How can I log a linux command's process tree?

Question

I'm trying to track the usage of a certain command so I want to log its parents (to see what is actually using it)

Solaris has "ptree" which would be pretty easy to parse and log:

# ptree 4198
4198  /usr/bin/perl -S /sample.pl
  4228  /usr/bin/java -server -cp /sample.java

Linux doesn't seem to have an equivalent. I've tried using "pstree" and "ps -auxf" and others without much success.

`pstree` seems fine for this. What is the problem you are having? — Michael Hampton, Jul 22 '15 at 13:48
For one thing, when specifying a process, it only shows the processes from it on down (not the ancestors). ptree gives you the whole hierarchy. — wsaxton, Jul 22 '15 at 13:58

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 22 '15 at 14:01

0

pstree seems fine for this.

Consider:

$ pstree -p 3281
nginx(3281)─┬─nginx(3282)
            ├─nginx(3283)
            ├─nginx(3284)
            ├─nginx(3285)
            ├─nginx(3286)
            └─nginx(3287)

And use -s to see parents:

$ pstree -p -s 3287
systemd(1)───nginx(3281)───nginx(3287)

answered Jul 22 '15 at 14:01

Michael Hampton

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Just a note: The version of `pstree` coming with CentOS 6 doesn't support the `-s` option (CentOS 7 has it). – Sven Jul 22 '15 at 14:30
@Sven Aha, I knew there would be a down side to moving to EL7 rapidly... :) – Michael Hampton Jul 22 '15 at 14:33
Our pstree version does not have the -s unfortunately. – wsaxton Jul 22 '15 at 14:35
That's bad news. I'll leave this here, though, for others with the same question, and for later when you migrate to a more modern Linux. :) – Michael Hampton Jul 22 '15 at 14:38
I'll accept this answer as its the only thing I've found so far, even though it only works for newer versions (it will slowly become even more correct over time!) – wsaxton Jul 26 '15 at 13:20

How can I log a linux command's process tree?

1 Answers1