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Version: 2.6.32 2.6.33 2.6.34 2.6.35 2.6.36 2.6.37 2.6.38 2.6.39 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9
Architecture: x86 arm avr32 blackfin m68k m68knommu microblaze mips powerpc sh
1 ftrace - Function Tracer 2 ======================== 3 4 Copyright 2008 Red Hat Inc. 5 Author: Steven Rostedt <srostedt@redhat.com> 6 License: The GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 7 (dual licensed under the GPL v2) 8 Reviewers: Elias Oltmanns, Randy Dunlap, Andrew Morton, 9 John Kacur, and David Teigland. 10 Written for: 2.6.28-rc2 11 12 Introduction 13 ------------ 14 15 Ftrace is an internal tracer designed to help out developers and 16 designers of systems to find what is going on inside the kernel. 17 It can be used for debugging or analyzing latencies and 18 performance issues that take place outside of user-space. 19 20 Although ftrace is the function tracer, it also includes an 21 infrastructure that allows for other types of tracing. Some of 22 the tracers that are currently in ftrace include a tracer to 23 trace context switches, the time it takes for a high priority 24 task to run after it was woken up, the time interrupts are 25 disabled, and more (ftrace allows for tracer plugins, which 26 means that the list of tracers can always grow). 27 28 29 Implementation Details 30 ---------------------- 31 32 See ftrace-design.txt for details for arch porters and such. 33 34 35 The File System 36 --------------- 37 38 Ftrace uses the debugfs file system to hold the control files as 39 well as the files to display output. 40 41 When debugfs is configured into the kernel (which selecting any ftrace 42 option will do) the directory /sys/kernel/debug will be created. To mount 43 this directory, you can add to your /etc/fstab file: 44 45 debugfs /sys/kernel/debug debugfs defaults 0 0 46 47 Or you can mount it at run time with: 48 49 mount -t debugfs nodev /sys/kernel/debug 50 51 For quicker access to that directory you may want to make a soft link to 52 it: 53 54 ln -s /sys/kernel/debug /debug 55 56 Any selected ftrace option will also create a directory called tracing 57 within the debugfs. The rest of the document will assume that you are in 58 the ftrace directory (cd /sys/kernel/debug/tracing) and will only concentrate 59 on the files within that directory and not distract from the content with 60 the extended "/sys/kernel/debug/tracing" path name. 61 62 That's it! (assuming that you have ftrace configured into your kernel) 63 64 After mounting the debugfs, you can see a directory called 65 "tracing". This directory contains the control and output files 66 of ftrace. Here is a list of some of the key files: 67 68 69 Note: all time values are in microseconds. 70 71 current_tracer: 72 73 This is used to set or display the current tracer 74 that is configured. 75 76 available_tracers: 77 78 This holds the different types of tracers that 79 have been compiled into the kernel. The 80 tracers listed here can be configured by 81 echoing their name into current_tracer. 82 83 tracing_on: 84 85 This sets or displays whether writing to the trace 86 ring buffer is enabled. Echo 0 into this file to disable 87 the tracer or 1 to enable it. 88 89 trace: 90 91 This file holds the output of the trace in a human 92 readable format (described below). 93 94 trace_pipe: 95 96 The output is the same as the "trace" file but this 97 file is meant to be streamed with live tracing. 98 Reads from this file will block until new data is 99 retrieved. Unlike the "trace" file, this file is a 100 consumer. This means reading from this file causes 101 sequential reads to display more current data. Once 102 data is read from this file, it is consumed, and 103 will not be read again with a sequential read. The 104 "trace" file is static, and if the tracer is not 105 adding more data,they will display the same 106 information every time they are read. 107 108 trace_options: 109 110 This file lets the user control the amount of data 111 that is displayed in one of the above output 112 files. 113 114 tracing_max_latency: 115 116 Some of the tracers record the max latency. 117 For example, the time interrupts are disabled. 118 This time is saved in this file. The max trace 119 will also be stored, and displayed by "trace". 120 A new max trace will only be recorded if the 121 latency is greater than the value in this 122 file. (in microseconds) 123 124 buffer_size_kb: 125 126 This sets or displays the number of kilobytes each CPU 127 buffer can hold. The tracer buffers are the same size 128 for each CPU. The displayed number is the size of the 129 CPU buffer and not total size of all buffers. The 130 trace buffers are allocated in pages (blocks of memory 131 that the kernel uses for allocation, usually 4 KB in size). 132 If the last page allocated has room for more bytes 133 than requested, the rest of the page will be used, 134 making the actual allocation bigger than requested. 135 ( Note, the size may not be a multiple of the page size 136 due to buffer management overhead. ) 137 138 This can only be updated when the current_tracer 139 is set to "nop". 140 141 tracing_cpumask: 142 143 This is a mask that lets the user only trace 144 on specified CPUS. The format is a hex string 145 representing the CPUS. 146 147 set_ftrace_filter: 148 149 When dynamic ftrace is configured in (see the 150 section below "dynamic ftrace"), the code is dynamically 151 modified (code text rewrite) to disable calling of the 152 function profiler (mcount). This lets tracing be configured 153 in with practically no overhead in performance. This also 154 has a side effect of enabling or disabling specific functions 155 to be traced. Echoing names of functions into this file 156 will limit the trace to only those functions. 157 158 This interface also allows for commands to be used. See the 159 "Filter commands" section for more details. 160 161 set_ftrace_notrace: 162 163 This has an effect opposite to that of 164 set_ftrace_filter. Any function that is added here will not 165 be traced. If a function exists in both set_ftrace_filter 166 and set_ftrace_notrace, the function will _not_ be traced. 167 168 set_ftrace_pid: 169 170 Have the function tracer only trace a single thread. 171 172 set_graph_function: 173 174 Set a "trigger" function where tracing should start 175 with the function graph tracer (See the section 176 "dynamic ftrace" for more details). 177 178 available_filter_functions: 179 180 This lists the functions that ftrace 181 has processed and can trace. These are the function 182 names that you can pass to "set_ftrace_filter" or 183 "set_ftrace_notrace". (See the section "dynamic ftrace" 184 below for more details.) 185 186 187 The Tracers 188 ----------- 189 190 Here is the list of current tracers that may be configured. 191 192 "function" 193 194 Function call tracer to trace all kernel functions. 195 196 "function_graph" 197 198 Similar to the function tracer except that the 199 function tracer probes the functions on their entry 200 whereas the function graph tracer traces on both entry 201 and exit of the functions. It then provides the ability 202 to draw a graph of function calls similar to C code 203 source. 204 205 "irqsoff" 206 207 Traces the areas that disable interrupts and saves 208 the trace with the longest max latency. 209 See tracing_max_latency. When a new max is recorded, 210 it replaces the old trace. It is best to view this 211 trace with the latency-format option enabled. 212 213 "preemptoff" 214 215 Similar to irqsoff but traces and records the amount of 216 time for which preemption is disabled. 217 218 "preemptirqsoff" 219 220 Similar to irqsoff and preemptoff, but traces and 221 records the largest time for which irqs and/or preemption 222 is disabled. 223 224 "wakeup" 225 226 Traces and records the max latency that it takes for 227 the highest priority task to get scheduled after 228 it has been woken up. 229 Traces all tasks as an average developer would expect. 230 231 "wakeup_rt" 232 233 Traces and records the max latency that it takes for just 234 RT tasks (as the current "wakeup" does). This is useful 235 for those interested in wake up timings of RT tasks. 236 237 "hw-branch-tracer" 238 239 Uses the BTS CPU feature on x86 CPUs to traces all 240 branches executed. 241 242 "nop" 243 244 This is the "trace nothing" tracer. To remove all 245 tracers from tracing simply echo "nop" into 246 current_tracer. 247 248 249 Examples of using the tracer 250 ---------------------------- 251 252 Here are typical examples of using the tracers when controlling 253 them only with the debugfs interface (without using any 254 user-land utilities). 255 256 Output format: 257 -------------- 258 259 Here is an example of the output format of the file "trace" 260 261 -------- 262 # tracer: function 263 # 264 # TASK-PID CPU# TIMESTAMP FUNCTION 265 # | | | | | 266 bash-4251 [01] 10152.583854: path_put <-path_walk 267 bash-4251 [01] 10152.583855: dput <-path_put 268 bash-4251 [01] 10152.583855: _atomic_dec_and_lock <-dput 269 -------- 270 271 A header is printed with the tracer name that is represented by 272 the trace. In this case the tracer is "function". Then a header 273 showing the format. Task name "bash", the task PID "4251", the 274 CPU that it was running on "01", the timestamp in <secs>.<usecs> 275 format, the function name that was traced "path_put" and the 276 parent function that called this function "path_walk". The 277 timestamp is the time at which the function was entered. 278 279 Latency trace format 280 -------------------- 281 282 When the latency-format option is enabled, the trace file gives 283 somewhat more information to see why a latency happened. 284 Here is a typical trace. 285 286 # tracer: irqsoff 287 # 288 irqsoff latency trace v1.1.5 on 2.6.26-rc8 289 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 290 latency: 97 us, #3/3, CPU#0 | (M:preempt VP:0, KP:0, SP:0 HP:0 #P:2) 291 ----------------- 292 | task: swapper-0 (uid:0 nice:0 policy:0 rt_prio:0) 293 ----------------- 294 => started at: apic_timer_interrupt 295 => ended at: do_softirq 296 297 # _------=> CPU# 298 # / _-----=> irqs-off 299 # | / _----=> need-resched 300 # || / _---=> hardirq/softirq 301 # ||| / _--=> preempt-depth 302 # |||| / 303 # ||||| delay 304 # cmd pid ||||| time | caller 305 # \ / ||||| \ | / 306 <idle>-0 0d..1 0us+: trace_hardirqs_off_thunk (apic_timer_interrupt) 307 <idle>-0 0d.s. 97us : __do_softirq (do_softirq) 308 <idle>-0 0d.s1 98us : trace_hardirqs_on (do_softirq) 309 310 311 This shows that the current tracer is "irqsoff" tracing the time 312 for which interrupts were disabled. It gives the trace version 313 and the version of the kernel upon which this was executed on 314 (2.6.26-rc8). Then it displays the max latency in microsecs (97 315 us). The number of trace entries displayed and the total number 316 recorded (both are three: #3/3). The type of preemption that was 317 used (PREEMPT). VP, KP, SP, and HP are always zero and are 318 reserved for later use. #P is the number of online CPUS (#P:2). 319 320 The task is the process that was running when the latency 321 occurred. (swapper pid: 0). 322 323 The start and stop (the functions in which the interrupts were 324 disabled and enabled respectively) that caused the latencies: 325 326 apic_timer_interrupt is where the interrupts were disabled. 327 do_softirq is where they were enabled again. 328 329 The next lines after the header are the trace itself. The header 330 explains which is which. 331 332 cmd: The name of the process in the trace. 333 334 pid: The PID of that process. 335 336 CPU#: The CPU which the process was running on. 337 338 irqs-off: 'd' interrupts are disabled. '.' otherwise. 339 Note: If the architecture does not support a way to 340 read the irq flags variable, an 'X' will always 341 be printed here. 342 343 need-resched: 'N' task need_resched is set, '.' otherwise. 344 345 hardirq/softirq: 346 'H' - hard irq occurred inside a softirq. 347 'h' - hard irq is running 348 's' - soft irq is running 349 '.' - normal context. 350 351 preempt-depth: The level of preempt_disabled 352 353 The above is mostly meaningful for kernel developers. 354 355 time: When the latency-format option is enabled, the trace file 356 output includes a timestamp relative to the start of the 357 trace. This differs from the output when latency-format 358 is disabled, which includes an absolute timestamp. 359 360 delay: This is just to help catch your eye a bit better. And 361 needs to be fixed to be only relative to the same CPU. 362 The marks are determined by the difference between this 363 current trace and the next trace. 364 '!' - greater than preempt_mark_thresh (default 100) 365 '+' - greater than 1 microsecond 366 ' ' - less than or equal to 1 microsecond. 367 368 The rest is the same as the 'trace' file. 369 370 371 trace_options 372 ------------- 373 374 The trace_options file is used to control what gets printed in 375 the trace output. To see what is available, simply cat the file: 376 377 cat trace_options 378 print-parent nosym-offset nosym-addr noverbose noraw nohex nobin \ 379 noblock nostacktrace nosched-tree nouserstacktrace nosym-userobj 380 381 To disable one of the options, echo in the option prepended with 382 "no". 383 384 echo noprint-parent > trace_options 385 386 To enable an option, leave off the "no". 387 388 echo sym-offset > trace_options 389 390 Here are the available options: 391 392 print-parent - On function traces, display the calling (parent) 393 function as well as the function being traced. 394 395 print-parent: 396 bash-4000 [01] 1477.606694: simple_strtoul <-strict_strtoul 397 398 noprint-parent: 399 bash-4000 [01] 1477.606694: simple_strtoul 400 401 402 sym-offset - Display not only the function name, but also the 403 offset in the function. For example, instead of 404 seeing just "ktime_get", you will see 405 "ktime_get+0xb/0x20". 406 407 sym-offset: 408 bash-4000 [01] 1477.606694: simple_strtoul+0x6/0xa0 409 410 sym-addr - this will also display the function address as well 411 as the function name. 412 413 sym-addr: 414 bash-4000 [01] 1477.606694: simple_strtoul <c0339346> 415 416 verbose - This deals with the trace file when the 417 latency-format option is enabled. 418 419 bash 4000 1 0 00000000 00010a95 [58127d26] 1720.415ms \ 420 (+0.000ms): simple_strtoul (strict_strtoul) 421 422 raw - This will display raw numbers. This option is best for 423 use with user applications that can translate the raw 424 numbers better than having it done in the kernel. 425 426 hex - Similar to raw, but the numbers will be in a hexadecimal 427 format. 428 429 bin - This will print out the formats in raw binary. 430 431 block - TBD (needs update) 432 433 stacktrace - This is one of the options that changes the trace 434 itself. When a trace is recorded, so is the stack 435 of functions. This allows for back traces of 436 trace sites. 437 438 userstacktrace - This option changes the trace. It records a 439 stacktrace of the current userspace thread. 440 441 sym-userobj - when user stacktrace are enabled, look up which 442 object the address belongs to, and print a 443 relative address. This is especially useful when 444 ASLR is on, otherwise you don't get a chance to 445 resolve the address to object/file/line after 446 the app is no longer running 447 448 The lookup is performed when you read 449 trace,trace_pipe. Example: 450 451 a.out-1623 [000] 40874.465068: /root/a.out[+0x480] <-/root/a.out[+0 452 x494] <- /root/a.out[+0x4a8] <- /lib/libc-2.7.so[+0x1e1a6] 453 454 sched-tree - trace all tasks that are on the runqueue, at 455 every scheduling event. Will add overhead if 456 there's a lot of tasks running at once. 457 458 latency-format - This option changes the trace. When 459 it is enabled, the trace displays 460 additional information about the 461 latencies, as described in "Latency 462 trace format". 463 464 overwrite - This controls what happens when the trace buffer is 465 full. If "1" (default), the oldest events are 466 discarded and overwritten. If "0", then the newest 467 events are discarded. 468 469 ftrace_enabled 470 -------------- 471 472 The following tracers (listed below) give different output 473 depending on whether or not the sysctl ftrace_enabled is set. To 474 set ftrace_enabled, one can either use the sysctl function or 475 set it via the proc file system interface. 476 477 sysctl kernel.ftrace_enabled=1 478 479 or 480 481 echo 1 > /proc/sys/kernel/ftrace_enabled 482 483 To disable ftrace_enabled simply replace the '1' with '0' in the 484 above commands. 485 486 When ftrace_enabled is set the tracers will also record the 487 functions that are within the trace. The descriptions of the 488 tracers will also show an example with ftrace enabled. 489 490 491 irqsoff 492 ------- 493 494 When interrupts are disabled, the CPU can not react to any other 495 external event (besides NMIs and SMIs). This prevents the timer 496 interrupt from triggering or the mouse interrupt from letting 497 the kernel know of a new mouse event. The result is a latency 498 with the reaction time. 499 500 The irqsoff tracer tracks the time for which interrupts are 501 disabled. When a new maximum latency is hit, the tracer saves 502 the trace leading up to that latency point so that every time a 503 new maximum is reached, the old saved trace is discarded and the 504 new trace is saved. 505 506 To reset the maximum, echo 0 into tracing_max_latency. Here is 507 an example: 508 509 # echo irqsoff > current_tracer 510 # echo latency-format > trace_options 511 # echo 0 > tracing_max_latency 512 # echo 1 > tracing_on 513 # ls -ltr 514 [...] 515 # echo 0 > tracing_on 516 # cat trace 517 # tracer: irqsoff 518 # 519 irqsoff latency trace v1.1.5 on 2.6.26 520 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 521 latency: 12 us, #3/3, CPU#1 | (M:preempt VP:0, KP:0, SP:0 HP:0 #P:2) 522 ----------------- 523 | task: bash-3730 (uid:0 nice:0 policy:0 rt_prio:0) 524 ----------------- 525 => started at: sys_setpgid 526 => ended at: sys_setpgid 527 528 # _------=> CPU# 529 # / _-----=> irqs-off 530 # | / _----=> need-resched 531 # || / _---=> hardirq/softirq 532 # ||| / _--=> preempt-depth 533 # |||| / 534 # ||||| delay 535 # cmd pid ||||| time | caller 536 # \ / ||||| \ | / 537 bash-3730 1d... 0us : _write_lock_irq (sys_setpgid) 538 bash-3730 1d..1 1us+: _write_unlock_irq (sys_setpgid) 539 bash-3730 1d..2 14us : trace_hardirqs_on (sys_setpgid) 540 541 542 Here we see that that we had a latency of 12 microsecs (which is 543 very good). The _write_lock_irq in sys_setpgid disabled 544 interrupts. The difference between the 12 and the displayed 545 timestamp 14us occurred because the clock was incremented 546 between the time of recording the max latency and the time of 547 recording the function that had that latency. 548 549 Note the above example had ftrace_enabled not set. If we set the 550 ftrace_enabled, we get a much larger output: 551 552 # tracer: irqsoff 553 # 554 irqsoff latency trace v1.1.5 on 2.6.26-rc8 555 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 556 latency: 50 us, #101/101, CPU#0 | (M:preempt VP:0, KP:0, SP:0 HP:0 #P:2) 557 ----------------- 558 | task: ls-4339 (uid:0 nice:0 policy:0 rt_prio:0) 559 ----------------- 560 => started at: __alloc_pages_internal 561 => ended at: __alloc_pages_internal 562 563 # _------=> CPU# 564 # / _-----=> irqs-off 565 # | / _----=> need-resched 566 # || / _---=> hardirq/softirq 567 # ||| / _--=> preempt-depth 568 # |||| / 569 # ||||| delay 570 # cmd pid ||||| time | caller 571 # \ / ||||| \ | / 572 ls-4339 0...1 0us+: get_page_from_freelist (__alloc_pages_internal) 573 ls-4339 0d..1 3us : rmqueue_bulk (get_page_from_freelist) 574 ls-4339 0d..1 3us : _spin_lock (rmqueue_bulk) 575 ls-4339 0d..1 4us : add_preempt_count (_spin_lock) 576 ls-4339 0d..2 4us : __rmqueue (rmqueue_bulk) 577 ls-4339 0d..2 5us : __rmqueue_smallest (__rmqueue) 578 ls-4339 0d..2 5us : __mod_zone_page_state (__rmqueue_smallest) 579 ls-4339 0d..2 6us : __rmqueue (rmqueue_bulk) 580 ls-4339 0d..2 6us : __rmqueue_smallest (__rmqueue) 581 ls-4339 0d..2 7us : __mod_zone_page_state (__rmqueue_smallest) 582 ls-4339 0d..2 7us : __rmqueue (rmqueue_bulk) 583 ls-4339 0d..2 8us : __rmqueue_smallest (__rmqueue) 584 [...] 585 ls-4339 0d..2 46us : __rmqueue_smallest (__rmqueue) 586 ls-4339 0d..2 47us : __mod_zone_page_state (__rmqueue_smallest) 587 ls-4339 0d..2 47us : __rmqueue (rmqueue_bulk) 588 ls-4339 0d..2 48us : __rmqueue_smallest (__rmqueue) 589 ls-4339 0d..2 48us : __mod_zone_page_state (__rmqueue_smallest) 590 ls-4339 0d..2 49us : _spin_unlock (rmqueue_bulk) 591 ls-4339 0d..2 49us : sub_preempt_count (_spin_unlock) 592 ls-4339 0d..1 50us : get_page_from_freelist (__alloc_pages_internal) 593 ls-4339 0d..2 51us : trace_hardirqs_on (__alloc_pages_internal) 594 595 596 597 Here we traced a 50 microsecond latency. But we also see all the 598 functions that were called during that time. Note that by 599 enabling function tracing, we incur an added overhead. This 600 overhead may extend the latency times. But nevertheless, this 601 trace has provided some very helpful debugging information. 602 603 604 preemptoff 605 ---------- 606 607 When preemption is disabled, we may be able to receive 608 interrupts but the task cannot be preempted and a higher 609 priority task must wait for preemption to be enabled again 610 before it can preempt a lower priority task. 611 612 The preemptoff tracer traces the places that disable preemption. 613 Like the irqsoff tracer, it records the maximum latency for 614 which preemption was disabled. The control of preemptoff tracer 615 is much like the irqsoff tracer. 616 617 # echo preemptoff > current_tracer 618 # echo latency-format > trace_options 619 # echo 0 > tracing_max_latency 620 # echo 1 > tracing_on 621 # ls -ltr 622 [...] 623 # echo 0 > tracing_on 624 # cat trace 625 # tracer: preemptoff 626 # 627 preemptoff latency trace v1.1.5 on 2.6.26-rc8 628 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 629 latency: 29 us, #3/3, CPU#0 | (M:preempt VP:0, KP:0, SP:0 HP:0 #P:2) 630 ----------------- 631 | task: sshd-4261 (uid:0 nice:0 policy:0 rt_prio:0) 632 ----------------- 633 => started at: do_IRQ 634 => ended at: __do_softirq 635 636 # _------=> CPU# 637 # / _-----=> irqs-off 638 # | / _----=> need-resched 639 # || / _---=> hardirq/softirq 640 # ||| / _--=> preempt-depth 641 # |||| / 642 # ||||| delay 643 # cmd pid ||||| time | caller 644 # \ / ||||| \ | / 645 sshd-4261 0d.h. 0us+: irq_enter (do_IRQ) 646 sshd-4261 0d.s. 29us : _local_bh_enable (__do_softirq) 647 sshd-4261 0d.s1 30us : trace_preempt_on (__do_softirq) 648 649 650 This has some more changes. Preemption was disabled when an 651 interrupt came in (notice the 'h'), and was enabled while doing 652 a softirq. (notice the 's'). But we also see that interrupts 653 have been disabled when entering the preempt off section and 654 leaving it (the 'd'). We do not know if interrupts were enabled 655 in the mean time. 656 657 # tracer: preemptoff 658 # 659 preemptoff latency trace v1.1.5 on 2.6.26-rc8 660 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 661 latency: 63 us, #87/87, CPU#0 | (M:preempt VP:0, KP:0, SP:0 HP:0 #P:2) 662 ----------------- 663 | task: sshd-4261 (uid:0 nice:0 policy:0 rt_prio:0) 664 ----------------- 665 => started at: remove_wait_queue 666 => ended at: __do_softirq 667 668 # _------=> CPU# 669 # / _-----=> irqs-off 670 # | / _----=> need-resched 671 # || / _---=> hardirq/softirq 672 # ||| / _--=> preempt-depth 673 # |||| / 674 # ||||| delay 675 # cmd pid ||||| time | caller 676 # \ / ||||| \ | / 677 sshd-4261 0d..1 0us : _spin_lock_irqsave (remove_wait_queue) 678 sshd-4261 0d..1 1us : _spin_unlock_irqrestore (remove_wait_queue) 679 sshd-4261 0d..1 2us : do_IRQ (common_interrupt) 680 sshd-4261 0d..1 2us : irq_enter (do_IRQ) 681 sshd-4261 0d..1 2us : idle_cpu (irq_enter) 682 sshd-4261 0d..1 3us : add_preempt_count (irq_enter) 683 sshd-4261 0d.h1 3us : idle_cpu (irq_enter) 684 sshd-4261 0d.h. 4us : handle_fasteoi_irq (do_IRQ) 685 [...] 686 sshd-4261 0d.h. 12us : add_preempt_count (_spin_lock) 687 sshd-4261 0d.h1 12us : ack_ioapic_quirk_irq (handle_fasteoi_irq) 688 sshd-4261 0d.h1 13us : move_native_irq (ack_ioapic_quirk_irq) 689 sshd-4261 0d.h1 13us : _spin_unlock (handle_fasteoi_irq) 690 sshd-4261 0d.h1 14us : sub_preempt_count (_spin_unlock) 691 sshd-4261 0d.h1 14us : irq_exit (do_IRQ) 692 sshd-4261 0d.h1 15us : sub_preempt_count (irq_exit) 693 sshd-4261 0d..2 15us : do_softirq (irq_exit) 694 sshd-4261 0d... 15us : __do_softirq (do_softirq) 695 sshd-4261 0d... 16us : __local_bh_disable (__do_softirq) 696 sshd-4261 0d... 16us+: add_preempt_count (__local_bh_disable) 697 sshd-4261 0d.s4 20us : add_preempt_count (__local_bh_disable) 698 sshd-4261 0d.s4 21us : sub_preempt_count (local_bh_enable) 699 sshd-4261 0d.s5 21us : sub_preempt_count (local_bh_enable) 700 [...] 701 sshd-4261 0d.s6 41us : add_preempt_count (__local_bh_disable) 702 sshd-4261 0d.s6 42us : sub_preempt_count (local_bh_enable) 703 sshd-4261 0d.s7 42us : sub_preempt_count (local_bh_enable) 704 sshd-4261 0d.s5 43us : add_preempt_count (__local_bh_disable) 705 sshd-4261 0d.s5 43us : sub_preempt_count (local_bh_enable_ip) 706 sshd-4261 0d.s6 44us : sub_preempt_count (local_bh_enable_ip) 707 sshd-4261 0d.s5 44us : add_preempt_count (__local_bh_disable) 708 sshd-4261 0d.s5 45us : sub_preempt_count (local_bh_enable) 709 [...] 710 sshd-4261 0d.s. 63us : _local_bh_enable (__do_softirq) 711 sshd-4261 0d.s1 64us : trace_preempt_on (__do_softirq) 712 713 714 The above is an example of the preemptoff trace with 715 ftrace_enabled set. Here we see that interrupts were disabled 716 the entire time. The irq_enter code lets us know that we entered 717 an interrupt 'h'. Before that, the functions being traced still 718 show that it is not in an interrupt, but we can see from the 719 functions themselves that this is not the case. 720 721 Notice that __do_softirq when called does not have a 722 preempt_count. It may seem that we missed a preempt enabling. 723 What really happened is that the preempt count is held on the 724 thread's stack and we switched to the softirq stack (4K stacks 725 in effect). The code does not copy the preempt count, but 726 because interrupts are disabled, we do not need to worry about 727 it. Having a tracer like this is good for letting people know 728 what really happens inside the kernel. 729 730 731 preemptirqsoff 732 -------------- 733 734 Knowing the locations that have interrupts disabled or 735 preemption disabled for the longest times is helpful. But 736 sometimes we would like to know when either preemption and/or 737 interrupts are disabled. 738 739 Consider the following code: 740 741 local_irq_disable(); 742 call_function_with_irqs_off(); 743 preempt_disable(); 744 call_function_with_irqs_and_preemption_off(); 745 local_irq_enable(); 746 call_function_with_preemption_off(); 747 preempt_enable(); 748 749 The irqsoff tracer will record the total length of 750 call_function_with_irqs_off() and 751 call_function_with_irqs_and_preemption_off(). 752 753 The preemptoff tracer will record the total length of 754 call_function_with_irqs_and_preemption_off() and 755 call_function_with_preemption_off(). 756 757 But neither will trace the time that interrupts and/or 758 preemption is disabled. This total time is the time that we can 759 not schedule. To record this time, use the preemptirqsoff 760 tracer. 761 762 Again, using this trace is much like the irqsoff and preemptoff 763 tracers. 764 765 # echo preemptirqsoff > current_tracer 766 # echo latency-format > trace_options 767 # echo 0 > tracing_max_latency 768 # echo 1 > tracing_on 769 # ls -ltr 770 [...] 771 # echo 0 > tracing_on 772 # cat trace 773 # tracer: preemptirqsoff 774 # 775 preemptirqsoff latency trace v1.1.5 on 2.6.26-rc8 776 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 777 latency: 293 us, #3/3, CPU#0 | (M:preempt VP:0, KP:0, SP:0 HP:0 #P:2) 778 ----------------- 779 | task: ls-4860 (uid:0 nice:0 policy:0 rt_prio:0) 780 ----------------- 781 => started at: apic_timer_interrupt 782 => ended at: __do_softirq 783 784 # _------=> CPU# 785 # / _-----=> irqs-off 786 # | / _----=> need-resched 787 # || / _---=> hardirq/softirq 788 # ||| / _--=> preempt-depth 789 # |||| / 790 # ||||| delay 791 # cmd pid ||||| time | caller 792 # \ / ||||| \ | / 793 ls-4860 0d... 0us!: trace_hardirqs_off_thunk (apic_timer_interrupt) 794 ls-4860 0d.s. 294us : _local_bh_enable (__do_softirq) 795 ls-4860 0d.s1 294us : trace_preempt_on (__do_softirq) 796 797 798 799 The trace_hardirqs_off_thunk is called from assembly on x86 when 800 interrupts are disabled in the assembly code. Without the 801 function tracing, we do not know if interrupts were enabled 802 within the preemption points. We do see that it started with 803 preemption enabled. 804 805 Here is a trace with ftrace_enabled set: 806 807 808 # tracer: preemptirqsoff 809 # 810 preemptirqsoff latency trace v1.1.5 on 2.6.26-rc8 811 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 812 latency: 105 us, #183/183, CPU#0 | (M:preempt VP:0, KP:0, SP:0 HP:0 #P:2) 813 ----------------- 814 | task: sshd-4261 (uid:0 nice:0 policy:0 rt_prio:0) 815 ----------------- 816 => started at: write_chan 817 => ended at: __do_softirq 818 819 # _------=> CPU# 820 # / _-----=> irqs-off 821 # | / _----=> need-resched 822 # || / _---=> hardirq/softirq 823 # ||| / _--=> preempt-depth 824 # |||| / 825 # ||||| delay 826 # cmd pid ||||| time | caller 827 # \ / ||||| \ | / 828 ls-4473 0.N.. 0us : preempt_schedule (write_chan) 829 ls-4473 0dN.1 1us : _spin_lock (schedule) 830 ls-4473 0dN.1 2us : add_preempt_count (_spin_lock) 831 ls-4473 0d..2 2us : put_prev_task_fair (schedule) 832 [...] 833 ls-4473 0d..2 13us : set_normalized_timespec (ktime_get_ts) 834 ls-4473 0d..2 13us : __switch_to (schedule) 835 sshd-4261 0d..2 14us : finish_task_switch (schedule) 836 sshd-4261 0d..2 14us : _spin_unlock_irq (finish_task_switch) 837 sshd-4261 0d..1 15us : add_preempt_count (_spin_lock_irqsave) 838 sshd-4261 0d..2 16us : _spin_unlock_irqrestore (hrtick_set) 839 sshd-4261 0d..2 16us : do_IRQ (common_interrupt) 840 sshd-4261 0d..2 17us : irq_enter (do_IRQ) 841 sshd-4261 0d..2 17us : idle_cpu (irq_enter) 842 sshd-4261 0d..2 18us : add_preempt_count (irq_enter) 843 sshd-4261 0d.h2 18us : idle_cpu (irq_enter) 844 sshd-4261 0d.h. 18us : handle_fasteoi_irq (do_IRQ) 845 sshd-4261 0d.h. 19us : _spin_lock (handle_fasteoi_irq) 846 sshd-4261 0d.h. 19us : add_preempt_count (_spin_lock) 847 sshd-4261 0d.h1 20us : _spin_unlock (handle_fasteoi_irq) 848 sshd-4261 0d.h1 20us : sub_preempt_count (_spin_unlock) 849 [...] 850 sshd-4261 0d.h1 28us : _spin_unlock (handle_fasteoi_irq) 851 sshd-4261 0d.h1 29us : sub_preempt_count (_spin_unlock) 852 sshd-4261 0d.h2 29us : irq_exit (do_IRQ) 853 sshd-4261 0d.h2 29us : sub_preempt_count (irq_exit) 854 sshd-4261 0d..3 30us : do_softirq (irq_exit) 855 sshd-4261 0d... 30us : __do_softirq (do_softirq) 856 sshd-4261 0d... 31us : __local_bh_disable (__do_softirq) 857 sshd-4261 0d... 31us+: add_preempt_count (__local_bh_disable) 858 sshd-4261 0d.s4 34us : add_preempt_count (__local_bh_disable) 859 [...] 860 sshd-4261 0d.s3 43us : sub_preempt_count (local_bh_enable_ip) 861 sshd-4261 0d.s4 44us : sub_preempt_count (local_bh_enable_ip) 862 sshd-4261 0d.s3 44us : smp_apic_timer_interrupt (apic_timer_interrupt) 863 sshd-4261 0d.s3 45us : irq_enter (smp_apic_timer_interrupt) 864 sshd-4261 0d.s3 45us : idle_cpu (irq_enter) 865 sshd-4261 0d.s3 46us : add_preempt_count (irq_enter) 866 sshd-4261 0d.H3 46us : idle_cpu (irq_enter) 867 sshd-4261 0d.H3 47us : hrtimer_interrupt (smp_apic_timer_interrupt) 868 sshd-4261 0d.H3 47us : ktime_get (hrtimer_interrupt) 869 [...] 870 sshd-4261 0d.H3 81us : tick_program_event (hrtimer_interrupt) 871 sshd-4261 0d.H3 82us : ktime_get (tick_program_event) 872 sshd-4261 0d.H3 82us : ktime_get_ts (ktime_get) 873 sshd-4261 0d.H3 83us : getnstimeofday (ktime_get_ts) 874 sshd-4261 0d.H3 83us : set_normalized_timespec (ktime_get_ts) 875 sshd-4261 0d.H3 84us : clockevents_program_event (tick_program_event) 876 sshd-4261 0d.H3 84us : lapic_next_event (clockevents_program_event) 877 sshd-4261 0d.H3 85us : irq_exit (smp_apic_timer_interrupt) 878 sshd-4261 0d.H3 85us : sub_preempt_count (irq_exit) 879 sshd-4261 0d.s4 86us : sub_preempt_count (irq_exit) 880 sshd-4261 0d.s3 86us : add_preempt_count (__local_bh_disable) 881 [...] 882 sshd-4261 0d.s1 98us : sub_preempt_count (net_rx_action) 883 sshd-4261 0d.s. 99us : add_preempt_count (_spin_lock_irq) 884 sshd-4261 0d.s1 99us+: _spin_unlock_irq (run_timer_softirq) 885 sshd-4261 0d.s. 104us : _local_bh_enable (__do_softirq) 886 sshd-4261 0d.s. 104us : sub_preempt_count (_local_bh_enable) 887 sshd-4261 0d.s. 105us : _local_bh_enable (__do_softirq) 888 sshd-4261 0d.s1 105us : trace_preempt_on (__do_softirq) 889 890 891 This is a very interesting trace. It started with the preemption 892 of the ls task. We see that the task had the "need_resched" bit 893 set via the 'N' in the trace. Interrupts were disabled before 894 the spin_lock at the beginning of the trace. We see that a 895 schedule took place to run sshd. When the interrupts were 896 enabled, we took an interrupt. On return from the interrupt 897 handler, the softirq ran. We took another interrupt while 898 running the softirq as we see from the capital 'H'. 899 900 901 wakeup 902 ------ 903 904 In a Real-Time environment it is very important to know the 905 wakeup time it takes for the highest priority task that is woken 906 up to the time that it executes. This is also known as "schedule 907 latency". I stress the point that this is about RT tasks. It is 908 also important to know the scheduling latency of non-RT tasks, 909 but the average schedule latency is better for non-RT tasks. 910 Tools like LatencyTop are more appropriate for such 911 measurements. 912 913 Real-Time environments are interested in the worst case latency. 914 That is the longest latency it takes for something to happen, 915 and not the average. We can have a very fast scheduler that may 916 only have a large latency once in a while, but that would not 917 work well with Real-Time tasks. The wakeup tracer was designed 918 to record the worst case wakeups of RT tasks. Non-RT tasks are 919 not recorded because the tracer only records one worst case and 920 tracing non-RT tasks that are unpredictable will overwrite the 921 worst case latency of RT tasks. 922 923 Since this tracer only deals with RT tasks, we will run this 924 slightly differently than we did with the previous tracers. 925 Instead of performing an 'ls', we will run 'sleep 1' under 926 'chrt' which changes the priority of the task. 927 928 # echo wakeup > current_tracer 929 # echo latency-format > trace_options 930 # echo 0 > tracing_max_latency 931 # echo 1 > tracing_on 932 # chrt -f 5 sleep 1 933 # echo 0 > tracing_on 934 # cat trace 935 # tracer: wakeup 936 # 937 wakeup latency trace v1.1.5 on 2.6.26-rc8 938 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 939 latency: 4 us, #2/2, CPU#1 | (M:preempt VP:0, KP:0, SP:0 HP:0 #P:2) 940 ----------------- 941 | task: sleep-4901 (uid:0 nice:0 policy:1 rt_prio:5) 942 ----------------- 943 944 # _------=> CPU# 945 # / _-----=> irqs-off 946 # | / _----=> need-resched 947 # || / _---=> hardirq/softirq 948 # ||| / _--=> preempt-depth 949 # |||| / 950 # ||||| delay 951 # cmd pid ||||| time | caller 952 # \ / ||||| \ | / 953 <idle>-0 1d.h4 0us+: try_to_wake_up (wake_up_process) 954 <idle>-0 1d..4 4us : schedule (cpu_idle) 955 956 957 Running this on an idle system, we see that it only took 4 958 microseconds to perform the task switch. Note, since the trace 959 marker in the schedule is before the actual "switch", we stop 960 the tracing when the recorded task is about to schedule in. This 961 may change if we add a new marker at the end of the scheduler. 962 963 Notice that the recorded task is 'sleep' with the PID of 4901 964 and it has an rt_prio of 5. This priority is user-space priority 965 and not the internal kernel priority. The policy is 1 for 966 SCHED_FIFO and 2 for SCHED_RR. 967 968 Doing the same with chrt -r 5 and ftrace_enabled set. 969 970 # tracer: wakeup 971 # 972 wakeup latency trace v1.1.5 on 2.6.26-rc8 973 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 974 latency: 50 us, #60/60, CPU#1 | (M:preempt VP:0, KP:0, SP:0 HP:0 #P:2) 975 ----------------- 976 | task: sleep-4068 (uid:0 nice:0 policy:2 rt_prio:5) 977 ----------------- 978 979 # _------=> CPU# 980 # / _-----=> irqs-off 981 # | / _----=> need-resched 982 # || / _---=> hardirq/softirq 983 # ||| / _--=> preempt-depth 984 # |||| / 985 # ||||| delay 986 # cmd pid ||||| time | caller 987 # \ / ||||| \ | / 988 ksoftirq-7 1d.H3 0us : try_to_wake_up (wake_up_process) 989 ksoftirq-7 1d.H4 1us : sub_preempt_count (marker_probe_cb) 990 ksoftirq-7 1d.H3 2us : check_preempt_wakeup (try_to_wake_up) 991 ksoftirq-7 1d.H3 3us : update_curr (check_preempt_wakeup) 992 ksoftirq-7 1d.H3 4us : calc_delta_mine (update_curr) 993 ksoftirq-7 1d.H3 5us : __resched_task (check_preempt_wakeup) 994 ksoftirq-7 1d.H3 6us : task_wake_up_rt (try_to_wake_up) 995 ksoftirq-7 1d.H3 7us : _spin_unlock_irqrestore (try_to_wake_up) 996 [...] 997 ksoftirq-7 1d.H2 17us : irq_exit (smp_apic_timer_interrupt) 998 ksoftirq-7 1d.H2 18us : sub_preempt_count (irq_exit) 999 ksoftirq-7 1d.s3 19us : sub_preempt_count (irq_exit) 1000 ksoftirq-7 1..s2 20us : rcu_process_callbacks (__do_softirq) 1001 [...] 1002 ksoftirq-7 1..s2 26us : __rcu_process_callbacks (rcu_process_callbacks) 1003 ksoftirq-7 1d.s2 27us : _local_bh_enable (__do_softirq) 1004 ksoftirq-7 1d.s2 28us : sub_preempt_count (_local_bh_enable) 1005 ksoftirq-7 1.N.3 29us : sub_preempt_count (ksoftirqd) 1006 ksoftirq-7 1.N.2 30us : _cond_resched (ksoftirqd) 1007 ksoftirq-7 1.N.2 31us : __cond_resched (_cond_resched) 1008 ksoftirq-7 1.N.2 32us : add_preempt_count (__cond_resched) 1009 ksoftirq-7 1.N.2 33us : schedule (__cond_resched) 1010 ksoftirq-7 1.N.2 33us : add_preempt_count (schedule) 1011 ksoftirq-7 1.N.3 34us : hrtick_clear (schedule) 1012 ksoftirq-7 1dN.3 35us : _spin_lock (schedule) 1013 ksoftirq-7 1dN.3 36us : add_preempt_count (_spin_lock) 1014 ksoftirq-7 1d..4 37us : put_prev_task_fair (schedule) 1015 ksoftirq-7 1d..4 38us : update_curr (put_prev_task_fair) 1016 [...] 1017 ksoftirq-7 1d..5 47us : _spin_trylock (tracing_record_cmdline) 1018 ksoftirq-7 1d..5 48us : add_preempt_count (_spin_trylock) 1019 ksoftirq-7 1d..6 49us : _spin_unlock (tracing_record_cmdline) 1020 ksoftirq-7 1d..6 49us : sub_preempt_count (_spin_unlock) 1021 ksoftirq-7 1d..4 50us : schedule (__cond_resched) 1022 1023 The interrupt went off while running ksoftirqd. This task runs 1024 at SCHED_OTHER. Why did not we see the 'N' set early? This may 1025 be a harmless bug with x86_32 and 4K stacks. On x86_32 with 4K 1026 stacks configured, the interrupt and softirq run with their own 1027 stack. Some information is held on the top of the task's stack 1028 (need_resched and preempt_count are both stored there). The 1029 setting of the NEED_RESCHED bit is done directly to the task's 1030 stack, but the reading of the NEED_RESCHED is done by looking at 1031 the current stack, which in this case is the stack for the hard 1032 interrupt. This hides the fact that NEED_RESCHED has been set. 1033 We do not see the 'N' until we switch back to the task's 1034 assigned stack. 1035 1036 function 1037 -------- 1038 1039 This tracer is the function tracer. Enabling the function tracer 1040 can be done from the debug file system. Make sure the 1041 ftrace_enabled is set; otherwise this tracer is a nop. 1042 1043 # sysctl kernel.ftrace_enabled=1 1044 # echo function > current_tracer 1045 # echo 1 > tracing_on 1046 # usleep 1 1047 # echo 0 > tracing_on 1048 # cat trace 1049 # tracer: function 1050 # 1051 # TASK-PID CPU# TIMESTAMP FUNCTION 1052 # | | | | | 1053 bash-4003 [00] 123.638713: finish_task_switch <-schedule 1054 bash-4003 [00] 123.638714: _spin_unlock_irq <-finish_task_switch 1055 bash-4003 [00] 123.638714: sub_preempt_count <-_spin_unlock_irq 1056 bash-4003 [00] 123.638715: hrtick_set <-schedule 1057 bash-4003 [00] 123.638715: _spin_lock_irqsave <-hrtick_set 1058 bash-4003 [00] 123.638716: add_preempt_count <-_spin_lock_irqsave 1059 bash-4003 [00] 123.638716: _spin_unlock_irqrestore <-hrtick_set 1060 bash-4003 [00] 123.638717: sub_preempt_count <-_spin_unlock_irqrestore 1061 bash-4003 [00] 123.638717: hrtick_clear <-hrtick_set 1062 bash-4003 [00] 123.638718: sub_preempt_count <-schedule 1063 bash-4003 [00] 123.638718: sub_preempt_count <-preempt_schedule 1064 bash-4003 [00] 123.638719: wait_for_completion <-__stop_machine_run 1065 bash-4003 [00] 123.638719: wait_for_common <-wait_for_completion 1066 bash-4003 [00] 123.638720: _spin_lock_irq <-wait_for_common 1067 bash-4003 [00] 123.638720: add_preempt_count <-_spin_lock_irq 1068 [...] 1069 1070 1071 Note: function tracer uses ring buffers to store the above 1072 entries. The newest data may overwrite the oldest data. 1073 Sometimes using echo to stop the trace is not sufficient because 1074 the tracing could have overwritten the data that you wanted to 1075 record. For this reason, it is sometimes better to disable 1076 tracing directly from a program. This allows you to stop the 1077 tracing at the point that you hit the part that you are 1078 interested in. To disable the tracing directly from a C program, 1079 something like following code snippet can be used: 1080 1081 int trace_fd; 1082 [...] 1083 int main(int argc, char *argv[]) { 1084 [...] 1085 trace_fd = open(tracing_file("tracing_on"), O_WRONLY); 1086 [...] 1087 if (condition_hit()) { 1088 write(trace_fd, "0", 1); 1089 } 1090 [...] 1091 } 1092 1093 1094 Single thread tracing 1095 --------------------- 1096 1097 By writing into set_ftrace_pid you can trace a 1098 single thread. For example: 1099 1100 # cat set_ftrace_pid 1101 no pid 1102 # echo 3111 > set_ftrace_pid 1103 # cat set_ftrace_pid 1104 3111 1105 # echo function > current_tracer 1106 # cat trace | head 1107 # tracer: function 1108 # 1109 # TASK-PID CPU# TIMESTAMP FUNCTION 1110 # | | | | | 1111 yum-updatesd-3111 [003] 1637.254676: finish_task_switch <-thread_return 1112 yum-updatesd-3111 [003] 1637.254681: hrtimer_cancel <-schedule_hrtimeout_range 1113 yum-updatesd-3111 [003] 1637.254682: hrtimer_try_to_cancel <-hrtimer_cancel 1114 yum-updatesd-3111 [003] 1637.254683: lock_hrtimer_base <-hrtimer_try_to_cancel 1115 yum-updatesd-3111 [003] 1637.254685: fget_light <-do_sys_poll 1116 yum-updatesd-3111 [003] 1637.254686: pipe_poll <-do_sys_poll 1117 # echo -1 > set_ftrace_pid 1118 # cat trace |head 1119 # tracer: function 1120 # 1121 # TASK-PID CPU# TIMESTAMP FUNCTION 1122 # | | | | | 1123 ##### CPU 3 buffer started #### 1124 yum-updatesd-3111 [003] 1701.957688: free_poll_entry <-poll_freewait 1125 yum-updatesd-3111 [003] 1701.957689: remove_wait_queue <-free_poll_entry 1126 yum-updatesd-3111 [003] 1701.957691: fput <-free_poll_entry 1127 yum-updatesd-3111 [003] 1701.957692: audit_syscall_exit <-sysret_audit 1128 yum-updatesd-3111 [003] 1701.957693: path_put <-audit_syscall_exit 1129 1130 If you want to trace a function when executing, you could use 1131 something like this simple program: 1132 1133 #include <stdio.h> 1134 #include <stdlib.h> 1135 #include <sys/types.h> 1136 #include <sys/stat.h> 1137 #include <fcntl.h> 1138 #include <unistd.h> 1139 #include <string.h> 1140 1141 #define _STR(x) #x 1142 #define STR(x) _STR(x) 1143 #define MAX_PATH 256 1144 1145 const char *find_debugfs(void) 1146 { 1147 static char debugfs[MAX_PATH+1]; 1148 static int debugfs_found; 1149 char type[100]; 1150 FILE *fp; 1151 1152 if (debugfs_found) 1153 return debugfs; 1154 1155 if ((fp = fopen("/proc/mounts","r")) == NULL) { 1156 perror("/proc/mounts"); 1157 return NULL; 1158 } 1159 1160 while (fscanf(fp, "%*s %" 1161 STR(MAX_PATH) 1162 "s %99s %*s %*d %*d\n", 1163 debugfs, type) == 2) { 1164 if (strcmp(type, "debugfs") == 0) 1165 break; 1166 } 1167 fclose(fp); 1168 1169 if (strcmp(type, "debugfs") != 0) { 1170 fprintf(stderr, "debugfs not mounted"); 1171 return NULL; 1172 } 1173 1174 strcat(debugfs, "/tracing/"); 1175 debugfs_found = 1; 1176 1177 return debugfs; 1178 } 1179 1180 const char *tracing_file(const char *file_name) 1181 { 1182 static char trace_file[MAX_PATH+1]; 1183 snprintf(trace_file, MAX_PATH, "%s/%s", find_debugfs(), file_name); 1184 return trace_file; 1185 } 1186 1187 int main (int argc, char **argv) 1188 { 1189 if (argc < 1) 1190 exit(-1); 1191 1192 if (fork() > 0) { 1193 int fd, ffd; 1194 char line[64]; 1195 int s; 1196 1197 ffd = open(tracing_file("current_tracer"), O_WRONLY); 1198 if (ffd < 0) 1199 exit(-1); 1200 write(ffd, "nop", 3); 1201 1202 fd = open(tracing_file("set_ftrace_pid"), O_WRONLY); 1203 s = sprintf(line, "%d\n", getpid()); 1204 write(fd, line, s); 1205 1206 write(ffd, "function", 8); 1207 1208 close(fd); 1209 close(ffd); 1210 1211 execvp(argv[1], argv+1); 1212 } 1213 1214 return 0; 1215 } 1216 1217 1218 hw-branch-tracer (x86 only) 1219 --------------------------- 1220 1221 This tracer uses the x86 last branch tracing hardware feature to 1222 collect a branch trace on all cpus with relatively low overhead. 1223 1224 The tracer uses a fixed-size circular buffer per cpu and only 1225 traces ring 0 branches. The trace file dumps that buffer in the 1226 following format: 1227 1228 # tracer: hw-branch-tracer 1229 # 1230 # CPU# TO <- FROM 1231 0 scheduler_tick+0xb5/0x1bf <- task_tick_idle+0x5/0x6 1232 2 run_posix_cpu_timers+0x2b/0x72a <- run_posix_cpu_timers+0x25/0x72a 1233 0 scheduler_tick+0x139/0x1bf <- scheduler_tick+0xed/0x1bf 1234 0 scheduler_tick+0x17c/0x1bf <- scheduler_tick+0x148/0x1bf 1235 2 run_posix_cpu_timers+0x9e/0x72a <- run_posix_cpu_timers+0x5e/0x72a 1236 0 scheduler_tick+0x1b6/0x1bf <- scheduler_tick+0x1aa/0x1bf 1237 1238 1239 The tracer may be used to dump the trace for the oops'ing cpu on 1240 a kernel oops into the system log. To enable this, 1241 ftrace_dump_on_oops must be set. To set ftrace_dump_on_oops, one 1242 can either use the sysctl function or set it via the proc system 1243 interface. 1244 1245 sysctl kernel.ftrace_dump_on_oops=n 1246 1247 or 1248 1249 echo n > /proc/sys/kernel/ftrace_dump_on_oops 1250 1251 If n = 1, ftrace will dump buffers of all CPUs, if n = 2 ftrace will 1252 only dump the buffer of the CPU that triggered the oops. 1253 1254 Here's an example of such a dump after a null pointer 1255 dereference in a kernel module: 1256 1257 [57848.105921] BUG: unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at 0000000000000000 1258 [57848.106019] IP: [<ffffffffa0000006>] open+0x6/0x14 [oops] 1259 [57848.106019] PGD 2354e9067 PUD 2375e7067 PMD 0 1260 [57848.106019] Oops: 0002 [#1] SMP 1261 [57848.106019] last sysfs file: /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1e.0/0000:20:05.0/local_cpus 1262 [57848.106019] Dumping ftrace buffer: 1263 [57848.106019] --------------------------------- 1264 [...] 1265 [57848.106019] 0 chrdev_open+0xe6/0x165 <- cdev_put+0x23/0x24 1266 [57848.106019] 0 chrdev_open+0x117/0x165 <- chrdev_open+0xfa/0x165 1267 [57848.106019] 0 chrdev_open+0x120/0x165 <- chrdev_open+0x11c/0x165 1268 [57848.106019] 0 chrdev_open+0x134/0x165 <- chrdev_open+0x12b/0x165 1269 [57848.106019] 0 open+0x0/0x14 [oops] <- chrdev_open+0x144/0x165 1270 [57848.106019] 0 page_fault+0x0/0x30 <- open+0x6/0x14 [oops] 1271 [57848.106019] 0 error_entry+0x0/0x5b <- page_fault+0x4/0x30 1272 [57848.106019] 0 error_kernelspace+0x0/0x31 <- error_entry+0x59/0x5b 1273 [57848.106019] 0 error_sti+0x0/0x1 <- error_kernelspace+0x2d/0x31 1274 [57848.106019] 0 page_fault+0x9/0x30 <- error_sti+0x0/0x1 1275 [57848.106019] 0 do_page_fault+0x0/0x881 <- page_fault+0x1a/0x30 1276 [...] 1277 [57848.106019] 0 do_page_fault+0x66b/0x881 <- is_prefetch+0x1ee/0x1f2 1278 [57848.106019] 0 do_page_fault+0x6e0/0x881 <- do_page_fault+0x67a/0x881 1279 [57848.106019] 0 oops_begin+0x0/0x96 <- do_page_fault+0x6e0/0x881 1280 [57848.106019] 0 trace_hw_branch_oops+0x0/0x2d <- oops_begin+0x9/0x96 1281 [...] 1282 [57848.106019] 0 ds_suspend_bts+0x2a/0xe3 <- ds_suspend_bts+0x1a/0xe3 1283 [57848.106019] --------------------------------- 1284 [57848.106019] CPU 0 1285 [57848.106019] Modules linked in: oops 1286 [57848.106019] Pid: 5542, comm: cat Tainted: G W 2.6.28 #23 1287 [57848.106019] RIP: 0010:[<ffffffffa0000006>] [<ffffffffa0000006>] open+0x6/0x14 [oops] 1288 [57848.106019] RSP: 0018:ffff880235457d48 EFLAGS: 00010246 1289 [...] 1290 1291 1292 function graph tracer 1293 --------------------------- 1294 1295 This tracer is similar to the function tracer except that it 1296 probes a function on its entry and its exit. This is done by 1297 using a dynamically allocated stack of return addresses in each 1298 task_struct. On function entry the tracer overwrites the return 1299 address of each function traced to set a custom probe. Thus the 1300 original return address is stored on the stack of return address 1301 in the task_struct. 1302 1303 Probing on both ends of a function leads to special features 1304 such as: 1305 1306 - measure of a function's time execution 1307 - having a reliable call stack to draw function calls graph 1308 1309 This tracer is useful in several situations: 1310 1311 - you want to find the reason of a strange kernel behavior and 1312 need to see what happens in detail on any areas (or specific 1313 ones). 1314 1315 - you are experiencing weird latencies but it's difficult to 1316 find its origin. 1317 1318 - you want to find quickly which path is taken by a specific 1319 function 1320 1321 - you just want to peek inside a working kernel and want to see 1322 what happens there. 1323 1324 # tracer: function_graph 1325 # 1326 # CPU DURATION FUNCTION CALLS 1327 # | | | | | | | 1328 1329 0) | sys_open() { 1330 0) | do_sys_open() { 1331 0) | getname() { 1332 0) | kmem_cache_alloc() { 1333 0) 1.382 us | __might_sleep(); 1334 0) 2.478 us | } 1335 0) | strncpy_from_user() { 1336 0) | might_fault() { 1337 0) 1.389 us | __might_sleep(); 1338 0) 2.553 us | } 1339 0) 3.807 us | } 1340 0) 7.876 us | } 1341 0) | alloc_fd() { 1342 0) 0.668 us | _spin_lock(); 1343 0) 0.570 us | expand_files(); 1344 0) 0.586 us | _spin_unlock(); 1345 1346 1347 There are several columns that can be dynamically 1348 enabled/disabled. You can use every combination of options you 1349 want, depending on your needs. 1350 1351 - The cpu number on which the function executed is default 1352 enabled. It is sometimes better to only trace one cpu (see 1353 tracing_cpu_mask file) or you might sometimes see unordered 1354 function calls while cpu tracing switch. 1355 1356 hide: echo nofuncgraph-cpu > trace_options 1357 show: echo funcgraph-cpu > trace_options 1358 1359 - The duration (function's time of execution) is displayed on 1360 the closing bracket line of a function or on the same line 1361 than the current function in case of a leaf one. It is default 1362 enabled. 1363 1364 hide: echo nofuncgraph-duration > trace_options 1365 show: echo funcgraph-duration > trace_options 1366 1367 - The overhead field precedes the duration field in case of 1368 reached duration thresholds. 1369 1370 hide: echo nofuncgraph-overhead > trace_options 1371 show: echo funcgraph-overhead > trace_options 1372 depends on: funcgraph-duration 1373 1374 ie: 1375 1376 0) | up_write() { 1377 0) 0.646 us | _spin_lock_irqsave(); 1378 0) 0.684 us | _spin_unlock_irqrestore(); 1379 0) 3.123 us | } 1380 0) 0.548 us | fput(); 1381 0) + 58.628 us | } 1382 1383 [...] 1384 1385 0) | putname() { 1386 0) | kmem_cache_free() { 1387 0) 0.518 us | __phys_addr(); 1388 0) 1.757 us | } 1389 0) 2.861 us | } 1390 0) ! 115.305 us | } 1391 0) ! 116.402 us | } 1392 1393 + means that the function exceeded 10 usecs. 1394 ! means that the function exceeded 100 usecs. 1395 1396 1397 - The task/pid field displays the thread cmdline and pid which 1398 executed the function. It is default disabled. 1399 1400 hide: echo nofuncgraph-proc > trace_options 1401 show: echo funcgraph-proc > trace_options 1402 1403 ie: 1404 1405 # tracer: function_graph 1406 # 1407 # CPU TASK/PID DURATION FUNCTION CALLS 1408 # | | | | | | | | | 1409 0) sh-4802 | | d_free() { 1410 0) sh-4802 | | call_rcu() { 1411 0) sh-4802 | | __call_rcu() { 1412 0) sh-4802 | 0.616 us | rcu_process_gp_end(); 1413 0) sh-4802 | 0.586 us | check_for_new_grace_period(); 1414 0) sh-4802 | 2.899 us | } 1415 0) sh-4802 | 4.040 us | } 1416 0) sh-4802 | 5.151 us | } 1417 0) sh-4802 | + 49.370 us | } 1418 1419 1420 - The absolute time field is an absolute timestamp given by the 1421 system clock since it started. A snapshot of this time is 1422 given on each entry/exit of functions 1423 1424 hide: echo nofuncgraph-abstime > trace_options 1425 show: echo funcgraph-abstime > trace_options 1426 1427 ie: 1428 1429 # 1430 # TIME CPU DURATION FUNCTION CALLS 1431 # | | | | | | | | 1432 360.774522 | 1) 0.541 us | } 1433 360.774522 | 1) 4.663 us | } 1434 360.774523 | 1) 0.541 us | __wake_up_bit(); 1435 360.774524 | 1) 6.796 us | } 1436 360.774524 | 1) 7.952 us | } 1437 360.774525 | 1) 9.063 us | } 1438 360.774525 | 1) 0.615 us | journal_mark_dirty(); 1439 360.774527 | 1) 0.578 us | __brelse(); 1440 360.774528 | 1) | reiserfs_prepare_for_journal() { 1441 360.774528 | 1) | unlock_buffer() { 1442 360.774529 | 1) | wake_up_bit() { 1443 360.774529 | 1) | bit_waitqueue() { 1444 360.774530 | 1) 0.594 us | __phys_addr(); 1445 1446 1447 You can put some comments on specific functions by using 1448 trace_printk() For example, if you want to put a comment inside 1449 the __might_sleep() function, you just have to include 1450 <linux/ftrace.h> and call trace_printk() inside __might_sleep() 1451 1452 trace_printk("I'm a comment!\n") 1453 1454 will produce: 1455 1456 1) | __might_sleep() { 1457 1) | /* I'm a comment! */ 1458 1) 1.449 us | } 1459 1460 1461 You might find other useful features for this tracer in the 1462 following "dynamic ftrace" section such as tracing only specific 1463 functions or tasks. 1464 1465 dynamic ftrace 1466 -------------- 1467 1468 If CONFIG_DYNAMIC_FTRACE is set, the system will run with 1469 virtually no overhead when function tracing is disabled. The way 1470 this works is the mcount function call (placed at the start of 1471 every kernel function, produced by the -pg switch in gcc), 1472 starts of pointing to a simple return. (Enabling FTRACE will 1473 include the -pg switch in the compiling of the kernel.) 1474 1475 At compile time every C file object is run through the 1476 recordmcount.pl script (located in the scripts directory). This 1477 script will process the C object using objdump to find all the 1478 locations in the .text section that call mcount. (Note, only the 1479 .text section is processed, since processing other sections like 1480 .init.text may cause races due to those sections being freed). 1481 1482 A new section called "__mcount_loc" is created that holds 1483 references to all the mcount call sites in the .text section. 1484 This section is compiled back into the original object. The 1485 final linker will add all these references into a single table. 1486 1487 On boot up, before SMP is initialized, the dynamic ftrace code 1488 scans this table and updates all the locations into nops. It 1489 also records the locations, which are added to the 1490 available_filter_functions list. Modules are processed as they 1491 are loaded and before they are executed. When a module is 1492 unloaded, it also removes its functions from the ftrace function 1493 list. This is automatic in the module unload code, and the 1494 module author does not need to worry about it. 1495 1496 When tracing is enabled, kstop_machine is called to prevent 1497 races with the CPUS executing code being modified (which can 1498 cause the CPU to do undesirable things), and the nops are 1499 patched back to calls. But this time, they do not call mcount 1500 (which is just a function stub). They now call into the ftrace 1501 infrastructure. 1502 1503 One special side-effect to the recording of the functions being 1504 traced is that we can now selectively choose which functions we 1505 wish to trace and which ones we want the mcount calls to remain 1506 as nops. 1507 1508 Two files are used, one for enabling and one for disabling the 1509 tracing of specified functions. They are: 1510 1511 set_ftrace_filter 1512 1513 and 1514 1515 set_ftrace_notrace 1516 1517 A list of available functions that you can add to these files is 1518 listed in: 1519 1520 available_filter_functions 1521 1522 # cat available_filter_functions 1523 put_prev_task_idle 1524 kmem_cache_create 1525 pick_next_task_rt 1526 get_online_cpus 1527 pick_next_task_fair 1528 mutex_lock 1529 [...] 1530 1531 If I am only interested in sys_nanosleep and hrtimer_interrupt: 1532 1533 # echo sys_nanosleep hrtimer_interrupt \ 1534 > set_ftrace_filter 1535 # echo function > current_tracer 1536 # echo 1 > tracing_on 1537 # usleep 1 1538 # echo 0 > tracing_on 1539 # cat trace 1540 # tracer: ftrace 1541 # 1542 # TASK-PID CPU# TIMESTAMP FUNCTION 1543 # | | | | | 1544 usleep-4134 [00] 1317.070017: hrtimer_interrupt <-smp_apic_timer_interrupt 1545 usleep-4134 [00] 1317.070111: sys_nanosleep <-syscall_call 1546 <idle>-0 [00] 1317.070115: hrtimer_interrupt <-smp_apic_timer_interrupt 1547 1548 To see which functions are being traced, you can cat the file: 1549 1550 # cat set_ftrace_filter 1551 hrtimer_interrupt 1552 sys_nanosleep 1553 1554 1555 Perhaps this is not enough. The filters also allow simple wild 1556 cards. Only the following are currently available 1557 1558 <match>* - will match functions that begin with <match> 1559 *<match> - will match functions that end with <match> 1560 *<match>* - will match functions that have <match> in it 1561 1562 These are the only wild cards which are supported. 1563 1564 <match>*<match> will not work. 1565 1566 Note: It is better to use quotes to enclose the wild cards, 1567 otherwise the shell may expand the parameters into names 1568 of files in the local directory. 1569 1570 # echo 'hrtimer_*' > set_ftrace_filter 1571 1572 Produces: 1573 1574 # tracer: ftrace 1575 # 1576 # TASK-PID CPU# TIMESTAMP FUNCTION 1577 # | | | | | 1578 bash-4003 [00] 1480.611794: hrtimer_init <-copy_process 1579 bash-4003 [00] 1480.611941: hrtimer_start <-hrtick_set 1580 bash-4003 [00] 1480.611956: hrtimer_cancel <-hrtick_clear 1581 bash-4003 [00] 1480.611956: hrtimer_try_to_cancel <-hrtimer_cancel 1582 <idle>-0 [00] 1480.612019: hrtimer_get_next_event <-get_next_timer_interrupt 1583 <idle>-0 [00] 1480.612025: hrtimer_get_next_event <-get_next_timer_interrupt 1584 <idle>-0 [00] 1480.612032: hrtimer_get_next_event <-get_next_timer_interrupt 1585 <idle>-0 [00] 1480.612037: hrtimer_get_next_event <-get_next_timer_interrupt 1586 <idle>-0 [00] 1480.612382: hrtimer_get_next_event <-get_next_timer_interrupt 1587 1588 1589 Notice that we lost the sys_nanosleep. 1590 1591 # cat set_ftrace_filter 1592 hrtimer_run_queues 1593 hrtimer_run_pending 1594 hrtimer_init 1595 hrtimer_cancel 1596 hrtimer_try_to_cancel 1597 hrtimer_forward 1598 hrtimer_start 1599 hrtimer_reprogram 1600 hrtimer_force_reprogram 1601 hrtimer_get_next_event 1602 hrtimer_interrupt 1603 hrtimer_nanosleep 1604 hrtimer_wakeup 1605 hrtimer_get_remaining 1606 hrtimer_get_res 1607 hrtimer_init_sleeper 1608 1609 1610 This is because the '>' and '>>' act just like they do in bash. 1611 To rewrite the filters, use '>' 1612 To append to the filters, use '>>' 1613 1614 To clear out a filter so that all functions will be recorded 1615 again: 1616 1617 # echo > set_ftrace_filter 1618 # cat set_ftrace_filter 1619 # 1620 1621 Again, now we want to append. 1622 1623 # echo sys_nanosleep > set_ftrace_filter 1624 # cat set_ftrace_filter 1625 sys_nanosleep 1626 # echo 'hrtimer_*' >> set_ftrace_filter 1627 # cat set_ftrace_filter 1628 hrtimer_run_queues 1629 hrtimer_run_pending 1630 hrtimer_init 1631 hrtimer_cancel 1632 hrtimer_try_to_cancel 1633 hrtimer_forward 1634 hrtimer_start 1635 hrtimer_reprogram 1636 hrtimer_force_reprogram 1637 hrtimer_get_next_event 1638 hrtimer_interrupt 1639 sys_nanosleep 1640 hrtimer_nanosleep 1641 hrtimer_wakeup 1642 hrtimer_get_remaining 1643 hrtimer_get_res 1644 hrtimer_init_sleeper 1645 1646 1647 The set_ftrace_notrace prevents those functions from being 1648 traced. 1649 1650 # echo '*preempt*' '*lock*' > set_ftrace_notrace 1651 1652 Produces: 1653 1654 # tracer: ftrace 1655 # 1656 # TASK-PID CPU# TIMESTAMP FUNCTION 1657 # | | | | | 1658 bash-4043 [01] 115.281644: finish_task_switch <-schedule 1659 bash-4043 [01] 115.281645: hrtick_set <-schedule 1660 bash-4043 [01] 115.281645: hrtick_clear <-hrtick_set 1661 bash-4043 [01] 115.281646: wait_for_completion <-__stop_machine_run 1662 bash-4043 [01] 115.281647: wait_for_common <-wait_for_completion 1663 bash-4043 [01] 115.281647: kthread_stop <-stop_machine_run 1664 bash-4043 [01] 115.281648: init_waitqueue_head <-kthread_stop 1665 bash-4043 [01] 115.281648: wake_up_process <-kthread_stop 1666 bash-4043 [01] 115.281649: try_to_wake_up <-wake_up_process 1667 1668 We can see that there's no more lock or preempt tracing. 1669 1670 1671 Dynamic ftrace with the function graph tracer 1672 --------------------------------------------- 1673 1674 Although what has been explained above concerns both the 1675 function tracer and the function-graph-tracer, there are some 1676 special features only available in the function-graph tracer. 1677 1678 If you want to trace only one function and all of its children, 1679 you just have to echo its name into set_graph_function: 1680 1681 echo __do_fault > set_graph_function 1682 1683 will produce the following "expanded" trace of the __do_fault() 1684 function: 1685 1686 0) | __do_fault() { 1687 0) | filemap_fault() { 1688 0) | find_lock_page() { 1689 0) 0.804 us | find_get_page(); 1690 0) | __might_sleep() { 1691 0) 1.329 us | } 1692 0) 3.904 us | } 1693 0) 4.979 us | } 1694 0) 0.653 us | _spin_lock(); 1695 0) 0.578 us | page_add_file_rmap(); 1696 0) 0.525 us | native_set_pte_at(); 1697 0) 0.585 us | _spin_unlock(); 1698 0) | unlock_page() { 1699 0) 0.541 us | page_waitqueue(); 1700 0) 0.639 us | __wake_up_bit(); 1701 0) 2.786 us | } 1702 0) + 14.237 us | } 1703 0) | __do_fault() { 1704 0) | filemap_fault() { 1705 0) | find_lock_page() { 1706 0) 0.698 us | find_get_page(); 1707 0) | __might_sleep() { 1708 0) 1.412 us | } 1709 0) 3.950 us | } 1710 0) 5.098 us | } 1711 0) 0.631 us | _spin_lock(); 1712 0) 0.571 us | page_add_file_rmap(); 1713 0) 0.526 us | native_set_pte_at(); 1714 0) 0.586 us | _spin_unlock(); 1715 0) | unlock_page() { 1716 0) 0.533 us | page_waitqueue(); 1717 0) 0.638 us | __wake_up_bit(); 1718 0) 2.793 us | } 1719 0) + 14.012 us | } 1720 1721 You can also expand several functions at once: 1722 1723 echo sys_open > set_graph_function 1724 echo sys_close >> set_graph_function 1725 1726 Now if you want to go back to trace all functions you can clear 1727 this special filter via: 1728 1729 echo > set_graph_function 1730 1731 1732 Filter commands 1733 --------------- 1734 1735 A few commands are supported by the set_ftrace_filter interface. 1736 Trace commands have the following format: 1737 1738 <function>:<command>:<parameter> 1739 1740 The following commands are supported: 1741 1742 - mod 1743 This command enables function filtering per module. The 1744 parameter defines the module. For example, if only the write* 1745 functions in the ext3 module are desired, run: 1746 1747 echo 'write*:mod:ext3' > set_ftrace_filter 1748 1749 This command interacts with the filter in the same way as 1750 filtering based on function names. Thus, adding more functions 1751 in a different module is accomplished by appending (>>) to the 1752 filter file. Remove specific module functions by prepending 1753 '!': 1754 1755 echo '!writeback*:mod:ext3' >> set_ftrace_filter 1756 1757 - traceon/traceoff 1758 These commands turn tracing on and off when the specified 1759 functions are hit. The parameter determines how many times the 1760 tracing system is turned on and off. If unspecified, there is 1761 no limit. For example, to disable tracing when a schedule bug 1762 is hit the first 5 times, run: 1763 1764 echo '__schedule_bug:traceoff:5' > set_ftrace_filter 1765 1766 These commands are cumulative whether or not they are appended 1767 to set_ftrace_filter. To remove a command, prepend it by '!' 1768 and drop the parameter: 1769 1770 echo '!__schedule_bug:traceoff' > set_ftrace_filter 1771 1772 1773 trace_pipe 1774 ---------- 1775 1776 The trace_pipe outputs the same content as the trace file, but 1777 the effect on the tracing is different. Every read from 1778 trace_pipe is consumed. This means that subsequent reads will be 1779 different. The trace is live. 1780 1781 # echo function > current_tracer 1782 # cat trace_pipe > /tmp/trace.out & 1783 [1] 4153 1784 # echo 1 > tracing_on 1785 # usleep 1 1786 # echo 0 > tracing_on 1787 # cat trace 1788 # tracer: function 1789 # 1790 # TASK-PID CPU# TIMESTAMP FUNCTION 1791 # | | | | | 1792 1793 # 1794 # cat /tmp/trace.out 1795 bash-4043 [00] 41.267106: finish_task_switch <-schedule 1796 bash-4043 [00] 41.267106: hrtick_set <-schedule 1797 bash-4043 [00] 41.267107: hrtick_clear <-hrtick_set 1798 bash-4043 [00] 41.267108: wait_for_completion <-__stop_machine_run 1799 bash-4043 [00] 41.267108: wait_for_common <-wait_for_completion 1800 bash-4043 [00] 41.267109: kthread_stop <-stop_machine_run 1801 bash-4043 [00] 41.267109: init_waitqueue_head <-kthread_stop 1802 bash-4043 [00] 41.267110: wake_up_process <-kthread_stop 1803 bash-4043 [00] 41.267110: try_to_wake_up <-wake_up_process 1804 bash-4043 [00] 41.267111: select_task_rq_rt <-try_to_wake_up 1805 1806 1807 Note, reading the trace_pipe file will block until more input is 1808 added. By changing the tracer, trace_pipe will issue an EOF. We 1809 needed to set the function tracer _before_ we "cat" the 1810 trace_pipe file. 1811 1812 1813 trace entries 1814 ------------- 1815 1816 Having too much or not enough data can be troublesome in 1817 diagnosing an issue in the kernel. The file buffer_size_kb is 1818 used to modify the size of the internal trace buffers. The 1819 number listed is the number of entries that can be recorded per 1820 CPU. To know the full size, multiply the number of possible CPUS 1821 with the number of entries. 1822 1823 # cat buffer_size_kb 1824 1408 (units kilobytes) 1825 1826 Note, to modify this, you must have tracing completely disabled. 1827 To do that, echo "nop" into the current_tracer. If the 1828 current_tracer is not set to "nop", an EINVAL error will be 1829 returned. 1830 1831 # echo nop > current_tracer 1832 # echo 10000 > buffer_size_kb 1833 # cat buffer_size_kb 1834 10000 (units kilobytes) 1835 1836 The number of pages which will be allocated is limited to a 1837 percentage of available memory. Allocating too much will produce 1838 an error. 1839 1840 # echo 1000000000000 > buffer_size_kb 1841 -bash: echo: write error: Cannot allocate memory 1842 # cat buffer_size_kb 1843 85 1844 1845 Snapshot 1846 -------- 1847 CONFIG_TRACER_SNAPSHOT makes a generic snapshot feature 1848 available to all non latency tracers. (Latency tracers which 1849 record max latency, such as "irqsoff" or "wakeup", can't use 1850 this feature, since those are already using the snapshot 1851 mechanism internally.) 1852 1853 Snapshot preserves a current trace buffer at a particular point 1854 in time without stopping tracing. Ftrace swaps the current 1855 buffer with a spare buffer, and tracing continues in the new 1856 current (=previous spare) buffer. 1857 1858 The following debugfs files in "tracing" are related to this 1859 feature: 1860 1861 snapshot: 1862 1863 This is used to take a snapshot and to read the output 1864 of the snapshot. Echo 1 into this file to allocate a 1865 spare buffer and to take a snapshot (swap), then read 1866 the snapshot from this file in the same format as 1867 "trace" (described above in the section "The File 1868 System"). Both reads snapshot and tracing are executable 1869 in parallel. When the spare buffer is allocated, echoing 1870 0 frees it, and echoing else (positive) values clear the 1871 snapshot contents. 1872 More details are shown in the table below. 1873 1874 status\input | 0 | 1 | else | 1875 --------------+------------+------------+------------+ 1876 not allocated |(do nothing)| alloc+swap |(do nothing)| 1877 --------------+------------+------------+------------+ 1878 allocated | free | swap | clear | 1879 --------------+------------+------------+------------+ 1880 1881 Here is an example of using the snapshot feature. 1882 1883 # echo 1 > events/sched/enable 1884 # echo 1 > snapshot 1885 # cat snapshot 1886 # tracer: nop 1887 # 1888 # entries-in-buffer/entries-written: 71/71 #P:8 1889 # 1890 # _-----=> irqs-off 1891 # / _----=> need-resched 1892 # | / _---=> hardirq/softirq 1893 # || / _--=> preempt-depth 1894 # ||| / delay 1895 # TASK-PID CPU# |||| TIMESTAMP FUNCTION 1896 # | | | |||| | | 1897 <idle>-0 [005] d... 2440.603828: sched_switch: prev_comm=swapper/5 prev_pid=0 prev_prio=120 prev_state=R ==> next_comm=snapshot-test-2 next_pid=2242 next_prio=120 1898 sleep-2242 [005] d... 2440.603846: sched_switch: prev_comm=snapshot-test-2 prev_pid=2242 prev_prio=120 prev_state=R ==> next_comm=kworker/5:1 next_pid=60 next_prio=120 1899 [...] 1900 <idle>-0 [002] d... 2440.707230: sched_switch: prev_comm=swapper/2 prev_pid=0 prev_prio=120 prev_state=R ==> next_comm=snapshot-test-2 next_pid=2229 next_prio=120 1901 1902 # cat trace 1903 # tracer: nop 1904 # 1905 # entries-in-buffer/entries-written: 77/77 #P:8 1906 # 1907 # _-----=> irqs-off 1908 # / _----=> need-resched 1909 # | / _---=> hardirq/softirq 1910 # || / _--=> preempt-depth 1911 # ||| / delay 1912 # TASK-PID CPU# |||| TIMESTAMP FUNCTION 1913 # | | | |||| | | 1914 <idle>-0 [007] d... 2440.707395: sched_switch: prev_comm=swapper/7 prev_pid=0 prev_prio=120 prev_state=R ==> next_comm=snapshot-test-2 next_pid=2243 next_prio=120 1915 snapshot-test-2-2229 [002] d... 2440.707438: sched_switch: prev_comm=snapshot-test-2 prev_pid=2229 prev_prio=120 prev_state=S ==> next_comm=swapper/2 next_pid=0 next_prio=120 1916 [...] 1917 1918 1919 If you try to use this snapshot feature when current tracer is 1920 one of the latency tracers, you will get the following results. 1921 1922 # echo wakeup > current_tracer 1923 # echo 1 > snapshot 1924 bash: echo: write error: Device or resource busy 1925 # cat snapshot 1926 cat: snapshot: Device or resource busy 1927 1928 ----------- 1929 1930 More details can be found in the source code, in the 1931 kernel/trace/*.c files.
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