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Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/trace/user_events.rst')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/trace/user_events.rst | 167 |
1 files changed, 97 insertions, 70 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/trace/user_events.rst b/Documentation/trace/user_events.rst index 422802ef4025..f79987e16cf4 100644 --- a/Documentation/trace/user_events.rst +++ b/Documentation/trace/user_events.rst @@ -20,11 +20,10 @@ dynamic_events is the same as the ioctl with the u: prefix applied. Typically programs will register a set of events that they wish to expose to tools that can read trace_events (such as ftrace and perf). The registration -process gives back two ints to the program for each event. The first int is -the status bit. This describes which bit in little-endian format in the -/sys/kernel/tracing/user_events_status file represents this event. The -second int is the write index which describes the data when a write() or -writev() is called on the /sys/kernel/tracing/user_events_data file. +process tells the kernel which address and bit to reflect if any tool has +enabled the event and data should be written. The registration will give back +a write index which describes the data when a write() or writev() is called +on the /sys/kernel/tracing/user_events_data file. The structures referenced in this document are contained within the /include/uapi/linux/user_events.h file in the source tree. @@ -41,23 +40,64 @@ DIAG_IOCSREG. This command takes a packed struct user_reg as an argument:: struct user_reg { - u32 size; - u64 name_args; - u32 status_bit; - u32 write_index; - }; + /* Input: Size of the user_reg structure being used */ + __u32 size; + + /* Input: Bit in enable address to use */ + __u8 enable_bit; + + /* Input: Enable size in bytes at address */ + __u8 enable_size; + + /* Input: Flags for future use, set to 0 */ + __u16 flags; + + /* Input: Address to update when enabled */ + __u64 enable_addr; + + /* Input: Pointer to string with event name, description and flags */ + __u64 name_args; + + /* Output: Index of the event to use when writing data */ + __u32 write_index; + } __attribute__((__packed__)); + +The struct user_reg requires all the above inputs to be set appropriately. + ++ size: This must be set to sizeof(struct user_reg). -The struct user_reg requires two inputs, the first is the size of the structure -to ensure forward and backward compatibility. The second is the command string -to issue for registering. Upon success two outputs are set, the status bit -and the write index. ++ enable_bit: The bit to reflect the event status at the address specified by + enable_addr. + ++ enable_size: The size of the value specified by enable_addr. + This must be 4 (32-bit) or 8 (64-bit). 64-bit values are only allowed to be + used on 64-bit kernels, however, 32-bit can be used on all kernels. + ++ flags: The flags to use, if any. For the initial version this must be 0. + Callers should first attempt to use flags and retry without flags to ensure + support for lower versions of the kernel. If a flag is not supported -EINVAL + is returned. + ++ enable_addr: The address of the value to use to reflect event status. This + must be naturally aligned and write accessible within the user program. + ++ name_args: The name and arguments to describe the event, see command format + for details. + +Upon successful registration the following is set. + ++ write_index: The index to use for this file descriptor that represents this + event when writing out data. The index is unique to this instance of the file + descriptor that was used for the registration. See writing data for details. User based events show up under tracefs like any other event under the subsystem named "user_events". This means tools that wish to attach to the events need to use /sys/kernel/tracing/events/user_events/[name]/enable or perf record -e user_events:[name] when attaching/recording. -**NOTE:** *The write_index returned is only valid for the FD that was used* +**NOTE:** The event subsystem name by default is "user_events". Callers should +not assume it will always be "user_events". Operators reserve the right in the +future to change the subsystem name per-process to accomodate event isolation. Command Format ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ @@ -94,7 +134,7 @@ Would be represented by the following field:: struct mytype myname 20 Deleting ------------ +-------- Deleting an event from within a user process is done via ioctl() out to the /sys/kernel/tracing/user_events_data file. The command to issue is DIAG_IOCSDEL. @@ -104,92 +144,79 @@ its name. Delete will only succeed if there are no references left to the event (in both user and kernel space). User programs should use a separate file to request deletes than the one used for registration due to this. -Status ------- -When tools attach/record user based events the status of the event is updated -in realtime. This allows user programs to only incur the cost of the write() or -writev() calls when something is actively attached to the event. - -User programs call mmap() on /sys/kernel/tracing/user_events_status to -check the status for each event that is registered. The bit to check in the -file is given back after the register ioctl() via user_reg.status_bit. The bit -is always in little-endian format. Programs can check if the bit is set either -using a byte-wise index with a mask or a long-wise index with a little-endian -mask. +Unregistering +------------- +If after registering an event it is no longer wanted to be updated then it can +be disabled via ioctl() out to the /sys/kernel/tracing/user_events_data file. +The command to issue is DIAG_IOCSUNREG. This is different than deleting, where +deleting actually removes the event from the system. Unregistering simply tells +the kernel your process is no longer interested in updates to the event. -Currently the size of user_events_status is a single page, however, custom -kernel configurations can change this size to allow more user based events. In -all cases the size of the file is a multiple of a page size. +This command takes a packed struct user_unreg as an argument:: -For example, if the register ioctl() gives back a status_bit of 3 you would -check byte 0 (3 / 8) of the returned mmap data and then AND the result with 8 -(1 << (3 % 8)) to see if anything is attached to that event. + struct user_unreg { + /* Input: Size of the user_unreg structure being used */ + __u32 size; -A byte-wise index check is performed as follows:: + /* Input: Bit to unregister */ + __u8 disable_bit; - int index, mask; - char *status_page; + /* Input: Reserved, set to 0 */ + __u8 __reserved; - index = status_bit / 8; - mask = 1 << (status_bit % 8); - - ... + /* Input: Reserved, set to 0 */ + __u16 __reserved2; - if (status_page[index] & mask) { - /* Enabled */ - } + /* Input: Address to unregister */ + __u64 disable_addr; + } __attribute__((__packed__)); -A long-wise index check is performed as follows:: +The struct user_unreg requires all the above inputs to be set appropriately. - #include <asm/bitsperlong.h> - #include <endian.h> ++ size: This must be set to sizeof(struct user_unreg). - #if __BITS_PER_LONG == 64 - #define endian_swap(x) htole64(x) - #else - #define endian_swap(x) htole32(x) - #endif ++ disable_bit: This must be set to the bit to disable (same bit that was + previously registered via enable_bit). - long index, mask, *status_page; ++ disable_addr: This must be set to the address to disable (same address that was + previously registered via enable_addr). - index = status_bit / __BITS_PER_LONG; - mask = 1L << (status_bit % __BITS_PER_LONG); - mask = endian_swap(mask); +**NOTE:** Events are automatically unregistered when execve() is invoked. During +fork() the registered events will be retained and must be unregistered manually +in each process if wanted. - ... +Status +------ +When tools attach/record user based events the status of the event is updated +in realtime. This allows user programs to only incur the cost of the write() or +writev() calls when something is actively attached to the event. - if (status_page[index] & mask) { - /* Enabled */ - } +The kernel will update the specified bit that was registered for the event as +tools attach/detach from the event. User programs simply check if the bit is set +to see if something is attached or not. Administrators can easily check the status of all registered events by reading the user_events_status file directly via a terminal. The output is as follows:: - Byte:Name [# Comments] + Name [# Comments] ... Active: ActiveCount Busy: BusyCount - Max: MaxCount For example, on a system that has a single event the output looks like this:: - 1:test + test Active: 1 Busy: 0 - Max: 32768 If a user enables the user event via ftrace, the output would change to this:: - 1:test # Used by ftrace + test # Used by ftrace Active: 1 Busy: 1 - Max: 32768 - -**NOTE:** *A status bit of 0 will never be returned. This allows user programs -to have a bit that can be used on error cases.* Writing Data ------------ @@ -217,7 +244,7 @@ For example, if I have a struct like this:: int src; int dst; int flags; - }; + } __attribute__((__packed__)); It's advised for user programs to do the following:: |