A small utility for tracing execve{,at} and pre-exec behavior.
tracexec helps you to figure out what and how programs get executed when you execute a command.
It's useful for debugging build systems, understanding what shell scripts actually do, figuring out what programs does a proprietary software run, etc.
General CLI help:
A small utility for tracing execve{,at} and pre-exec behavior.
Usage: tracexec [OPTIONS] <COMMAND>
Commands:
log Run tracexec in logging mode
tui Run tracexec in TUI mode with a pseudo terminal by default
generate-completions Generate shell completions for tracexec
collect Collect exec events and export them
ebpf Experimental ebpf mode
help Print this message or the help of the given subcommand(s)
Options:
--color <COLOR> Control whether colored output is enabled. This flag has no effect on TUI mode. [default: auto] [possible values: auto, always, never]
-C, --cwd <CWD> Change current directory to this path before doing anything
-P, --profile <PROFILE> Load profile from this path
--no-profile Do not load profiles
-u, --user <USER> Run as user. This option is only available when running tracexec as root
--elevate Re-execute tracexec with privilege elevation (e.g. via sudo). The original user credentials are saved and the tracee will run as the original user.
-h, --help Print help
-V, --version Print version
TUI Mode:
Run tracexec in TUI mode with a pseudo terminal by default
Usage: tracexec tui [OPTIONS] -- <CMD>...
Arguments:
<CMD>... command to be executed
Options:
--successful-only
Only show successful calls
--fd-in-cmdline
[Experimental] Try to reproduce file descriptors in commandline. This might result in an unexecutable cmdline if pipes, sockets, etc. are involved.
--stdio-in-cmdline
[Experimental] Try to reproduce stdio in commandline. This might result in an unexecutable cmdline if pipes, sockets, etc. are involved.
--resolve-proc-self-exe
Resolve /proc/self/exe symlink
--no-resolve-proc-self-exe
Do not resolve /proc/self/exe symlink
--hide-cloexec-fds
Hide CLOEXEC fds
--no-hide-cloexec-fds
Do not hide CLOEXEC fds
--timestamp
Show timestamp information
--no-timestamp
Do not show timestamp information
--inline-timestamp-format <INLINE_TIMESTAMP_FORMAT>
Set the format of inline timestamp. See https://docs.rs/chrono/latest/chrono/format/strftime/index.html for available options.
--collect-cgroup
Collect cgroup information
--no-collect-cgroup
Do not collect cgroup information
--seccomp-bpf <SECCOMP_BPF>
Controls whether to enable seccomp-bpf optimization, which greatly improves performance [default: auto] [possible values: auto, on, off]
--polling-interval <POLLING_INTERVAL>
Polling interval, in microseconds. -1(default) disables polling.
--show-all-events
Set the default filter to show all events. This option can be used in combination with --filter-exclude to exclude some unwanted events.
--filter <FILTER>
Set the default filter for events. [default: warning,error,exec,tracee-exit]
--filter-include <FILTER_INCLUDE>
Aside from the default filter, also include the events specified here. [default: <empty>]
--filter-exclude <FILTER_EXCLUDE>
Exclude the events specified here from the default filter. [default: <empty>]
--no-tty
Do not allocate a pseudo terminal; redirect stdin/out/err to /dev/null
-f, --follow
Keep the event list scrolled to the bottom
--terminate-on-exit
Instead of waiting for the root child to exit, terminate when the TUI exits
--kill-on-exit
Instead of waiting for the root child to exit, kill when the TUI exits
-A, --active-pane <ACTIVE_PANE>
Set the default active pane to use when TUI launches [possible values: terminal, events]
-L, --layout <LAYOUT>
Set the layout of the TUI when it launches [possible values: horizontal, vertical]
-F, --frame-rate <FRAME_RATE>
Set the frame rate of the TUI (60 by default)
-m, --max-events <MAX_EVENTS>
Max number of events to keep in TUI (0=unlimited)
--scrollback-lines <SCROLLBACK_LINES>
Number of scrollback lines to keep in the pseudo terminal (1000 by default)
--theme <THEME_FILE>
Path to a theme file to use for the TUI.
-D, --default-external-command <DEFAULT_EXTERNAL_COMMAND>
Set the default external command to run when using "Detach, Stop and Run Command" feature in Hit Manager
-b, --add-breakpoint <BREAKPOINTS>
Add a new breakpoint to the tracer. This option can be used multiple times. The format is <syscall-stop>:<pattern-type>:<pattern>, where syscall-stop can be sysenter or sysexit, pattern-type can be argv-regex, in-filename or exact-filename. For example, sysexit:in-filename:/bash
-h, --help
Print help
Log Mode:
Run tracexec in logging mode
Usage: tracexec log [OPTIONS] -- <CMD>...
Arguments:
<CMD>... command to be executed
Options:
--more-colors
More colors
--less-colors
Less colors
--show-cmdline
Print commandline that (hopefully) reproduces what was executed. Note: file descriptors are not handled for now.
--no-show-cmdline
Don't print commandline that (hopefully) reproduces what was executed.
--show-interpreter
Try to show script interpreter indicated by shebang
--no-show-interpreter
Do not show script interpreter indicated by shebang
--foreground
Set the terminal foreground process group to tracee. This option is useful when tracexec is used interactively. [default]
--no-foreground
Do not set the terminal foreground process group to tracee
--diff-fd
Diff file descriptors with the original std{in/out/err}
--no-diff-fd
Do not diff file descriptors
--show-fd
Show file descriptors
--no-show-fd
Do not show file descriptors
--diff-env
Diff environment variables with the original environment
--no-diff-env
Do not diff environment variables
--show-env
Show environment variables
--no-show-env
Do not show environment variables
--show-comm
Show comm
--no-show-comm
Do not show comm
--show-argv
Show argv
--no-show-argv
Do not show argv
--show-filename
Show filename
--no-show-filename
Do not show filename
--show-cwd
Show cwd
--no-show-cwd
Do not show cwd
--decode-errno
Decode errno values
--no-decode-errno
Do not decode errno values
--successful-only
Only show successful calls
--fd-in-cmdline
[Experimental] Try to reproduce file descriptors in commandline. This might result in an unexecutable cmdline if pipes, sockets, etc. are involved.
--stdio-in-cmdline
[Experimental] Try to reproduce stdio in commandline. This might result in an unexecutable cmdline if pipes, sockets, etc. are involved.
--resolve-proc-self-exe
Resolve /proc/self/exe symlink
--no-resolve-proc-self-exe
Do not resolve /proc/self/exe symlink
--hide-cloexec-fds
Hide CLOEXEC fds
--no-hide-cloexec-fds
Do not hide CLOEXEC fds
--timestamp
Show timestamp information
--no-timestamp
Do not show timestamp information
--inline-timestamp-format <INLINE_TIMESTAMP_FORMAT>
Set the format of inline timestamp. See https://docs.rs/chrono/latest/chrono/format/strftime/index.html for available options.
--collect-cgroup
Collect cgroup information
--no-collect-cgroup
Do not collect cgroup information
--seccomp-bpf <SECCOMP_BPF>
Controls whether to enable seccomp-bpf optimization, which greatly improves performance [default: auto] [possible values: auto, on, off]
--polling-interval <POLLING_INTERVAL>
Polling interval, in microseconds. -1(default) disables polling.
--show-all-events
Set the default filter to show all events. This option can be used in combination with --filter-exclude to exclude some unwanted events.
--filter <FILTER>
Set the default filter for events. [default: warning,error,exec,tracee-exit]
--filter-include <FILTER_INCLUDE>
Aside from the default filter, also include the events specified here. [default: <empty>]
--filter-exclude <FILTER_EXCLUDE>
Exclude the events specified here from the default filter. [default: <empty>]
-o, --output <OUTPUT>
Output, stderr by default. A single hyphen '-' represents stdout.
-h, --help
Print help
Collect and export data:
Collect exec events and export them
Usage: tracexec collect [OPTIONS] --format <FORMAT> -- <CMD>...
Arguments:
<CMD>... command to be executed
Options:
--successful-only
Only show successful calls
--fd-in-cmdline
[Experimental] Try to reproduce file descriptors in commandline. This might result in an unexecutable cmdline if pipes, sockets, etc. are involved.
--stdio-in-cmdline
[Experimental] Try to reproduce stdio in commandline. This might result in an unexecutable cmdline if pipes, sockets, etc. are involved.
--resolve-proc-self-exe
Resolve /proc/self/exe symlink
--no-resolve-proc-self-exe
Do not resolve /proc/self/exe symlink
--hide-cloexec-fds
Hide CLOEXEC fds
--no-hide-cloexec-fds
Do not hide CLOEXEC fds
--timestamp
Show timestamp information
--no-timestamp
Do not show timestamp information
--inline-timestamp-format <INLINE_TIMESTAMP_FORMAT>
Set the format of inline timestamp. See https://docs.rs/chrono/latest/chrono/format/strftime/index.html for available options.
--collect-cgroup
Collect cgroup information
--no-collect-cgroup
Do not collect cgroup information
--seccomp-bpf <SECCOMP_BPF>
Controls whether to enable seccomp-bpf optimization, which greatly improves performance [default: auto] [possible values: auto, on, off]
--polling-interval <POLLING_INTERVAL>
Polling interval, in microseconds. -1(default) disables polling.
-p, --pretty
prettify the output if supported
-F, --format <FORMAT>
the format for exported exec events [possible values: json-stream, json, perfetto]
-o, --output <OUTPUT>
Output, stderr by default. A single hyphen '-' represents stdout.
--foreground
Set the terminal foreground process group to tracee. This option is useful when tracexec is used interactively. [default]
--no-foreground
Do not set the terminal foreground process group to tracee
-h, --help
Print help
eBPF backend supports similar commands:
Experimental ebpf mode
Usage: tracexec ebpf <COMMAND>
Commands:
log Run tracexec in logging mode
tui Run tracexec in TUI mode, with a pseudo terminal when following a command
collect Collect exec events and export them
help Print this message or the help of the given subcommand(s)
Options:
-h, --help Print help
tracexec can be configured with a profile file. The profile file is a toml file that can be used to set fallback options.
The profile file should be placed at $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/tracexec/ or $HOME/.config/tracexec/ and named config.toml.
A template profile file can be found at https://github.com/kxxt/tracexec/blob/main/config.toml
As a warning, the profile format is not stable yet and may change in the future. You may need to update your profile file when upgrading tracexec.
TUI themes can be configured in the tui section of the profile in one of two ways:
[tui]
theme-file = "nord.toml"theme-file accepts either an absolute path or a path relative to the theme directories. Relative paths are resolved relative to the following absolute paths in order:
$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/tracexec/themes/(or$HOME/.config/tracexec/themes/)$XDG_DATA_HOME/tracexec/themes/(or$HOME/.local/share/tracexec/themes/)/etc/tracexec/themes<path_to_tracexec_binary>/../share/tracexec/themes/
You can also inline the theme definition directly in the profile. Theme entries patch the built-in default theme, so you only need to specify the parts you want to change.
[tui]
theme = { app-title = { fg = "cyan" }, active-border = { fg = "light-cyan" } }Example themes are available in the repository's themes/ directory.
- Non UTF-8 strings are converted to UTF-8 in a lossy way, which means that the output may be inaccurate.
- The output is not stable yet, which means that the output may change in the future.
- The pseudo terminal can't pass through certain key combinations and terminal features.
This project was born out of the need to trace the execution of programs.
Initially I simply use strace -Y -f -qqq -s99999 -e trace=execve,execveat <command>.
But the output is still too verbose so that's why I created this project.