--- /dev/null
+ Event Tracing
+
+ Documentation written by Theodore Ts'o
+ Updated by Li Zefan and Tom Zanussi
+
+1. Introduction
+===============
+
+Tracepoints (see Documentation/trace/tracepoints.txt) can be used
+without creating custom kernel modules to register probe functions
+using the event tracing infrastructure.
+
+Not all tracepoints can be traced using the event tracing system;
+the kernel developer must provide code snippets which define how the
+tracing information is saved into the tracing buffer, and how the
+tracing information should be printed.
+
+2. Using Event Tracing
+======================
+
+2.1 Via the 'set_event' interface
+---------------------------------
+
+The events which are available for tracing can be found in the file
+/sys/kernel/debug/tracing/available_events.
+
+To enable a particular event, such as 'sched_wakeup', simply echo it
+to /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/set_event. For example:
+
+ # echo sched_wakeup >> /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/set_event
+
+[ Note: '>>' is necessary, otherwise it will firstly disable
+ all the events. ]
+
+To disable an event, echo the event name to the set_event file prefixed
+with an exclamation point:
+
+ # echo '!sched_wakeup' >> /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/set_event
+
+To disable all events, echo an empty line to the set_event file:
+
+ # echo > /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/set_event
+
+To enable all events, echo '*:*' or '*:' to the set_event file:
+
+ # echo *:* > /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/set_event
+
+The events are organized into subsystems, such as ext4, irq, sched,
+etc., and a full event name looks like this: <subsystem>:<event>. The
+subsystem name is optional, but it is displayed in the available_events
+file. All of the events in a subsystem can be specified via the syntax
+"<subsystem>:*"; for example, to enable all irq events, you can use the
+command:
+
+ # echo 'irq:*' > /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/set_event
+
+2.2 Via the 'enable' toggle
+---------------------------
+
+The events available are also listed in /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/events/ hierarchy
+of directories.
+
+To enable event 'sched_wakeup':
+
+ # echo 1 > /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/events/sched/sched_wakeup/enable
+
+To disable it:
+
+ # echo 0 > /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/events/sched/sched_wakeup/enable
+
+To enable all events in sched subsystem:
+
+ # echo 1 > /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/events/sched/enable
+
+To enable all events:
+
+ # echo 1 > /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/events/enable
+
+When reading one of these enable files, there are four results:
+
+ 0 - all events this file affects are disabled
+ 1 - all events this file affects are enabled
+ X - there is a mixture of events enabled and disabled
+ ? - this file does not affect any event
+
+2.3 Boot option
+---------------
+
+In order to facilitate early boot debugging, use boot option:
+
+ trace_event=[event-list]
+
+event-list is a comma separated list of events. See section 2.1 for event
+format.
+
+3. Defining an event-enabled tracepoint
+=======================================
+
+See The example provided in samples/trace_events
+
+4. Event formats
+================
+
+Each trace event has a 'format' file associated with it that contains
+a description of each field in a logged event. This information can
+be used to parse the binary trace stream, and is also the place to
+find the field names that can be used in event filters (see section 5).
+
+It also displays the format string that will be used to print the
+event in text mode, along with the event name and ID used for
+profiling.
+
+Every event has a set of 'common' fields associated with it; these are
+the fields prefixed with 'common_'. The other fields vary between
+events and correspond to the fields defined in the TRACE_EVENT
+definition for that event.
+
+Each field in the format has the form:
+
+ field:field-type field-name; offset:N; size:N;
+
+where offset is the offset of the field in the trace record and size
+is the size of the data item, in bytes.
+
+For example, here's the information displayed for the 'sched_wakeup'
+event:
+
+# cat /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/events/sched/sched_wakeup/format
+
+name: sched_wakeup
+ID: 60
+format:
+ field:unsigned short common_type; offset:0; size:2;
+ field:unsigned char common_flags; offset:2; size:1;
+ field:unsigned char common_preempt_count; offset:3; size:1;
+ field:int common_pid; offset:4; size:4;
+ field:int common_tgid; offset:8; size:4;
+
+ field:char comm[TASK_COMM_LEN]; offset:12; size:16;
+ field:pid_t pid; offset:28; size:4;
+ field:int prio; offset:32; size:4;
+ field:int success; offset:36; size:4;
+ field:int cpu; offset:40; size:4;
+
+print fmt: "task %s:%d [%d] success=%d [%03d]", REC->comm, REC->pid,
+ REC->prio, REC->success, REC->cpu
+
+This event contains 10 fields, the first 5 common and the remaining 5
+event-specific. All the fields for this event are numeric, except for
+'comm' which is a string, a distinction important for event filtering.
+
+5. Event filtering
+==================
+
+Trace events can be filtered in the kernel by associating boolean
+'filter expressions' with them. As soon as an event is logged into
+the trace buffer, its fields are checked against the filter expression
+associated with that event type. An event with field values that
+'match' the filter will appear in the trace output, and an event whose
+values don't match will be discarded. An event with no filter
+associated with it matches everything, and is the default when no
+filter has been set for an event.
+
+5.1 Expression syntax
+---------------------
+
+A filter expression consists of one or more 'predicates' that can be
+combined using the logical operators '&&' and '||'. A predicate is
+simply a clause that compares the value of a field contained within a
+logged event with a constant value and returns either 0 or 1 depending
+on whether the field value matched (1) or didn't match (0):
+
+ field-name relational-operator value
+
+Parentheses can be used to provide arbitrary logical groupings and
+double-quotes can be used to prevent the shell from interpreting
+operators as shell metacharacters.
+
+The field-names available for use in filters can be found in the
+'format' files for trace events (see section 4).
+
+The relational-operators depend on the type of the field being tested:
+
+The operators available for numeric fields are:
+
+==, !=, <, <=, >, >=, &
+
+And for string fields they are:
+
+==, !=, ~
+
+The glob (~) only accepts a wild card character (*) at the start and or
+end of the string. For example:
+
+ prev_comm ~ "*sh"
+ prev_comm ~ "sh*"
+ prev_comm ~ "*sh*"
+
+But does not allow for it to be within the string:
+
+ prev_comm ~ "ba*sh" <-- is invalid
+
+5.2 Setting filters
+-------------------
+
+A filter for an individual event is set by writing a filter expression
+to the 'filter' file for the given event.
+
+For example:
+
+# cd /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/events/sched/sched_wakeup
+# echo "common_preempt_count > 4" > filter
+
+A slightly more involved example:
+
+# cd /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/events/signal/signal_generate
+# echo "((sig >= 10 && sig < 15) || sig == 17) && comm != bash" > filter
+
+If there is an error in the expression, you'll get an 'Invalid
+argument' error when setting it, and the erroneous string along with
+an error message can be seen by looking at the filter e.g.:
+
+# cd /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/events/signal/signal_generate
+# echo "((sig >= 10 && sig < 15) || dsig == 17) && comm != bash" > filter
+-bash: echo: write error: Invalid argument
+# cat filter
+((sig >= 10 && sig < 15) || dsig == 17) && comm != bash
+^
+parse_error: Field not found
+
+Currently the caret ('^') for an error always appears at the beginning of
+the filter string; the error message should still be useful though
+even without more accurate position info.
+
+5.3 Clearing filters
+--------------------
+
+To clear the filter for an event, write a '0' to the event's filter
+file.
+
+To clear the filters for all events in a subsystem, write a '0' to the
+subsystem's filter file.
+
+5.3 Subsystem filters
+---------------------
+
+For convenience, filters for every event in a subsystem can be set or
+cleared as a group by writing a filter expression into the filter file
+at the root of the subsystem. Note however, that if a filter for any
+event within the subsystem lacks a field specified in the subsystem
+filter, or if the filter can't be applied for any other reason, the
+filter for that event will retain its previous setting. This can
+result in an unintended mixture of filters which could lead to
+confusing (to the user who might think different filters are in
+effect) trace output. Only filters that reference just the common
+fields can be guaranteed to propagate successfully to all events.
+
+Here are a few subsystem filter examples that also illustrate the
+above points:
+
+Clear the filters on all events in the sched subsystem:
+
+# cd /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/events/sched
+# echo 0 > filter
+# cat sched_switch/filter
+none
+# cat sched_wakeup/filter
+none
+
+Set a filter using only common fields for all events in the sched
+subsystem (all events end up with the same filter):
+
+# cd /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/events/sched
+# echo common_pid == 0 > filter
+# cat sched_switch/filter
+common_pid == 0
+# cat sched_wakeup/filter
+common_pid == 0
+
+Attempt to set a filter using a non-common field for all events in the
+sched subsystem (all events but those that have a prev_pid field retain
+their old filters):
+
+# cd /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/events/sched
+# echo prev_pid == 0 > filter
+# cat sched_switch/filter
+prev_pid == 0
+# cat sched_wakeup/filter
+common_pid == 0
+
+6. Event triggers
+=================
+
+Trace events can be made to conditionally invoke trigger 'commands'
+which can take various forms and are described in detail below;
+examples would be enabling or disabling other trace events or invoking
+a stack trace whenever the trace event is hit. Whenever a trace event
+with attached triggers is invoked, the set of trigger commands
+associated with that event is invoked. Any given trigger can
+additionally have an event filter of the same form as described in
+section 5 (Event filtering) associated with it - the command will only
+be invoked if the event being invoked passes the associated filter.
+If no filter is associated with the trigger, it always passes.
+
+Triggers are added to and removed from a particular event by writing
+trigger expressions to the 'trigger' file for the given event.
+
+A given event can have any number of triggers associated with it,
+subject to any restrictions that individual commands may have in that
+regard.
+
+Event triggers are implemented on top of "soft" mode, which means that
+whenever a trace event has one or more triggers associated with it,
+the event is activated even if it isn't actually enabled, but is
+disabled in a "soft" mode. That is, the tracepoint will be called,
+but just will not be traced, unless of course it's actually enabled.
+This scheme allows triggers to be invoked even for events that aren't
+enabled, and also allows the current event filter implementation to be
+used for conditionally invoking triggers.
+
+The syntax for event triggers is roughly based on the syntax for
+set_ftrace_filter 'ftrace filter commands' (see the 'Filter commands'
+section of Documentation/trace/ftrace.txt), but there are major
+differences and the implementation isn't currently tied to it in any
+way, so beware about making generalizations between the two.
+
+6.1 Expression syntax
+---------------------
+
+Triggers are added by echoing the command to the 'trigger' file:
+
+ # echo 'command[:count] [if filter]' > trigger
+
+Triggers are removed by echoing the same command but starting with '!'
+to the 'trigger' file:
+
+ # echo '!command[:count] [if filter]' > trigger
+
+The [if filter] part isn't used in matching commands when removing, so
+leaving that off in a '!' command will accomplish the same thing as
+having it in.
+
+The filter syntax is the same as that described in the 'Event
+filtering' section above.
+
+For ease of use, writing to the trigger file using '>' currently just
+adds or removes a single trigger and there's no explicit '>>' support
+('>' actually behaves like '>>') or truncation support to remove all
+triggers (you have to use '!' for each one added.)
+
+6.2 Supported trigger commands
+------------------------------
+
+The following commands are supported:
+
+- enable_event/disable_event
+
+ These commands can enable or disable another trace event whenever
+ the triggering event is hit. When these commands are registered,
+ the other trace event is activated, but disabled in a "soft" mode.
+ That is, the tracepoint will be called, but just will not be traced.
+ The event tracepoint stays in this mode as long as there's a trigger
+ in effect that can trigger it.
+
+ For example, the following trigger causes kmalloc events to be
+ traced when a read system call is entered, and the :1 at the end
+ specifies that this enablement happens only once:
+
+ # echo 'enable_event:kmem:kmalloc:1' > \
+ /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/events/syscalls/sys_enter_read/trigger
+
+ The following trigger causes kmalloc events to stop being traced
+ when a read system call exits. This disablement happens on every
+ read system call exit:
+
+ # echo 'disable_event:kmem:kmalloc' > \
+ /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/events/syscalls/sys_exit_read/trigger
+
+ The format is:
+
+ enable_event:<system>:<event>[:count]
+ disable_event:<system>:<event>[:count]
+
+ To remove the above commands:
+
+ # echo '!enable_event:kmem:kmalloc:1' > \
+ /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/events/syscalls/sys_enter_read/trigger
+
+ # echo '!disable_event:kmem:kmalloc' > \
+ /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/events/syscalls/sys_exit_read/trigger
+
+ Note that there can be any number of enable/disable_event triggers
+ per triggering event, but there can only be one trigger per
+ triggered event. e.g. sys_enter_read can have triggers enabling both
+ kmem:kmalloc and sched:sched_switch, but can't have two kmem:kmalloc
+ versions such as kmem:kmalloc and kmem:kmalloc:1 or 'kmem:kmalloc if
+ bytes_req == 256' and 'kmem:kmalloc if bytes_alloc == 256' (they
+ could be combined into a single filter on kmem:kmalloc though).
+
+- stacktrace
+
+ This command dumps a stacktrace in the trace buffer whenever the
+ triggering event occurs.
+
+ For example, the following trigger dumps a stacktrace every time the
+ kmalloc tracepoint is hit:
+
+ # echo 'stacktrace' > \
+ /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/events/kmem/kmalloc/trigger
+
+ The following trigger dumps a stacktrace the first 5 times a kmalloc
+ request happens with a size >= 64K
+
+ # echo 'stacktrace:5 if bytes_req >= 65536' > \
+ /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/events/kmem/kmalloc/trigger
+
+ The format is:
+
+ stacktrace[:count]
+
+ To remove the above commands:
+
+ # echo '!stacktrace' > \
+ /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/events/kmem/kmalloc/trigger
+
+ # echo '!stacktrace:5 if bytes_req >= 65536' > \
+ /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/events/kmem/kmalloc/trigger
+
+ The latter can also be removed more simply by the following (without
+ the filter):
+
+ # echo '!stacktrace:5' > \
+ /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/events/kmem/kmalloc/trigger
+
+ Note that there can be only one stacktrace trigger per triggering
+ event.
+
+- snapshot
+
+ This command causes a snapshot to be triggered whenever the
+ triggering event occurs.
+
+ The following command creates a snapshot every time a block request
+ queue is unplugged with a depth > 1. If you were tracing a set of
+ events or functions at the time, the snapshot trace buffer would
+ capture those events when the trigger event occurred:
+
+ # echo 'snapshot if nr_rq > 1' > \
+ /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/events/block/block_unplug/trigger
+
+ To only snapshot once:
+
+ # echo 'snapshot:1 if nr_rq > 1' > \
+ /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/events/block/block_unplug/trigger
+
+ To remove the above commands:
+
+ # echo '!snapshot if nr_rq > 1' > \
+ /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/events/block/block_unplug/trigger
+
+ # echo '!snapshot:1 if nr_rq > 1' > \
+ /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/events/block/block_unplug/trigger
+
+ Note that there can be only one snapshot trigger per triggering
+ event.
+
+- traceon/traceoff
+
+ These commands turn tracing on and off when the specified events are
+ hit. The parameter determines how many times the tracing system is
+ turned on and off. If unspecified, there is no limit.
+
+ The following command turns tracing off the first time a block
+ request queue is unplugged with a depth > 1. If you were tracing a
+ set of events or functions at the time, you could then examine the
+ trace buffer to see the sequence of events that led up to the
+ trigger event:
+
+ # echo 'traceoff:1 if nr_rq > 1' > \
+ /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/events/block/block_unplug/trigger
+
+ To always disable tracing when nr_rq > 1 :
+
+ # echo 'traceoff if nr_rq > 1' > \
+ /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/events/block/block_unplug/trigger
+
+ To remove the above commands:
+
+ # echo '!traceoff:1 if nr_rq > 1' > \
+ /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/events/block/block_unplug/trigger
+
+ # echo '!traceoff if nr_rq > 1' > \
+ /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/events/block/block_unplug/trigger
+
+ Note that there can be only one traceon or traceoff trigger per
+ triggering event.
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