Manual: execsnoop.bt

execsnoop.bt(8)				   System Manager's Manual			     execsnoop.bt(8)

NAME
       execsnoop.bt - Trace new processes via exec() syscalls. Uses bpftrace/eBPF.

SYNOPSIS
       execsnoop.bt

DESCRIPTION
       This  traces when processes call exec() (execve()). It is handy for identifying new processes created
       via the usual fork()->exec() sequence. Note that the return value is not	 currently  traced,  so	 the
       exec() may have failed.

       This  tool  is  useful for debugging shell scripts, including application startup.  It is also useful
       for identifying a type of performance issue: a flood of short-lived processes, that end	quickly	 and
       aren't readily visible in top(1).

       Since this uses BPF, only the root user can use this tool.

REQUIREMENTS
       CONFIG_BPF and bpftrace.

EXAMPLES
       Trace all new processes calling execve():
	      # execsnoop.bt

FIELDS
       TIME   Time of the exec() call, in milliseconds since program start.

       PID    Process ID

       PPID   Parent Process ID

       ARGS   Process name and arguments (16 word maximum).

OVERHEAD
       This  traces  the execve() tracepoint and prints output for each event. As the rate of this is gener‐
       ally expected to be low (< 100/s), the overhead is also expected to be negligible. If you have an ap‐
       plication that is spawning a high rate of new processes for a  reason  (large  build  process),	this
       could cause a small amount of overhead: test and understand overhead before use.

SOURCE
       This is from bpftrace.

	      https://github.com/bpftrace/bpftrace

       Also  look  in the bpftrace distribution for a companion _examples.txt file containing example usage,
       output, and commentary for this tool.

       This is a bpftrace version of the bcc tool of the same name. The bcc tool provides  more	 fields	 and
       options to customize the output.

	      https://github.com/iovisor/bcc

OS
       Linux

STABILITY
       Unstable - in development.

AUTHOR
       Brendan Gregg

SEE ALSO
       opensnoop.bt(8)

USER COMMANDS					 2018-09-11				     execsnoop.bt(8)