shmcat
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Description:
Tool that dumps shared memory segments (System V and POSIX)
Type: Formula  |  Tracked Since: Dec 28, 2025
Links: Homepage  |  formulae.brew.sh
Category: System utilities
Tags: shared-memory debugging system-v posix ipc cli
Install: brew install shmcat
About:
Shmcat is a command-line utility designed to inspect and dump the contents of System V and POSIX shared memory segments. It functions similarly to the cat command but operates on kernel IPC resources instead of files. This allows developers and system administrators to debug inter-process communication by viewing raw data stored in shared memory.
Key Features:
  • Supports both System V and POSIX shared memory APIs
  • Dumps segment contents to standard output for easy piping
  • Can display metadata like permissions and size
  • Includes options to search for specific patterns
Use Cases:
  • Debugging data corruption issues in inter-process communication
  • Inspecting live data structures stored in shared memory segments
  • System administration tasks involving IPC resource monitoring
Alternatives:
  • ipcs – Standard utility that lists IPC status but lacks detailed content dumping capabilities
  • gdb – Can inspect memory but is heavyweight and requires a running process context
Version History
Detected Version Rev Change Commit
Sep 14, 2024 6:30pm 0 VERSION_BUMP 0667fa62