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https://github.com/mhausenblas/cinf

Command line tool to view namespaces and cgroups, useful for low-level container prodding
https://github.com/mhausenblas/cinf

cgroups cli containers debugging linux namespace

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Command line tool to view namespaces and cgroups, useful for low-level container prodding

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# cinf

[![Go Report Card](https://goreportcard.com/badge/github.com/mhausenblas/cinf)](https://goreportcard.com/report/github.com/mhausenblas/cinf)

This is `cinf`, short for container info, a command line tool to view namespaces and cgroups, the stuff that makes up Linux containers such as Docker, rkt/appc, or OCI/runc. It might be useful for low-level container prodding, when you need to understand what's going on under the hood. Read more here: [Containers are a lie](https://medium.com/@mhausenblas/containers-are-a-lie-2521afda1f81) …

Contents:

- [Install](#install) `cinf`
- [Use](#use) `cinf` to
- [see all namespaces](#to-see-all-namespaces)
- dig into a [namespace](#to-dig-into-a-namespace)
- dig into a [cgroup](#to-dig-into-a-cgroup)
- dig into a [process](#to-dig-into-a-process)
- [monitor a process](#to-monitor-a-process)
- [CLI reference](#cli-reference)
- [Background](#background) on namespaces and cgroups

## Install

Simply download the Linux binary:

```sh
curl -s -L https://github.com/mhausenblas/cinf/releases/latest/download/cinf_linux_amd64.tar.gz \
-o cinf.tar.gz && \
tar xvzf cinf.tar.gz cinf && \
mv cinf /usr/local/bin && \
rm cinf*
```

Or build from source (note that you'll get the latest, experimental version via this method):

```sh
go get github.com/mhausenblas/cinf

GOOS=linux go build
```

The `cinf` package docs are available [online](https://godoc.org/github.com/mhausenblas/cinf/namespaces).

## Use

The following sections show basic usage. For a complete end-to-end usage, see the [walkthrough](walkthrough.md).

Note that if you want to see detailed debug messages, you can do that via a `DEBUG` environment variable, like so: `sudo DEBUG=true cinf`.

### To see all namespaces

To list all available namespaces and a summary of how many processes are in them along with the user IDs and the top-level command line executed, simply do the following:

$ sudo cinf

NAMESPACE TYPE NPROCS USERS CMD

4026532396 pid 1 1000 sleep10000
4026532398 net 1 1000 sleep10000
4026531837 user 109 0,1,101,102,104,106,1000 /sbin/init
4026532196 pid 2 0,104 nginx: master proces
4026532293 mnt 1 0 md5sum/dev/urandom
4026532298 net 1 0 md5sum/dev/urandom
4026532393 mnt 1 1000 sleep10000
4026532296 pid 1 0 md5sum/dev/urandom
4026531840 mnt 104 0,1,101,102,106,1000 /sbin/init
4026531839 ipc 105 0,1,101,102,106,1000 /sbin/init
4026531836 pid 105 0,1,101,102,106,1000 /sbin/init
4026532193 mnt 2 0,104 nginx: master proces
4026532198 net 2 0,104 nginx: master proces
4026531838 uts 105 0,1,101,102,106,1000 /sbin/init
4026532194 uts 2 0,104 nginx: master proces
4026532294 uts 1 0 md5sum/dev/urandom
4026532394 uts 1 1000 sleep10000
4026532395 ipc 1 1000 sleep10000
4026531956 net 105 0,1,101,102,106,1000 /sbin/init
4026531856 mnt 1 0
4026532195 ipc 2 0,104 nginx: master proces
4026532295 ipc 1 0 md5sum/dev/urandom

### To dig into a namespace

Assuming we're interested in more information on namespace `4026532398`, we would do the following:

$ sudo cinf --namespace 4026532193

### To dig into a cgroup

Let's dig into a specific cgroup (with hierarchy ID `3`) of a process (with PID `27681`):

$ sudo cinf --cgroup 27681:3

### To dig into a process

It is also possible to list the namespaces a specific process is in:

$ sudo cinf --pid 27681

### To monitor a process

The interactive, `top` like mode of `cinf` is as follows. Let's say we want to monitor the control files `memory.usage_in_bytes`, `cpuacct.usage`, and `blkio.throttle.io_service_bytes` for process with PID `27681`:

$ sudo cinf --mon 27681:memory.usage_in_bytes,cpuacct.usage,blkio.throttle.io_service_bytes

Note that a more detailed usage description is available via the [walkthrough](walkthrough.md).

## CLI reference

There are three arguments you can provide to `cinf`, to dig into specific aspects of a namespace, cgroup, or process:

- `--namespace $NAMESPACE_ID` … List details about namespace with provided ID.
- `--cgroup $PID:$CGROUP_HIERARCHY_ID` … List details of a cgroup a process belongs to.
- `--pid $PID` … List namespaces the process with provided process ID is in.
- `--mon $PID:$CF1,$CF2,…` … Monitor process with provided process ID and the control files specified.

The meaning of the output columns is as follows:

- Overview (without arguments):
- `NAMESPACE` … the namespace ID
- `TYPE` … the type of namespace, see also [explanation of the namespaces](#overview-on-linux-namespaces-and-cgroups) below
- `NPROCS` … number of processes in the namespace
- `USERS` … user IDs in the namespace
- `CMD` … command line of the root process
- Detailed namespace view (`--namespace`):
- `PID` … process ID
- `PPID` … process ID of parent
- `NAME` … process name
- `CMD` … process command line
- `NTHREADS`… number of threads
- `CGROUPS` … summary of the attached cgroups
- `STATE` … process state
- Detailed cgroups view (`--cgroup`):
- `CONTROLFILE` … the name of the control file, see also [cgroup man pages](#reading-material) below
- `VALUE` … the content of the control file
- Detailed process view (`--pid`):
- `NAMESPACE` … the namespace ID
- `TYPE` … the type of namespace
- Monitor process view (`--mon`):
- `PID` … process ID
- `PPID` … process ID of parent
- `UIDS` … real, effective, saved set, filesystem user ID
- `STATE` … process state
- `NAMESPACE` … the IDs of the namespaces the process is in
- `CONTROLFILE` … the name of the control file, see also [cgroup man pages](#reading-material) below
- `VALUE` … the content of the control file

## Background

I developed `cinf` because existing tools like `systemd-cgtop` or `lsns` didn't do what I wanted.
Also, I needed it for educational purposes (like training sessions, etc.). Note that the output format `cinf` uses is modelled after [lsns](http://karelzak.blogspot.ie/2015/12/lsns8-new-command-to-list-linux.html), so kudos to Karel for the inspiration.

If you want to learn more about container building blocks such as namespaces and cgroups, check out [containerz.info](http://containerz.info/).