---
name: "syncsnoop.bt"
section: "8"
platform: "linux"
package: "bpftrace"
version: "0.27.0-2"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/syncsnoop.bt"
---

# syncsnoop.bt(8)

Trace the sync() variety of syscalls. Uses bpftrace/eBPF.

## NAME

syncsnoop.bt - Trace the sync() variety of syscalls. Uses bpftrace/eBPF.

## SYNOPSIS

**syncsnoop.bt**

## DESCRIPTION

syncsnoop traces calls to sync() syscalls (sync(), fsync(), msync(), etc), which flushes file system cache and buffers to storage devices. These calls can cause performance perturbations, and it can be useful to know if they are happening, when they happen, and how frequently.

This works by tracing the sync() variety of syscalls via tracepoints.

This program is also a basic example of eBPF/bcc.

Since this uses BPF, only the root user can use this tool.

## REQUIREMENTS

CONFIG\_BPF and bpftrace.

## EXAMPLES

- Trace calls to sync() syscalls:

  \# **syncsnoop.bt**

## FIELDS

- TIME

  A timestamp on the output, in "HH:MM:SS" format.

- PID

  The process ID that was on-CPU during the event.

- COMM

  The process name that was on-CPU during the event.

- EVENT

  The tracepoint name for the sync event.

## OVERHEAD

This traces sync syscalls and prints output for each event. As the rate of this is generally expected to be low (\<\< 100/s), the overhead is also expected to be negligible.

## SOURCE

This is from bpftrace.

-

  https://github.com/bpftrace/bpftrace

Also look in the bpftrace distribution for a companion \_examples.txt file containing example usage, output, and commentary for this tool.

This is a bpftrace version of the bcc tool of the same name.

-

  https://github.com/iovisor/bcc

## OS

Linux

## STABILITY

Unstable - in development.

## AUTHOR

Brendan Gregg

## SEE ALSO

[iostat(1)](/iostat/1.md)