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NAME
lsof - list open files
SYNOPSIS
lsof [ -?abChlnNOPRtUvVX ] [ -A A ] [ -c c ] [ +c c ] [ +|-d d ] [ +|-D D ]
[ +|-e s ] [ +|-E ] [ +|-f [cfgGn] ] [ -F [f] ] [ -g [s] ] [ -i [i] ] [ -k k ] [ -K
k ] [ +|-L [l] ] [ +|-m m
] [ +|-M ] [ -o [o] ] [ -p s ] [ +|-r [t[m<fmt>]] ] [ -s [p:s] ] [ -S [t] ]
[ -T [t] ] [ -u s ] [ +|-w ] [ -x [fl] ] [ -z [z] ] [ -Z [Z] ] [ -- ] [names]
DESCRIPTION
Lsof revision 4.93.2 lists on its standard output file information about
files opened by processes for the following UNIX dialects:
(See the DISTRIBUTION section of this manual page for information on how to
obtain the latest lsof revision.)
Instead of a formatted display, lsof will produce output that can be parsed
by other programs. See the -F, option description, and the OUTPUT FOR OTHER
PROGRAMS section for more infor‐
mation.
In addition to producing a single output list, lsof will run in repeat mode.
In repeat mode it will produce output, delay, then repeat the output operation
until stopped with an inter‐
rupt or quit signal. See the +|-r [t[m<fmt>]] option description for more
information.
OPTIONS
In the absence of any options, lsof lists all open files belonging to all
active processes.
Normally list options that are specifically stated are ORed - i.e.,
specifying the -i option without an address and the -ufoo option produces a listing
of all network files OR files be‐
longing to processes owned by user ``foo''. The exceptions are:
1) the `^' (negated) login name or user ID (UID), specified with the -u
option;
3) the `^' (negated) process group ID (PGID), specified with the -g option;
5) the (`^') negated TCP or UDP protocol state names, specified with the -s
[p:s] option.
Since they represent exclusions, they are applied without ORing or ANDing
and take effect before any other selection criteria are applied.
The -a option may be used to AND the selections. For example, specifying -
a, -U, and -ufoo produces a listing of only UNIX socket files that belong to
processes owned by user ``foo''.
Items of the same selection set - command names, file descriptors, network
addresses, process identifiers, user identifiers, zone names, security contexts -
are joined in a single ORed
set and applied before the result participates in ANDing. Thus, for
example, specifying -i@aaa.bbb, -i@ccc.ddd, -a, and -ufff,ggg will select the
listing of files that belong to either
login ``fff'' OR ``ggg'' AND have network connections to either host aaa.bbb
OR ccc.ddd.
Either the `+' or the `-' prefix may be applied to a group of options.
Options that don't take on separate meanings for each prefix - e.g., -i - may be
grouped under either prefix.
Thus, for example, ``+M -i'' may be stated as ``+Mi'' and the group means
the same as the separate options. Be careful of prefix grouping when one or more
options in the group does take
on separate meanings under different prefixes - e.g., +|-M; ``-iM'' is not
the same request as ``-i +M''. When in doubt, use separate options with
appropriate prefixes.
See the BLOCKS AND TIMEOUTS and AVOIDING KERNEL BLOCKS sections for
information on using this option.
If c begins and ends with a slash ('/'), the characters between the
slashes are interpreted as a regular expression. Shell meta-characters in the
regular expression must be
quoted to prevent their interpretation by the shell. The closing
slash may be followed by these modifiers:
See the lsof FAQ (The FAQ section gives its location.) for more
information on basic and extended regular expressions.
Note that many UNIX dialects do not supply all command name
characters to lsof in the files and structures from which lsof obtains command
name. Often dialects limit the number
of characters supplied in those sources. For example, Linux 2.4.27
and Solaris 9 both limit command name length to 16 characters.
If w is zero ('0'), all command characters supplied to lsof by the
UNIX dialect will be printed.
+d s causes lsof to search for all open instances of directory s and the
files and directories it contains at its top level. +d does NOT descend the
directory tree, rooted at s.
The +D D option may be used to request a full-descent directory
tree search, rooted at directory D.
The list is an exclusion list if all entries of the set begin with
`^'. It is an inclusion list if no entry begins with `^'. Mixed lists are not
permitted.
When there are exclusion and inclusion members in the set, lsof
reports them as errors and exits with a non-zero return code.
+D D causes lsof to search for all open instances of directory D and all
the files and directories it contains to its complete depth.
Further note: lsof may process this option slowly and require a
large amount of dynamic memory to do it. This is because it must descend the
entire directory tree, rooted at D,
calling stat(2) for each file and directory, building a list of all
the files it finds, and searching that list for a match with every open file. When
directory D is large,
these steps can take a long time, so use this option prudently.
-D D directs lsof's use of the device cache file. The use of this
option is sometimes restricted. See the DEVICE CACHE FILE section and the sections
that follow it for more infor‐
mation on this option.
The ? function reports the read-only and write paths that lsof
can use for the device cache file, the names of any environment variables whose
values lsof will examine when
forming the device cache file path, and the format for the personal
device cache file path. (Escape the `?' character as your shell requires.)
The i function directs lsof to ignore the default device cache file
and obtain its information about devices via direct calls to the kernel.
The r function directs lsof to read the device cache at the default
or specified path, but prevents it from creating a new device cache file when none
exists or the existing one
is improperly structured. The r function, when specified without
a path name, prevents lsof from updating an incorrect or outdated device cache
file, or creating a new one in
its place. The r function is always available when it is specified
without a path name argument; it may be restricted by the permissions of the lsof
process.
+|-e s exempts the file system whose path name is s from being subjected
to kernel function calls that might block. The +e option exempts stat(2), lstat(2)
and most readlink(2) kernel
function calls. The -e option exempts only stat(2) and lstat(2)
kernel function calls. Multiple file systems may be specified with separate +|-e
specifications and each may
have readlink(2) calls exempted or not.
When open files on exempted file systems are reported, it may not
be possible to obtain all their information. Therefore, some information columns
will be blank, the characters
``UNKN'' preface the values in the TYPE column, and the applicable
exemption option is added in parentheses to the end of the NAME column. (Some
device number information might
be made available via the +|-m m option.)
+|-E +E specifies that Linux pipe, Linux UNIX socket and Linux
pseudoterminal files should be displayed with endpoint information and the files of
the endpoints should also be dis‐
played. Note: UNIX socket file endpoint information is only
available when the compile flags line of -v output contains HASUXSOCKEPT, and
psudoterminal endpoint information is
only available when the compile flags line contains HASPTYEPT.
-E specfies that Linux pipe and Linux UNIX socket files should be
displayed with endpoint information, but not the files of the endpoints.
+|-f [cfgGn]
f by itself clarifies how path name arguments are to be
interpreted. When followed by c, f, g, G, or n in any combination it specifies
that the listing of kernel file structure
information is to be enabled (`+') or inhibited (`-').
$ lsof +f -- /file/system/name
$ lsof -f -- /file/name
When the prefix is minus (`-') the same characters disable the
listing of the indicated values.
File structure addresses, use counts, flags, and node addresses
may be used to detect more readily identical files inherited by child processes and
identical files in use by
different processes. Lsof column output can be sorted by output
columns holding the values and listed to identify identical file use, or lsof field
output can be parsed by an
AWK or Perl post-filter script, or by a C program.
When the field selection character list contains only a zero (`0'),
all fields are selected (except the raw device field for compatibility reasons) and
the NUL terminator char‐
acter is used.
[46][protocol][@hostname|hostaddr][:service|port]
where:
46 specifies the IP version, IPv4 or IPv6
that applies to the following address.
'6' may be be specified only if the UNIX
dialect supports IPv6. If neither '4' nor
'6' is specified, the following address
applies to all IP versions.
protocol is a protocol name - TCP, UDP
hostname is an Internet host name. Unless a
specific IP version is specified, open
network files associated with host names
of all versions will be selected.
hostaddr is a numeric Internet IPv4 address in
dot form; or an IPv6 numeric address in
colon form, enclosed in brackets, if the
UNIX dialect supports IPv6. When an IP
version is selected, only its numeric
addresses may be specified.
service is an /etc/services name - e.g., smtp -
or a list of them.
port is a port number, or a list of them.
IPv6 options may be used only if the UNIX dialect supports IPv6.
To see if the dialect supports IPv6, run lsof and specify the -h or -? (help)
option. If the displayed de‐
scription of the -i option contains ``[46]'' and ``IPv[46]'', IPv6
is supported.
IPv4 host names and addresses may not be specified if network file
selection is limited to IPv6 with -i 6. IPv6 host names and addresses may not be
specified if network file
selection is limited to IPv4 with -i 4. When an open IPv4 network
file's address is mapped in an IPv6 address, the open file's type will be IPv6, not
IPv4, and its display will
be selected by '6', not '4'.
In general threads and tasks inherit the files of the caller, but
may close some and open others, so lsof always reports all the open files of
threads and tasks.
For other link count comparisons, use field output (-F) and a post-
processing script or program.
There will be a line in the mount supplement file for each mounted
file system, containing the mounted file system directory, followed by a single
space, followed by the device
number in hexadecimal "0x" format - e.g.,
/ 0x801
Lsof can use the mount supplement file to get device numbers for
file systems when it can't get them via stat(2) or lstat(2).
Note: the +m and +m m options are not available for all supported
dialects. Check the output of lsof's -h or -? options to see if the +m and +m m
options are available.
The default reporting mode is set by the lsof builder with the
HASPMAPENABLED #define in the dialect's machine.h header file; lsof is distributed
with the HASPMAPENABLED #define
deactivated, so portmapper reporting is disabled by default and
must be requested with +M. Specifying lsof's -h or -? option will report the
default mode. Disabling portmap‐
per registration when it is already disabled or enabling it when
already enabled is acceptable. When portmapper registration reporting is enabled,
lsof displays the portmapper
registration (if any) for local TCP, UDP or UDPLITE ports in
square brackets immediately following the port numbers or service names -
e.g., ``:1234[name]'' or
``:name[100083]''. The registration information may be a name or
number, depending on what the registering program supplied to the portmapper when
it registered the port.
See the lsof FAQ (The FAQ section gives its location.) for further
discussion of portmapper registration reporting issues.
This option does NOT direct lsof to display offset at all times;
specify -o (without a trailing number) to do that. -o o only specifies the number
of digits after ``0t'' in ei‐
ther mixed size and offset or offset-only output. Thus, for
example, to direct lsof to display offset at all times with a decimal digit count
of 10, use:
-o -o 10
or
-oo10
While use of this option will reduce lsof startup overhead, it may
also cause lsof to hang when the kernel doesn't respond to a function. Use this
option cautiously.
+|-r [t[m<fmt>]]
puts lsof in repeat mode. There lsof lists open files as
selected by other options, delays t seconds (default fifteen), then repeats the
listing, delaying and listing repeti‐
tively until stopped by a condition defined by the prefix to the
option.
If the prefix is `+', repeat mode will end the first cycle no open
files are listed - and of course when lsof is stopped with an interrupt or quit
signal. When repeat mode ends
because no files are listed, the process exit code will be zero if
any open files were ever listed; one, if none were ever listed.
Repeat mode is useful when coupled with field output (see the -F,
option description) and a supervising awk or Perl script, or a C program.
-s [p:s] s alone directs lsof to display file size at all times. It causes
the SIZE/OFF output column title to be changed to SIZE. If the file does not have
a size, nothing is dis‐
played.
Dialects that support this option may support only one protocol.
When an unsupported protocol is specified, a message will be displayed indicating
state names for the protocol
are unavailable.
For example, to list only network files with TCP state LISTEN, use:
-iTCP -sTCP:LISTEN
Or, for example, to list network files with all UDP states except
Idle, use:
-iUDP -sUDP:^Idle
See the lsof FAQ (The FAQ section gives its location.) for more
information on how to use protocol state exclusion and inclusion, including
examples.
Since some types of files don't have true sizes - sockets, FIFOs,
pipes, etc. - lsof displays for their sizes the content amounts in their associated
kernel buffers, if possi‐
ble.
Not all values are reported for all UNIX dialects. Items values
(when available) are reported after the item name and '='.
When the field output mode is in effect (See OUTPUT FOR OTHER
PROGRAMS.) each item appears as a field with a `T' leading character.
Not all selections are enabled for some UNIX dialects. State may
be selected for all dialects and is reported by default. The -h or -? help output
for the -T option will show
what selections may be used with the UNIX dialect.
Socket options, socket states, some socket values, TCP flags and
one TCP value may be reported (when available in the UNIX dialect) in the form of
the names that commonly appear
after SO_, so_, SS_, TCP_ and TF_ in the dialect's header
files - most often <sys/socket.h>, <sys/socketvar.h> and <netinet/tcp_var.h>.
Consult those header files for the
meaning of the flags, options, states and values.
If a flag or option has a value, the value will follow an '=' and
the name -- e.g., ``SO=LINGER=5'', ``SO=QLIM=5'', ``TF=MSS=512''. The following
seven values may be reported:
Name
Reported Description (Common Symbol)
Details on what socket options and values, socket states, and TCP
flags and values may be displayed for particular UNIX dialects may be found in the
answer to the ``Why doesn't
lsof report socket options, socket states, and TCP flags and
values for my dialect?'' and ``Why doesn't lsof report the partial listen queue
connection count for my dialect?''
questions in the lsof FAQ (The FAQ section gives its location.)
-u s selects the listing of files for the user whose login names or user
ID numbers are in the comma-separated set s - e.g., ``abe'', or ``548,root''.
(There should be no spaces in
the set.)
The optional 'f' parameter enables file system mount point cross-
over processing; 'l', symbolic link cross-over processing.
AIX:
This IBM AIX RISC/System 6000 option requests the reporting of
executed text file and shared library references.
When AIX readx() use is disabled, lsof may not be able to report
information for all text and loader file references, but it may also avoid
exacerbating an AIX kernel directory
search kernel error, known as the Stale Segment ID bug.
Consult the lsof FAQ (The FAQ section gives its location.) and the
00README file of the lsof distribution for a more complete description of the Stale
Segment ID bug, its APAR,
and methods for defining readx() use when compiling lsof.
Linux:
This Linux option requests that lsof skip the reporting of
information on all open TCP, UDP and UDPLITE IPv4 and IPv6 files.
This Linux option is most useful when the system has an extremely
large number of open TCP, UDP and UDPLITE files, the processing of whose
information in the /proc/net/tcp* and
/proc/net/udp* files would take lsof a long time, and whose
reporting is not of interest.
Use this option with care and only when you are sure that the
information you want lsof to display isn't associated with open TCP, UDP or UDPLITE
socket files.
names These are path names of specific files to list. Symbolic links are
resolved before use. The first name may be separated from the preceding options
with the ``--'' option.
If a name is none of the above, lsof will list any open files whose
device and inode match that of the specified path name.
If you have also specified the -b option, the only names you may
safely specify are file systems for which your mount table supplies alternate
device numbers. See the AVOIDING
KERNEL BLOCKS and ALTERNATE DEVICE NUMBERS sections for more
information.
AFS
Lsof supports the recognition of AFS files for these dialects (and AFS
versions):
It may recognize AFS files on other versions of these dialects, but has not
been tested there. Depending on how AFS is implemented, lsof may recognize AFS
files in other dialects, or
may have difficulties recognizing AFS files in the supported dialects.
Lsof may have trouble identifying all aspects of AFS files in supported
dialects when AFS kernel support is implemented via dynamic modules whose addresses
do not appear in the kernel's
variable name list. In that case, lsof may have to guess at the identity of
AFS files, and might not be able to obtain volume information from the kernel that
is needed for calculating
AFS volume node numbers. When lsof can't compute volume node numbers, it
reports blank in the NODE column.
See the lsof FAQ (The FAQ section gives its location.) for more information
about dynamic modules, their symbols, and how they affect lsof options.
Because AFS path lookups don't seem to participate in the kernel's name
cache operations, lsof can't identify path name components for AFS files.
SECURITY
Lsof has three features that may cause security concerns. First, its
default compilation mode allows anyone to list all open files with it. Second, by
default it creates a user-read‐
able and user-writable device cache file in the home directory of the
real user ID that executes lsof. (The list-all-open-files and device cache
features may be disabled when lsof is
compiled.) Third, its -k and -m options name alternate kernel name list or
memory files.
When HASSECURITY is not defined, anyone may list all open files.
See the Security section of the 00README file of the lsof distribution for
information on building lsof with the HASSECURITY and HASNOSOCKSECURITY options
enabled.
Before you decide to disable the device cache file feature - enabling it
improves the performance of lsof by reducing the startup overhead of examining all
the nodes in /dev (or /de‐
vices) - read the discussion of it in the 00DCACHE file of the lsof
distribution and the lsof FAQ (The FAQ section gives its location.)
WHEN IN DOUBT, YOU CAN TEMPORARILY DISABLE THE USE OF THE DEVICE CACHE FILE
WITH THE -Di OPTION.
When lsof user declares alternate kernel name list or memory files with the
-k and -m options, lsof checks the user's authority to read them with access(2).
This is intended to prevent
whatever special power lsof's modes might confer on it from letting it read
files not normally accessible via the authority of the real user ID.
OUTPUT
This section describes the information lsof lists for each open file.
See the OUTPUT FOR OTHER PROGRAMS section for additional information on output that
can be processed by another
program.
Lsof's language locale support for a dialect also covers wide characters -
e.g., UTF-8 - when HASSETLOCALE and HASWIDECHAR are defined in the dialect's
machine.h header file, and when a
suitable language locale has been defined in the appropriate environment
variable for the lsof process. Wide characters are printable under those
conditions if iswprint(3) reports them
to be. If HASSETLOCALE, HASWIDECHAR and a suitable language locale aren't
defined, or if iswprint(3) reports wide characters that aren't printable, lsof
considers the wide characters
non-printable and prints each of their 8 bits according to its rules for
non-printable characters, stated above.
Consult the answers to the "Language locale support" questions in the lsof
FAQ (The FAQ section gives its location.) for more information.
Lsof dynamically sizes the output columns each time it runs, guaranteeing
that each column is a minimum size. It also guarantees that each column is
separated from its predecessor by at
least one space.
COMMAND contains the first nine characters of the name of the UNIX
command associated with the process. If a non-zero w value is specified to the +c
w option, the column contains the
first w characters of the name of the UNIX command associated
with the process up to the limit of characters supplied to lsof by the UNIX
dialect. (See the description of the
+c w command or the lsof FAQ for more information. The FAQ
section gives its location.)
TASKCMD is the task command name. Generally this will be the same as the
process named in the COMMAND column, but some task implementations (e.g., Linux)
permit a task to change its
command name.
ZONE is the Solaris 10 and higher zone name. This column must be
selected with the -z option.
SECURITY-CONTEXT
is the SELinux security context. This column must be selected
with the -Z option. Note that the -Z option is inhibited when SELinux is disabled
in the running Linux kernel.
USER is the user ID number or login name of the user to whom the
process belongs, usually the same as reported by ps(1). However, on Linux USER is
the user ID number or login that
owns the directory in /proc where lsof finds information about
the process. Usually that is the same value reported by ps(1), but may differ when
the process has changed its
effective user ID. (See the -l option description for
information on when a user ID number or login name is displayed.)
TYPE is the type of the node associated with the file - e.g., GDIR,
GREG, VDIR, VREG, etc.
FILE-ADDR contains the kernel file structure address when f has been
specified to +f;
FCT contains the file reference count from the kernel file structure
when c has been specified to +f;
FILE-FLAG when g or G has been specified to +f, this field contains the
contents of the f_flag[s] member of the kernel file structure and the kernel's per-
process open file flags (if
available); `G' causes them to be displayed in hexadecimal; `g',
as short-hand names; two lists may be displayed with entries separated by commas,
the lists separated by a
semicolon (`;'); the first list may contain short-hand names for
f_flag[s] values from the following table:
ALLC allocated
BR the file has been read
BHUP activity stopped by SIGHUP
BW the file has been written
CLSG closing
CX close-on-exec (see fcntl(F_SETFD))
LCK lock was applied
MP memory-mapped
OPIP open pending - in progress
RSVW reserved wait
SHMT UF_FSHMAT set (AIX)
USE in use (multi-threaded)
Usually only the lower thirty two bits of Tru64 UNIX kernel
addresses are displayed.
Thus the leading ``0t'' and ``0x'' identify an offset when the
column may contain both a size and an offset (i.e., its title is SIZE/OFF).
The lsof user can control the switch from ``0t'' to ``0x'' with
the -o o option. Consult its description for more information.
For files that don't have a fixed size - e.g., don't reside on
a disk device - lsof will display appropriate information about the current size or
position of the file if it
is available in the kernel structures that define the file.
NLINK contains the file link count when +L has been specified;
NAME is the name of the mount point and file system on which the file
resides;
or ``no PCB'' for socket files that do not have a protocol block
associated with them, optionally followed by ``, CANTSENDMORE'' if sending on the
socket has been disabled, or
``, CANTRCVMORE'' if receiving on the socket has been disabled
(e.g., by the shutdown(2) function);
For dialects that support a ``namefs'' file system, allowing one file to be
attached to another with fattach(3C), lsof will add
``(FA:<address1><direction><address2>)'' to the NAME col‐
umn. <address1> and <address2> are hexadecimal vnode addresses.
<direction> will be ``<-'' if <address2> has been fattach'ed to this vnode whose
address is <address1>; and ``->'' if
<address1>, the vnode address of this vnode, has been fattach'ed to
<address2>. <address1> may be omitted if it already appears in the DEVICE column.
Lsof may add two parenthetical notes to the NAME column for open Solaris 10
files: ``(?)'' if lsof considers the path name of questionable accuracy; and
``(deleted)'' if the -X option
has been specified and lsof detects the open file's path name has been
deleted. Consult the lsof FAQ (The FAQ section gives its location.) for more
information on these NAME column ad‐
ditions.
LOCKS
Lsof can't adequately report the wide variety of UNIX dialect file locks in
a single character. What it reports in a single character is a compromise between
the information it finds in
the kernel and the limitations of the reporting format.
Moreover, when a process holds several byte level locks on a file, lsof only
reports the status of the first lock it encounters. If it is a byte level lock,
then the lock character will
be reported in lower case - i.e., `r', `w', or `x' - rather than the upper
case equivalent reported for a full file lock.
Generally lsof can only report on locks held by local processes on local
files. When a local process sets a lock on a remotely mounted (e.g., NFS) file,
the remote server host usually
records the lock state. One exception is Solaris - at some patch levels
of 2.3, and in all versions above 2.4, the Solaris kernel records information on
remote locks in local struc‐
tures.
Lsof has trouble reporting locks for some UNIX dialects. Consult the BUGS
section of this manual page or the lsof FAQ (The FAQ section gives its location.)
for more information.
When the NUL (000) field terminator has been selected with the 0 (zero)
field identifier character, lsof ends each process and file set with a NL (012)
character.
Lsof always produces one field, the PID (`p') field. All other fields may
be declared optionally in the field identifier character list that follows the -F
option. When a field selec‐
tion character identifies an item lsof does not normally list - e.g.,
PPID, selected with -R - specification of the field character - e.g., ``-FR'' -
also selects the listing of the
item.
These are the fields that lsof will produce. The single character listed
first is the field identifier.
You can get on-line help information on these characters and their
descriptions by specifying the -F? option pair. (Escape the `?' character as your
shell requires.) Additional infor‐
mation on field content can be found in the OUTPUT section.
As an example, ``-F pcfn'' will select the process ID (`p'), command name
(`c'), file descriptor (`f') and file name (`n') fields with an NL field terminator
character; ``-F pcfn0'' se‐
lects the same output with a NUL (000) field terminator character.
Lsof doesn't produce all fields for every process or file set, only those
that are available. Some fields are mutually exclusive: file device characters and
file major/minor device num‐
bers; file inode number and protocol name; file name and stream
identification; file size and offset. One or the other member of these mutually
exclusive sets will appear in field out‐
put, but not both.
Normally lsof ends each field with a NL (012) character. The 0 (zero) field
identifier character may be specified to change the field terminator character to a
NUL (000). A NUL termi‐
nator may be easier to process with xargs (1), for example, or with
programs whose quoting mechanisms may not easily cope with the range of characters
in the field output. When the NUL
field terminator is in use, lsof ends each process and file set with a NL
(012).
Three aids to producing programs that can process lsof field output are
included in the lsof distribution. The first is a C header file, lsof_fields.h,
that contains symbols for the
field identification characters, indexes for storing them in a table, and
explanation strings that may be compiled into programs. Lsof uses this header
file.
The second aid is a set of sample scripts that process field output, written
in awk, Perl 4, and Perl 5. They're located in the scripts subdirectory of the
lsof distribution.
The third aid is the C library used for the lsof test suite. The test suite
is written in C and uses field output to validate the correct operation of lsof.
The library can be found in
the tests/LTlib.c file of the lsof distribution. The library uses the first
aid, the lsof_fields.h header file.
Lsof attempts to break these blocks with timers and child processes, but the
techniques are not wholly reliable. When lsof does manage to break a block, it
will report the break with an
error message. The messages may be suppressed with the -t and -w options.
The default timeout value may be displayed with the -h or -? option, and it
may be changed with the -S [t] option. The minimum for t is two seconds, but you
should avoid small values,
since slow system responsiveness can cause short timeouts to expire
unexpectedly and perhaps stop lsof before it can produce any output.
When lsof has to break a block during its access of mounted file system
information, it normally continues, although with less information available to
display about open files.
Lsof can also be directed to avoid the protection of timers and child
processes when using the kernel functions that might block by specifying the -O
option. While this will allow lsof
to start up with less overhead, it exposes lsof completely to the kernel
situations that might block it. Use this option cautiously.
First, using this option usually requires that your system supply alternate
device numbers in place of the device numbers that lsof would normally obtain with
the lstat(2) and stat(2)
kernel functions. See the ALTERNATE DEVICE NUMBERS section for more
information on alternate device numbers.
Second, you can't specify names for lsof to locate unless they're file
system names. This is because lsof needs to know the device and inode numbers of
files listed with names in the
lsof options, and the -b option prevents lsof from obtaining them.
Moreover, since lsof only has device numbers for the file systems that have
alternates, its ability to locate files on
file systems depends completely on the availability and accuracy of the
alternates. If no alternates are available, or if they're incorrect, lsof won't be
able to locate files on the
named file systems.
Third, if the names of your file system directories that lsof obtains from
your system's mount table are symbolic links, lsof won't be able to resolve the
links. This is because the -b
option causes lsof to avoid the kernel readlink(2) function it uses to
resolve symbolic links.
Finally, using the -b option causes lsof to issue warning messages when it
needs to use the kernel functions that the -b option directs it to avoid. You can
suppress these messages by
specifying the -w option, but if you do, you won't see the alternate device
numbers reported in the warning messages.
You can assist this process if your mount table is supported with an
/etc/mtab or /etc/mnttab file that contains an options field by adding a
``dev=xxxx'' field for mount points that do
not have one in their options strings. Note: you must be able to edit the
file - i.e., some mount tables like recent Solaris /etc/mnttab or Linux
/proc/mounts are read-only and can't be
modified.
You may also be able to supply device numbers using the +m and +m m options,
provided they are supported by your dialect. Check the output of lsof's -h or -?
options to see if the +m
and +m m options are available.
The ``xxxx'' portion of the field is the hexadecimal value of the file
system's device number. (Consult the st_dev field of the output of the lstat(2)
and stat(2) functions for the ap‐
propriate values for your file systems.) Here's an example from a Sun
Solaris 2.6 /etc/mnttab for a file system remotely mounted via NFS:
nfs ignore,noquota,dev=2a40001
Some dialects that do not use an ASCII /etc/mtab or /etc/mnttab file for the
mount table may still provide an alternative device number in their internal mount
tables. This includes
AIX, Apple Darwin, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, and Tru64 UNIX. Lsof
knows how to obtain the alternative device number for these dialects and uses it
when its attempt to lstat(2) or
stat(2) the file system is blocked.
If you're not sure your dialect supplies alternate device numbers for file
systems from its mount table, use this lsof incantation to see if it reports any
alternate device numbers:
lsof -b
Look for standard error file warning messages that begin ``assuming
"dev=xxxx" from ...''.
Lsof reports the complete paths it finds in the NAME column. If lsof can't
report all components in a path, it reports in the NAME column the file system
name, followed by a space, two
`-' characters, another space, and the name components it has located,
separated by the `/' character.
When lsof is run in repeat mode - i.e., with the -r option specified - the
extent to which it can report path name components for the same file may vary from
cycle to cycle. That's be‐
cause other running processes can cause the kernel to remove entries from
its name cache and replace them with others.
Lsof's use of the kernel name cache to identify the paths of files can lead
it to report incorrect components under some circumstances. This can happen when
the kernel name cache uses
device and node number as a key (e.g., SCO OpenServer) and a key on a
rapidly changing file system is reused. If the UNIX dialect's kernel doesn't purge
the name cache entry for a file
when it is unlinked, lsof may find a reference to the wrong entry in the
cache. The lsof FAQ (The FAQ section gives its location.) has more information on
this situation.
FreeBSD
HP-UX
Linux
NetBSD
NEXTSTEP
OpenBSD
OPENSTEP
SCO OpenServer
SCO|Caldera UnixWare
Solaris
Tru64 UNIX
AIX
If you want to know why lsof can't report path name components for some
dialects, see the lsof FAQ (The FAQ section gives its location.)
Consequently, lsof normally maintains an ASCII text file of cached /dev (or
/devices) information (exception: the /proc-based Linux lsof where it's not
needed.) The local system admin‐
istrator who builds lsof can control the way the device cache file path is
formed, selecting from these options:
Consult the output of the -h, -D? , or -? help options for the current
state of device cache support. The help output lists the default read-mode device
cache file path that is in ef‐
fect for the current invocation of lsof. The -D? option output lists
the read-only and write device cache file paths, the names of any applicable
environment variables, and the per‐
sonal device cache path format.
Lsof can detect that the current device cache file has been accidentally or
maliciously modified by integrity checks, including the computation and
verification of a sixteen bit Cyclic
Redundancy Check (CRC) sum on the file's contents. When lsof senses
something wrong with the file, it issues a warning and attempts to remove the
current cache file and create a new
copy, but only to a path that the process can legitimately write.
The path from which a lsof process may attempt to read a device cache file
may not be the same as the path to which it can legitimately write. Thus when lsof
senses that it needs to up‐
date the device cache file, it may choose a different path for writing it
from the path from which it read an incorrect or outdated version.
If available, the -Dr option will inhibit the writing of a new device cache
file. (It's always available when specified without a path name argument.)
When a new device is added to the system, the device cache file may need to
be recreated. Since lsof compares the mtime of the device cache file with the
mtime and ctime of the /dev (or
/devices) directory, it usually detects that a new device has been added; in
that case lsof issues a warning message and attempts to rebuild the device cache
file.
Whenever lsof writes a device cache file, it sets its ownership to the real
UID of the executing process, and its permission modes to 0600, this restricting
its reading and writing to
the file's owner.
The first and rarer permission is setuid-root. It comes into effect when
lsof is executed; its effective UID is then root, while its real (i.e., that of the
logged-on user) UID is not.
The lsof distribution recommends that versions for these dialects run
setuid-root.
The second and more common permission is setgid. It comes into effect when
the effective group IDentification number (GID) of the lsof process is set to one
that can access kernel mem‐
ory devices - e.g., ``kmem'', ``sys'', or ``system''.
An lsof process that has setgid permission usually surrenders the permission
after it has accessed the kernel memory devices. When it does that, lsof can allow
more liberal device cache
path formations. The lsof distribution recommends that versions for these
dialects run setgid and be allowed to surrender setgid permission.
(Note: lsof for AIX 5L and above needs setuid-root permission if its -X
option is used.)
Lsof for these dialects does not support a device cache, so the permissions
given to the executable don't apply to the device cache file.
Linux
When the -D b, r, and u functions are available, you can use them to request
that the cache file be built in a specific location (b[path]); read but not rebuilt
(r[path]); or read and
rebuilt (u[path]). The b, r, and u functions are restricted under some
conditions. They are restricted when the lsof process is setuid-root. The path
specified with the r function is
always read-only, even when it is available.
The b, r, and u functions are also restricted when the lsof process runs
setgid and lsof doesn't surrender the setgid permission. (See the LSOF PERMISSIONS
THAT AFFECT DEVICE CACHE FILE
ACCESS section for a list of implementations that normally don't surrender
their setgid permission.)
When available, the b function tells lsof to read device information from
the kernel with the stat(2) function and build a device cache file at the indicated
path.
When available, the r function tells lsof to read the device cache file, but
not update it. When a path argument accompanies -Dr, it names the device cache
file path. The r function is
always available when it is specified without a path name argument. If lsof
is not running setuid-root and surrenders its setgid permission, a path name
argument may accompany the r
function.
When available, the u function tells lsof to attempt to read and use the
device cache file. If it can't read the file, or if it finds the contents of the
file incorrect or outdated, it
will read information from the kernel, and attempt to write an updated
version of the device cache file, but only to a path it considers legitimate for
the lsof process effective and
real UIDs.
A further restriction applies to a device cache file path taken from the
LSOFDEVCACHE environment variable: lsof will not write a device cache file to the
path if the lsof process
doesn't surrender its setgid permission. (See the LSOF PERMISSIONS THAT
AFFECT DEVICE CACHE FILE ACCESS section for information on implementations that
don't surrender their setgid per‐
mission.)
The local system administrator can disable the use of the LSOFDEVCACHE
environment variable or change its name when building lsof. Consult the output of
-D? for the environment vari‐
able's name.
You can tell that a system-wide device cache file is in effect for your
local installation by examining the lsof help option output - i.e., the output from
the -h or -? option.
Lsof will never write to the system-wide device cache file path by default.
It must be explicitly named with a -D function in a root-owned procedure. Once the
file has been written,
the procedure must change its permission modes to 0644 (owner-read and
owner-write, group-read, and other-read).
PERSONAL DEVICE CACHE PATH (DEFAULT)
The default device cache file path of the lsof distribution is one recorded
in the home directory of the real UID that executes lsof. Added to the home
directory is a second path compo‐
nent of the form .lsof_hostname.
This is lsof's fourth device cache file path choice, and is usually the
default. If a system-wide device cache file path was defined when lsof was built,
this fourth choice will be ap‐
plied when lsof can't find the system-wide device cache file. This is the
only time lsof uses two paths when reading the device cache file.
The hostname part of the second component is the base name of the
executing host, as returned by gethostname(2). The base name is defined to be the
characters preceding the first `.'
in the gethostname(2) output, or all the gethostname(2) output if it
contains no `.'.
The device cache file belongs to the user ID and is readable and writable by
the user ID alone - i.e., its modes are 0600. Each distinct real user ID on a
given host that executes lsof
has a distinct device cache file. The hostname part of the path
distinguishes device cache files in an NFS-mounted home directory into which device
cache files are written from several
different hosts.
The personal device cache file path formed by this method represents a
device cache file that lsof will attempt to read, and will attempt to write should
it not exist or should its con‐
tents be incorrect or outdated.
The -Dr option without a path name argument will inhibit the writing of a
new device cache file.
The -D? option will list the format specification for constructing the
personal device cache file. The conversions used in the format specification are
described in the 00DCACHE file
of the lsof distribution.
/Homes/abe/LSOF/.lsof_vic
The LSOFPERSDCPATH environment variable is ignored when the lsof process is
setuid-root or when the real UID of the process is root.
Lsof will not write to a modified personal device cache file path if the
lsof process doesn't surrender setgid permission. (See the LSOF PERMISSIONS THAT
AFFECT DEVICE CACHE FILE ACCESS
section for a list of implementations that normally don't surrender their
setgid permission.)
If, for example, you want to create a sub-directory of personal device cache
file paths by using the LSOFPERSDCPATH environment variable to name it, and lsof
doesn't surrender its setgid
permission, you will have to allow lsof to create device cache files at the
standard personal path and move them to your subdirectory with shell commands.
The local system administrator may: disable this option when lsof is built;
change the name of the environment variable from LSOFPERSDCPATH to something else;
change the HASPERSDC format
to include the personal path component in another place; or exclude the
personal path component entirely. Consult the output of the -D? option for the
environment variable's name and
the HASPERSDC format specification.
DIAGNOSTICS
Errors are identified with messages on the standard error file.
Lsof returns a one (1) if any error was detected, including the failure to
locate command names, file names, Internet addresses or files, login names, NFS
files, PIDs, PGIDs, or UIDs it
was asked to list. If the -V option is specified, lsof will indicate the
search items it failed to list.
It returns a zero (0) if no errors were detected and if it was able to list
some information about all the specified search arguments.
When lsof cannot open access to /dev (or /devices) or one of its
subdirectories, or get information on a file in them with stat(2), it issues a
warning message and continues. That lsof
will issue warning messages about inaccessible files in /dev (or /devices)
is indicated in its help output - requested with the -h or >B -? options - with
the message:
The warning message may be suppressed with the -w option. It may also have
been suppressed by the system administrator when lsof was compiled by the setting
of the WARNDEVACCESS defini‐
tion. In this case, the output from the help options will include the
message:
EXAMPLES
For a more extensive set of examples, documented more fully, see the
00QUICKSTART file of the lsof distribution.
To list all open files, use:
lsof
To list all open Internet, x.25 (HP-UX), and UNIX domain files, use:
lsof -i -U
To list all open IPv4 network files in use by the process whose PID is 1234,
use:
lsof -i 4 -a -p 1234
Presuming the UNIX dialect supports IPv6, to list only open IPv6 network
files, use:
lsof -i 6
To list all files using any protocol on ports 513, 514, or 515 of host
wonderland.cc.purdue.edu, use:
lsof -i @wonderland.cc.purdue.edu:513-515
lsof -i @mace
To list all open files for login name ``abe'', or user ID 1234, or process
456, or process 123, or process 789, use:
lsof /dev/hd4
lsof /u/abe/foo
To find any open file, including an open UNIX domain socket file, with the
name /dev/log, use:
lsof /dev/log
To find processes with open files on the NFS file system named
/nfs/mount/point whose server is inaccessible, and presuming your mount
table supplies the device number for
/nfs/mount/point, use:
lsof -b /nfs/mount/point
lsof -Di
To obtain PID and command name field output for each process, file
descriptor, file device number, and file inode number for each file of each
process, use:
lsof -FpcfDi
To list the files at descriptors 1 and 3 of every process running the lsof
command for login ID ``abe'' every 10 seconds, use:
lsof -i@128.210.15.17
To find an IP version 6 socket file (when the UNIX dialect supports IPv6) by
its associated numeric colon-form address, use:
lsof -i@[0:1:2:3:4:5:6:7]
To find an IP version 6 socket file (when the UNIX dialect supports IPv6) by
an associated numeric colon-form address that has a run of zeroes in it - e.g., the
loop-back address - use:
lsof -i@[::1]
To obtain a repeat mode marker line that contains the current time, use:
lsof -rm====%T====
BUGS
Since lsof reads kernel memory in its search for open files, rapid changes
in kernel memory may produce unpredictable results.
When a file has multiple record locks, the lock status character (following
the file descriptor) is derived from a test of the first lock structure, not from
any combination of the indi‐
vidual record locks that might be described by multiple lock structures.
Lsof can't search for files with restrictive access permissions by name
unless it is installed with root set-UID permission. Otherwise it is limited to
searching for files to which its
user or its set-GID group (if any) has access permission.
The display of the destination address of a raw socket (e.g., for ping)
depends on the UNIX operating system. Some dialects store the destination address
in the raw socket's protocol
control block, some do not.
Lsof can't always represent Solaris device numbers in the same way that
ls(1) does. For example, the major and minor device numbers that the lstat(2) and
stat(2) functions report for
the directory on which CD-ROM files are mounted (typically /cdrom) are not
the same as the ones that it reports for the device on which CD-ROM files are
mounted (typically /dev/sr0).
(Lsof reports the directory numbers.)
The support for /proc file systems is available only for BSD and Tru64 UNIX
dialects, Linux, and dialects derived from SYSV R4 - e.g., FreeBSD, NetBSD,
OpenBSD, Solaris, UnixWare.
Some /proc file items - device number, inode number, and file size - are
unavailable in some dialects. Searching for files in a /proc file system may
require that the full path name be
specified.
No text (txt) file descriptors are displayed for Linux processes. All
entries for files other than the current working directory, the root directory, and
numerical file descriptors are
labeled mem descriptors.
Lsof can't search for Tru64 UNIX named pipes by name, because their kernel
implementation of lstat(2) returns an improper device number for a named pipe.
Lsof can't report fully or correctly on HP-UX 9.01, 10.20, and 11.00 locks
because of insufficient access to kernel data or errors in the kernel data. See
the lsof FAQ (The FAQ section
gives its location.) for details.
The AIX SMT file type is a fabrication. It's made up for file structures
whose type (15) isn't defined in the AIX /usr/include/sys/file.h header file. One
way to create such file
structures is to run X clients with the DISPLAY variable set to ``:0.0''.
The +|-f[cfn] option is not supported under /proc-based Linux lsof, because
it doesn't read kernel structures from kernel memory.
ENVIRONMENT
Lsof may access these environment variables.
LSOFDEVCACHE defines the path to a device cache file. See the DEVICE
CACHE PATH FROM AN ENVIRONMENT VARIABLE section for more information.
ftp://lsof.itap.purdue.edu/pub/tools/unix/lsof/FAQ
FILES
/dev/kmem kernel virtual memory device
AUTHORS
Lsof was written by Victor A.Abell <abe@purdue.edu> of Purdue University.
Many others have contributed to lsof. They're listed in the 00CREDITS file of the
lsof distribution.
DISTRIBUTION
The latest distribution of lsof is available via anonymous ftp from the host
lsof.itap.purdue.edu. You'll find the lsof distribution in the pub/tools/unix/lsof
directory.
ftp://lsof.itap.purdue.edu/pub/tools/unix/lsof
SEE ALSO
Not all the following manual pages may exist in every UNIX dialect to which
lsof has been ported.
Revision-4.93.2
LSOF(8)