Package running find /tmp /var/tmp -exec head -n1 '{}' \+ as root?

Xyne · 2012-12-02 02:29:55

I just noticed a process running the following command or something similar while configuring htop:

find /tmp /var/tmp -type f -exec head -n1 '{}' \+

I think this is triggered by /usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/tmp.conf. Can anyone confirm this? Why does it need to run head on every single file in those directories?

falconindy · 2012-12-02 02:40:47

Xyne wrote:

I think this is triggered by /usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/tmp.conf.

Why would you think that? This isn't anything triggered by the tmpfiles binary.

Xyne · 2012-12-02 03:38:12

That is the only thing that I have found so far that references both /tmp and /var/tmp.

I installed systemd and cronie this week. The process was automatically started and used enough cpu cycles to increase the fan speed. I think I would have noticed that before. I tend to check conky or htop whenever the fan takes off.

I don't know exactly what it was doing, but it's probably some housekeeping service or cronjob. I wasn't logged in as root at the time, so it can't have been any application that I was running (the only thing I sudo'd was pacman).

Of course, maybe I'm just losing my mind.

Last edited by Xyne (2012-12-02 03:39:00)

tomegun · 2012-12-02 19:10:36

As falconindy says systemd-tmpfiles does not call find (or any other external binary). You could try systemd-cgls when the process to running to find its parent.

Arch Linux

#1 2012-12-02 02:29:55

Package running find /tmp /var/tmp -exec head -n1 '{}' \+ as root?

#2 2012-12-02 02:40:47

Re: Package running find /tmp /var/tmp -exec head -n1 '{}' \+ as root?

#3 2012-12-02 03:38:12

Re: Package running find /tmp /var/tmp -exec head -n1 '{}' \+ as root?

#4 2012-12-02 19:10:36

Re: Package running find /tmp /var/tmp -exec head -n1 '{}' \+ as root?

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