Supplemental Linux® From Scratch (System V Edition) - Version #477a

Chapter 6. Programming

strace-6.17

Introduction to strace

The strace package provides a diagnostic, debugging, and instructional userspace utility that traces all of the system calls a program makes during it's execution.

strace Dependencies

Optional

libunwind

Installation of strace

Install strace by running the following commands: 

./configure --prefix=/usr \
    --enable-mpers=no &&
make

Now, as the root user: 

make install

Command Explanations

--enable-mpers=no: By default, strace is built to support both the m32 and mx32 personalities. This parameter disables that behavior. Remove this parameter if you are debugging programs that use m32 or mx32 personalities.

--with-libunwind: This option builds strace with libunwind support. This is useful for unwinding stack traces.

[Note]

Note

Invoke ./configure --help for a full list of options.

Contents

Installed Programs: strace and strace-log-merge
Installed Libraries: None
Installed Directories: None

Short Descriptions

strace

traces system calls and signals, most often used for debugging

strace-log-merge

merges the output of strace -ff -tt, prepends PID to each lines, then sorts the result using time stamps