -tag -width indent .It Fl a Append to the trace file instead of recreating it. .It Fl C Disable tracing on all user-owned processes, and, if executed by root, all processes in the system. .It Fl c Clear the specified trace points associated with the given file or processes. .It Fl d Descendants; perform the operation for all current children of the designated processes. See also the .Fl i option. .It Fl f Ar trfile Log trace records to .Ar trfile instead of .Pa ktrace.out . .It Fl g Ar pgid Enable (disable) tracing on all processes in the process group (only one .Fl g flag is permitted). .It Fl i Inherit; pass the trace flags to all future children of the designated processes. See also the .Fl d option. .It Fl p Ar pid Enable (disable) tracing on the indicated process id (only one .Fl p flag is permitted). .It Fl t Ar trstr Specify the list of trace points to enable or disable, one per letter. If an explicit list is not specified, the default set of trace points is used. .Pp The following trace points are supported: .Pp .Bl -tag -width flag -compact .It Cm c trace system calls .It Cm f trace page faults .It Cm i trace .Tn I/O .It Cm n trace namei translations .It Cm p trace capability check failures .It Cm s trace signal processing .It Cm t trace various structures .It Cm u userland traces generated by .Xr utrace 2 .It Cm w context switches .It Cm y trace .Xr sysctl 3 requests .It Cm + trace the default set of trace points - .Cm c , i , n , p , s , t , u , y .El .It Ar command Execute .Ar command with the specified trace flags. .El .Pp The .Fl p , .Fl g , and .Ar command options are mutually exclusive. .Sh EXAMPLES Run "make", then trace it and any child processes: .Dl $ ktrace -i make .Pp Trace all kernel operations of process id 34: .Dl $ ktrace -p 34 .Pp Trace all kernel operations of processes in process group 15 and pass the trace flags to all current and future children: .Dl $ ktrace -idg 15 .Pp Disable all tracing of process 65: .Dl $ ktrace -cp 65 .Pp Disable tracing signals on process 70 and all current children: .Dl $ ktrace -t s -cdp 70 .Pp Enable tracing of .Tn I/O on process 67: .Dl $ ktrace -ti -p 67 .Pp Disable all tracing to the file "tracedata": .Dl $ ktrace -c -f tracedata .Pp Disable tracing of all user-owned processes: .Dl $ ktrace -C .Sh SEE ALSO .Xr dtrace 1 , .Xr kdump 1 , .Xr truss 1 , .Xr ktrace 2 , .Xr utrace 2 .Sh HISTORY The .Nm command appeared in .Bx 4.4 . .Sh BUGS Only works if .Ar trfile is a regular file.