Quick Tip: See Which Python Process Is Holding Your File Hostage

Quick Tip

Ever get OSError: [Errno 16] Device or resource busy or a locked SQLite file and have no idea who's holding it?

Find the culprit:

lsof /path/to/file.db
# or for a directory/mount:
lsof +D /path/to/dir

Or kill everything holding it in one shot:

fuser -k /path/to/file.db

From Python, the psutil equivalent for cross-platform code:

import psutil

def who_has_my_file(path):
    holders = []
    for proc in psutil.process_iter(['pid', 'name']):
        try:
            for f in proc.open_files():
                if f.path == path:
                    holders.append((proc.pid, proc.name()))
        except (psutil.NoSuchProcess, psutil.AccessDenied):
            pass
    return holders

print(who_has_my_file('/tmp/app.db'))
# [(4123, 'python'), (4156, 'gunicorn')]

I hit this constantly with Jupyter kernels holding SQLite files open after "restart" — lsof finds the zombie kernel in 2 seconds instead of a reboot ritual.

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What's your most annoying "file is locked" story?