Skip site navigation (1)Skip section navigation (2)

FreeBSD Manual Pages

  
 
  

home | help
WITR(1)								       WITR(1)

NAME
       witr - Why is this running?

SYNOPSIS
       witr [process name] [flags]

DESCRIPTION
       witr explains why a process or port is running by tracing its ancestry.

OPTIONS
       --env[=false]	  show environment variables for the process

       -h, --help[=false]      help for	witr

       --json[=false]	   show	result as JSON

       --no-color[=false]      disable colorized output

       --pid=""	     pid to look up

       --port=""      port to look up

       --short[=false]	    show only ancestry

       --tree[=false]	   show	only ancestry as a tree

       --verbose[=false]      show extended process information

       --warnings[=false]      show only warnings

EXAMPLE
	 # Inspect a running process by	name
	 witr nginx

	 # Look	up a process by	PID
	 witr --pid 1234

	 # Find	the process listening on a specific port
	 witr --port 5432

	 # Show	the full process ancestry (who started whom)
	 witr postgres --tree

	 # Show	only warnings (suspicious env, arguments, parents)
	 witr docker --warnings

	 # Display only	environment variables of the process
	 witr node --env

	 # Short, single-line output (useful for scripts)
	 witr sshd --short

	 # Disable colorized output (CI	or piping)
	 witr redis --no-color

	 # Output machine-readable JSON
	 witr chrome --json

	 # Show	extended process information (memory, I/O, file	descriptors)
	 witr mysql --verbose

	 # Combine flags: inspect port,	show environment variables, output JSON
	 witr --port 8080 --env	--json

				   Jan 2026			       WITR(1)

Want to link to this manual page? Use this URL:
<https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=witr&sektion=1&manpath=FreeBSD+Ports+15.0.quarterly>

home | help