Enabling Process Accounting on Linux HOWTO

1. Preamble

This document is copylefted by Albert M.C. Tam (bertie@scn.org). Permission to use, copy, distribute this document for non-commerical purposes is hereby granted, provided that the author's/editor's name and this notice appear in all copies and/or supporting documents and provided that this document is not modified. This document is distributed in hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY, either expressed or implied. While every effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information documented herein, the author/editor/maintainer assumes NO RESPONSIBILITY for errors, or for damages resulting for the use of the information documented herein.

2. Introduction

This document describes how to enable system process accounting on a Linux host and the usage of various process accounting commands. It is intended for users running kernel versions greater than or equal to 1.3.73 (tested on RedHat™ 4.1 kernel 2.0.27). Kernels older than 1.3.73 may need a patch in order to use the process accounting feature.

Feel free to send any feedback or comments to bertie@scn.org if you find an error, or if any information is missing. I appreciate it.

3. What is process accounting?

Process accounting is the method of recording and summarizing commands executed on Linux. The modern Linux kernel is capable of keeping process accounting records for the commands being run, the user who executed the command, the CPU time, and much more.

Process accounting enables you to keep detailed accounting information for the system resources used, their allocation among users, and system monitoring.

4. Current Status of Process Accounting under Linux

Process accounting support has been integrated into the newer kernels (version >= 1.3.73). If you are running an older kernel, you may need some patch files. The patches are available from ftp://iguana.hut.fi/pub/linux/Kernel/process_accounting

5. Requirements for Process Accounting on Linux

6. Process Accounting Setup on Linux

1. Compile and install process accounting software.

   The process accounting software package is available from http://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/admin/quota-acct-modified.tgz

2. Modify your system init script and turn on process accounting at boot time.

   Here's an example:

   # Turn process accounting on. if [ -x /sbin/accton ] then /sbin/accton /var/log/pacct echo "Process accounting turned on." fi

3. Create accounting record file "pacct."

   Your process accounting software will print out all commands executed to the file /var/log/pacct by default.

   To create the accounting record file:

   touch /var/log/pacct

   This record file should be owned by root, and it has read-write permission for root and read permission for anybody else:

   chown root /var/log/pacct chmod 0644 /var/log/pacct

4. Reboot.

   Now reboot your system for changes you made to take effect.

7. Miscellaneous Process Accounting Commands