Monitoring activities and system processes
Tracers
Programs rarely reveal what they are doing in the background, but a few clever tools, of interest to both programmers and administrators, monitor this activity and log system functions.
One class of tools captures the events and function calls of compiled programs (and sometimes even of the entire system), producing logs known as traces. Programmers can use these logs to understand which function calls and actions lead to errors, and repeated entries could indicate race conditions or deadlocks. Reverse engineers might find debuggers useful, and kernel developers could gain insights into the typical processes between user space and the operating system kernel. Admins can use these tools to find out what’s happening on a system, with traces helping them take a closer look at suspicious behavior. For example, if you monitor and log all calls to the system function open, a look at the debugger output could reveal which programs regularly produce temporary files of several gigabytes.
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Direct Download
Read full article as PDF:
Price $2.95
News
-
Ubuntu 21.10 Released and Finally Includes GNOME 40
The most anticipated update to Ubuntu is finally here and the workflow couldn't be better.
-
Linux Can Now Run on Apple’s M1 Chipset
Linux users looking to take advantage of Apple Silicon are about to get their wish with the M1 chipset.
-
MX Linux 21 RC Candidate Available For Testing
The MX Linux development team has released the RC images for MX Linux 21 for testing purposes.
-
Fedora 35 is Shaping Up to Be an Impressive Release
Although the beta version of Fedora’s upcoming release is behind schedule, the Linux distribution is still slotted for October and will include numerous bug fixes and some exciting new features.
-
Canonical Extends Support For Ubuntu 14.04 and 16.04
The company behind Ubuntu offered a much-needed lifeline to those who still depend on older versions of the open-source operating system.
-
GNOME 41 Has Arrived
The latest version of the GNOME desktop environment has been released with new functionality and plenty of improvements.
-
System76 Updates the 15" Pangolin with Ryzen
System76 announced they’re updating the Ryzen-powered Pangolin laptop to meet today’s need for more power.
-
KDE Plasma 5.23 Promises Plenty of Subtle Improvements
The next release of the KDE Plasma desktop includes new features, numerous improvements, and plenty of bug fixes.
-
GNOME 41 Beta is Now Available
The most popular open-source desktop environment is on the cusp of yet another new release, but don’t expect the massive changes found in the previous iteration.
-
Debian 11 “Bullseye” Now Available
The developers of Debian have released the latest version of the operating system so many distributions depend on.