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author | Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> | 2010-08-06 09:30:52 -0700 |
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committer | Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> | 2010-08-06 09:30:52 -0700 |
commit | 4aed2fd8e3181fea7c09ba79cf64e7e3f4413bf9 (patch) | |
tree | 1f69733e5daab4915a76a41de0e4d1dc61e12cfb /Documentation/trace/kmemtrace.txt | |
parent | Merge branch 'core-rcu-for-linus' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tip/linux-2.6-tip (diff) | |
parent | Merge branch 'perf/core' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/acme/linux-2.6 into perf/core (diff) | |
download | linux-dev-4aed2fd8e3181fea7c09ba79cf64e7e3f4413bf9.tar.xz linux-dev-4aed2fd8e3181fea7c09ba79cf64e7e3f4413bf9.zip |
Merge branch 'perf-core-for-linus' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tip/linux-2.6-tip
* 'perf-core-for-linus' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tip/linux-2.6-tip: (162 commits)
tracing/kprobes: unregister_trace_probe needs to be called under mutex
perf: expose event__process function
perf events: Fix mmap offset determination
perf, powerpc: fsl_emb: Restore setting perf_sample_data.period
perf, powerpc: Convert the FSL driver to use local64_t
perf tools: Don't keep unreferenced maps when unmaps are detected
perf session: Invalidate last_match when removing threads from rb_tree
perf session: Free the ref_reloc_sym memory at the right place
x86,mmiotrace: Add support for tracing STOS instruction
perf, sched migration: Librarize task states and event headers helpers
perf, sched migration: Librarize the GUI class
perf, sched migration: Make the GUI class client agnostic
perf, sched migration: Make it vertically scrollable
perf, sched migration: Parameterize cpu height and spacing
perf, sched migration: Fix key bindings
perf, sched migration: Ignore unhandled task states
perf, sched migration: Handle ignored migrate out events
perf: New migration tool overview
tracing: Drop cpparg() macro
perf: Use tracepoint_synchronize_unregister() to flush any pending tracepoint call
...
Fix up trivial conflicts in Makefile and drivers/cpufreq/cpufreq.c
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/trace/kmemtrace.txt')
-rw-r--r-- | Documentation/trace/kmemtrace.txt | 126 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 126 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/trace/kmemtrace.txt b/Documentation/trace/kmemtrace.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 6308735e58ca..000000000000 --- a/Documentation/trace/kmemtrace.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,126 +0,0 @@ - kmemtrace - Kernel Memory Tracer - - by Eduard - Gabriel Munteanu - <eduard.munteanu@linux360.ro> - -I. Introduction -=============== - -kmemtrace helps kernel developers figure out two things: -1) how different allocators (SLAB, SLUB etc.) perform -2) how kernel code allocates memory and how much - -To do this, we trace every allocation and export information to the userspace -through the relay interface. We export things such as the number of requested -bytes, the number of bytes actually allocated (i.e. including internal -fragmentation), whether this is a slab allocation or a plain kmalloc() and so -on. - -The actual analysis is performed by a userspace tool (see section III for -details on where to get it from). It logs the data exported by the kernel, -processes it and (as of writing this) can provide the following information: -- the total amount of memory allocated and fragmentation per call-site -- the amount of memory allocated and fragmentation per allocation -- total memory allocated and fragmentation in the collected dataset -- number of cross-CPU allocation and frees (makes sense in NUMA environments) - -Moreover, it can potentially find inconsistent and erroneous behavior in -kernel code, such as using slab free functions on kmalloc'ed memory or -allocating less memory than requested (but not truly failed allocations). - -kmemtrace also makes provisions for tracing on some arch and analysing the -data on another. - -II. Design and goals -==================== - -kmemtrace was designed to handle rather large amounts of data. Thus, it uses -the relay interface to export whatever is logged to userspace, which then -stores it. Analysis and reporting is done asynchronously, that is, after the -data is collected and stored. By design, it allows one to log and analyse -on different machines and different arches. - -As of writing this, the ABI is not considered stable, though it might not -change much. However, no guarantees are made about compatibility yet. When -deemed stable, the ABI should still allow easy extension while maintaining -backward compatibility. This is described further in Documentation/ABI. - -Summary of design goals: - - allow logging and analysis to be done across different machines - - be fast and anticipate usage in high-load environments (*) - - be reasonably extensible - - make it possible for GNU/Linux distributions to have kmemtrace - included in their repositories - -(*) - one of the reasons Pekka Enberg's original userspace data analysis - tool's code was rewritten from Perl to C (although this is more than a - simple conversion) - - -III. Quick usage guide -====================== - -1) Get a kernel that supports kmemtrace and build it accordingly (i.e. enable -CONFIG_KMEMTRACE). - -2) Get the userspace tool and build it: -$ git clone git://repo.or.cz/kmemtrace-user.git # current repository -$ cd kmemtrace-user/ -$ ./autogen.sh -$ ./configure -$ make - -3) Boot the kmemtrace-enabled kernel if you haven't, preferably in the -'single' runlevel (so that relay buffers don't fill up easily), and run -kmemtrace: -# '$' does not mean user, but root here. -$ mount -t debugfs none /sys/kernel/debug -$ mount -t proc none /proc -$ cd path/to/kmemtrace-user/ -$ ./kmemtraced -Wait a bit, then stop it with CTRL+C. -$ cat /sys/kernel/debug/kmemtrace/total_overruns # Check if we didn't - # overrun, should - # be zero. -$ (Optionally) [Run kmemtrace_check separately on each cpu[0-9]*.out file to - check its correctness] -$ ./kmemtrace-report - -Now you should have a nice and short summary of how the allocator performs. - -IV. FAQ and known issues -======================== - -Q: 'cat /sys/kernel/debug/kmemtrace/total_overruns' is non-zero, how do I fix -this? Should I worry? -A: If it's non-zero, this affects kmemtrace's accuracy, depending on how -large the number is. You can fix it by supplying a higher -'kmemtrace.subbufs=N' kernel parameter. ---- - -Q: kmemtrace_check reports errors, how do I fix this? Should I worry? -A: This is a bug and should be reported. It can occur for a variety of -reasons: - - possible bugs in relay code - - possible misuse of relay by kmemtrace - - timestamps being collected unorderly -Or you may fix it yourself and send us a patch. ---- - -Q: kmemtrace_report shows many errors, how do I fix this? Should I worry? -A: This is a known issue and I'm working on it. These might be true errors -in kernel code, which may have inconsistent behavior (e.g. allocating memory -with kmem_cache_alloc() and freeing it with kfree()). Pekka Enberg pointed -out this behavior may work with SLAB, but may fail with other allocators. - -It may also be due to lack of tracing in some unusual allocator functions. - -We don't want bug reports regarding this issue yet. ---- - -V. See also -=========== - -Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt -Documentation/ABI/testing/debugfs-kmemtrace - |