intrstat(8) on Solnix vs Linux and the BSDs
intrstat is the illumos command at /usr/sbin/intrstat. It uses DTrace to print a table of per-device, per-CPU interrupt counts and the percentage of time spent in each interrupt handler. The only Linux counterpart in the bundle is bpftrace, a general tracing language with no ready-made equivalent of this report. No BSD page is supplied.
The manual pages
- Solnix: intrstat(8) from
pkgs.solnix.illumos-world-man· illumos.org - Linux: bpftrace(8) bpftrace-0.25.1 (different command, similar job)
What Solnix runs
A default Solnix system runs the illumos intrstat at /usr/sbin/intrstat. No other variants are shipped. Only the superuser can run it by default, because it slows the whole system slightly. The page says the Dynamic Tracing Guide explains how to grant other users permission.
Differences
| Compared with | Topic | What differs |
|---|---|---|
| Linux | purpose and model | intrstat is a fixed report of interrupt statistics. bpftrace is a tracing language: you supply a program with -e or a FILENAME. Its page documents no built-in interrupt report, so you would have to write the program yourself.Source: Solnix intrstat(8) NAME, DESCRIPTION; Linux bpftrace(8) NAME, SYNOPSIS, -e |
| Linux | output format | intrstat prints a table with one row per device, named {name}#{instance}, and one column per CPU. Each cell holds an interrupt count and the percentage of time in that handler. bpftrace prints what the program produces and, on exit, all populated maps. Source: Solnix intrstat(8) DESCRIPTION; Linux bpftrace(8) SYNOPSIS |
| Linux | CPU selection | intrstat -c takes a CPU list such as 4, 4-6 or 4,6-8. -C tracks a processor set and follows CPUs added to or removed from it. bpftrace has no CPU-list option in its page. -p filters by PID instead.Source: Solnix intrstat(8) -c, -C; Linux bpftrace(8) OPTIONS, -p |
| Linux | sampling interval and count | intrstat takes optional interval and count operands. The default is one report per second, run indefinitely. A bpftrace program runs until Ctrl-C or until it calls an exit function. Source: Solnix intrstat(8) DESCRIPTION, OPERANDS; Linux bpftrace(8) SYNOPSIS |
| Linux | -T and timestamps | intrstat -T u prints the internal time representation and -T d prints standard date format. The bpftrace page has no -T. It documents -f for json or text output format, which intrstat lacks.Source: Solnix intrstat(8) -T; Linux bpftrace(8) -f |
| Linux | -x and -c meanings | On intrstat, -x sets a DTrace runtime or D compiler option and -c takes a CPU list. On bpftrace, -c runs COMMAND as a child process. bpftrace has no -x in its documented options. Do not copy -c between the tools.Source: Solnix intrstat(8) -x, -c; Linux bpftrace(8) -c, OPTIONS |
| Linux | terminal width and piped output | On a terminal, intrstat shows as many CPU columns as fit the width. Otherwise it shows at most four columns per table. The bpftrace page describes no such layout rule. Source: Solnix intrstat(8) DESCRIPTION; Linux bpftrace(8) OPTIONS |
| Linux | devices shown | intrstat uses dynamic discovery, so devices that raise no interrupts while it runs do not appear. The bpftrace page does not describe this behaviour. Source: Solnix intrstat(8) DESCRIPTION; Linux bpftrace(8) DESCRIPTION |
| FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD | no BSD counterpart in bundle | No FreeBSD, OpenBSD or NetBSD page is supplied for this command, so the manual cannot be used to say how they differ. Source: intrstat.8 bundle header (counterparts: Linux bpftrace(8) only) |
Standards
- POSIX: intrstat is not a POSIX.1-2024 utility.
- Solnix: Interface Stability: the command-line syntax is Evolving. The human-readable output is Unstable.
Writing portable scripts
- Do not parse intrstat output in scripts that must be stable: its human-readable output is Unstable. Treat the layout as subject to change.
Every difference here is taken from the manual pages linked above: Solnix's published page, Linux (man-pages and the GNU and util-linux manuals), FreeBSD, OpenBSD and NetBSD. Each row names its source. Where a manual is silent, this page is too. Compiled 2026-10-26. Found a mistake? Mail hackers@lists.solnix.io.