xref: /linux/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-list.txt (revision 2ba9268dd603d23e17643437b2246acb6844953b)
1perf-list(1)
2============
3
4NAME
5----
6perf-list - List all symbolic event types
7
8SYNOPSIS
9--------
10[verse]
11'perf list' [hw|sw|cache|tracepoint|pmu|event_glob]
12
13DESCRIPTION
14-----------
15This command displays the symbolic event types which can be selected in the
16various perf commands with the -e option.
17
18[[EVENT_MODIFIERS]]
19EVENT MODIFIERS
20---------------
21
22Events can optionally have a modifier by appending a colon and one or
23more modifiers. Modifiers allow the user to restrict the events to be
24counted. The following modifiers exist:
25
26 u - user-space counting
27 k - kernel counting
28 h - hypervisor counting
29 G - guest counting (in KVM guests)
30 H - host counting (not in KVM guests)
31 p - precise level
32 S - read sample value (PERF_SAMPLE_READ)
33 D - pin the event to the PMU
34
35The 'p' modifier can be used for specifying how precise the instruction
36address should be. The 'p' modifier can be specified multiple times:
37
38 0 - SAMPLE_IP can have arbitrary skid
39 1 - SAMPLE_IP must have constant skid
40 2 - SAMPLE_IP requested to have 0 skid
41 3 - SAMPLE_IP must have 0 skid
42
43For Intel systems precise event sampling is implemented with PEBS
44which supports up to precise-level 2.
45
46On AMD systems it is implemented using IBS (up to precise-level 2).
47The precise modifier works with event types 0x76 (cpu-cycles, CPU
48clocks not halted) and 0xC1 (micro-ops retired). Both events map to
49IBS execution sampling (IBS op) with the IBS Op Counter Control bit
50(IbsOpCntCtl) set respectively (see AMD64 Architecture Programmer’s
51Manual Volume 2: System Programming, 13.3 Instruction-Based
52Sampling). Examples to use IBS:
53
54 perf record -a -e cpu-cycles:p ...    # use ibs op counting cycles
55 perf record -a -e r076:p ...          # same as -e cpu-cycles:p
56 perf record -a -e r0C1:p ...          # use ibs op counting micro-ops
57
58RAW HARDWARE EVENT DESCRIPTOR
59-----------------------------
60Even when an event is not available in a symbolic form within perf right now,
61it can be encoded in a per processor specific way.
62
63For instance For x86 CPUs NNN represents the raw register encoding with the
64layout of IA32_PERFEVTSELx MSRs (see [Intel® 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developer's Manual Volume 3B: System Programming Guide] Figure 30-1 Layout
65of IA32_PERFEVTSELx MSRs) or AMD's PerfEvtSeln (see [AMD64 Architecture Programmer’s Manual Volume 2: System Programming], Page 344,
66Figure 13-7 Performance Event-Select Register (PerfEvtSeln)).
67
68Note: Only the following bit fields can be set in x86 counter
69registers: event, umask, edge, inv, cmask. Esp. guest/host only and
70OS/user mode flags must be setup using <<EVENT_MODIFIERS, EVENT
71MODIFIERS>>.
72
73Example:
74
75If the Intel docs for a QM720 Core i7 describe an event as:
76
77  Event  Umask  Event Mask
78  Num.   Value  Mnemonic    Description                        Comment
79
80  A8H      01H  LSD.UOPS    Counts the number of micro-ops     Use cmask=1 and
81                            delivered by loop stream detector  invert to count
82                                                               cycles
83
84raw encoding of 0x1A8 can be used:
85
86 perf stat -e r1a8 -a sleep 1
87 perf record -e r1a8 ...
88
89You should refer to the processor specific documentation for getting these
90details. Some of them are referenced in the SEE ALSO section below.
91
92PARAMETERIZED EVENTS
93--------------------
94
95Some pmu events listed by 'perf-list' will be displayed with '?' in them. For
96example:
97
98  hv_gpci/dtbp_ptitc,phys_processor_idx=?/
99
100This means that when provided as an event, a value for '?' must
101also be supplied. For example:
102
103  perf stat -C 0 -e 'hv_gpci/dtbp_ptitc,phys_processor_idx=0x2/' ...
104
105OPTIONS
106-------
107
108Without options all known events will be listed.
109
110To limit the list use:
111
112. 'hw' or 'hardware' to list hardware events such as cache-misses, etc.
113
114. 'sw' or 'software' to list software events such as context switches, etc.
115
116. 'cache' or 'hwcache' to list hardware cache events such as L1-dcache-loads, etc.
117
118. 'tracepoint' to list all tracepoint events, alternatively use
119  'subsys_glob:event_glob' to filter by tracepoint subsystems such as sched,
120  block, etc.
121
122. 'pmu' to print the kernel supplied PMU events.
123
124. If none of the above is matched, it will apply the supplied glob to all
125  events, printing the ones that match.
126
127One or more types can be used at the same time, listing the events for the
128types specified.
129
130SEE ALSO
131--------
132linkperf:perf-stat[1], linkperf:perf-top[1],
133linkperf:perf-record[1],
134http://www.intel.com/Assets/PDF/manual/253669.pdf[Intel® 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developer's Manual Volume 3B: System Programming Guide],
135http://support.amd.com/us/Processor_TechDocs/24593_APM_v2.pdf[AMD64 Architecture Programmer’s Manual Volume 2: System Programming]
136