SystemTap
SystemTap is an open source scripting language and tool for dynamically tracing Linux systems. It provides information about a running Linux system to help diagnose performance or functional problems.
tracing
diagnostics
linux
SystemTap: Open Source Scripting Language & Tool for Linux System Tracing
SystemTap is an open source scripting language and tool for dynamically tracing Linux systems. It provides information about a running Linux system to help diagnose performance or functional problems.
What is SystemTap?
SystemTap is an open source scripting language and tool for dynamically tracing and monitoring Linux systems. It allows users to collect system information in real time to help diagnose performance or functional problems.
Some key features of SystemTap include:
- Allows for dynamic instrumentation of a running Linux kernel without having to recompile or reboot
- Provides over 500 monitoring probes and tapsets out of the box for things like profiling CPU usage, monitoring disk I/O, tracing network activity, etc.
- Uses a simple scripting language to write scripts for custom tracing, profiling, logging, alerts, etc.
- Can trace user space processes as well as the kernel
- Minimal overhead and performance impact
- Outputs trace data and results to standard out or log files for analysis
SystemTap allows developers, system administrators, and support engineers to quickly gather detailed diagnostics across the entire Linux system to identify bottlenecks, debug complex problems or get a deeper view into system behavior.
SystemTap Features
Features
- Dynamic instrumentation of running Linux kernel
- Provides visibility into running kernel and user processes
- Scripting language for creating probes
- Built-in suite of useful scripts and tapsets
- CLI and GUI for running scripts
Pricing
- Open Source
Pros
Powerful diagnostics and troubleshooting
No need to recompile or reboot kernel
Tapsets provide reusable instrumentation
Scripting allows custom probes
CLI and GUI interfaces
Cons
Requires debug symbols for kernel modules
Scripting language has learning curve
Overhead from instrumentation
Not all kernel versions supported
Official Links
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