Sys Admin's Daily Grind: lsof

The Long and the Short of It: lsof

Article from Issue 124/2011
Author(s):

The shorter a command, the longer the list of support parameters. This rule applies to lsof, one of Charly’s favorite commands.

If you type lsof without parameters, the output is a long list of open files. This outpouring is sorted by PID; thus, it starts with init. On a laptop I was using as a lab machine, the list includes no fewer than 6,778 entries, which is not my understanding of intelligible.

Buy this article as PDF

Express-Checkout as PDF
Price $2.95
(incl. VAT)

Buy Linux Magazine

SINGLE ISSUES
Print Issues
Digital Issues
 
SUBSCRIPTIONS
Print Subs
Digisubs
 
TABLET & SMARTPHONE APPS
Get it on Google Play

US / Canada

Get it on Google Play

UK / Australia

Related content

  • Isof

    Track down and expose intruders with the versatile admin tool lsof.

    more »
  • lsof

    In Linux, everything is a file – directories, devices, pipes – so lsof (list open files) reveals what's happening on your system.

    more »
  • The sys admin’s daily grind: Sysdig

    In this issue, sys admin columnist and tool veterinarian Charly Kühnast invites Sysdig, the jack-of-all-trades among system diagnostic tools, into his surgery for a quick checkup. The project promises to unite the functionality of lsof, iftop, netstat, tcpdump, and others.

    more »
  • Charly's Column: QPS

    The graphical tool QPS frees admins from Kafkaesque ambiguities about the cause, history, and side effects of running processes. Depending on the view, either clarity or detailed information dominate the scene.

    more »
  • The sys admin's daily grind: Users and groups

    This time Charly investigates the three most frequently asked questions about user groups.

    more »
comments powered by Disqus