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SA(8) System Manager's Manual SA(8)


sa - summarizes accounting information


[ -a | --list-all-names ]
[ -b | --sort-sys-user-div-calls ]
[ -c | --percentages ] [ -d | --sort-avio ]
[ -D | --sort-tio ] [ -f | --not-interactive ]
[ -i | --dont-read-summary-files ]
[ -j | --print-seconds ] [ -k | --sort-cpu-avmem ]
[ -K | --sort-ksec ] [ -l | --separate-times ]
[ -m | --user-summary ] [ -n | --sort-num-calls ]
[ -p | --show-paging ] [ -P | --show-paging-avg ]
[ -r | --reverse-sort ] [ -s | --merge ]
[ -t | --print-ratio ] [ -u | --print-users ]
[ -v num | --threshold num ] [ --sort-real-time ]
[ --debug ] [ -V | --version ] [ -h | --help ]
[ --other-usracct-file filename ] [ --ahz hz ]
[ --other-savacct-file filename ]
[ [ --other-acct-file ] filename ]


sa summarizes information about previously executed commands as recorded in the acct file. In addition, it condenses this data into a summary file named savacct which contains the number of times the command was called and the system resources used. The information can also be summarized on a per-user basis; sa will save this information into a file named usracct.

If no arguments are specified, sa will print information about all of the commands in the acct file.

If called with a file name as the last argument, sa will use that file instead of the system's default acct file.

By default, sa will sort the output by sum of user and system time. If command names have unprintable characters, or are only called once, sa will sort them into a group called `***other'. If more than one sorting option is specified, the list will be sorted by the one specified last on the command line.

The output fields are labeled as follows:

sum of system and user time in cpu minutes

"elapsed time" in minutes

cpu-time averaged core usage, in 1k units

average number of I/O operations per execution

total number of I/O operations

cpu storage integral (kilo-core seconds)

user cpu time in cpu seconds

system time in cpu seconds

Note that these column titles do not appear in the first row of the table, but after each numeric entry (as units of measurement) in every row. For example, you might see `79.29re', meaning 79.29 cpu seconds of "real time".

An asterisk will appear after the name of commands that forked but didn't call exec.

GNU sa takes care to implement a number of features not found in other versions. For example, most versions of sa don't pay attention to flags like `--print-seconds' and `--sort-num-calls' when printing out commands when combined with the `--user-summary' or `--print-users' flags. GNU sa pays attention to these flags if they are applicable. Also, MIPS' sa stores the average memory use as a short rather than a double, resulting in some round-off errors. GNU sa uses double the whole way through.


The availability of these program options depends on your operating system. In specific, the members that appear in the struct acct of your system's process accounting header file (usually acct.h ) determine which flags will be present. For example, if your system's struct acct doesn't have the `ac_mem' field, the installed version of sa will not support the `--sort-cpu-avmem', `--sort-ksec', `-k', or `-K' options.


-a, --list-all-names
Force sa not to sort those command names with unprintable characters and those used only once into the ***other group.
When using the `--threshold' option, assume that all answers to interactive queries will be affirmative.
Don't read the information in the system's default savacct file.
Sort the output by cpu time average memory usage.
Print and sort the output by the cpu-storage integral.
Print separate columns for system and user time; usually the two are added together and listed as `cpu'.
Print the number of minor and major pagefaults and swaps.
Sort output items in reverse order.
For each entry, print the ratio of real time to the sum of system and user times. If the sum of system and user times is too small to report--the sum is zero--`*ignore*' will appear in this field.
For each command in the accounting file, print the userid and command name. After printing all entries, quit. *Note*: this flag supersedes all others.
Print commands which were executed num times or fewer and await a reply from the terminal. If the response begins with `y', add the command to the `**junk**' group.
Print verbose internal information.
Print the version number of sa.
Prints the usage string and default locations of system files to standard output and exits.
Sort the output by the "real time" field.
Write summaries by user ID to filename rather than the system's default usracct file.
Write summaries by command name to filename rather than the system's default SAVACCT file.
Read from the file filename instead of the system's default ACCT file.


The raw system wide process accounting file. See acct(5) for further details.
A summary of system process accounting sorted by command.
A summary of system process accounting sorted by user ID.


There is not yet a wide experience base for comparing the output of GNU sa with versions of sa in many other systems. The problem is that the data files grow big in a short time and therefore require a lot of disk space.


The GNU accounting utilities were written by Noel Cragg <>. The man page was adapted from the accounting texinfo page by Susan Kleinmann <>.


acct(5), ac(1)

1997 August 19