Linux: use lsof to find which files are open by a process

2 Responses to Linux: use lsof to find which files are open by a process

1. Stoner says:

   December 24, 2008 at 8:27 am

   Instead of listing every open file handle on a system and grepping through it, lsof lets you specify a list of PIDs to show open file handles for. It’s the -p parameter.

   lsof -p

   Of course, it helps to run this using sudo or as the user running the mysqld process, otherwise you get something like this:

   [jstoner@mars ~]$ /usr/sbin/lsof -p 1866
   COMMAND PID USER FD TYPE DEVICE SIZE NODE NAME
   mysqld 1866 mysql cwd unknown /proc/1866/cwd (readlink: Permission denied)
   mysqld 1866 mysql rtd unknown /proc/1866/root (readlink: Permission denied)
   mysqld 1866 mysql txt unknown /proc/1866/exe (readlink: Permission denied)
   mysqld 1866 mysql NOFD /proc/1866/fd (opendir: Permission denied)
2. jon says:

   December 24, 2008 at 12:13 pm

   Clearly I should have checked the man page. Thanks for the tip.