xref: /linux/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-record.txt (revision 497e6b37b0099dc415578488287fd84fb74433eb)
1perf-record(1)
2==============
3
4NAME
5----
6perf-record - Run a command and record its profile into perf.data
7
8SYNOPSIS
9--------
10[verse]
11'perf record' [-e <EVENT> | --event=EVENT] [-a] <command>
12'perf record' [-e <EVENT> | --event=EVENT] [-a] \-- <command> [<options>]
13
14DESCRIPTION
15-----------
16This command runs a command and gathers a performance counter profile
17from it, into perf.data - without displaying anything.
18
19This file can then be inspected later on, using 'perf report'.
20
21
22OPTIONS
23-------
24<command>...::
25	Any command you can specify in a shell.
26
27-e::
28--event=::
29	Select the PMU event. Selection can be:
30
31        - a symbolic event name	(use 'perf list' to list all events)
32
33        - a raw PMU event in the form of rN where N is a hexadecimal value
34          that represents the raw register encoding with the layout of the
35          event control registers as described by entries in
36          /sys/bus/event_source/devices/cpu/format/*.
37
38        - a symbolic or raw PMU event followed by an optional colon
39	  and a list of event modifiers, e.g., cpu-cycles:p.  See the
40	  linkperf:perf-list[1] man page for details on event modifiers.
41
42	- a symbolically formed PMU event like 'pmu/param1=0x3,param2/' where
43	  'param1', 'param2', etc are defined as formats for the PMU in
44	  /sys/bus/event_source/devices/<pmu>/format/*.
45
46	- a symbolically formed event like 'pmu/config=M,config1=N,config3=K/'
47
48          where M, N, K are numbers (in decimal, hex, octal format). Acceptable
49          values for each of 'config', 'config1' and 'config2' are defined by
50          corresponding entries in /sys/bus/event_source/devices/<pmu>/format/*
51          param1 and param2 are defined as formats for the PMU in:
52          /sys/bus/event_source/devices/<pmu>/format/*
53
54	  There are also some parameters which are not defined in .../<pmu>/format/*.
55	  These params can be used to overload default config values per event.
56	  Here are some common parameters:
57	  - 'period': Set event sampling period
58	  - 'freq': Set event sampling frequency
59	  - 'time': Disable/enable time stamping. Acceptable values are 1 for
60		    enabling time stamping. 0 for disabling time stamping.
61		    The default is 1.
62	  - 'call-graph': Disable/enable callgraph. Acceptable str are "fp" for
63			 FP mode, "dwarf" for DWARF mode, "lbr" for LBR mode and
64			 "no" for disable callgraph.
65	  - 'stack-size': user stack size for dwarf mode
66	  - 'name' : User defined event name. Single quotes (') may be used to
67		    escape symbols in the name from parsing by shell and tool
68		    like this: name=\'CPU_CLK_UNHALTED.THREAD:cmask=0x1\'.
69	  - 'aux-output': Generate AUX records instead of events. This requires
70			  that an AUX area event is also provided.
71	  - 'aux-sample-size': Set sample size for AUX area sampling. If the
72	  '--aux-sample' option has been used, set aux-sample-size=0 to disable
73	  AUX area sampling for the event.
74
75          See the linkperf:perf-list[1] man page for more parameters.
76
77	  Note: If user explicitly sets options which conflict with the params,
78	  the value set by the parameters will be overridden.
79
80	  Also not defined in .../<pmu>/format/* are PMU driver specific
81	  configuration parameters.  Any configuration parameter preceded by
82	  the letter '@' is not interpreted in user space and sent down directly
83	  to the PMU driver.  For example:
84
85	  perf record -e some_event/@cfg1,@cfg2=config/ ...
86
87	  will see 'cfg1' and 'cfg2=config' pushed to the PMU driver associated
88	  with the event for further processing.  There is no restriction on
89	  what the configuration parameters are, as long as their semantic is
90	  understood and supported by the PMU driver.
91
92        - a hardware breakpoint event in the form of '\mem:addr[/len][:access]'
93          where addr is the address in memory you want to break in.
94          Access is the memory access type (read, write, execute) it can
95          be passed as follows: '\mem:addr[:[r][w][x]]'. len is the range,
96          number of bytes from specified addr, which the breakpoint will cover.
97          If you want to profile read-write accesses in 0x1000, just set
98          'mem:0x1000:rw'.
99          If you want to profile write accesses in [0x1000~1008), just set
100          'mem:0x1000/8:w'.
101
102        - a BPF source file (ending in .c) or a precompiled object file (ending
103          in .o) selects one or more BPF events.
104          The BPF program can attach to various perf events based on the ELF section
105          names.
106
107          When processing a '.c' file, perf searches an installed LLVM to compile it
108          into an object file first. Optional clang options can be passed via the
109          '--clang-opt' command line option, e.g.:
110
111            perf record --clang-opt "-DLINUX_VERSION_CODE=0x50000" \
112                        -e tests/bpf-script-example.c
113
114          Note: '--clang-opt' must be placed before '--event/-e'.
115
116	- a group of events surrounded by a pair of brace ("{event1,event2,...}").
117	  Each event is separated by commas and the group should be quoted to
118	  prevent the shell interpretation.  You also need to use --group on
119	  "perf report" to view group events together.
120
121--filter=<filter>::
122        Event filter. This option should follow an event selector (-e) which
123	selects either tracepoint event(s) or a hardware trace PMU
124	(e.g. Intel PT or CoreSight).
125
126	- tracepoint filters
127
128	In the case of tracepoints, multiple '--filter' options are combined
129	using '&&'.
130
131	- address filters
132
133	A hardware trace PMU advertises its ability to accept a number of
134	address filters	by specifying a non-zero value in
135	/sys/bus/event_source/devices/<pmu>/nr_addr_filters.
136
137	Address filters have the format:
138
139	filter|start|stop|tracestop <start> [/ <size>] [@<file name>]
140
141	Where:
142	- 'filter': defines a region that will be traced.
143	- 'start': defines an address at which tracing will begin.
144	- 'stop': defines an address at which tracing will stop.
145	- 'tracestop': defines a region in which tracing will stop.
146
147	<file name> is the name of the object file, <start> is the offset to the
148	code to trace in that file, and <size> is the size of the region to
149	trace. 'start' and 'stop' filters need not specify a <size>.
150
151	If no object file is specified then the kernel is assumed, in which case
152	the start address must be a current kernel memory address.
153
154	<start> can also be specified by providing the name of a symbol. If the
155	symbol name is not unique, it can be disambiguated by inserting #n where
156	'n' selects the n'th symbol in address order. Alternately #0, #g or #G
157	select only a global symbol. <size> can also be specified by providing
158	the name of a symbol, in which case the size is calculated to the end
159	of that symbol. For 'filter' and 'tracestop' filters, if <size> is
160	omitted and <start> is a symbol, then the size is calculated to the end
161	of that symbol.
162
163	If <size> is omitted and <start> is '*', then the start and size will
164	be calculated from the first and last symbols, i.e. to trace the whole
165	file.
166
167	If symbol names (or '*') are provided, they must be surrounded by white
168	space.
169
170	The filter passed to the kernel is not necessarily the same as entered.
171	To see the filter that is passed, use the -v option.
172
173	The kernel may not be able to configure a trace region if it is not
174	within a single mapping.  MMAP events (or /proc/<pid>/maps) can be
175	examined to determine if that is a possibility.
176
177	Multiple filters can be separated with space or comma.
178
179--exclude-perf::
180	Don't record events issued by perf itself. This option should follow
181	an event selector (-e) which selects tracepoint event(s). It adds a
182	filter expression 'common_pid != $PERFPID' to filters. If other
183	'--filter' exists, the new filter expression will be combined with
184	them by '&&'.
185
186-a::
187--all-cpus::
188        System-wide collection from all CPUs (default if no target is specified).
189
190-p::
191--pid=::
192	Record events on existing process ID (comma separated list).
193
194-t::
195--tid=::
196        Record events on existing thread ID (comma separated list).
197        This option also disables inheritance by default.  Enable it by adding
198        --inherit.
199
200-u::
201--uid=::
202        Record events in threads owned by uid. Name or number.
203
204-r::
205--realtime=::
206	Collect data with this RT SCHED_FIFO priority.
207
208--no-buffering::
209	Collect data without buffering.
210
211-c::
212--count=::
213	Event period to sample.
214
215-o::
216--output=::
217	Output file name.
218
219-i::
220--no-inherit::
221	Child tasks do not inherit counters.
222
223-F::
224--freq=::
225	Profile at this frequency. Use 'max' to use the currently maximum
226	allowed frequency, i.e. the value in the kernel.perf_event_max_sample_rate
227	sysctl. Will throttle down to the currently maximum allowed frequency.
228	See --strict-freq.
229
230--strict-freq::
231	Fail if the specified frequency can't be used.
232
233-m::
234--mmap-pages=::
235	Number of mmap data pages (must be a power of two) or size
236	specification with appended unit character - B/K/M/G. The
237	size is rounded up to have nearest pages power of two value.
238	Also, by adding a comma, the number of mmap pages for AUX
239	area tracing can be specified.
240
241-g::
242	Enables call-graph (stack chain/backtrace) recording for both
243	kernel space and user space.
244
245--call-graph::
246	Setup and enable call-graph (stack chain/backtrace) recording,
247	implies -g.  Default is "fp" (for user space).
248
249	The unwinding method used for kernel space is dependent on the
250	unwinder used by the active kernel configuration, i.e
251	CONFIG_UNWINDER_FRAME_POINTER (fp) or CONFIG_UNWINDER_ORC (orc)
252
253	Any option specified here controls the method used for user space.
254
255	Valid options are "fp" (frame pointer), "dwarf" (DWARF's CFI -
256	Call Frame Information) or "lbr" (Hardware Last Branch Record
257	facility).
258
259	In some systems, where binaries are build with gcc
260	--fomit-frame-pointer, using the "fp" method will produce bogus
261	call graphs, using "dwarf", if available (perf tools linked to
262	the libunwind or libdw library) should be used instead.
263	Using the "lbr" method doesn't require any compiler options. It
264	will produce call graphs from the hardware LBR registers. The
265	main limitation is that it is only available on new Intel
266	platforms, such as Haswell. It can only get user call chain. It
267	doesn't work with branch stack sampling at the same time.
268
269	When "dwarf" recording is used, perf also records (user) stack dump
270	when sampled.  Default size of the stack dump is 8192 (bytes).
271	User can change the size by passing the size after comma like
272	"--call-graph dwarf,4096".
273
274	When "fp" recording is used, perf tries to save stack enties
275	up to the number specified in sysctl.kernel.perf_event_max_stack
276	by default.  User can change the number by passing it after comma
277	like "--call-graph fp,32".
278
279-q::
280--quiet::
281	Don't print any warnings or messages, useful for scripting.
282
283-v::
284--verbose::
285	Be more verbose (show counter open errors, etc).
286
287-s::
288--stat::
289	Record per-thread event counts.  Use it with 'perf report -T' to see
290	the values.
291
292-d::
293--data::
294	Record the sample virtual addresses.
295
296--phys-data::
297	Record the sample physical addresses.
298
299--data-page-size::
300	Record the sampled data address data page size.
301
302--code-page-size::
303	Record the sampled code address (ip) page size
304
305-T::
306--timestamp::
307	Record the sample timestamps. Use it with 'perf report -D' to see the
308	timestamps, for instance.
309
310-P::
311--period::
312	Record the sample period.
313
314--sample-cpu::
315	Record the sample cpu.
316
317--sample-identifier::
318	Record the sample identifier i.e. PERF_SAMPLE_IDENTIFIER bit set in
319	the sample_type member of the struct perf_event_attr argument to the
320	perf_event_open system call.
321
322-n::
323--no-samples::
324	Don't sample.
325
326-R::
327--raw-samples::
328Collect raw sample records from all opened counters (default for tracepoint counters).
329
330-C::
331--cpu::
332Collect samples only on the list of CPUs provided. Multiple CPUs can be provided as a
333comma-separated list with no space: 0,1. Ranges of CPUs are specified with -: 0-2.
334In per-thread mode with inheritance mode on (default), samples are captured only when
335the thread executes on the designated CPUs. Default is to monitor all CPUs.
336
337-B::
338--no-buildid::
339Do not save the build ids of binaries in the perf.data files. This skips
340post processing after recording, which sometimes makes the final step in
341the recording process to take a long time, as it needs to process all
342events looking for mmap records. The downside is that it can misresolve
343symbols if the workload binaries used when recording get locally rebuilt
344or upgraded, because the only key available in this case is the
345pathname. You can also set the "record.build-id" config variable to
346'skip to have this behaviour permanently.
347
348-N::
349--no-buildid-cache::
350Do not update the buildid cache. This saves some overhead in situations
351where the information in the perf.data file (which includes buildids)
352is sufficient.  You can also set the "record.build-id" config variable to
353'no-cache' to have the same effect.
354
355-G name,...::
356--cgroup name,...::
357monitor only in the container (cgroup) called "name". This option is available only
358in per-cpu mode. The cgroup filesystem must be mounted. All threads belonging to
359container "name" are monitored when they run on the monitored CPUs. Multiple cgroups
360can be provided. Each cgroup is applied to the corresponding event, i.e., first cgroup
361to first event, second cgroup to second event and so on. It is possible to provide
362an empty cgroup (monitor all the time) using, e.g., -G foo,,bar. Cgroups must have
363corresponding events, i.e., they always refer to events defined earlier on the command
364line. If the user wants to track multiple events for a specific cgroup, the user can
365use '-e e1 -e e2 -G foo,foo' or just use '-e e1 -e e2 -G foo'.
366
367If wanting to monitor, say, 'cycles' for a cgroup and also for system wide, this
368command line can be used: 'perf stat -e cycles -G cgroup_name -a -e cycles'.
369
370-b::
371--branch-any::
372Enable taken branch stack sampling. Any type of taken branch may be sampled.
373This is a shortcut for --branch-filter any. See --branch-filter for more infos.
374
375-j::
376--branch-filter::
377Enable taken branch stack sampling. Each sample captures a series of consecutive
378taken branches. The number of branches captured with each sample depends on the
379underlying hardware, the type of branches of interest, and the executed code.
380It is possible to select the types of branches captured by enabling filters. The
381following filters are defined:
382
383        - any:  any type of branches
384        - any_call: any function call or system call
385        - any_ret: any function return or system call return
386        - ind_call: any indirect branch
387        - ind_jmp: any indirect jump
388        - call: direct calls, including far (to/from kernel) calls
389        - u:  only when the branch target is at the user level
390        - k: only when the branch target is in the kernel
391        - hv: only when the target is at the hypervisor level
392	- in_tx: only when the target is in a hardware transaction
393	- no_tx: only when the target is not in a hardware transaction
394	- abort_tx: only when the target is a hardware transaction abort
395	- cond: conditional branches
396	- call_stack: save call stack
397	- no_flags: don't save branch flags e.g prediction, misprediction etc
398	- no_cycles: don't save branch cycles
399	- hw_index: save branch hardware index
400	- save_type: save branch type during sampling in case binary is not available later
401		     For the platforms with Intel Arch LBR support (12th-Gen+ client or
402		     4th-Gen Xeon+ server), the save branch type is unconditionally enabled
403		     when the taken branch stack sampling is enabled.
404	- priv: save privilege state during sampling in case binary is not available later
405
406+
407The option requires at least one branch type among any, any_call, any_ret, ind_call, cond.
408The privilege levels may be omitted, in which case, the privilege levels of the associated
409event are applied to the branch filter. Both kernel (k) and hypervisor (hv) privilege
410levels are subject to permissions.  When sampling on multiple events, branch stack sampling
411is enabled for all the sampling events. The sampled branch type is the same for all events.
412The various filters must be specified as a comma separated list: --branch-filter any_ret,u,k
413Note that this feature may not be available on all processors.
414
415-W::
416--weight::
417Enable weightened sampling. An additional weight is recorded per sample and can be
418displayed with the weight and local_weight sort keys.  This currently works for TSX
419abort events and some memory events in precise mode on modern Intel CPUs.
420
421--namespaces::
422Record events of type PERF_RECORD_NAMESPACES.  This enables 'cgroup_id' sort key.
423
424--all-cgroups::
425Record events of type PERF_RECORD_CGROUP.  This enables 'cgroup' sort key.
426
427--transaction::
428Record transaction flags for transaction related events.
429
430--per-thread::
431Use per-thread mmaps.  By default per-cpu mmaps are created.  This option
432overrides that and uses per-thread mmaps.  A side-effect of that is that
433inheritance is automatically disabled.  --per-thread is ignored with a warning
434if combined with -a or -C options.
435
436-D::
437--delay=::
438After starting the program, wait msecs before measuring (-1: start with events
439disabled), or enable events only for specified ranges of msecs (e.g.
440-D 10-20,30-40 means wait 10 msecs, enable for 10 msecs, wait 10 msecs, enable
441for 10 msecs, then stop). Note, delaying enabling of events is useful to filter
442out the startup phase of the program, which is often very different.
443
444-I::
445--intr-regs::
446Capture machine state (registers) at interrupt, i.e., on counter overflows for
447each sample. List of captured registers depends on the architecture. This option
448is off by default. It is possible to select the registers to sample using their
449symbolic names, e.g. on x86, ax, si. To list the available registers use
450--intr-regs=\?. To name registers, pass a comma separated list such as
451--intr-regs=ax,bx. The list of register is architecture dependent.
452
453--user-regs::
454Similar to -I, but capture user registers at sample time. To list the available
455user registers use --user-regs=\?.
456
457--running-time::
458Record running and enabled time for read events (:S)
459
460-k::
461--clockid::
462Sets the clock id to use for the various time fields in the perf_event_type
463records. See clock_gettime(). In particular CLOCK_MONOTONIC and
464CLOCK_MONOTONIC_RAW are supported, some events might also allow
465CLOCK_BOOTTIME, CLOCK_REALTIME and CLOCK_TAI.
466
467-S::
468--snapshot::
469Select AUX area tracing Snapshot Mode. This option is valid only with an
470AUX area tracing event. Optionally, certain snapshot capturing parameters
471can be specified in a string that follows this option:
472  'e': take one last snapshot on exit; guarantees that there is at least one
473       snapshot in the output file;
474  <size>: if the PMU supports this, specify the desired snapshot size.
475
476In Snapshot Mode trace data is captured only when signal SIGUSR2 is received
477and on exit if the above 'e' option is given.
478
479--aux-sample[=OPTIONS]::
480Select AUX area sampling. At least one of the events selected by the -e option
481must be an AUX area event. Samples on other events will be created containing
482data from the AUX area. Optionally sample size may be specified, otherwise it
483defaults to 4KiB.
484
485--proc-map-timeout::
486When processing pre-existing threads /proc/XXX/mmap, it may take a long time,
487because the file may be huge. A time out is needed in such cases.
488This option sets the time out limit. The default value is 500 ms.
489
490--switch-events::
491Record context switch events i.e. events of type PERF_RECORD_SWITCH or
492PERF_RECORD_SWITCH_CPU_WIDE. In some cases (e.g. Intel PT, CoreSight or Arm SPE)
493switch events will be enabled automatically, which can be suppressed by
494by the option --no-switch-events.
495
496--clang-path=PATH::
497Path to clang binary to use for compiling BPF scriptlets.
498(enabled when BPF support is on)
499
500--clang-opt=OPTIONS::
501Options passed to clang when compiling BPF scriptlets.
502(enabled when BPF support is on)
503
504--vmlinux=PATH::
505Specify vmlinux path which has debuginfo.
506(enabled when BPF prologue is on)
507
508--buildid-all::
509Record build-id of all DSOs regardless whether it's actually hit or not.
510
511--buildid-mmap::
512Record build ids in mmap2 events, disables build id cache (implies --no-buildid).
513
514--aio[=n]::
515Use <n> control blocks in asynchronous (Posix AIO) trace writing mode (default: 1, max: 4).
516Asynchronous mode is supported only when linking Perf tool with libc library
517providing implementation for Posix AIO API.
518
519--affinity=mode::
520Set affinity mask of trace reading thread according to the policy defined by 'mode' value:
521  node - thread affinity mask is set to NUMA node cpu mask of the processed mmap buffer
522  cpu  - thread affinity mask is set to cpu of the processed mmap buffer
523
524--mmap-flush=number::
525
526Specify minimal number of bytes that is extracted from mmap data pages and
527processed for output. One can specify the number using B/K/M/G suffixes.
528
529The maximal allowed value is a quarter of the size of mmaped data pages.
530
531The default option value is 1 byte which means that every time that the output
532writing thread finds some new data in the mmaped buffer the data is extracted,
533possibly compressed (-z) and written to the output, perf.data or pipe.
534
535Larger data chunks are compressed more effectively in comparison to smaller
536chunks so extraction of larger chunks from the mmap data pages is preferable
537from the perspective of output size reduction.
538
539Also at some cases executing less output write syscalls with bigger data size
540can take less time than executing more output write syscalls with smaller data
541size thus lowering runtime profiling overhead.
542
543-z::
544--compression-level[=n]::
545Produce compressed trace using specified level n (default: 1 - fastest compression,
54622 - smallest trace)
547
548--all-kernel::
549Configure all used events to run in kernel space.
550
551--all-user::
552Configure all used events to run in user space.
553
554--kernel-callchains::
555Collect callchains only from kernel space. I.e. this option sets
556perf_event_attr.exclude_callchain_user to 1.
557
558--user-callchains::
559Collect callchains only from user space. I.e. this option sets
560perf_event_attr.exclude_callchain_kernel to 1.
561
562Don't use both --kernel-callchains and --user-callchains at the same time or no
563callchains will be collected.
564
565--timestamp-filename
566Append timestamp to output file name.
567
568--timestamp-boundary::
569Record timestamp boundary (time of first/last samples).
570
571--switch-output[=mode]::
572Generate multiple perf.data files, timestamp prefixed, switching to a new one
573based on 'mode' value:
574  "signal" - when receiving a SIGUSR2 (default value) or
575  <size>   - when reaching the size threshold, size is expected to
576             be a number with appended unit character - B/K/M/G
577  <time>   - when reaching the time threshold, size is expected to
578             be a number with appended unit character - s/m/h/d
579
580             Note: the precision of  the size  threshold  hugely depends
581             on your configuration  - the number and size of  your  ring
582             buffers (-m). It is generally more precise for higher sizes
583             (like >5M), for lower values expect different sizes.
584
585A possible use case is to, given an external event, slice the perf.data file
586that gets then processed, possibly via a perf script, to decide if that
587particular perf.data snapshot should be kept or not.
588
589Implies --timestamp-filename, --no-buildid and --no-buildid-cache.
590The reason for the latter two is to reduce the data file switching
591overhead. You can still switch them on with:
592
593  --switch-output --no-no-buildid  --no-no-buildid-cache
594
595--switch-output-event::
596Events that will cause the switch of the perf.data file, auto-selecting
597--switch-output=signal, the results are similar as internally the side band
598thread will also send a SIGUSR2 to the main one.
599
600Uses the same syntax as --event, it will just not be recorded, serving only to
601switch the perf.data file as soon as the --switch-output event is processed by
602a separate sideband thread.
603
604This sideband thread is also used to other purposes, like processing the
605PERF_RECORD_BPF_EVENT records as they happen, asking the kernel for extra BPF
606information, etc.
607
608--switch-max-files=N::
609
610When rotating perf.data with --switch-output, only keep N files.
611
612--dry-run::
613Parse options then exit. --dry-run can be used to detect errors in cmdline
614options.
615
616'perf record --dry-run -e' can act as a BPF script compiler if llvm.dump-obj
617in config file is set to true.
618
619--synth=TYPE::
620Collect and synthesize given type of events (comma separated).  Note that
621this option controls the synthesis from the /proc filesystem which represent
622task status for pre-existing threads.
623
624Kernel (and some other) events are recorded regardless of the
625choice in this option.  For example, --synth=no would have MMAP events for
626kernel and modules.
627
628Available types are:
629  'task'    - synthesize FORK and COMM events for each task
630  'mmap'    - synthesize MMAP events for each process (implies 'task')
631  'cgroup'  - synthesize CGROUP events for each cgroup
632  'all'     - synthesize all events (default)
633  'no'      - do not synthesize any of the above events
634
635--tail-synthesize::
636Instead of collecting non-sample events (for example, fork, comm, mmap) at
637the beginning of record, collect them during finalizing an output file.
638The collected non-sample events reflects the status of the system when
639record is finished.
640
641--overwrite::
642Makes all events use an overwritable ring buffer. An overwritable ring
643buffer works like a flight recorder: when it gets full, the kernel will
644overwrite the oldest records, that thus will never make it to the
645perf.data file.
646
647When '--overwrite' and '--switch-output' are used perf records and drops
648events until it receives a signal, meaning that something unusual was
649detected that warrants taking a snapshot of the most current events,
650those fitting in the ring buffer at that moment.
651
652'overwrite' attribute can also be set or canceled for an event using
653config terms. For example: 'cycles/overwrite/' and 'instructions/no-overwrite/'.
654
655Implies --tail-synthesize.
656
657--kcore::
658Make a copy of /proc/kcore and place it into a directory with the perf data file.
659
660--max-size=<size>::
661Limit the sample data max size, <size> is expected to be a number with
662appended unit character - B/K/M/G
663
664--num-thread-synthesize::
665	The number of threads to run when synthesizing events for existing processes.
666	By default, the number of threads equals 1.
667
668ifdef::HAVE_LIBPFM[]
669--pfm-events events::
670Select a PMU event using libpfm4 syntax (see http://perfmon2.sf.net)
671including support for event filters. For example '--pfm-events
672inst_retired:any_p:u:c=1:i'. More than one event can be passed to the
673option using the comma separator. Hardware events and generic hardware
674events cannot be mixed together. The latter must be used with the -e
675option. The -e option and this one can be mixed and matched.  Events
676can be grouped using the {} notation.
677endif::HAVE_LIBPFM[]
678
679--control=fifo:ctl-fifo[,ack-fifo]::
680--control=fd:ctl-fd[,ack-fd]::
681ctl-fifo / ack-fifo are opened and used as ctl-fd / ack-fd as follows.
682Listen on ctl-fd descriptor for command to control measurement.
683
684Available commands:
685  'enable'           : enable events
686  'disable'          : disable events
687  'enable name'      : enable event 'name'
688  'disable name'     : disable event 'name'
689  'snapshot'         : AUX area tracing snapshot).
690  'stop'             : stop perf record
691  'ping'             : ping
692
693  'evlist [-v|-g|-F] : display all events
694                       -F  Show just the sample frequency used for each event.
695                       -v  Show all fields.
696                       -g  Show event group information.
697
698Measurements can be started with events disabled using --delay=-1 option. Optionally
699send control command completion ('ack\n') to ack-fd descriptor to synchronize with the
700controlling process.  Example of bash shell script to enable and disable events during
701measurements:
702
703 #!/bin/bash
704
705 ctl_dir=/tmp/
706
707 ctl_fifo=${ctl_dir}perf_ctl.fifo
708 test -p ${ctl_fifo} && unlink ${ctl_fifo}
709 mkfifo ${ctl_fifo}
710 exec {ctl_fd}<>${ctl_fifo}
711
712 ctl_ack_fifo=${ctl_dir}perf_ctl_ack.fifo
713 test -p ${ctl_ack_fifo} && unlink ${ctl_ack_fifo}
714 mkfifo ${ctl_ack_fifo}
715 exec {ctl_fd_ack}<>${ctl_ack_fifo}
716
717 perf record -D -1 -e cpu-cycles -a               \
718             --control fd:${ctl_fd},${ctl_fd_ack} \
719             -- sleep 30 &
720 perf_pid=$!
721
722 sleep 5  && echo 'enable' >&${ctl_fd} && read -u ${ctl_fd_ack} e1 && echo "enabled(${e1})"
723 sleep 10 && echo 'disable' >&${ctl_fd} && read -u ${ctl_fd_ack} d1 && echo "disabled(${d1})"
724
725 exec {ctl_fd_ack}>&-
726 unlink ${ctl_ack_fifo}
727
728 exec {ctl_fd}>&-
729 unlink ${ctl_fifo}
730
731 wait -n ${perf_pid}
732 exit $?
733
734--threads=<spec>::
735Write collected trace data into several data files using parallel threads.
736<spec> value can be user defined list of masks. Masks separated by colon
737define CPUs to be monitored by a thread and affinity mask of that thread
738is separated by slash:
739
740    <cpus mask 1>/<affinity mask 1>:<cpus mask 2>/<affinity mask 2>:...
741
742CPUs or affinity masks must not overlap with other corresponding masks.
743Invalid CPUs are ignored, but masks containing only invalid CPUs are not
744allowed.
745
746For example user specification like the following:
747
748    0,2-4/2-4:1,5-7/5-7
749
750specifies parallel threads layout that consists of two threads,
751the first thread monitors CPUs 0 and 2-4 with the affinity mask 2-4,
752the second monitors CPUs 1 and 5-7 with the affinity mask 5-7.
753
754<spec> value can also be a string meaning predefined parallel threads
755layout:
756
757    cpu    - create new data streaming thread for every monitored cpu
758    core   - create new thread to monitor CPUs grouped by a core
759    package - create new thread to monitor CPUs grouped by a package
760    numa   - create new threed to monitor CPUs grouped by a NUMA domain
761
762Predefined layouts can be used on systems with large number of CPUs in
763order not to spawn multiple per-cpu streaming threads but still avoid LOST
764events in data directory files. Option specified with no or empty value
765defaults to CPU layout. Masks defined or provided by the option value are
766filtered through the mask provided by -C option.
767
768--debuginfod[=URLs]::
769	Specify debuginfod URL to be used when cacheing perf.data binaries,
770	it follows the same syntax as the DEBUGINFOD_URLS variable, like:
771
772	  http://192.168.122.174:8002
773
774	If the URLs is not specified, the value of DEBUGINFOD_URLS
775	system environment variable is used.
776
777--off-cpu::
778	Enable off-cpu profiling with BPF.  The BPF program will collect
779	task scheduling information with (user) stacktrace and save them
780	as sample data of a software event named "offcpu-time".  The
781	sample period will have the time the task slept in nanoseconds.
782
783	Note that BPF can collect stack traces using frame pointer ("fp")
784	only, as of now.  So the applications built without the frame
785	pointer might see bogus addresses.
786
787include::intel-hybrid.txt[]
788
789SEE ALSO
790--------
791linkperf:perf-stat[1], linkperf:perf-list[1], linkperf:perf-intel-pt[1]
792