Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
NAME
lsof - list open files
SYNOPSIS
lsof [ -?abChKlnNOPRtUvVX ] [ -A A ] [ -c c ] [ +c c ] [
+|-d d ] [ +|-D D ] [ +|-e s ] [ +|-E ] [ +|-f [cfgGn] ] [
-F [f] ] [ -g [s] ] [ -i [i] ] [ -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 4.89 lists on its standard output file infor-
mation about files opened by processes for the following
UNIX dialects:
Apple Darwin 9 and Mac OS X 10.[567]
FreeBSD 8.[234], 9.0, 10.0 and 11.0 for AMD64-based systems
Linux 2.1.72 and above for x86-based systems
Solaris 9, 10 and 11
(See the DISTRIBUTION section of this manual page for infor-
mation on how to obtain the latest lsof revision.)
An open file may be a regular file, a directory, a block
special file, a character special file, an executing text
reference, a library, a stream or a network file (Internet
socket, NFS file or UNIX domain socket.) A specific file or
all the files in a file system may be selected by path.
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 information.
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 interrupt 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.
If any list request option is specified, other list requests
must be specifically requested - e.g., if -U is specified
for the listing of UNIX socket files, NFS files won't be
listed unless -N is also specified; or if a user list is
specified with the -u option, UNIX domain socket files,
belonging to users not in the list, won't be listed unless
the -U option is also specified.
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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 belonging to processes owned by user ``foo''. The
exceptions are:
1) the `^' (negated) login name or user ID (UID), specified
with the -u option;
2) the `^' (negated) process ID (PID), specified with the -p
option;
3) the `^' (negated) process group ID (PGID), specified with
the -g option;
4) the `^' (negated) command, specified with the -c option;
5) the (`^') negated TCP or UDP protocol state names, speci-
fied 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 exam-
ple, specifying -a, -U, and -ufoo produces a listing of only
UNIX socket files that belong to processes owned by user
``foo''.
Caution: the -a option causes all list selection options to
be ANDed; it can't be used to cause ANDing of selected pairs
of selection options by placing it between them, even though
its placement there is acceptable. Wherever -a is placed,
it causes the ANDing of all selection options.
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.
Options may be grouped together following a single prefix --
e.g., the option set ``-a -b -C'' may be stated as -abC.
However, since values are optional following +|-f, -F, -g,
-i, +|-L, -o, +|-r, -s, -S, -T, -x and -z. when you have no
values for them be careful that the following character
isn't ambiguous. For example, -Fn might represent the -F
and -n options, or it might represent the n field identifier
character following the -F option. When ambiguity is
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Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
possible, start a new option with a `-' character - e.g.,
``-F -n''. If the next option is a file name, follow the
possibly ambiguous option with ``--'' - e.g., ``-F --
name''.
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.
-? -h These two equivalent options select a usage (help)
output list. Lsof displays a shortened form of
this output when it detects an error in the options
supplied to it, after it has displayed messages
explaining each error. (Escape the `?' character
as your shell requires.)
-a causes list selection options to be ANDed, as
described above.
-A A is available on systems configured for AFS whose
AFS kernel code is implemented via dynamic modules.
It allows the lsof user to specify A as an alter-
nate name list file where the kernel addresses of
the dynamic modules might be found. See the lsof
FAQ (The FAQ section gives its location.) for more
information about dynamic modules, their symbols,
and how they affect lsof.
-b causes lsof to avoid kernel functions that might
block - lstat(2), readlink(2), and stat(2).
See the BLOCKS AND TIMEOUTS and AVOIDING KERNEL
BLOCKS sections for information on using this
option.
-c c selects the listing of files for processes execut-
ing the command that begins with the characters of
c. Multiple commands may be specified, using mul-
tiple -c options. They are joined in a single ORed
set before participating in AND option selection.
If c begins with a `^', then the following charac-
ters specify a command name whose processes are to
be ignored (excluded.)
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If c begins and ends with a slash ('/'), the char-
acters 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:
b the regular expression is a basic one.
i ignore the case of letters.
x the regular expression is an extended one
(default).
See the lsof FAQ (The FAQ section gives its loca-
tion.) for more information on basic and extended
regular expressions.
The simple command specification is tested first.
If that test fails, the command regular expression
is applied. If the simple command test succeeds,
the command regular expression test isn't made.
This may result in ``no command found for regex:''
messages when lsof's -V option is specified.
+c w defines the maximum number of initial characters of
the name, supplied by the UNIX dialect, of the UNIX
command associated with a process to be printed in
the COMMAND column. (The lsof default is nine.)
Note that many UNIX dialects do not supply all com-
mand name characters to lsof in the files and
structures from which lsof obtains command name.
Often dialects limit the number of characters sup-
plied 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.
If w is less than the length of the column title,
``COMMAND'', it will be raised to that length.
-C disables the reporting of any path name components
from the kernel's name cache. See the KERNEL NAME
CACHE section for more information.
+d s causes lsof to search for all open instances of
directory s and the files and directories it con-
tains 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
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Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
search, rooted at directory D.
Processing of the +d option does not follow sym-
bolic links within s unless the -x or -x l option
is also specified. Nor does it search for open
files on file system mount points on subdirectories
of s unless the -x or -x f option is also speci-
fied.
Note: the authority of the user of this option lim-
its it to searching for files that the user has
permission to examine with the system stat(2) func-
tion.
-d s specifies a list of file descriptors (FDs) to
exclude from or include in the output listing. The
file descriptors are specified in the
comma-separated set s - e.g., ``cwd,1,3'',
``^6,^2''. (There should be no spaces in the set.)
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 permit-
ted.
A file descriptor number range may be in the set as
long as neither member is empty, both members are
numbers, and the ending member is larger than the
starting one - e.g., ``0-7'' or ``3-10''. Ranges
may be specified for exclusion if they have the `^'
prefix - e.g., ``^0-7'' excludes all file descrip-
tors 0 through 7.
Multiple file descriptor numbers are joined in a
single ORed set before participating in AND option
selection.
When there are exclusion and inclusion members in
the set, lsof reports them as errors and exits with
a non-zero return code.
See the description of File Descriptor (FD) output
values in the OUTPUT section for more information
on file descriptor names.
+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.
Processing of the +D option does not follow sym-
bolic links within D unless the -x or -x l option
is also specified. Nor does it search for open
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files on file system mount points on subdirectories
of D unless the -x or -x f option is also speci-
fied.
Note: the authority of the user of this option lim-
its it to searching for files that the user has
permission to examine with the system stat(2) func-
tion.
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 information on this option.
-D must be followed by a function letter; the func-
tion letter may optionally be followed by a path
name. Lsof recognizes these function letters:
? - report device cache file paths
b - build the device cache file
i - ignore the device cache file
r - read the device cache file
u - read and update the device cache file
The b, r, and u functions, accompanied by a path
name, are sometimes restricted. When these func-
tions are restricted, they will not appear in the
description of the -D option that accompanies -h or
-? option output. See the DEVICE CACHE FILE sec-
tion and the sections that follow it for more
information on these functions and when they're
restricted.
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.)
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When available, the b, r, and u functions may be
followed by the device cache file's path. The
standard default is .lsof_hostname in the home
directory of the real user ID that executes lsof,
but this could have been changed when lsof was con-
figured and compiled. (The output of the -h and -?
options show the current default prefix - e.g.,
``.lsof''.) The suffix, hostname, is the first
component of the host's name returned by gethost-
name(2).
When available, the b function directs lsof to
build a new device cache file at the default or
specified path.
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 creat-
ing 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.
When available, the u function directs lsof to read
the device cache file at the default or specified
path, if possible, and to rebuild it, if necessary.
This is the default device cache file function when
no -D option has been specified.
+|-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.
This option is currently implemented only for
Linux.
CAUTION: this option can easily be mis-applied to
other than the file system of interest, because it
uses path name rather than the more reliable device
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and inode numbers. (Device and inode numbers are
acquired via the potentially blocking stat(2) ker-
nel call and are thus not available, but see the
+|-m m option as a possible alternative way to sup-
ply device numbers.) Use this option with great
care and fully specify the path name of the file
system to be exempted.
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'' pre-
face the values in the TYPE column, and the appli-
cable 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 and Linux UNIX socket
files should be displayed with endpoint information
and the files of the endpoints should also be
displayed. Note: UNIX socket file endpoint infor-
mation is available only when the compile flags
line of -v output contains HASUXSOCKEPT.
Pipe endpoint information is displayed in the NAME
column in the form ``PID,cmd,FDmode'', where PID is
the endpoint process ID; cmd is the endpoint pro-
cess command; FD is the endpoint file's descriptor;
and mode is the endpoint file's access mode.
UNIX socket file endpoint information is displayed
in the NAME column in the form
``type=TYPE ->INO=INODE PID,cmd,FDmode'', where
TYPE is the socket type; INODE is the i-node number
of the connected socket; and PID, cmd, FD, and mode
are the same as with pipe endpoint information.
Note: UNIX socket file endpoint information is
available only when the compile flags line of -v
output contains HASUXSOCKEPT.
Multiple occurrences of this information can appear
in a file's NAME column.
-E specfies that Linux pipe and Linux UNIX socket
files should be displayed with endpoint informa-
tion, 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
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of kernel file structure information is to be
enabled (`+') or inhibited (`-').
Normally a path name argument is taken to be a file
system name if it matches a mounted-on directory
name reported by mount(8), or if it represents a
block device, named in the mount output and associ-
ated with a mounted directory name. When +f is
specified, all path name arguments will be taken to
be file system names, and lsof will complain if any
are not. This can be useful, for example, when the
file system name (mounted-on device) isn't a block
device. This happens for some CD-ROM file systems.
When -f is specified by itself, all path name argu-
ments will be taken to be simple files. Thus, for
example, the ``-f -- /'' arguments direct lsof to
search for open files with a `/' path name, not all
open files in the `/' (root) file system.
Be careful to make sure +f and -f are properly ter-
minated and aren't followed by a character (e.g.,
of the file or file system name) that might be
taken as a parameter. For example, use ``--''
after +f and -f as in these examples.
$ lsof +f -- /file/system/name
$ lsof -f -- /file/name
The listing of information from kernel file struc-
tures, requested with the +f [cfgGn] option form,
is normally inhibited, and is not available in
whole or part for some dialects - e.g., /proc-based
Linux kernels below 2.6.22. When the prefix to f
is a plus sign (`+'), these characters request file
structure information:
c file structure use count (not Linux)
f file structure address (not Linux)
g file flag abbreviations (Linux 2.6.22 and up)
G file flags in hexadecimal (Linux 2.6.22 and up)
n file structure node address (not Linux)
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.
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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.
-F f specifies a character list, f, that selects the
fields to be output for processing by another pro-
gram, and the character that terminates each output
field. Each field to be output is specified with a
single character in f. The field terminator
defaults to NL, but may be changed to NUL (000).
See the OUTPUT FOR OTHER PROGRAMS section for a
description of the field identification characters
and the field output process.
When the field selection character list is empty,
all standard fields are selected (except the raw
device field, security context and zone field for
compatibility reasons) and the NL field terminator
is used.
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 character is used.
Other combinations of fields and their associated
field terminator character must be set with expli-
cit entries in f, as described in the OUTPUT FOR
OTHER PROGRAMS section.
When a field selection 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.
When the field selection character list contains
the single character `?', lsof will display a help
list of the field identification characters.
(Escape the `?' character as your shell requires.)
-g [s] excludes or selects the listing of files for the
processes whose optional process group IDentifica-
tion (PGID) numbers are in the comma-separated set
s - e.g., ``123'' or ``123,^456''. (There should
be no spaces in the set.)
PGID numbers that begin with `^' (negation)
represent exclusions.
Multiple PGID numbers are joined in a single ORed
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Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
set before participating in AND option selection.
However, PGID exclusions are applied without ORing
or ANDing and take effect before other selection
criteria are applied.
The -g option also enables the output display of
PGID numbers. When specified without a PGID set
that's all it does.
-i [i] selects the listing of files any of whose Internet
address matches the address specified in i. If no
address is specified, this option selects the list-
ing of all Internet and x.25 (HP-UX) network files.
If -i4 or -i6 is specified with no following
address, only files of the indicated IP version,
IPv4 or IPv6, are displayed. (An IPv6 specifica-
tion may be used only if the dialects supports
IPv6, as indicated by ``[46]'' and ``IPv[46]'' in
lsof's -h or -? output.) Sequentially specifying
-i4, followed by -i6 is the same as specifying -i,
and vice-versa. Specifying -i4, or -i6 after -i is
the same as specifying -i4 or -i6 by itself.
Multiple addresses (up to a limit of 100) may be
specified with multiple -i options. (A port number
or service name range is counted as one address.)
They are joined in a single ORed set before parti-
cipating in AND option selection.
An Internet address is specified in the form (Items
in square brackets are optional.):
[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
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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 description 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'.
At least one address component - 4, 6, protocol,
hostname, hostaddr, or service - must be supplied.
The `@' character, leading the host specification,
is always required; as is the `:', leading the port
specification. Specify either hostname or hos-
taddr. Specify either service name list or port
number list. If a service name list is specified,
the protocol may also need to be specified if the
TCP, UDP and UDPLITE port numbers for the service
name are different. Use any case - lower or upper
- for protocol.
Service names and port numbers may be combined in a
list whose entries are separated by commas and
whose numeric range entries are separated by minus
signs. There may be no embedded spaces, and all
service names must belong to the specified proto-
col. Since service names may contain embedded
minus signs, the starting entry of a range can't be
a service name; it can be a port number, however.
Here are some sample addresses:
-i6 - IPv6 only
TCP:25 - TCP and port 25
@1.2.3.4 - Internet IPv4 host address 1.2.3.4
@[3ffe:1ebc::1]:1234 - Internet IPv6 host address
3ffe:1ebc::1, port 1234
UDP:who - UDP who service port
TCP@lsof.itap:513 - TCP, port 513 and host name
lsof.itap
tcp@foo:1-10,smtp,99 - TCP, ports 1 through 10,
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service name smtp, port 99, host name foo
tcp@bar:1-smtp - TCP, ports 1 through smtp, host bar
:time - either TCP, UDP or UDPLITE time service port
-K selects the listing of tasks (threads) of
processes, on dialects where task (thread) report-
ing is supported. (If help output - i.e., the out-
put of the -h or -? options - shows this option,
then task (thread) reporting is supported by the
dialect.)
When -K and -a are both specified on Linux, and the
tasks of a main process are selected by other
options, the main process will also be listed as
though it were a task, but without a task ID. (See
the description of the TID column in the OUTPUT
section.)
Where the FreeBSD version supports threads, all
threads will be listed with their IDs.
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.
-k k specifies a kernel name list file, k, in place of
/vmunix, /mach, etc. -k is not available under AIX
on the IBM RISC/System 6000.
-l inhibits the conversion of user ID numbers to login
names. It is also useful when login name lookup is
working improperly or slowly.
+|-L [l] enables (`+') or disables (`-') the listing of file
link counts, where they are available - e.g., they
aren't available for sockets, or most FIFOs and
pipes.
When +L is specified without a following number,
all link counts will be listed. When -L is speci-
fied (the default), no link counts will be listed.
When +L is followed by a number, only files having
a link count less than that number will be listed.
(No number may follow -L.) A specification of the
form ``+L1'' will select open files that have been
unlinked. A specification of the form
``+aL1 <file_system>'' will select unlinked open
files on the specified file system.
For other link count comparisons, use field output
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(-F) and a post-processing script or program.
+|-m m specifies an alternate kernel memory file or
activates mount table supplement processing.
The option form -m m specifies a kernel memory
file, m, in place of /dev/kmem or /dev/mem - e.g.,
a crash dump file.
The option form +m requests that a mount supplement
file be written to the standard output file. All
other options are silently ignored.
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 dev-
ice numbers for file systems when it can't get them
via stat(2) or lstat(2).
The option form +m m identifies m as a mount sup-
plement file.
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.
+|-M Enables (+) or disables (-) the reporting of port-
mapper registrations for local TCP, UDP and UDPLITE
ports, where port mapping is supported. (See the
last paragraph of this option description for
information about where portmapper registration
reporting is supported.)
The default reporting mode is set by the lsof
builder with the HASPMAPENABLED #define in the
dialect's machine.h header file; lsof is distri-
buted 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
portmapper 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)
SunOS 5.9 Last change: Revision-4.89 14
Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
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.
When portmapper registration reporting is enabled,
lsof may run a little more slowly or even become
blocked when access to the portmapper becomes cong-
ested or stopped. Reverse the reporting mode to
determine if portmapper registration reporting is
slowing or blocking lsof.
For purposes of portmapper registration reporting
lsof considers a TCP, UDP or UDPLITE port local if:
it is found in the local part of its containing
kernel structure; or if it is located in the
foreign part of its containing kernel structure and
the local and foreign Internet addresses are the
same; or if it is located in the foreign part of
its containing kernel structure and the foreign
Internet address is INADDR_LOOPBACK (127.0.0.1).
This rule may make lsof ignore some foreign ports
on machines with multiple interfaces when the
foreign Internet address is on a different inter-
face from the local one.
See the lsof FAQ (The FAQ section gives its loca-
tion.) for further discussion of portmapper regis-
tration reporting issues.
Portmapper registration reporting is supported only
on dialects that have RPC header files. (Some
Linux distributions with GlibC 2.14 do not have
them.) When portmapper registration reporting is
supported, the -h or -? help output will show the
+|-M option.
-n inhibits the conversion of network numbers to host
names for network files. Inhibiting conversion may
make lsof run faster. It is also useful when host
name lookup is not working properly.
-N selects the listing of NFS files.
-o directs lsof to display file offset at all times.
It causes the SIZE/OFF output column title to be
changed to OFFSET. Note: on some UNIX dialects
lsof can't obtain accurate or consistent file
offset information from its kernel data sources,
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Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
sometimes just for particular kinds of files (e.g.,
socket files.) Consult the lsof FAQ (The FAQ sec-
tion gives its location.) for more information.
The -o and -s options are mutually exclusive; they
can't both be specified. When neither is speci-
fied, lsof displays whatever value - size or offset
- is appropriate and available for the type of the
file.
-o o defines the number of decimal digits (o) to be
printed after the ``0t'' for a file offset before
the form is switched to ``0x...''. An o value of
zero (unlimited) directs lsof to use the ``0t''
form for all offset output.
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 either 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
The default number of digits allowed after ``0t''
is normally 8, but may have been changed by the
lsof builder. Consult the description of the -o o
option in the output of the -h or -? option to
determine the default that is in effect.
-O directs lsof to bypass the strategy it uses to
avoid being blocked by some kernel operations -
i.e., doing them in forked child processes. See
the BLOCKS AND TIMEOUTS and AVOIDING KERNEL BLOCKS
sections for more information on kernel operations
that may block lsof.
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.
-p s excludes or selects the listing of files for the
processes whose optional process IDentification
(PID) numbers are in the comma-separated set s -
e.g., ``123'' or ``123,^456''. (There should be no
spaces in the set.)
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PID numbers that begin with `^' (negation)
represent exclusions.
Multiple process ID numbers are joined in a single
ORed set before participating in AND option selec-
tion. However, PID exclusions are applied without
ORing or ANDing and take effect before other selec-
tion criteria are applied.
-P inhibits the conversion of port numbers to port
names for network files. Inhibiting the conversion
may make lsof run a little faster. It is also use-
ful when port name lookup is not working properly.
+|-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 list-
ing, delaying and listing repetitively until
stopped by a condition defined by the prefix to the
option.
If the prefix is a `-', repeat mode is endless.
Lsof must be terminated with an interrupt or quit
signal.
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.
Lsof marks the end of each listing: if field out-
put is in progress (the -F, option has been speci-
fied), the default marker is `m'; otherwise the
default marker is ``========''. The marker is fol-
lowed by a NL character.
The optional "m<fmt>" argument specifies a format
for the marker line. The <fmt> characters follow-
ing `m' are interpreted as a format specification
to the strftime(3) function, when both it and the
localtime(3) function are available in the
dialect's C library. Consult the strftime(3) docu-
mentation for what may appear in its format specif-
ication. Note that when field output is requested
with the -F option, <fmt> cannot contain the NL
format, ``%n''. Note also that when <fmt> contains
spaces or other characters that affect the shell's
interpretation of arguments, <fmt> must be quoted
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Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
appropriately.
Repeat mode reduces lsof startup overhead, so it is
more efficient to use this mode than to call lsof
repetitively from a shell script, for example.
To use repeat mode most efficiently, accompany +|-r
with specification of other lsof selection options,
so the amount of kernel memory access lsof does
will be kept to a minimum. Options that filter at
the process level - e.g., -c, -g, -p, -u - are the
most efficient selectors.
Repeat mode is useful when coupled with field out-
put (see the -F, option description) and a
supervising awk or Perl script, or a C program.
-R directs lsof to list the Parent Process IDentifica-
tion number in the PPID column.
-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 displayed.
The optional -s p:s form is available only for
selected dialects, and only when the -h or -? help
output lists it.
When the optional form is available, the s may be
followed by a protocol name (p), either TCP or UDP,
a colon (`:') and a comma-separated protocol state
name list, the option causes open TCP and UDP files
to be excluded if their state name(s) are in the
list (s) preceded by a `^'; or included if their
name(s) are not preceded by a `^'.
When an inclusion list is defined, only network
files with state names in the list will be present
in the lsof output. Thus, specifying one state
name means that only network files with that lone
state name will be listed.
Case is unimportant in the protocol or state names,
but there may be no spaces and the colon (`:')
separating the protocol name (p) and the state name
list (s) is required.
If only TCP and UDP files are to be listed, as con-
trolled by the specified exclusions and inclusions,
the -i option must be specified, too. If only a
single protocol's files are to be listed, add its
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Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
name as an argument to the -i option.
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
State names vary with UNIX dialects, so it's not
possible to provide a complete list. Some common
TCP state names are: CLOSED, IDLE, BOUND, LISTEN,
ESTABLISHED, SYN_SENT, SYN_RCDV, ESTABLISHED,
CLOSE_WAIT, FIN_WAIT1, CLOSING, LAST_ACK,
FIN_WAIT_2, and TIME_WAIT. Two common UDP state
names are Unbound and Idle.
See the lsof FAQ (The FAQ section gives its loca-
tion.) for more information on how to use protocol
state exclusion and inclusion, including examples.
The -o (without a following decimal digit count)
and -s option (without a following protocol and
state name list) are mutually exclusive; they can't
both be specified. When neither is specified, lsof
displays whatever value - size or offset - is
appropriate and available for the type of file.
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 possible.
-S [t] specifies an optional time-out seconds value for
kernel functions - lstat(2), readlink(2), and
stat(2) - that might otherwise deadlock. The
minimum for t is two; the default, fifteen; when no
value is specified, the default is used.
See the BLOCKS AND TIMEOUTS section for more infor-
mation.
-T [t] controls the reporting of some TCP/TPI information,
also reported by netstat(1), following the network
addresses. In normal output the information
appears in parentheses, each item except TCP or TPI
state name identified by a keyword, followed by
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Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
`=', separated from others by a single space:
<TCP or TPI state name>
QR=<read queue length>
QS=<send queue length>
SO=<socket options and values>
SS=<socket states>
TF=<TCP flags and values>
WR=<window read length>
WW=<window write length>
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.
-T with no following key characters disables
TCP/TPI information reporting.
-T with following characters selects the reporting
of specific TCP/TPI information:
f selects reporting of socket options,
states and values, and TCP flags and
values.
q selects queue length reporting.
s selects connection state reporting.
w selects window size reporting.
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 out-
put for the -T option will show what selections may
be used with the UNIX dialect.
When -T is used to select information - i.e., it is
followed by one or more selection characters - the
displaying of state is disabled by default, and it
must be explicitly selected again in the characters
following -T. (In effect, then, the default is
equivalent to -Ts.) For example, if queue lengths
and state are desired, use -Tqs.
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_,
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Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
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.
``SO='' precedes socket options and values;
``SS='', socket states; and ``TF='', TCP flags 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)
KEEPALIVE keep alive time (SO_KEEPALIVE)
LINGER linger time (SO_LINGER)
MSS maximum segment size (TCP_MAXSEG)
PQLEN partial listen queue connections
QLEN established listen queue connections
QLIM established listen queue limit
RCVBUF receive buffer length (SO_RCVBUF)
SNDBUF send buffer length (SO_SNDBUF)
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 sec-
tion gives its location.)
-t specifies that lsof should produce terse output
with process identifiers only and no header - e.g.,
so that the output may be piped to kill(1). -t
selects the -w option.
-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.)
Multiple login names or user ID numbers are joined
in a single ORed set before participating in AND
option selection.
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If a login name or user ID is preceded by a `^', it
becomes a negation - i.e., files of processes owned
by the login name or user ID will never be listed.
A negated login name or user ID selection is nei-
ther ANDed nor ORed with other selections; it is
applied before all other selections and absolutely
excludes the listing of the files of the process.
For example, to direct lsof to exclude the listing
of files belonging to root processes, specify
``-u^root'' or ``-u^0''.
-U selects the listing of UNIX domain socket files.
-v selects the listing of lsof version information,
including: revision number; when the lsof binary
was constructed; who constructed the binary and
where; the name of the compiler used to construct
the lsof binary; the version number of the compiler
when readily available; the compiler and loader
flags used to construct the lsof binary; and system
information, typically the output of uname's -a
option.
-V directs lsof to indicate the items it was asked to
list and failed to find - command names, file
names, Internet addresses or files, login names,
NFS files, PIDs, PGIDs, and UIDs.
When other options are ANDed to search options, or
compile-time options restrict the listing of some
files, lsof may not report that it failed to find a
search item when an ANDed option or compile-time
option prevents the listing of the open file con-
taining the located search item.
For example, ``lsof -V -iTCP@foobar -a -d 999'' may
not report a failure to locate open files at
``TCP@foobar'' and may not list any, if none have a
file descriptor number of 999. A similar situation
arises when HASSECURITY and HASNOSOCKSECURITY are
defined at compile time and they prevent the list-
ing of open files.
+|-w Enables (+) or disables (-) the suppression of
warning messages.
The lsof builder may choose to have warning mes-
sages disabled or enabled by default. The default
warning message state is indicated in the output of
the -h or -? option. Disabling warning messages
when they are already disabled or enabling them
when already enabled is acceptable.
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Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
The -t option selects the -w option.
-x [fl] may accompany the +d and +D options to direct their
processing to cross over symbolic links and|or file
system mount points encountered when scanning the
directory (+d) or directory tree (+D).
If -x is specified by itself without a following
parameter, cross-over processing of both symbolic
links and file system mount points is enabled.
Note that when -x is specified without a parameter,
the next argument must begin with '-' or '+'.
The optional 'f' parameter enables file system
mount point cross-over processing; 'l', symbolic
link cross-over processing.
The -x option may not be supplied without also sup-
plying a +d or +D option.
-X This is a dialect-specific option.
AIX:
This IBM AIX RISC/System 6000 option requests the
reporting of executed text file and shared library
references.
WARNING: because this option uses the kernel
readx() function, its use on a busy AIX system
might cause an application process to hang so com-
pletely that it can neither be killed nor stopped.
I have never seen this happen or had a report of
its happening, but I think there is a remote possi-
bility it could happen.
By default use of readx() is disabled. On AIX 5L
and above lsof may need setuid-root permission to
perform the actions this option requests.
The lsof builder may specify that the -X option be
restricted to processes whose real UID is root. If
that has been done, the -X option will not appear
in the -h or -? help output unless the real UID of
the lsof process is root. The default lsof distri-
bution allows any UID to specify -X, so by default
it will appear in the help output.
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.
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Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
The readx() function, used by lsof or any other
program to access some sections of kernel virtual
memory, can trigger the Stale Segment ID bug. It
can cause the kernel's dir_search() function to
believe erroneously that part of an in-memory copy
of a file system directory has been zeroed.
Another application process, distinct from lsof,
asking the kernel to search the directory - e.g.,
by using open(2) - can cause dir_search() to loop
forever, thus hanging the application process.
Consult the lsof FAQ (The FAQ section gives its
location.) and the 00README file of the lsof dis-
tribution 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.
Solaris 10 and above:
This Solaris 10 and above option requests the
reporting of cached paths for files that have been
deleted - i.e., removed with rm(1) or unlink(2).
The cached path is followed by the string
`` (deleted)'' to indicate that the path by which
the file was opened has been deleted.
Because intervening changes made to the path -
i.e., renames with mv(1) or rename(2) - are not
recorded in the cached path, what lsof reports is
only the path by which the file was opened, not its
possibly different final path.
-z [z] specifies how Solaris 10 and higher zone informa-
tion is to be handled.
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Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
Without a following argument - e.g., NO z - the
option specifies that zone names are to be listed
in the ZONE output column.
The -z option may be followed by a zone name, z.
That causes lsof to list only open files for
processes in that zone. Multiple -z z option and
argument pairs may be specified to form a list of
named zones. Any open file of any process in any
of the zones will be listed, subject to other con-
ditions specified by other options and arguments.
-Z [Z] specifies how SELinux security contexts are to be
handled. It and 'Z' field output character support
are inhibited when SELinux is disabled in the run-
ning Linux kernel. See OUTPUT FOR OTHER PROGRAMS
for more information on the 'Z' field output char-
acter.
Without a following argument - e.g., NO Z - the
option specifies that security contexts are to be
listed in the SECURITY-CONTEXT output column.
The -Z option may be followed by a wildcard secu-
rity context name, Z. That causes lsof to list
only open files for processes in that security con-
text. Multiple -Z Z option and argument pairs may
be specified to form a list of security contexts.
Any open file of any process in any of the security
contexts will be listed, subject to other condi-
tions specified by other options and arguments.
Note that Z can be A:B:C or *:B:C or A:B:* or *:*:C
to match against the A:B:C context.
-- The double minus sign option is a marker that sig-
nals the end of the keyed options. It may be used,
for example, when the first file name begins with a
minus sign. It may also be used when the absence
of a value for the last keyed option must be signi-
fied by the presence of a minus sign in the follow-
ing option and before the start of the file names.
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 the mounted-on directory of a file
system or the device of the file system, lsof will
list all the files open on the file system. To be
considered a file system, the name must match a
mounted-on directory name in mount(8) output, or
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Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
match the name of a block device associated with a
mounted-on directory name. The +|-f option may be
used to force lsof to consider a name a file system
identifier (+f) or a simple file (-f).
If name is a path to a directory that is not the
mounted-on directory name of a file system, it is
treated just as a regular file is treated - i.e.,
its listing is restricted to processes that have it
open as a file or as a process-specific directory,
such as the root or current working directory. To
request that lsof look for open files inside a
directory name, use the +d s and +D D options.
If a name is the base name of a family of multi-
plexed files - e.g, AIX's /dev/pt[cs] - lsof will
list all the associated multiplexed files on the
device that are open - e.g., /dev/pt[cs]/1,
/dev/pt[cs]/2, etc.
If a name is a UNIX domain socket name, lsof will
usually search for it by the characters of the name
alone - exactly as it is specified and is recorded
in the kernel socket structure. (See the next
paragraph for an exception to that rule for Linux.)
Specifying a relative path - e.g., ./file - in
place of the file's absolute path - e.g., /tmp/file
- won't work because lsof must match the characters
you specify with what it finds in the kernel UNIX
domain socket structures.
If a name is a Linux UNIX domain socket name, in
one case lsof is able to search for it by its dev-
ice and inode number, allowing name to be a rela-
tive path. The case requires that the absolute
path -- i.e., one beginning with a slash ('/') be
used by the process that created the socket, and
hence be stored in the /proc/net/unix file; and it
requires that lsof be able to obtain the device and
node numbers of both the absolute path in
/proc/net/unix and name via successful stat(2) sys-
tem calls. When those conditions are met, lsof
will be able to search for the UNIX domain socket
when some path to it is is specified in name.
Thus, for example, if the path is /dev/log, and an
lsof search is initiated when the working directory
is /dev, then name could be ./log.
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.
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Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
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 ALTER-
NATE DEVICE NUMBERS sections for more information.
Multiple file names are joined in a single ORed set
before participating in AND option selection.
AFS
Lsof supports the recognition of AFS files for these
dialects (and AFS versions):
AIX 4.1.4 (AFS 3.4a)
HP-UX 9.0.5 (AFS 3.4a)
Linux 1.2.13 (AFS 3.3)
Solaris 2.[56] (AFS 3.4a)
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 com-
pute volume node numbers, it reports blank in the NODE
column.
The -A A option is available in some dialect implementations
of lsof for specifying the name list file where dynamic
module kernel addresses may be found. When this option is
available, it will be listed in the lsof help output,
presented in response to the -h or -?
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
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Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
user-readable 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 dis-
abled when lsof is compiled.) Third, its -k and -m options
name alternate kernel name list or memory files.
Restricting the listing of all open files is controlled by
the compile-time HASSECURITY and HASNOSOCKSECURITY options.
When HASSECURITY is defined, lsof will allow only the root
user to list all open files. The non-root user may list
only open files of processes with the same user IDentifica-
tion number as the real user ID number of the lsof process
(the one that its user logged on with).
However, if HASSECURITY and HASNOSOCKSECURITY are both
defined, anyone may list open socket files, provided they
are selected with the -i option.
When HASSECURITY is not defined, anyone may list all open
files.
Help output, presented in response to the -h or -? option,
gives the status of the HASSECURITY and HASNOSOCKSECURITY
definitions.
See the Security section of the 00README file of the lsof
distribution for information on building lsof with the
HASSECURITY and HASNOSOCKSECURITY options enabled.
Creation and use of a user-readable and user-writable device
cache file is controlled by the compile-time HASDCACHE
option. See the DEVICE CACHE FILE section and the sections
that follow it for details on how its path is formed. For
security considerations it is important to note that in the
default lsof distribution, if the real user ID under which
lsof is executed is root, the device cache file will be
written in root's home directory - e.g., / or /root. When
HASDCACHE is not defined, lsof does not write or attempt to
read a device cache file.
When HASDCACHE is defined, the lsof help output, presented
in response to the -h, -D?, or -? options, will provide dev-
ice cache file handling information. When HASDCACHE is not
defined, the -h or -? output will have no -D option descrip-
tion.
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
/devices) - read the discussion of it in the 00DCACHE file
of the lsof distribution and the lsof FAQ (The FAQ section
gives its location.)
SunOS 5.9 Last change: Revision-4.89 28
Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
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 only outputs printable (declared so by isprint(3)) 8
bit characters. Non-printable characters are printed in one
of three forms: the C ``[bfrnt]'' form; the control char-
acter `^' form (e.g., ``^@''); or hexadecimal leading ``
form (e.g., ``''). Space is non-printable in the COM-
MAND column (``') and printable elsewhere.
For some dialects - if HASSETLOCALE is defined in the
dialect's machine.h header file - lsof will print the
extended 8 bit characters of a language locale. The lsof
process must be supplied a language locale environment vari-
able (e.g., LANG) whose value represents a known language
locale in which the extended characters are considered
printable by isprint(3). Otherwise lsof considers the
extended characters non-printable and prints them according
to its rules for non-printable characters, stated above.
Consult your dialect's setlocale(3) man page for the names
of other environment variables that may be used in place of
LANG - e.g., LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE, etc.
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 pro-
cess. 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 print-
able, 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" ques-
tions in the lsof FAQ (The FAQ section gives its location.)
for more information.
SunOS 5.9 Last change: Revision-4.89 29
Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
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 predeces-
sor 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 charac-
ters 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.)
If w is less than the length of the column title,
``COMMAND'', it will be raised to that length.
If a zero w value is specified to the +c w
option, the column contains all the characters of
the name of the UNIX command associated with the
process.
All command name characters maintained by the
kernel in its structures are displayed in field
output when the command name descriptor (`c') is
specified. See the OUTPUT FOR OTHER COMMANDS
section for information on selecting field output
and the associated command name descriptor.
PID is the Process IDentification number of the pro-
cess.
TID is the task (thread) IDentification number, if
task (thread) reporting is supported by the
dialect and a task (thread) is being listed. (If
help output - i.e., the output of the -h or -?
options - shows this option, then task (thread)
reporting is supported by the dialect.)
A blank TID column in Linux indicates a process -
i.e., a non-task.
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 dis-
abled in the running Linux kernel.
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Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
PPID is the Parent Process IDentification number of
the process. It is only displayed when the -R
option has been specified.
PGID is the process group IDentification number asso-
ciated with the process. It is only displayed
when the -g option has been specified.
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.)
FD is the File Descriptor number of the file or:
cwd current working directory;
Lnn library references (AIX);
err FD information error (see NAME column);
jld jail directory (FreeBSD);
ltx shared library text (code and data);
Mxx hex memory-mapped type number xx.
m86 DOS Merge mapped file;
mem memory-mapped file;
mmap memory-mapped device;
pd parent directory;
rtd root directory;
tr kernel trace file (OpenBSD);
txt program text (code and data);
v86 VP/ix mapped file;
FD is followed by one of these characters,
describing the mode under which the file is open:
r for read access;
w for write access;
u for read and write access;
space if mode unknown and no lock
character follows;
`-' if mode unknown and lock
character follows.
The mode character is followed by one of these
lock characters, describing the type of lock
applied to the file:
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Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
N for a Solaris NFS lock of unknown type;
r for read lock on part of the file;
R for a read lock on the entire file;
w for a write lock on part of the file;
W for a write lock on the entire file;
u for a read and write lock of any length;
U for a lock of unknown type;
x for an SCO OpenServer Xenix lock on part
of the file;
X for an SCO OpenServer Xenix lock on the
entire file;
space if there is no lock.
See the LOCKS section for more information on the
lock information character.
The FD column contents constitutes a single field
for parsing in post-processing scripts.
TYPE is the type of the node associated with the file
- e.g., GDIR, GREG, VDIR, VREG, etc.
or ``IPv4'' for an IPv4 socket;
or ``IPv6'' for an open IPv6 network file - even
if its address is IPv4, mapped in an IPv6
address;
or ``ax25'' for a Linux AX.25 socket;
or ``inet'' for an Internet domain socket;
or ``lla'' for a HP-UX link level access file;
or ``rte'' for an AF_ROUTE socket;
or ``sock'' for a socket of unknown domain;
or ``unix'' for a UNIX domain socket;
or ``x.25'' for an HP-UX x.25 socket;
or ``BLK'' for a block special file;
or ``CHR'' for a character special file;
or ``DEL'' for a Linux map file that has been
deleted;
or ``DIR'' for a directory;
or ``DOOR'' for a VDOOR file;
SunOS 5.9 Last change: Revision-4.89 32
Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
or ``FIFO'' for a FIFO special file;
or ``KQUEUE'' for a BSD style kernel event queue
file;
or ``LINK'' for a symbolic link file;
or ``MPB'' for a multiplexed block file;
or ``MPC'' for a multiplexed character file;
or ``NOFD'' for a Linux /proc/<PID>/fd directory
that can't be opened -- the directory path
appears in the NAME column, followed by an error
message;
or ``PAS'' for a /proc/as file;
or ``PAXV'' for a /proc/auxv file;
or ``PCRE'' for a /proc/cred file;
or ``PCTL'' for a /proc control file;
or ``PCUR'' for the current /proc process;
or ``PCWD'' for a /proc current working direc-
tory;
or ``PDIR'' for a /proc directory;
or ``PETY'' for a /proc executable type (etype);
or ``PFD'' for a /proc file descriptor;
or ``PFDR'' for a /proc file descriptor direc-
tory;
or ``PFIL'' for an executable /proc file;
or ``PFPR'' for a /proc FP register set;
or ``PGD'' for a /proc/pagedata file;
or ``PGID'' for a /proc group notifier file;
or ``PIPE'' for pipes;
or ``PLC'' for a /proc/lwpctl file;
or ``PLDR'' for a /proc/lpw directory;
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Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
or ``PLDT'' for a /proc/ldt file;
or ``PLPI'' for a /proc/lpsinfo file;
or ``PLST'' for a /proc/lstatus file;
or ``PLU'' for a /proc/lusage file;
or ``PLWG'' for a /proc/gwindows file;
or ``PLWI'' for a /proc/lwpsinfo file;
or ``PLWS'' for a /proc/lwpstatus file;
or ``PLWU'' for a /proc/lwpusage file;
or ``PLWX'' for a /proc/xregs file;
or ``PMAP'' for a /proc map file (map);
or ``PMEM'' for a /proc memory image file;
or ``PNTF'' for a /proc process notifier file;
or ``POBJ'' for a /proc/object file;
or ``PODR'' for a /proc/object directory;
or ``POLP'' for an old format /proc light weight
process file;
or ``POPF'' for an old format /proc PID file;
or ``POPG'' for an old format /proc page data
file;
or ``PORT'' for a SYSV named pipe;
or ``PREG'' for a /proc register file;
or ``PRMP'' for a /proc/rmap file;
or ``PRTD'' for a /proc root directory;
or ``PSGA'' for a /proc/sigact file;
or ``PSIN'' for a /proc/psinfo file;
or ``PSTA'' for a /proc status file;
or ``PSXSEM'' for a POSIX semaphore file;
SunOS 5.9 Last change: Revision-4.89 34
Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
or ``PSXSHM'' for a POSIX shared memory file;
or ``PUSG'' for a /proc/usage file;
or ``PW'' for a /proc/watch file;
or ``PXMP'' for a /proc/xmap file;
or ``REG'' for a regular file;
or ``SMT'' for a shared memory transport file;
or ``STSO'' for a stream socket;
or ``UNNM'' for an unnamed type file;
or ``XNAM'' for an OpenServer Xenix special file
of unknown type;
or ``XSEM'' for an OpenServer Xenix semaphore
file;
or ``XSD'' for an OpenServer Xenix shared data
file;
or the four type number octets if the correspond-
ing name isn't known.
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:
AIO asynchronous I/O (e.g., FAIO)
AP append
ASYN asynchronous I/O (e.g., FASYNC)
BAS block, test, and set in use
BKIU block if in use
BL use block offsets
SunOS 5.9 Last change: Revision-4.89 35
Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
BSK block seek
CA copy avoid
CIO concurrent I/O
CLON clone
CLRD CL read
CR create
DF defer
DFI defer IND
DFLU data flush
DIR direct
DLY delay
DOCL do clone
DSYN data-only integrity
DTY must be a directory
EVO event only
EX open for exec
EXCL exclusive open
FSYN synchronous writes
GCDF defer during unp_gc() (AIX)
GCMK mark during unp_gc() (AIX)
GTTY accessed via /dev/tty
HUP HUP in progress
KERN kernel
KIOC kernel-issued ioctl
LCK has lock
LG large file
MBLK stream message block
MK mark
MNT mount
MSYN multiplex synchronization
NATM don't update atime
NB non-blocking I/O
NBDR no BDRM check
NBIO SYSV non-blocking I/O
NBF n-buffering in effect
NC no cache
ND no delay
NDSY no data synchronization
NET network
NFLK don't follow links
NMFS NM file system
NOTO disable background stop
NSH no share
NTTY no controlling TTY
OLRM OLR mirror
PAIO POSIX asynchronous I/O
PP POSIX pipe
R read
RC file and record locking cache
REV revoked
RSH shared read
RSYN read synchronization
SunOS 5.9 Last change: Revision-4.89 36
Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
RW read and write access
SL shared lock
SNAP cooked snapshot
SOCK socket
SQSH Sequent shared set on open
SQSV Sequent SVM set on open
SQR Sequent set repair on open
SQS1 Sequent full shared open
SQS2 Sequent partial shared open
STPI stop I/O
SWR synchronous read
SYN file integrity while writing
TCPM avoid TCP collision
TR truncate
W write
WKUP parallel I/O synchronization
WTG parallel I/O synchronization
VH vhangup pending
VTXT virtual text
XL exclusive lock
this list of names was derived from F* #define's
in dialect header files <fcntl.h>, <linux</fs.h>,
<sys/fcntl.c>, <sys/fcntlcom.h>, and
<sys/file.h>; see the lsof.h header file for a
list showing the correspondence between the above
short-hand names and the header file definitions;
the second list (after the semicolon) may contain
short-hand names for kernel per-process open file
flags from this 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)
NODE-ID (or INODE-ADDR for some dialects) contains a
unique identifier for the file node (usually the
kernel vnode or inode address, but also occasion-
ally a concatenation of device and node number)
when n has been specified to +f;
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Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
DEVICE contains the device numbers, separated by commas,
for a character special, block special, regular,
directory or NFS file;
or ``memory'' for a memory file system node under
Tru64 UNIX;
or the address of the private data area of a
Solaris socket stream;
or a kernel reference address that identifies the
file (The kernel reference address may be used
for FIFO's, for example.);
or the base address or device name of a Linux
AX.25 socket device.
Usually only the lower thirty two bits of Tru64
UNIX kernel addresses are displayed.
SIZE, SIZE/OFF, or OFFSET
is the size of the file or the file offset in
bytes. A value is displayed in this column only
if it is available. Lsof displays whatever value
- size or offset - is appropriate for the type of
the file and the version of lsof.
On some UNIX dialects lsof can't obtain accurate
or consistent file offset information from its
kernel data sources, sometimes just for particu-
lar kinds of files (e.g., socket files.) In
other cases, files don't have true sizes - e.g.,
sockets, FIFOs, pipes - so lsof displays for
their sizes the content amounts it finds in their
kernel buffer descriptors (e.g., socket buffer
size counts or TCP/IP window sizes.) Consult the
lsof FAQ (The FAQ section gives its location.)
for more information.
The file size is displayed in decimal; the offset
is normally displayed in decimal with a leading
``0t'' if it contains 8 digits or less; in hexa-
decimal with a leading ``0x'' if it is longer
than 8 digits. (Consult the -o o option descrip-
tion for information on when 8 might default to
some other value.)
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).
If the -o option is specified, lsof always
SunOS 5.9 Last change: Revision-4.89 38
Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
displays the file offset (or nothing if no offset
is available) and labels the column OFFSET. The
offset always begins with ``0t'' or ``0x'' as
described above.
The lsof user can control the switch from ``0t''
to ``0x'' with the -o o option. Consult its
description for more information.
If the -s option is specified, lsof always
displays the file size (or nothing if no size is
available) and labels the column SIZE. The -o
and -s options are mutually exclusive; they can't
both be specified.
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;
NODE is the node number of a local file;
or the inode number of an NFS file in the server
host;
or the Internet protocol type - e.g, ``TCP'';
or ``STR'' for a stream;
or ``CCITT'' for an HP-UX x.25 socket;
or the IRQ or inode number of a Linux AX.25
socket device.
NAME is the name of the mount point and file system on
which the file resides;
or the name of a file specified in the names
option (after any symbolic links have been
resolved);
or the name of a character special or block spe-
cial device;
or the local and remote Internet addresses of a
network file; the local host name or IP number is
followed by a colon (':'), the port, ``->'', and
the two-part remote address; IP addresses may be
SunOS 5.9 Last change: Revision-4.89 39
Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
reported as numbers or names, depending on the
+|-M, -n, and -P options; colon-separated IPv6
numbers are enclosed in square brackets; IPv4
INADDR_ANY and IPv6 IN6_IS_ADDR_UNSPECIFIED
addresses, and zero port numbers are represented
by an asterisk ('*'); a UDP destination address
may be followed by the amount of time elapsed
since the last packet was sent to the destina-
tion; TCP, UDP and UDPLITE remote addresses may
be followed by TCP/TPI information in parentheses
- state (e.g., ``(ESTABLISHED)'', ``(Unbound)''),
queue sizes, and window sizes (not all dialects)
- in a fashion similar to what netstat(1)
reports; see the -T option description or the
description of the TCP/TPI field in OUTPUT FOR
OTHER PROGRAMS for more information on state,
queue size, and window size;
or the address or name of a UNIX domain socket,
possibly including a stream clone device name, a
file system object's path name, local and foreign
kernel addresses, socket pair information, and a
bound vnode address;
or the local and remote mount point names of an
NFS file;
or ``STR'', followed by the stream name;
or a stream character device name, followed by
``->'' and the stream name or a list of stream
module names, separated by ``->'';
or ``STR:'' followed by the SCO OpenServer stream
device and module names, separated by ``->'';
or system directory name, `` -- '', and as many
components of the path name as lsof can find in
the kernel's name cache for selected dialects
(See the KERNEL NAME CACHE section for more
information.);
or ``PIPE->'', followed by a Solaris kernel pipe
destination address;
or ``COMMON:'', followed by the vnode device
information structure's device name, for a
Solaris common vnode;
or the address family, followed by a slash (`/'),
followed by fourteen comma-separated bytes of a
non-Internet raw socket address;
SunOS 5.9 Last change: Revision-4.89 40
Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
or the HP-UX x.25 local address, followed by the
virtual connection number (if any), followed by
the remote address (if any);
or ``(dead)'' for disassociated Tru64 UNIX files
- typically terminal files that have been flagged
with the TIOCNOTTY ioctl and closed by daemons;
or ``rd=<offset>'' and ``wr=<offset>'' for the
values of the read and write offsets of a FIFO;
or ``clone n:/dev/event'' for SCO OpenServer file
clones of the /dev/event device, where n is the
minor device number of the file;
or ``(socketpair: n)'' for a Solaris 2.6, 8, 9
or 10 UNIX domain socket, created by the
socketpair(3N) network function;
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);
or the local and remote addresses of a Linux IPX
socket file in the form <net>:[<node>:]<port>,
followed in parentheses by the transmit and
receive queue sizes, and the connection state;
or ``dgram'' or ``stream'' for the type UnixWare
7.1.1 and above in-kernel UNIX domain sockets,
followed by a colon (':') and the local path name
when available, followed by ``->'' and the remote
path name or kernel socket address in hexadecimal
when available;
or the association value, association index, end-
point value, local address, local port, remote
address and remote port for Linux SCTP sockets;
or ``protocol: '' followed by the Linux socket's
protocol attribute.
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 column. <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
SunOS 5.9 Last change: Revision-4.89 41
Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
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 additions.
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 informa-
tion 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 char-
acter 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 structures.
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.
OUTPUT FOR OTHER PROGRAMS
When the -F option is specified, lsof produces output that
is suitable for processing by another program - e.g, an awk
or Perl script, or a C program.
Each unit of information is output in a field that is iden-
tified with a leading character and terminated by a NL (012)
(or a NUL (000) if the 0 (zero) field identifier character
is specified.) The data of the field follows immediately
after the field identification character and extends to the
field terminator.
It is possible to think of field output as process and file
sets. A process set begins with a field whose identifier is
`p' (for process IDentifier (PID)). It extends to the
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Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
beginning of the next PID field or the beginning of the
first file set of the process, whichever comes first.
Included in the process set are fields that identify the
command, the process group IDentification (PGID) number, the
task (thread) ID (TID), and the user ID (UID) number or
login name.
A file set begins with a field whose identifier is `f' (for
file descriptor). It is followed by lines that describe the
file's access mode, lock state, type, device, size, offset,
inode, protocol, name and stream module names. It extends
to the beginning of the next file or process set, whichever
comes first.
When the NUL (000) field terminator has been selected with
the 0 (zero) field identifier character, lsof ends each pro-
cess 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 iden-
tifier character list that follows the -F option. When a
field selection 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.
It is entirely possible to select a set of fields that can-
not easily be parsed - e.g., if the field descriptor field
is not selected, it may be difficult to identify file sets.
To help you avoid this difficulty, lsof supports the -F
option; it selects the output of all fields with NL termina-
tors (the -F0 option pair selects the output of all fields
with NUL terminators). For compatibility reasons neither -F
nor -F0 select the raw device field.
These are the fields that lsof will produce. The single
character listed first is the field identifier.
a file access mode
c process command name (all characters from proc or
user structure)
C file structure share count
d file's device character code
D file's major/minor device number (0x<hexadecimal>)
f file descriptor (always selected)
F file structure address (0x<hexadecimal>)
G file flaGs (0x<hexadecimal>; names if +fg follows)
g process group ID
i file's inode number
K tasK ID
k link count
l file's lock status
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Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
L process login name
m marker between repeated output
n file name, comment, Internet address
N node identifier (ox<hexadecimal>
o file's offset (decimal)
p process ID (always selected)
P protocol name
r raw device number (0x<hexadecimal>)
R parent process ID
s file's size (decimal)
S file's stream identification
t file's type
T TCP/TPI information, identified by prefixes (the
`=' is part of the prefix):
QR=<read queue size>
QS=<send queue size>
SO=<socket options and values> (not all dialects)
SS=<socket states> (not all dialects)
ST=<connection state>
TF=<TCP flags and values> (not all dialects)
WR=<window read size> (not all dialects)
WW=<window write size> (not all dialects)
(TCP/TPI information isn't reported for all supported
UNIX dialects. The -h or -? help output for the
-T option will show what TCP/TPI reporting can be
requested.)
u process user ID
z Solaris 10 and higher zone name
Z SELinux security context (inhibited when SELinux is
disabled)
0 use NUL field terminator character in place of NL
1-9 dialect-specific field identifiers (The output
of -F? identifies the information to be found
in dialect-specific fields.)
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.) Addi-
tional information on field content can be found in the OUT-
PUT 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'' selects the same output with a NUL (000) field ter-
minator character.
Lsof doesn't produce all fields for every process or file
set, only those that are available. Some fields are mutu-
ally exclusive: file device characters and file major/minor
device numbers; 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
SunOS 5.9 Last change: Revision-4.89 44
Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
appear in field output, 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
terminator 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 out-
put. 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 com-
piled 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.
BLOCKS AND TIMEOUTS
Lsof can be blocked by some kernel functions that it uses -
lstat(2), readlink(2), and stat(2). These functions are
stalled in the kernel, for example, when the hosts where
mounted NFS file systems reside become inaccessible.
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.
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Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
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.
AVOIDING KERNEL BLOCKS
You can use the -b option to tell lsof to avoid using kernel
functions that would block. Some cautions apply.
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 abil-
ity 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 mes-
sages by specifying the -w option, but if you do, you won't
see the alternate device numbers reported in the warning
messages.
ALTERNATE DEVICE NUMBERS
On some dialects, when lsof has to break a block because it
can't get information about a mounted file system via the
lstat(2) and stat(2) kernel functions, or because you speci-
fied the -b option, lsof can obtain some of the information
it needs - the device number and possibly the file system
type - from the system mount table. When that is possible,
lsof will report the device number it obtained. (You can
suppress the report by specifying the -w option.)
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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 appropriate 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
There's an advantage to having ``dev=xxxx'' entries in your
mount table file, especially for file systems that are
mounted from remote NFS servers. When a remote server
crashes and you want to identify its users by running lsof
on one of its clients, lsof probably won't be able to get
output from the lstat(2) and stat(2) functions for the file
system. If it can obtain the file system's device number
from the mount table, it will be able to display the files
open on the crashed NFS server.
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 ...''.
KERNEL NAME CACHE
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Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
Lsof is able to examine the kernel's name cache or use other
kernel facilities (e.g., the ADVFS 4.x tag_to_path() func-
tion under Tru64 UNIX) on some dialects for most file system
types, excluding AFS, and extract recently used path name
components from it. (AFS file system path lookups don't use
the kernel's name cache; some Solaris VxFS file system
operations apparently don't use it, either.)
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 com-
ponents for the same file may vary from cycle to cycle.
That's because 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 situa-
tion.
Lsof can report path name components for these dialects:
FreeBSD
HP-UX
Linux
NetBSD
NEXTSTEP
OpenBSD
OPENSTEP
SCO OpenServer
SCO|Caldera UnixWare
Solaris
Tru64 UNIX
Lsof can't report path name components for these dialects:
AIX
If you want to know why lsof can't report path name com-
ponents for some dialects, see the lsof FAQ (The FAQ section
SunOS 5.9 Last change: Revision-4.89 48
Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
gives its location.)
DEVICE CACHE FILE
Examining all members of the /dev (or /devices) node tree
with stat(2) functions can be time consuming. What's more,
the information that lsof needs - device number, inode
number, and path - rarely changes.
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 administrator who builds lsof can control the way the
device cache file path is formed, selecting from these
options:
Path from the -D option;
Path from an environment variable;
System-wide path;
Personal path (the default);
Personal path, modified by an environment variable.
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 effect 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 vari-
ables, and the personal 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 update the device cache file, it may choose a dif-
ferent 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 speci-
fied 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
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Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
the /dev (or /devices) directory, it usually detects that a
new device has been added; in that case lsof issues a warn-
ing message and attempts to rebuild the device cache file.
Whenever lsof writes a device cache file, it sets its owner-
ship to the real UID of the executing process, and its per-
mission modes to 0600, this restricting its reading and
writing to the file's owner.
LSOF PERMISSIONS THAT AFFECT DEVICE CACHE FILE ACCESS
Two permissions of the lsof executable affect its ability to
access device cache files. The permissions are set by the
local system administrator when lsof is installed.
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.
HP-UX 11.11 and 11.23
Linux
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 ker-
nel memory 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.
AIX 5.[12] and 5.3-ML1
Apple Darwin 7.x Power Macintosh systems
FreeBSD 4.x, 4.1x, 5.x and [6789].x for x86-based systems
FreeBSD 5.x and [6789].x for Alpha, AMD64 and Sparc64-based
systems
HP-UX 11.00
NetBSD 1.[456], 2.x and 3.x for Alpha, x86, and SPARC-based
systems
NEXTSTEP 3.[13] for NEXTSTEP architectures
OpenBSD 2.[89] and 3.[0-9] for x86-based systems
OPENSTEP 4.x
SCO OpenServer Release 5.0.6 for x86-based systems
SCO|Caldera UnixWare 7.1.4 for x86-based systems
Solaris 2.6, 8, 9 and 10
Tru64 UNIX 5.1
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Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
(Note: lsof for AIX 5L and above needs setuid-root permis-
sion 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
DEVICE CACHE FILE PATH FROM THE -D OPTION
The -D option provides limited means for specifying the dev-
ice cache file path. Its ? function will report the
read-only and write device cache file paths that lsof will
use.
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 res-
tricted 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.)
A further -D function, i (for ignore), is always available.
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 accom-
panies -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 out-
dated, 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.
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Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
DEVICE CACHE PATH FROM AN ENVIRONMENT VARIABLE
Lsof's second choice for the device cache file is the con-
tents of the LSOFDEVCACHE environment variable. It avoids
this choice if the lsof process is setuid-root, or the real
UID of the process is root.
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 pro-
cess 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 permission.)
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 environ-
ment variable's name.
SYSTEM-WIDE DEVICE CACHE PATH
The local system administrator may choose to have a
system-wide device cache file when building lsof. That file
will generally be constructed by a special system adminis-
tration procedure when the system is booted or when the con-
tents of /dev or /devices) changes. If defined, it is
lsof's third device cache file path choice.
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
component 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 applied 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.
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Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
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 gethost-
name(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 exe-
cutes 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 contents 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 con-
structing the personal device cache file. The conversions
used in the format specification are described in the
00DCACHE file of the lsof distribution.
MODIFIED PERSONAL DEVICE CACHE PATH
If this option is defined by the local system administrator
when lsof is built, the LSOFPERSDCPATH environment variable
contents may be used to add a component of the personal dev-
ice cache file path.
The LSOFPERSDCPATH variable contents are inserted in the
path at the place marked by the local system administrator
with the ``%p'' conversion in the HASPERSDC format specifi-
cation of the dialect's machine.h header file. (It's placed
right after the home directory in the default lsof distribu-
tion.)
Thus, for example, if LSOFPERSDCPATH contains ``LSOF'', the
home directory is ``/Homes/abe'', the host name is
``lsof.itap.purdue.edu'', and the HASPERSDC format is the
default (``%h/%p.lsof_%L''), the modified personal device
cache file path is:
/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 pro-
cess is root.
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Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
Lsof will not write to a modified personal device cache file
path if the lsof process doesn't surrender setgid permis-
sion. (See the LSOF PERMISSIONS THAT AFFECT DEVICE CACHE
FILE ACCESS section for a list of implementations that nor-
mally don't surrender their setgid permission.)
If, for example, you want to create a sub-directory of per-
sonal 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 mes-
sage:
Inaccessible /dev warnings are enabled.
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
definition. In this case, the output from the help options
will include the message:
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Inaccessible /dev warnings are disabled.
Inaccessible device warning messages usually disappear after
lsof has created a working device cache file.
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
To list all files using any protocol on any port of
mace.cc.purdue.edu (cc.purdue.edu is the default domain),
use:
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 -p 456,123,789 -u 1234,abe
To list all open files on device /dev/hd4, use:
lsof /dev/hd4
To find the process that has /u/abe/foo open, use:
lsof /u/abe/foo
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Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
To send a SIGHUP to the processes that have /u/abe/bar open,
use:
kill -HUP `lsof -t /u/abe/bar`
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
To do the preceding search with warning messages suppressed,
use:
lsof -bw /nfs/mount/point
To ignore the device cache file, use:
lsof -Di
To obtain PID and command name field output for each pro-
cess, 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 -c lsof -a -d 1 -d 3 -u abe -r10
To list the current working directory of processes running a
command that is exactly four characters long and has an 'o'
or 'O' in character three, use this regular expression form
of the -c c option:
lsof -c /^..o.$/i -a -d cwd
To find an IP version 4 socket file by its associated
numeric dot-form address, 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,
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Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
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====
To add spaces to the previous marker line, use:
lsof -r "m==== %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 char-
acter (following the file descriptor) is derived from a test
of the first lock structure, not from any combination of the
individual record locks that might be described by multiple
lock structures.
Lsof can't search for files with restrictive access permis-
sions by name unless it is installed with root set-UID per-
mission. Otherwise it is limited to searching for files to
which its user or its set-GID group (if any) has access per-
mission.
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
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Maintenance Procedures LSOF(8)
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 vari-
able set to ``:0.0''.
The +|-f[cfgGn] 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.
LANG defines a language locale. See setlo-
cale(3) for the names of other variables
that can be used in place of LANG - e.g.,
LC_ALL, LC_TYPE, etc.
LSOFDEVCACHE defines the path to a device cache file.
See the DEVICE CACHE PATH FROM AN ENVIRON-
MENT VARIABLE section for more informa-
tion.
LSOFPERSDCPATH defines the middle component of a modified
personal device cache file path. See the
MODIFIED PERSONAL DEVICE CACHE PATH sec-
tion for more information.
FAQ
Frequently-asked questions and their answers (an FAQ) are
available in the 00FAQ file of the lsof distribution.
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That file is also available via anonymous ftp from
lsof.itap.purdue.edu at pub/tools/unix/lsofFAQ. The URL is:
ftp://lsof.itap.purdue.edu/pub/tools/unix/lsof/FAQ
FILES
/dev/kmem kernel virtual memory device
/dev/mem physical memory device
/dev/swap system paging device
.lsof_hostname lsof's device cache file (The suffix,
hostname, is the first component of the
host's name returned by gethostname(2).)
AUTHORS
Lsof was written by Victor A.Abell <abe@purdue.edu> of Pur-
due University. Many others have contributed to lsof.
They're listed in the 00CREDITS file of the lsof distribu-
tion.
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.
You can also use this URL:
ftp://lsof.itap.purdue.edu/pub/tools/unix/lsof
Lsof is also mirrored elsewhere. When you access
lsof.itap.purdue.edu and change to its pub/tools/unix/lsof
directory, you'll be given a list of some mirror sites. The
pub/tools/unix/lsof directory also contains a more complete
list in its mirrors file. Use mirrors with caution - not
all mirrors always have the latest lsof revision.
Some pre-compiled Lsof executables are available on
lsof.itap.purdue.edu, but their use is discouraged - it's
better that you build your own from the sources. If you
feel you must use a pre-compiled executable, please read the
cautions that appear in the README files of the
pub/tools/unix/lsof/binaries subdirectories and in the 00*
files of the distribution.
More information on the lsof distribution can be found in
its README.lsof_<version> file. If you intend to get the
lsof distribution and build it, please read
README.lsof_<version> and the other 00* files of the distri-
bution before sending questions to the author.
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SEE ALSO
Not all the following manual pages may exist in every UNIX
dialect to which lsof has been ported.
access(2), awk(1), crash(1), fattach(3C), ff(1), fstat(8),
fuser(1), gethostname(2), isprint(3), kill(1), localtime(3),
lstat(2), modload(8), mount(8), netstat(1), ofiles(8L),
perl(1), ps(1), readlink(2), setlocale(3), stat(2),
strftime(3), time(2), uname(1).
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