PT-SIFT(1) User Contributed Perl Documentation PT-SIFT(1)

# [NAME](#NAME)

pt-sift - Browses files created by pt-stalk.

# [SYNOPSIS](#SYNOPSIS)

Usage: pt-sift FILE|PREFIX|DIRECTORY

pt-sift browses files created by pt-stalk. If no options are given, the tool browses all pt-stalk files in "/var/lib/pt-stalk" if that directory exists, else the current working directory is used. If a FILE is given, the tool browses files with the same prefix in the given file's directory. If a PREFIX is given, the tool browses files in "/var/lib/pt-stalk" (or the current working directory) with the same prefix. If a DIRECTORY is given, the tool browses all pt-stalk files in it.

# [RISKS](#RISKS)

Percona Toolkit is mature, proven in the real world, and well tested, but all database tools can pose a risk to the system and the database server. Before using this tool, please:

- Read the tool's documentation
- Review the tool's known "BUGS"
- Test the tool on a non-production server
- Backup your production server and verify the backups

# [DESCRIPTION](#DESCRIPTION)

pt-sift downloads other tools that it might need, such as pt-diskstats, and then makes a list of the unique timestamp prefixes of all the files in the directory, as written by the pt-stalk tool. If the user specified a timestamp on the command line, then it begins with that sample of data; otherwise it begins by showing a list of the timestamps and prompting for a selection. Thereafter, it displays a summary of the selected sample, and the user can navigate and inspect with keystrokes. The keystroke commands you can use are as follows:

- d
  
  Sets the action to start the pt-diskstats tool on the sample's disk performance statistics.
- i
  
  Sets the action to view the first INNODB STATUS sample in less.
- m
  
  Displays the first 4 samples of SHOW STATUS counters side by side with the pt-mext tool.
- n
  
  Summarizes the first sample of netstat data in two ways: by originating host, and by connection state.
- j
  
  Select the next timestamp as the active sample.
- k
  
  Select the previous timestamp as the active sample.
- q
  
  Quit the program.
- 1
  
  Sets the action for each sample to the default, which is to view a summary of the sample.
- Sets the action to just list the files in the sample.
- \*
  
  Sets the action to view all of the sample's files in the less program.

# [OPTIONS](#OPTIONS)

[--help](#help)

Show help and exit.

[--version](#version)

Show version and exit.

# [ENVIRONMENT](#ENVIRONMENT)

This tool does not use any environment variables.

# [SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS](#SYSTEM_REQUIREMENTS)

This tool requires Bash v3 and the following programs: pt-diskstats, pt-pmp, pt-mext, and pt-align. If these programs are not in your PATH, they will be fetched from the Internet if curl is available.

# [BUGS](#BUGS)

For a list of known bugs, see <https://jira.percona.com/projects/PT/issues>.

Please report bugs at <https://jira.percona.com/projects/PT>. Include the following information in your bug report:

- Complete command-line used to run the tool
- Tool "--version"
- MySQL version of all servers involved
- Output from the tool including STDERR
- Input files (log/dump/config files, etc.)

If possible, include debugging output by running the tool with "PTDEBUG"; see "ENVIRONMENT".

# [ATTENTION](#ATTENTION)

Using <PTDEBUG> might expose passwords. When debug is enabled, all command line parameters are shown in the output.

# [DOWNLOADING](#DOWNLOADING)

Visit <http://www.percona.com/software/percona-toolkit/> to download the latest release of Percona Toolkit. Or, get the latest release from the command line:

```
   wget percona.com/get/percona-toolkit.tar.gz
   wget percona.com/get/percona-toolkit.rpm
   wget percona.com/get/percona-toolkit.deb
```

You can also get individual tools from the latest release:

```
   wget percona.com/get/TOOL
```

Replace "TOOL" with the name of any tool.

# [AUTHORS](#AUTHORS)

Baron Schwartz

# [ABOUT PERCONA TOOLKIT](#ABOUT_PERCONA_TOOLKIT)

This tool is part of Percona Toolkit, a collection of advanced command-line tools for MySQL developed by Percona. Percona Toolkit was forked from two projects in June, 2011: Maatkit and Aspersa. Those projects were created by Baron Schwartz and primarily developed by him and Daniel Nichter. Visit <http://www.percona.com/software/> to learn about other free, open-source software from Percona.

# [COPYRIGHT, LICENSE, AND WARRANTY](#COPYRIGHT,_LICENSE,_AND_WARRANTY)

This program is copyright 2011-2024 Percona LLC and/or its affiliates, 2010-2011 Baron Schwartz.

THIS PROGRAM IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, version 2; OR the Perl Artistic License. On UNIX and similar systems, you can issue \`man perlgpl' or \`man perlartistic' to read these licenses.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA.

# [VERSION](#VERSION)

pt-sift 3.7.1

2026-10-16 perl v5.44.0

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Document: pt-sift(1p) from percona-toolkit 3.7.1-r5 (Chainguard OS)
Source: https://github.com/percona/percona-toolkit