3 ms·

I was surprised that `strace` wasn't on that list. That's usually one of my first go-to tools. It's so great, especially when programs return useless or wrong e

I was surprised that `strace` wasn't on that list. That's usually one of my first go-to tools. It's so great, especially when programs return useless or wrong error messages.

brendangregg 3y ago
strace is ok as a last resort, but "perf trace" and bpf tracing tools are the production-safe alternative. https://www.brendangregg.com/blog/2014-05-11/strace-wow-much-syscall.html https://www.brendangregg.com/blog/2014-05-11/strace-wow-much...
- slacka 3y ago
  Why don't recommend atop? When a system is unresponsive, I want a I want a high-level tool that immediately shows which subsystem is under heavy load. It should show CPU, Memory, Disk, and Network usage. The other tools you listed are great, once you know what the cause is.
  - brendangregg 3y ago
    My preference is tools that give a rolling output as it let you capture the time-based pattern and share it with others, including in JIRA tickets and SRE chatrooms, whereas top's generally clear the screen. atop by default also sets up logging and runs a couple of daemons in systemd, so it's more than just a handy tool when needed, it's now adding itself to the operating table. (I think I did at least one blog post about performance monitoring agents causing performance issues.) Just something to consider. I've recommended atop in the past for catching short-lived processes because it uses process accounting, although the newer bpf tools provide more detail.
- CartwheelLinux 3y ago
  [dead]
vram22 3y ago
fuser and lsof are useful too. https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man1/fuser.1.html https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man1/fuser.1.html https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lsof https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lsof
- vram22 3y ago
  And I wonder if anyone still uses sar and family. I didn't, but a boss or two of mine did.
  - tremon 3y ago
    I still use sar occasionally, but never as a troubleshooting tool. It's more for performance analysis than crisis mode.
- kristjansson 3y ago
  TIL fuser. Thanks!
  - vram22 3y ago
    Welcome :)
    - vram22 3y ago
      Some HN monkeyboy has nothing better to do with his time than downvote a polite reply to a thanks.
- account42 3y ago
  Rarely need these under Linux but would have frequent use for such a tool under Windows with its mandatory file locking. "No you can't rename that directory but I won't tell you because fuck you."

I was surprised that `strace` wasn't on that list. That's usually one of my first go-to tools. It's so great, especially when programs return useless or wrong error messages.

brendangregg 3y ago

strace is ok as a last resort, but "perf trace" and bpf tracing tools are the production-safe alternative. https://www.brendangregg.com/blog/2014-05-11/strace-wow-much-syscall.html https://www.brendangregg.com/blog/2014-05-11/strace-wow-much...

slacka 3y ago
Why don't recommend atop? When a system is unresponsive, I want a I want a high-level tool that immediately shows which subsystem is under heavy load. It should show CPU, Memory, Disk, and Network usage. The other tools you listed are great, once you know what the cause is.
- brendangregg 3y ago
  My preference is tools that give a rolling output as it let you capture the time-based pattern and share it with others, including in JIRA tickets and SRE chatrooms, whereas top's generally clear the screen. atop by default also sets up logging and runs a couple of daemons in systemd, so it's more than just a handy tool when needed, it's now adding itself to the operating table. (I think I did at least one blog post about performance monitoring agents causing performance issues.) Just something to consider. I've recommended atop in the past for catching short-lived processes because it uses process accounting, although the newer bpf tools provide more detail.
CartwheelLinux 3y ago
[dead]

vram22 3y ago

fuser and lsof are useful too. https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man1/fuser.1.html https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man1/fuser.1.html https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lsof https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lsof

vram22 3y ago
And I wonder if anyone still uses sar and family. I didn't, but a boss or two of mine did.
- tremon 3y ago
  I still use sar occasionally, but never as a troubleshooting tool. It's more for performance analysis than crisis mode.
kristjansson 3y ago
TIL fuser. Thanks!
- vram22 3y ago
  Welcome :)
  - vram22 3y ago
    Some HN monkeyboy has nothing better to do with his time than downvote a polite reply to a thanks.
account42 3y ago
Rarely need these under Linux but would have frequent use for such a tool under Windows with its mandatory file locking. "No you can't rename that directory but I won't tell you because fuck you."