Docs/Reference/Forensics

Forensics Reference

Commands for volatile state, memory dumps, file analysis, and metadata.


get/export volatile

# Query (stdout)
reel get volatile <pod> <container> -n <namespace> [flags]
# Export to file/S3
reel export volatile <pod> <container> -n <namespace> --dest <path>

Includes process tree, open file descriptors, network connections, memory maps, and environment variables.

get/export metadata

# Query (stdout)
reel get metadata <pod> <container> -n <namespace> [flags]
# Export to file/S3
reel export metadata <pod> <container> -n <namespace> --dest <path>

Includes container configuration, image info, resource limits, environment variables, and volume mounts.

export memory

reel export memory <pod> <container> -n <namespace> [flags]
FlagDescriptionDefault
-d, --destDestination path or S3 URIrequired
--compressCompression: none, fast, bestnone
--pidSpecific PID to dumpmain process

Output: ELF Core dump (GDB-compatible)

get/export files

# Query (stdout)
reel get files <pod> <container> <path> -n <namespace> [flags]
# Export to file/S3
reel export files <pod> <container> <path> -n <namespace> --dest <path>
FlagDescription
--recursiveInclude subdirectories
--modified-sinceModified after timestamp/duration
--modified-beforeModified before timestamp/duration
--suidOnly SUID/SGID files
--hashCalculate file hashes
--show-hiddenInclude hidden files

export inventory

reel export inventory <pod> <container> <path> -n <namespace> [flags]
FlagDescription
-d, --destDestination path
--chain-of-custodyExtended forensic metadata
--hashCalculate file hashes

Output: CycloneDX SBOM format with chain-of-custody metadata.

See Forensics Tutorial for examples.