TRACER(8)

📦
version 1.6 · 6 versions
, in epel 10

🌸 TRACER(8) — tracer, but make it make sense 💅

okay bestie, so this is the tracer manual page, from the Tracer section of the system manuals. buckle up, because this tool is genuinely iconic and lowkey a lifesaver. 🫶

✨ NAME ✨

tracer — finds outdated running applications in your system 🔍

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

honestly? just vibe with tracer and let it do its thing. no cap. ✨

🌈 DESCRIPTION 🌈

so here's the whole situation: tracer figures out which applications are using outdated files, and then prints them. slay. 🔥

for the special kinds of applications — think services, daemons, the whole "lives in the background" moment — it suggests a standard command to restart it. considerate queen behavior. 👑

and how does it detect whether a file is outdated or not? it's giving simple idea, honestly: if an application has loaded into memory any version of a file that's provided by any package updated since the system was booted up, tracer considers that application outdated. periodt. 💅

🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

💖 GENERAL 💖

  • --version — prints the program version, so you know what you're dealing with 🏷️
  • -h, --help — shows this help message and exits. the classic "wait what does this do again" button 🫶
  • -q, --quiet — do not print additional information. minimal queen vibes 🤫
  • -v, --verbose — print more informations. use -v or -vv (yes, stack them, we love a layering moment) 📚

🦋 MODES 🦋

  • --helpers — doesn't list applications, but lists their helpers instead 👯
  • -i, --interactive — runs tracer in interactive mode. it prints numbered applications and gives you helpers based on those numbers 🔢
  • -s app_name [app_name ...], --show app_name [app_name ...] — show the helper for the given application 🎯
  • -a, --all — lists even session and unrestartable applications. literally everything, no filter 💀
  • --daemons-only, --services-only — list only daemons/services 🧚
  • --hooks-only — does not print traced applications, only runs their hooks 🪝
  • -t TIMESTAMP, --timestamp TIMESTAMP — sets since when the updates should be ⏰
  • -n, --now — when there are specified packages, don't look for the time of their update. use "now" instead ⚡

🌸 USERS 🌸

  • -u username, --user username — 👤
  • -r, --root — 👑
  • -e, --everyone — 🌍

🐛 DEBUG 🐛

  • --show-resource=<option> — options: packages | processes | rules | applications | system. this one dumps the informations that tracer can use 🔬

⭐ EXIT CODES ⭐

status codes and their meanings, bestie. memorize these, iykyk:

  • 1–99 — Error exit codes 😭
  • 0 — No affected applications 😌
  • 101 — Found some affected applications 🔥
  • 102 — Found some affected daemons 🧚
  • 103 — Session restart needed 🔄
  • 104 — Reboot needed 💀

🍓 EXAMPLES 🍓

Show your applications which needs restarting (basic usage) — the starter pack, the main character entry level:

tracer

Show informations about application — when you're curious about one specific fave:

tracer --show mysqld

Show even affected files of the application — double verbose, we're getting the lore:

tracer --show mysqld -vv

In interactive mode show all applications modified only through packages changed since timestamp — the combo move, truly ate:

tracer -iat 1414248388.04

👑 AUTHOR 👑

FrostyX <frostyx@email.cz> — the icon behind all this 💜

2026, FrostyX

aaaand that's the whole page, bestie! 🌟 this came from the recent release, dated Sep 17, 2026, and it's the TRACER(8) manual — go forth and restart those outdated apps fr fr. 🦋✨🎀

📦 where this page comes from