Microsoft supports Linux admins by porting famous Windows Sysinternals suite, beginning with “ProcDump”

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Published onNovember 6, 2018

published onNovember 6, 2018

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Microsoft has announced it is working to port tools from itsSysinternalsutility suite to Linux. The suite of applications has gained an almost legendary status amongst Windows system administrators.

Yesterday, Microsoft employeeDavid Fowlerannounced the release of the first Sysinternals tool for Linux, process dump creation utility ProcDump. Microsoft executive Mario Hewardt, Principal Program Manager for Azure diagnosticsalso confirmedthat other apps are in the works, including Sysinternals’ famed ProcMon process monitoring utility.

Sysinternals was originally developed by an independent company, Winternals. It began life in 1996 and has grown into an extensive catalogue of free Windows management tools, allowing admins to monitor Windows’ internal file, networking and processing operations. The suite also assists developers in debugging Windows applications and aids security researchers in tracking the activities of malware.

Microsoft acquired Winternals in 2006, bringing the Sysinternals suite in-house. Winternals cofounderMark Russinovichis now the chief technical officer (CTO) of Microsoft’s Azure cloud division.

The move to bring Sysinternals to Linux is significant for Microsoft in its ongoing pivot to the cloud. Under CEO Satya Nadella, the company has moved to embrace the wider cloud ecosystem beyond its own Windows infrastructure. That’s meant increased investment in supporting Linux systems across Windows and Azure, giving developers more options when choosing their technology stacks.

These efforts have paid off. In September, Scott Guthrie, Microsoft executive vice president of cloud and enterprise,told ZDNet that halfof all Azure virtual machines now run Linux. That figure has increased fromjust 20 percentin 2015. Without the increased support for Linux on Azure, many of those VMs may have been created on competing clouds instead.

The porting of Sysinternals to Linux is another way for Microsoft to increase its hospitality towards Linux developers and workloads. Developers will be able to use familiar Sysinternals tools on both Windows and Linux systems, removing the need to learn two applications.

ProcDump is just the first application to become available. Its functionality revolves around creating program dumps when certain conditions are met. Developers can set up criteria to automatically create a process dump, such as when CPU usage exceeds 50%. The resulting data can be invaluable in determining why the application is consuming so much processor time.

The Linux version of the ProcDump application is open-source and available for download now. Installation instructions can be found in theGitHub repository. There are currently a few limitations when compared to the Windows version but the core of ProcDump is already functioning.

Radu Tyrsina

Radu Tyrsina has been a Windows fan ever since he got his first PC, a Pentium III (a monster at that time).

For most of the kids of his age, the Internet was an amazing way to play and communicate with others, but he was deeply impressed by the flow of information and how easily you can find anything on the web.

Prior to founding Windows Report, this particular curiosity about digital content enabled him to grow a number of sites that helped hundreds of millions reach faster the answer they’re looking for.

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Microsoft supports Linux admins by porting famous Windows Sysinternals suite, beginning with “ProcDump”#

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Copilot in Outlook will generate personalized themes for you to customize the app

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Microsoft supports Linux admins by porting famous Windows Sysinternals suite, beginning with “ProcDump”