strace is a diagnostic, debugging and instructional userspace utility for Linux.
It is used to monitor and tamper with interactions between processes and the Linux kernel, which include system calls, signal deliveries, and changes of process state.
System administrators, diagnosticians and trouble-shooters will find it invaluable for solving problems with programs for which the source is not readily available since they do not need to be recompiled in order to trace them.
Key Features
- Specifying a filter of syscall names that should be traced (via the -e trace= option): by name, like clone,fork,vfork; using one of the predefined groups, like %ipc or %file; or using regular expression syntax, like -e trace=/clock_.*.
- Specifying a list of paths to be traced (-P /etc/ld.so.cache, for example).
- Specifying a list of file descriptors whose I/O should be dumped (-e read= and -e write= options).
- Counting syscall execution time and count (-T, -c, -C, and -w options).
- Printing relative or absolute time stamps (-t and -r options).
- Modifying return and error code of the specified syscalls, and inject signals upon their execution (since strace 4.15, -e inject= option).
- Extracting information about file descriptors (including sockets, -y option).
- Printing stack traces, including (since strace 4.21) symbol demangling (-k option).
- Filtering by syscall return status (-e status= option; since strace 5.2).
Website: strace.io
Support: GitHub Code Repository, GitLab Code Repository
Developer: Dmitry Levin
License: GNU Lesser General Public License v2.1
strace is written in C. Learn C with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
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| Nemiver | Standalone graphical debugger for GNOME |
Read our verdict in the software roundup.
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