$ Linux Command

Administration

sosreport

Collect system configuration and diagnostic information.

diagnosticssupportsystemreporttroubleshooting

Additional Notes

sosreport collects detailed system configuration and diagnostic information into a compressed archive for support and troubleshooting purposes. It gathers data about the system's hardware, kernel, services, networking, storage, packages, logs, and installed software. The generated archive can be attached to support tickets for distribution vendors or used for local forensic analysis.

The tool uses plugins to collect specific types of data. Each plugin targets a subsystem (e.g., networking, storage, kernel, Apache, Docker, etc.). Plugins can be enabled, disabled, or tuned via configuration files. The output is typically a .tar.gz or .tar.xz archive with a descriptive filename.

Syntax

sosreport [options]

Parameters

  • options: Flags that change how sosreport behaves.
  • target: Optional file, device, interface, user, service, or command target when the command supports one.

Common Options

  • -a, --alloptions: Enable all options for all plugins (may collect sensitive data).
  • -k plugin.option=value: Pass an option to a specific plugin.
  • -n plug1,plug2, --skip-plugins: Skip the specified plugins.
  • -o plug1,plug2, --only-plugins: Run only the specified plugins.
  • -e plug1,plug2, --enable-plugins: Enable plugins that are normally disabled.
  • --list-plugins: List all available plugins and their status.
  • -l, --log-size size: Limit individual log file collection to size (default: 25 MB).
  • --all-logs: Collect all available log versions (including rotated logs).
  • -t CASE_ID, --ticket-number CASE_ID: Associate the report with a support ticket number.
  • --batch: Run in batch mode (non-interactive).
  • -z type: Compression type (auto, gzip, xz, bzip2).
  • -v, --verbose: Show verbose plugin output.
  • --quiet: Suppress non-essential output.
  • --tmp-dir dir: Specify a temporary directory for building the report.
  • --build: Only build the report without archiving (for debugging).

Examples

sosreport

Collect all standard diagnostic information interactively.

sosreport --batch --ticket-number 12345

Collect diagnostics in batch mode with a ticket number.

sosreport -n network,storage

Collect all data except the networking and storage plugins.

sosreport -e docker -k docker.allimages=on

Enable the Docker plugin and collect all Docker images.

sosreport --list-plugins

List all available plugins and their current enable/disable status.

sosreport --all-logs -z xz

Collect all log files (including rotated) and compress with xz.

Practical Notes

  • The generated archive may contain sensitive information (IP addresses, hostnames, config files). Review before sharing.
  • sosreport typically prompts for a support case number; use --batch to skip prompts.
  • The archive is saved to /var/tmp/ by default with a filename like sosreport-hostname-date.tar.xz.
  • Plugin names map to system components: kernel, networking, storage, filesys, apache, docker, yum, etc.
  • On Red Hat-based systems, sosreport is the primary tool for preparing data for Red Hat Support.
  • The sos package provides both sosreport and sos (a more modern CLI) commands.