---
name: "extrace"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "extrace"
version: "0.7-2"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/extrace"
---

# extrace(1)

trace exec() calls system-wide

## NAME

**extrace** – trace exec() calls system-wide

## SYNOPSIS

**extrace** \[**-deflqtu**\] \[**-o** *file*\] \[**-p** *pid* \| *cmd ...*\]

## DESCRIPTION

**extrace** traces all program executions occurring on a system.

The options are as follows:

- **-d**

  Print the current working directory of the new process.

- **-e**

  Print environment of process, or ‘-’ if unreadable.

- **-f**

  Generate flat output without indentation. By default, the line indentation reflects the process hierarchy.

- **-l**

  Resolve full path of the executable. By default, argv\[0\] is shown.

- **-q**

  Suppress printing of [exec(3)](/exec/3.md) arguments.

- **-t**

  Also display process exit status and duration.

- **-u**

  Also display the user running the process.

- **-o** *file*

  Redirect trace output to *file*.

- **-p** *pid*

  Only trace [exec(3)](/exec/3.md) calls descendant of *pid*.

- *cmd ...*

  Run *cmd ...* and only trace descendants of this command.

  By default, all [exec(3)](/exec/3.md) calls are traced globally.

## EXIT STATUS

The **extrace** utility exits 0 on success, and \>0 if an error occurs.

## ERRORS

Check these prerequisites if you see this error:

```
binding sk_nl error: Operation not permitted
```

**extrace** requires special permissions to run, either root or the Linux CAP\_NET\_ADMIN capability.

**extrace** only works on Linux kernels with the kernel options

```
CONFIG_CONNECTOR=y
CONFIG_PROC_EVENTS=y
```

## SEE ALSO

[fatrace(1)](/fatrace/1.md), [ps(1)](/ps/1.md), [pwait(1)](/pwait/1.md), [strace(1)](/strace/1.md)

## AUTHORS

Leah Neukirchen ⟨*leah@vuxu.org*⟩

May contain traces of code from Guillaume Thouvenin, Matt Helsley, and Sebastian Krahmer.

## BUGS

While process tracing is exact, looking up all information is inherently sensitive to race conditions. In doubt, you can only trust the PID was written correctly.

## LICENSE

**extrace** is licensed under the terms of the GPLv2.