SST Dump Tool - RocksDB

Overview

The SST Dump Tool (sst_dump) is a specialized utility for examining RocksDB’s SST (Sorted String Table) files. It provides detailed insights into SST file structure, contents, metadata, and compression efficiency.

Use sst_dump to debug data corruption, analyze storage efficiency, evaluate compression algorithms, and understand LSM tree structure.

Building sst_dump

Build the tool:

make sst_dump

Basic Usage

The general syntax:

sst_dump [options] --file=<sst_file_path>

Or simply provide the path as the first argument:

sst_dump <sst_file_path> [options]

Commands

The --command flag specifies the operation mode:

Check (Default)

Verify SST file integrity by iterating through all entries:

sst_dump --file=/path/to/000123.sst --command=check

Validation performed

Iterates over all key-value pairs
Compares entry count with metadata
Reports corruption if mismatch detected

Silent on success

Only prints output if errors are encountered

Scan

Iterate through entries and print them to screen:

sst_dump --file=/path/to/000123.sst --command=scan

With hex output:

sst_dump --file=/path/to/000123.sst \
  --command=scan \
  --output_hex

Limit number of entries:

sst_dump --file=/path/to/000123.sst \
  --command=scan \
  --read_num=100

Raw

Dump complete table contents to a file:

sst_dump --file=/path/to/000123.sst --command=raw

This creates 000123.sst_dump.txt with:

All key-value pairs
Block structure details
Footer information
Index block contents

Verify

Verify checksums for all blocks without printing data:

sst_dump --file=/path/to/000123.sst --command=verify

Use verify to detect corruption without the overhead of decoding keys and values. It’s faster than check for large files.

Recompress

Analyze file size with different compression algorithms:

sst_dump --file=/path/to/000123.sst \
  --command=recompress \
  --compression_types=kSnappyCompression,kZSTD,kLZ4Compression

Output shows estimated file size with each compression type:

Original Size: 45.2 MB
kSnappyCompression: 38.7 MB (85.6%)
kZSTD: 32.1 MB (71.0%)
kLZ4Compression: 39.2 MB (86.7%)

Identify

Check if file is a valid SST file:

sst_dump --file=/path/to/000123.sst --command=identify

For a directory, lists all valid SST files:

sst_dump --file=/path/to/db_dir --command=identify

Filtering and Range Options

Key Range Scanning

From key

Start scanning from a specific key:

sst_dump --file=/path/to/000123.sst \
  --command=scan \
  --from=user_key_100

To key

Stop scanning at a specific key:

sst_dump --file=/path/to/000123.sst \
  --command=scan \
  --from=user_key_100 \
  --to=user_key_200

Prefix scan

Scan all keys with a specific prefix:

sst_dump --file=/path/to/000123.sst \
  --command=scan \
  --prefix=user_prefix

Cannot be used with --from option

Hex Key Input

When working with binary keys:

sst_dump --file=/path/to/000123.sst \
  --command=scan \
  --input_key_hex \
  --from=0x757365725f6b65795f313030 \
  --output_hex

Display Options

Show Properties

Display table properties after iteration:

sst_dump --file=/path/to/000123.sst \
  --command=scan \
  --show_properties

Outputs:

Data size
Index size
Filter size
Number of entries
Number of data blocks
Compression type
User-collected properties

Show Sequence Numbers

Display sequence numbers and value types (for raw dumps):

sst_dump --file=/path/to/000123.sst \
  --command=raw \
  --show_sequence_number_type

Decode Blob Index

For SST files containing blob references:

sst_dump --file=/path/to/000123.sst \
  --command=scan \
  --decode_blob_index

This decodes blob index entries and displays them in human-readable format.

List Meta Blocks

Show all metadata blocks in the file:

sst_dump --file=/path/to/000123.sst \
  --list_meta_blocks

Compression Analysis

Testing Multiple Compression Types

sst_dump --file=/path/to/000123.sst \
  --command=recompress \
  --compression_types=kSnappyCompression,kZSTD,kLZ4Compression,kNoCompression

Custom Block Size

Test recompression with different block sizes:

sst_dump --file=/path/to/000123.sst \
  --command=recompress \
  --compression_types=kZSTD \
  --block_size=32768

Compression Levels

Test a range of compression levels:

sst_dump --file=/path/to/000123.sst \
  --command=recompress \
  --compression_types=kZSTD \
  --compression_level_from=1 \
  --compression_level_to=9

Index Compression

Enable compression for index blocks:

sst_dump --file=/path/to/000123.sst \
  --command=recompress \
  --compression_types=kZSTD \
  --enable_index_compression=1

Dictionary Compression

Configure dictionary-based compression:

sst_dump --file=/path/to/000123.sst \
  --command=recompress \
  --compression_types=kZSTD \
  --compression_max_dict_bytes=32768 \
  --compression_zstd_max_train_bytes=1048576

Advanced Options

Verify Checksum

Enable checksum verification during scans:

sst_dump --file=/path/to/000123.sst \
  --command=scan \
  --verify_checksum

Readahead Size

Optimize I/O with readahead:

sst_dump --file=/path/to/000123.sst \
  --command=scan \
  --readahead_size=4194304  # 4MB

Environment and Filesystem URIs

Use custom environments or filesystems:

sst_dump --file=/path/to/000123.sst \
  --env_uri=hdfs://namenode:8020 \
  --command=scan

Or:

sst_dump --file=/path/to/000123.sst \
  --fs_uri=s3://bucket/prefix \
  --command=scan

--env_uri and --fs_uri are mutually exclusive.

Internal Key Parsing

Parse internal key format on command line:

sst_dump --parse_internal_key=0x757365725f6b657900000000000001230a

Outputs:

key=user_key @ 291: kTypeValue

This is useful for understanding RocksDB’s internal key encoding (user key + sequence number + type).

Practical Examples

Diagnose Corruption

Identify corrupted file

sst_dump --file=/db/000123.sst --command=verify

Locate bad block

sst_dump --file=/db/000123.sst \
  --command=check \
  --verify_checksum

Extract good data

sst_dump --file=/db/000123.sst \
  --command=scan \
  --to=last_good_key > recovered_data.txt

Optimize Compression

Test all compression types

sst_dump --file=/db/000123.sst \
  --command=recompress \
  --compression_types=kSnappyCompression,kZSTD,kLZ4Compression

Fine-tune best algorithm

sst_dump --file=/db/000123.sst \
  --command=recompress \
  --compression_types=kZSTD \
  --compression_level_from=1 \
  --compression_level_to=9

Test with dictionary

sst_dump --file=/db/000123.sst \
  --command=recompress \
  --compression_types=kZSTD \
  --compression_level=3 \
  --compression_max_dict_bytes=65536

Export Key Range

Extract specific key range from SST file:

sst_dump --file=/db/000123.sst \
  --command=scan \
  --from=start_key \
  --to=end_key \
  --output_hex > extracted_range.txt

Inspect File Properties

sst_dump --file=/db/000123.sst \
  --command=check \
  --show_properties

Analyze All Files in Directory

for file in /db/*.sst; do
  echo "Analyzing $file"
  sst_dump --file=$file \
    --command=check \
    --show_properties
done

Understanding Output

Scan Output Format

'key1' @ 123 : 1 => 'value1'
'key2' @ 124 : 1 => 'value2'

Format: key @ sequence_number : type => value Value types:

1 = kTypeValue (regular put)
0 = kTypeDeletion (delete)
2 = kTypeMerge (merge)
7 = kTypeDeletionWithTimestamp

Properties Output

Example output from --show_properties:

Table Properties:
  data size: 45234567
  index size: 123456
  filter size: 98765
  raw key size: 32145678
  raw value size: 98765432
  num entries: 1000000
  num data blocks: 4523
  compression: Snappy
  compression_options: window_bits=-14; level=32767

Common Options Reference

Option	Description
`--file=<path>`	SST file or directory path
`--command=<cmd>`	Operation: check, scan, raw, verify, recompress, identify
`--output_hex`	Display keys and values in hex format
`--input_key_hex`	Interpret —from/—to as hex
`--from=<key>`	Start scanning from this key
`--to=<key>`	Stop scanning at this key
`--prefix=<prefix>`	Scan keys with this prefix
`--read_num=<n>`	Maximum entries to read
`--verify_checksum`	Verify checksums during scan
`--show_properties`	Display table properties
`--decode_blob_index`	Decode blob index entries
`--block_size=<size>`	Block size for recompression
`--compression_types=<list>`	Comma-separated compression types
`--compression_level=<n>`	Compression level
`--list_meta_blocks`	List all metadata blocks

Performance Tips

For large files, use --read_num to limit output:

sst_dump --file=/db/large.sst --command=scan --read_num=1000

Use verify instead of check for faster corruption detection without decoding overhead.

Source Reference

SST Dump Tool implementation:

include/rocksdb/sst_dump_tool.h:11-14 - Public API (simple Run interface)
tools/sst_dump_tool.cc:167-400 - Command-line parsing and tool implementation
table/sst_file_dumper.h and table/sst_file_dumper.cc - Core SST file reading logic

Build command:

make sst_dump

Getting Help

Display help message with all options:

sst_dump --help

The help output includes supported compression types for your build.

Get Started

Core Concepts

Developer Guide

Advanced Topics

Language Bindings

Tools & Utilities

​Overview

​Building sst_dump

​Basic Usage

​Commands

​Check (Default)

​Scan

​Raw

​Verify

​Recompress

​Identify

​Filtering and Range Options

​Key Range Scanning

​Hex Key Input

​Display Options

​Show Properties

​Show Sequence Numbers

​Decode Blob Index

​List Meta Blocks

​Compression Analysis

​Testing Multiple Compression Types

​Custom Block Size

​Compression Levels

​Index Compression

​Dictionary Compression

​Advanced Options

​Verify Checksum

​Readahead Size

​Environment and Filesystem URIs

​Internal Key Parsing

​Practical Examples

​Diagnose Corruption

​Optimize Compression

​Export Key Range

​Inspect File Properties

​Analyze All Files in Directory

​Understanding Output

​Scan Output Format

​Properties Output

​Common Options Reference

​Performance Tips

​Source Reference

​Getting Help

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

Building sst_dump

Basic Usage

Commands

Check (Default)

Scan

Raw

Verify

Recompress

Identify

Filtering and Range Options

Key Range Scanning

Hex Key Input

Display Options

Show Properties

Show Sequence Numbers

Decode Blob Index

List Meta Blocks

Compression Analysis

Testing Multiple Compression Types

Custom Block Size

Compression Levels

Index Compression

Dictionary Compression

Advanced Options

Verify Checksum

Readahead Size

Environment and Filesystem URIs

Internal Key Parsing

Practical Examples

Diagnose Corruption

Optimize Compression

Export Key Range

Inspect File Properties

Analyze All Files in Directory

Understanding Output

Scan Output Format

Properties Output

Common Options Reference

Performance Tips

Source Reference

Getting Help