kvm_stat - Man Page

Report KVM kernel module event counters

Synopsis

kvm_stat [OPTION]​...

Description

kvm_stat prints counts of KVM kernel module trace events​. These events signify state transitions such as guest mode entry and exit​.

This tool is useful for observing guest behavior from the host perspective​. Often conclusions about performance or buggy behavior can be drawn from the output​. While running in regular mode, use any of the keys listed in section Interactive Commands below​. Use batch and logging modes for scripting purposes​.

The set of KVM kernel module trace events may be specific to the kernel version or architecture​. It is best to check the KVM kernel module source code for the meaning of events​.

Interactive Commands

btoggle events by guests (debugfs only, honors filters)
cclear filter
ffilter by regular expression
Note: Child events pull in their parents, and parents' stats summarize all child events, not just the filtered ones
gfilter by guest name/PID
hdisplay interactive commands reference
otoggle sorting order (Total vs CurAvg/s)
pfilter by guest name/PID
qquit
rreset stats
sset delay between refreshs
xtoggle reporting of stats for child trace events
Note: The stats for the parents summarize the respective child trace events

Press any other key to refresh statistics immediately​.

Options

-1,  --once,  --batch

run in batch mode for one second

-c,  --csv

log in csv format​. Requires option -l/--log or -L/--log-to-file​. When used with option -L/--log-to-file, the header is only ever written to start of file to preserve the format​.

-d,  --debugfs

retrieve statistics from debugfs

-f<fields>, --fields=<fields>

fields to display (regex), "-f help" for a list of available events

-g<guest>, --guest=<guest_name>

limit statistics to one virtual machine (guest name)

-h,  --help

show help message

-i,  --debugfs-include-past

include all available data on past events for debugfs

-l,  --log

run in logging mode (like vmstat)

-L<file>, --log-to-file=<file>

like -l/--log, but logging to a file​. Appends to existing files​.

-p<pid>, --pid=<pid>

limit statistics to one virtual machine (pid)

-s,  --set-delay

set delay between refreshs (value range: 0​.1-25​.5 secs)

-t,  --tracepoints

retrieve statistics from tracepoints

-z,  --skip-zero-records

omit records with all zeros in logging mode

See Also

perf(1), trace-cmd(1)

Author

Stefan Hajnoczi <stefanha@redhat​.com>

Info

09/07/2026