What is lsof in Linux?
lsof is a command meaning “list open files”, which is used in many Unix-like systems to report a list of all open files and the processes that opened them.
How use lsof command in Linux?
lsof command stands for List Of Open File. This command provides a list of files that are opened. Basically, it gives the information to find out the files which are opened by which process. With one go it lists out all open files in output console.
Does lsof need Sudo?
The lsof Command Many of the processes or devices that lsof can report on belong to root or were launched by root, so you will need to use the sudo command with lsof .
Is the lsof command part of the default installation?
When we do the minimal installation of CentOS / RHEL / Ubuntu / OpenSUSE, lsof is not the part of default installation, so use the following command to install lsof command or utility The command “lsof” comes equipped with many options and switches.
How to install lsof command in CentOS Linux?
lsof isn’t available by default on most Linux distributions but can be easily installed. Use the below command to install lsof: CentOS / RHEL / Fedora: $ sudo yum install lsof
What is the purpose of lsof in Linux?
Detect, Protect, Monitor, Accelerate, and more… lsof is a powerful utility available for Linux and Unix-based systems which literally stands for ‘list (of) open files’. Its main function is to retrieve details about various types of files opened up by different running processes.
How to use lsof with execute as root?
We can combine kill with lsof as shown in the below example to achieve this (execute as root): As seen in the above example, we can use -t flag to filter out all other information except process-id. This can be useful in automation and scripting as shown in the previous example by combining it with kill command.