linux/kernel
Daniel Bristot de Oliveira a955d7eac1 trace: Add timerlat tracer
The timerlat tracer aims to help the preemptive kernel developers to
found souces of wakeup latencies of real-time threads. Like cyclictest,
the tracer sets a periodic timer that wakes up a thread. The thread then
computes a *wakeup latency* value as the difference between the *current
time* and the *absolute time* that the timer was set to expire. The main
goal of timerlat is tracing in such a way to help kernel developers.

Usage

Write the ASCII text "timerlat" into the current_tracer file of the
tracing system (generally mounted at /sys/kernel/tracing).

For example:

        [root@f32 ~]# cd /sys/kernel/tracing/
        [root@f32 tracing]# echo timerlat > current_tracer

It is possible to follow the trace by reading the trace trace file:

  [root@f32 tracing]# cat trace
  # tracer: timerlat
  #
  #                              _-----=> irqs-off
  #                             / _----=> need-resched
  #                            | / _---=> hardirq/softirq
  #                            || / _--=> preempt-depth
  #                            || /
  #                            ||||             ACTIVATION
  #         TASK-PID      CPU# ||||   TIMESTAMP    ID            CONTEXT                LATENCY
  #            | |         |   ||||      |         |                  |                       |
          <idle>-0       [000] d.h1    54.029328: #1     context    irq timer_latency       932 ns
           <...>-867     [000] ....    54.029339: #1     context thread timer_latency     11700 ns
          <idle>-0       [001] dNh1    54.029346: #1     context    irq timer_latency      2833 ns
           <...>-868     [001] ....    54.029353: #1     context thread timer_latency      9820 ns
          <idle>-0       [000] d.h1    54.030328: #2     context    irq timer_latency       769 ns
           <...>-867     [000] ....    54.030330: #2     context thread timer_latency      3070 ns
          <idle>-0       [001] d.h1    54.030344: #2     context    irq timer_latency       935 ns
           <...>-868     [001] ....    54.030347: #2     context thread timer_latency      4351 ns

The tracer creates a per-cpu kernel thread with real-time priority that
prints two lines at every activation. The first is the *timer latency*
observed at the *hardirq* context before the activation of the thread.
The second is the *timer latency* observed by the thread, which is the
same level that cyclictest reports. The ACTIVATION ID field
serves to relate the *irq* execution to its respective *thread* execution.

The irq/thread splitting is important to clarify at which context
the unexpected high value is coming from. The *irq* context can be
delayed by hardware related actions, such as SMIs, NMIs, IRQs
or by a thread masking interrupts. Once the timer happens, the delay
can also be influenced by blocking caused by threads. For example, by
postponing the scheduler execution via preempt_disable(),  by the
scheduler execution, or by masking interrupts. Threads can
also be delayed by the interference from other threads and IRQs.

The timerlat can also take advantage of the osnoise: traceevents.
For example:

        [root@f32 ~]# cd /sys/kernel/tracing/
        [root@f32 tracing]# echo timerlat > current_tracer
        [root@f32 tracing]# echo osnoise > set_event
        [root@f32 tracing]# echo 25 > osnoise/stop_tracing_total_us
        [root@f32 tracing]# tail -10 trace
             cc1-87882   [005] d..h...   548.771078: #402268 context    irq timer_latency      1585 ns
             cc1-87882   [005] dNLh1..   548.771082: irq_noise: local_timer:236 start 548.771077442 duration 4597 ns
             cc1-87882   [005] dNLh2..   548.771083: irq_noise: reschedule:253 start 548.771083017 duration 56 ns
             cc1-87882   [005] dNLh2..   548.771086: irq_noise: call_function_single:251 start 548.771083811 duration 2048 ns
             cc1-87882   [005] dNLh2..   548.771088: irq_noise: call_function_single:251 start 548.771086814 duration 1495 ns
             cc1-87882   [005] dNLh2..   548.771091: irq_noise: call_function_single:251 start 548.771089194 duration 1558 ns
             cc1-87882   [005] dNLh2..   548.771094: irq_noise: call_function_single:251 start 548.771091719 duration 1932 ns
             cc1-87882   [005] dNLh2..   548.771096: irq_noise: call_function_single:251 start 548.771094696 duration 1050 ns
             cc1-87882   [005] d...3..   548.771101: thread_noise:      cc1:87882 start 548.771078243 duration 10909 ns
      timerlat/5-1035    [005] .......   548.771103: #402268 context thread timer_latency     25960 ns

For further information see: Documentation/trace/timerlat-tracer.rst

Link: https://lkml.kernel.org/r/71f18efc013e1194bcaea1e54db957de2b19ba62.1624372313.git.bristot@redhat.com

Cc: Phil Auld <pauld@redhat.com>
Cc: Sebastian Andrzej Siewior <bigeasy@linutronix.de>
Cc: Kate Carcia <kcarcia@redhat.com>
Cc: Jonathan Corbet <corbet@lwn.net>
Cc: Ingo Molnar <mingo@redhat.com>
Cc: Peter Zijlstra <peterz@infradead.org>
Cc: Thomas Gleixner <tglx@linutronix.de>
Cc: Alexandre Chartre <alexandre.chartre@oracle.com>
Cc: Clark Willaims <williams@redhat.com>
Cc: John Kacur <jkacur@redhat.com>
Cc: Juri Lelli <juri.lelli@redhat.com>
Cc: Borislav Petkov <bp@alien8.de>
Cc: "H. Peter Anvin" <hpa@zytor.com>
Cc: x86@kernel.org
Cc: linux-doc@vger.kernel.org
Cc: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Signed-off-by: Daniel Bristot de Oliveira <bristot@redhat.com>
Signed-off-by: Steven Rostedt (VMware) <rostedt@goodmis.org>
2021-06-25 19:57:24 -04:00
..
bpf bpf, lockdown, audit: Fix buggy SELinux lockdown permission checks 2021-06-02 21:59:22 +02:00
cgroup cgroup: fix spelling mistakes 2021-05-24 12:45:26 -04:00
configs drivers/char: remove /dev/kmem for good 2021-05-07 00:26:34 -07:00
debug printk changes for 5.13 2021-04-27 18:09:44 -07:00
dma Merge branch 'stable/for-linus-5.13' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/konrad/swiotlb 2021-05-04 10:58:49 -07:00
entry A trivial cleanup of typo fixes. 2021-04-26 09:41:15 -07:00
events Merge branch 'for-v5.13-rc3' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/ebiederm/user-namespace 2021-05-21 06:12:52 -10:00
gcov gcov: clang: drop support for clang-10 and older 2021-05-07 00:26:32 -07:00
irq gpio updates for v5.13 2021-05-05 12:39:29 -07:00
kcsan kcsan: Fix debugfs initcall return type 2021-05-18 10:58:02 -07:00
livepatch Livepatching changes for 5.13 2021-04-27 18:14:38 -07:00
locking locking/mutex: clear MUTEX_FLAGS if wait_list is empty due to signal 2021-05-18 12:53:51 +02:00
power PM: sleep: fix typos in comments 2021-04-08 19:37:21 +02:00
printk kernel/printk.c: Fixed mundane typos 2021-03-30 15:34:17 +02:00
rcu Merge branches 'bitmaprange.2021.03.08a', 'fixes.2021.03.15a', 'kvfree_rcu.2021.03.08a', 'mmdumpobj.2021.03.08a', 'nocb.2021.03.15a', 'poll.2021.03.24a', 'rt.2021.03.08a', 'tasks.2021.03.08a', 'torture.2021.03.08a' and 'torturescript.2021.03.22a' into HEAD 2021-03-24 17:20:18 -07:00
sched sched/fair: Fix clearing of has_idle_cores flag in select_idle_cpu() 2021-05-12 10:41:28 +02:00
time alarmtimer: Check RTC features instead of ops 2021-05-11 21:28:04 +02:00
trace trace: Add timerlat tracer 2021-06-25 19:57:24 -04:00
.gitignore .gitignore: prefix local generated files with a slash 2021-05-02 00:43:35 +09:00
acct.c kernel/acct.c: use #elif instead of #end and #elif 2020-12-15 22:46:15 -08:00
async.c kernel/async.c: remove async_unregister_domain() 2021-05-07 00:26:33 -07:00
audit_fsnotify.c audit_alloc_mark(): don't open-code ERR_CAST() 2021-02-23 10:25:27 -05:00
audit_tree.c fsnotify: generalize handle_inode_event() 2020-12-03 14:58:35 +01:00
audit_watch.c fsnotify: generalize handle_inode_event() 2020-12-03 14:58:35 +01:00
audit.c lsm: separate security_task_getsecid() into subjective and objective variants 2021-03-22 15:23:32 -04:00
audit.h audit: avoid -Wempty-body warning 2021-03-24 12:11:48 -04:00
auditfilter.c lsm: separate security_task_getsecid() into subjective and objective variants 2021-03-22 15:23:32 -04:00
auditsc.c audit/stable-5.13 PR 20210426 2021-04-27 13:50:58 -07:00
backtracetest.c
bounds.c
capability.c capability: handle idmapped mounts 2021-01-24 14:27:16 +01:00
cfi.c add support for Clang CFI 2021-04-08 16:04:20 -07:00
compat.c
configs.c
context_tracking.c
cpu_pm.c
cpu.c cpumask/hotplug: Fix cpu_dying() state tracking 2021-04-21 13:55:43 +02:00
crash_core.c kdump: append uts_namespace.name offset to VMCOREINFO 2020-12-15 22:46:18 -08:00
crash_dump.c
cred.c kernel/cred.c: make init_groups static 2021-05-06 19:24:11 -07:00
delayacct.c
dma.c
exec_domain.c
exit.c do_wait: make PIDTYPE_PID case O(1) instead of O(n) 2021-05-06 19:24:13 -07:00
extable.c
fail_function.c fault-injection: handle EI_ETYPE_TRUE 2020-12-15 22:46:19 -08:00
fork.c kernel/fork.c: fix typos 2021-05-06 19:24:13 -07:00
freezer.c Revert "kernel: freezer should treat PF_IO_WORKER like PF_KTHREAD for freezing" 2021-03-27 14:09:10 -06:00
futex.c futex: Make syscall entry points less convoluted 2021-05-06 20:19:04 +02:00
gen_kheaders.sh kbuild: redo fake deps at include/config/*.h 2021-04-25 05:26:10 +09:00
groups.c groups: simplify struct group_info allocation 2021-02-26 09:41:03 -08:00
hung_task.c kernel/hung_task.c: make type annotations consistent 2020-11-02 12:14:19 -08:00
iomem.c
irq_work.c irq_work: record irq_work_queue() call stack 2021-04-30 11:20:42 -07:00
jump_label.c static_call: Fix static_call_update() sanity check 2021-03-19 13:16:44 +01:00
kallsyms.c kallsyms: strip ThinLTO hashes from static functions 2021-04-08 16:04:21 -07:00
kcmp.c Merge branch 'exec-update-lock-for-v5.11' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/ebiederm/user-namespace 2020-12-15 19:36:48 -08:00
Kconfig.freezer
Kconfig.hz
Kconfig.locks
Kconfig.preempt preempt: Introduce CONFIG_PREEMPT_DYNAMIC 2021-02-17 14:12:24 +01:00
kcov.c kernel: make kcov_common_handle consider the current context 2020-11-02 18:00:20 -08:00
kexec_core.c kexec: dump kmessage before machine_kexec 2021-05-07 00:26:32 -07:00
kexec_elf.c
kexec_file.c kernel: kexec_file: fix error return code of kexec_calculate_store_digests() 2021-05-07 00:26:32 -07:00
kexec_internal.h kexec: move machine_kexec_post_load() to public interface 2021-02-22 12:33:26 +00:00
kexec.c
kheaders.c
kmod.c modules: add CONFIG_MODPROBE_PATH 2021-05-07 00:26:33 -07:00
kprobes.c kprobes: Fix to delay the kprobes jump optimization 2021-02-19 14:57:12 -05:00
ksysfs.c
kthread.c Scheduler updates for this cycle are: 2021-04-28 13:33:57 -07:00
latencytop.c
Makefile kbuild: update config_data.gz only when the content of .config is changed 2021-05-02 00:43:35 +09:00
module_signature.c module: harden ELF info handling 2021-01-19 10:24:45 +01:00
module_signing.c module: harden ELF info handling 2021-01-19 10:24:45 +01:00
module-internal.h
module.c module: check for exit sections in layout_sections() instead of module_init_section() 2021-05-17 09:48:24 +02:00
notifier.c
nsproxy.c fixes-v5.11 2020-12-14 16:40:27 -08:00
padata.c
panic.c panic: don't dump stack twice on warn 2020-11-14 11:26:04 -08:00
params.c Modules updates for v5.11 2020-12-17 13:01:31 -08:00
pid_namespace.c fixes-v5.11 2020-12-14 16:40:27 -08:00
pid.c Merge branch 'exec-update-lock-for-v5.11' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/ebiederm/user-namespace 2020-12-15 19:36:48 -08:00
profile.c kernel: Initialize cpumask before parsing 2021-04-10 13:35:54 +02:00
ptrace.c ptrace: make ptrace() fail if the tracee changed its pid unexpectedly 2021-05-12 10:45:22 -07:00
range.c
reboot.c Revert "PM: ACPI: reboot: Use S5 for reboot" 2021-03-18 16:58:02 +01:00
regset.c
relay.c relay: allow the use of const callback structs 2020-12-15 22:46:18 -08:00
resource_kunit.c resource: provide meaningful MODULE_LICENSE() in test suite 2020-11-25 18:52:35 +01:00
resource.c kernel/resource: fix return code check in __request_free_mem_region 2021-05-14 19:41:32 -07:00
rseq.c rseq: Optimise rseq_get_rseq_cs() and clear_rseq_cs() 2021-04-14 18:04:09 +02:00
scftorture.c scftorture: Add debug output for wrong-CPU warning 2021-01-04 13:53:41 -08:00
scs.c scs: switch to vmapped shadow stacks 2020-12-01 10:30:28 +00:00
seccomp.c seccomp: Refactor notification handler to prepare for new semantics 2021-05-29 11:13:27 -07:00
signal.c Merge branch 'for-v5.13-rc3' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/ebiederm/user-namespace 2021-05-21 06:12:52 -10:00
smp.c smp: Fix smp_call_function_single_async prototype 2021-05-06 15:33:49 +02:00
smpboot.c kthread: Extract KTHREAD_IS_PER_CPU 2021-01-22 15:09:42 +01:00
smpboot.h
softirq.c RCU changes for this cycle were: 2021-04-28 12:00:13 -07:00
stackleak.c
stacktrace.c
static_call.c static_call: Fix unused variable warn w/o MODULE 2021-04-09 13:22:12 +02:00
stop_machine.c stop_machine: Add caller debug info to queue_stop_cpus_work 2021-03-23 16:01:58 +01:00
sys_ni.c Add Landlock, a new LSM from Mickaël Salaün <mic@linux.microsoft.com> 2021-05-01 18:50:44 -07:00
sys.c kernel/sys.c: fix typo 2021-05-07 00:26:34 -07:00
sysctl-test.c
sysctl.c Merge git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/bpf/bpf 2021-05-11 16:05:56 -07:00
task_work.c kasan: record task_work_add() call stack 2021-04-30 11:20:42 -07:00
taskstats.c treewide: rename nla_strlcpy to nla_strscpy. 2020-11-16 08:08:54 -08:00
test_kprobes.c
torture.c torture: Replace torture_init_begin string with %s 2021-03-08 14:22:28 -08:00
tracepoint.c tracepoints: Code clean up 2021-02-09 12:27:29 -05:00
tsacct.c
ucount.c fanotify: configurable limits via sysfs 2021-03-16 16:49:31 +01:00
uid16.c
uid16.h
umh.c kernel/umh.c: fix some spelling mistakes 2021-05-07 00:26:34 -07:00
up.c A set of locking related fixes and updates: 2021-05-09 13:07:03 -07:00
user_namespace.c kernel/user_namespace.c: fix typos 2021-05-07 00:26:34 -07:00
user-return-notifier.c
user.c
usermode_driver.c bpf: Fix umd memory leak in copy_process() 2021-03-19 22:23:19 +01:00
utsname_sysctl.c
utsname.c
watch_queue.c watch_queue: rectify kernel-doc for init_watch() 2021-01-26 11:16:34 +00:00
watchdog_hld.c
watchdog.c watchdog: reliable handling of timestamps 2021-05-22 15:09:07 -10:00
workqueue_internal.h
workqueue.c wq: handle VM suspension in stall detection 2021-05-20 12:58:30 -04:00