strace only shows execve

Quigi · 10-26-2005, 11:26 AM

Whatever command I try to strace, I just get the execve that tries to start it printed. It seems like the command isn't even run; strace returns immediately, and there is no output from, e.g., "ls". Example:

Code:

% strace ls
execve("/bin/ls", ["ls"], [/* 43 vars */]) = 0
% strace sleep 666
execve("/bin/sleep", ["sleep", "666"], [/* 43 vars */]) = 0
% which strace
/usr/bin/strace
% strace -V
strace -- version 4.5.3

The "sleep 666" example is from the manual page strace(1) (they'd interrupt it, but I don't even get that far).

I'm running FC2 on a Dell Latitude. I tried the -f and -v options, with no effect. Any idea why strace is behaving like this, or how it could be fixed?

P.S. I'm not sure if "strace" counts as software. If not, please refer me to a more appropriate forum.

unSpawn · 10-27-2005, 05:37 AM

Dunno if an upgrade will make any difference but on my FC2 strace is version is 4.5.5 .

P.S. I'm not sure if "strace" counts as software.
Does in my book.

Quigi · 10-27-2005, 01:44 PM

Thanks, unSpawn. Indeed I was behind with my version. I updated:

Code:

% sudo yum update strace
Password:
Gathering header information file(s) from server(s)
Server: Fedora Core 2 - i386 - Base
Server: Fedora Core 2 - i386 - Released Updates
Finding updated packages
Downloading needed headers
Resolving dependencies
Dependencies resolved
I will do the following:
[update: strace 4.5.5-1.i386]
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Downloading Packages
Getting strace-4.5.5-1.i386.rpm
strace-4.5.5-1.i386.rpm   100% |=========================|  83 kB    00:00     
Running test transaction:
Test transaction complete, Success!
strace 100 % done 1/2 
Completing update for strace  - 2/2
Updated:  strace 4.5.5-1.i386
Transaction(s) Complete
% strace sleep 666
execve("/bin/sleep", ["sleep", "666"], [/* 41 vars */]) = 0
%

No change here. It shows the execve call, but doesn't seem to perform it, because it exits immediately (with status 0, "ok").

However, "strace -p pid" correctly attaches to a pre-existing process (e.g., ls stopped with C-z), and shows its system calls.