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--group::
242	Put all events in a single event group.  This precedes the --event
243	option and remains only for backward compatibility.  See --event.
244
245-g::
246	Enables call-graph (stack chain/backtrace) recording for both
247	kernel space and user space.
248
249--call-graph::
250	Setup and enable call-graph (stack chain/backtrace) recording,
251	implies -g.  Default is "fp" (for user space).
252
253	The unwinding method used for kernel space is dependent on the
254	unwinder used by the active kernel configuration, i.e
255	CONFIG_UNWINDER_FRAME_POINTER (fp) or CONFIG_UNWINDER_ORC (orc)
256
257	Any option specified here controls the method used for user space.
258
259	Valid options are "fp" (frame pointer), "dwarf" (DWARF's CFI -
260	Call Frame Information) or "lbr" (Hardware Last Branch Record
261	facility).
262
263	In some systems, where binaries are build with gcc
264	--fomit-frame-pointer, using the "fp" method will produce bogus
265	call graphs, using "dwarf", if available (perf tools linked to
266	the libunwind or libdw library) should be used instead.
267	Using the "lbr" method doesn't require any compiler options. It
268	will produce call graphs from the hardware LBR registers. The
269	main limitation is that it is only available on new Intel
270	platforms, such as Haswell. It can only get user call chain. It
271	doesn't work with branch stack sampling at the same time.
272
273	When "dwarf" recording is used, perf also records (user) stack dump
274	when sampled.  Default size of the stack dump is 8192 (bytes).
275	User can change the size by passing the size after comma like
276	"--call-graph dwarf,4096".
277
278	When "fp" recording is used, perf tries to save stack enties
279	up to the number specified in sysctl.kernel.perf_event_max_stack
280	by default.  User can change the number by passing it after comma
281	like "--call-graph fp,32".
282
283-q::
284--quiet::
285	Don't print any message, useful for scripting.
286
287-v::
288--verbose::
289	Be more verbose (show counter open errors, etc).
290
291-s::
292--stat::
293	Record per-thread event counts.  Use it with 'perf report -T' to see
294	the values.
295
296-d::
297--data::
298	Record the sample virtual addresses.
299
300--phys-data::
301	Record the sample physical addresses.
302
303--data-page-size::
304	Record the sampled data address data page size.
305
306--code-page-size::
307	Record the sampled code address (ip) page size
308
309-T::
310--timestamp::
311	Record the sample timestamps. Use it with 'perf report -D' to see the
312	timestamps, for instance.
313
314-P::
315--period::
316	Record the sample period.
317
318--sample-cpu::
319	Record the sample cpu.
320
321--sample-identifier::
322	Record the sample identifier i.e. PERF_SAMPLE_IDENTIFIER bit set in
323	the sample_type member of the struct perf_event_attr argument to the
324	perf_event_open system call.
325
326-n::
327--no-samples::
328	Don't sample.
329
330-R::
331--raw-samples::
332Collect raw sample records from all opened counters (default for tracepoint counters).
333
334-C::
335--cpu::
336Collect samples only on the list of CPUs provided. Multiple CPUs can be provided as a
337comma-separated list with no space: 0,1. Ranges of CPUs are specified with -: 0-2.
338In per-thread mode with inheritance mode on (default), samples are captured only when
339the thread executes on the designated CPUs. Default is to monitor all CPUs.
340
341-B::
342--no-buildid::
343Do not save the build ids of binaries in the perf.data files. This skips
344post processing after recording, which sometimes makes the final step in
345the recording process to take a long time, as it needs to process all
346events looking for mmap records. The downside is that it can misresolve
347symbols if the workload binaries used when recording get locally rebuilt
348or upgraded, because the only key available in this case is the
349pathname. You can also set the "record.build-id" config variable to
350'skip to have this behaviour permanently.
351
352-N::
353--no-buildid-cache::
354Do not update the buildid cache. This saves some overhead in situations
355where the information in the perf.data file (which includes buildids)
356is sufficient.  You can also set the "record.build-id" config variable to
357'no-cache' to have the same effect.
358
359-G name,...::
360--cgroup name,...::
361monitor only in the container (cgroup) called "name". This option is available only
362in per-cpu mode. The cgroup filesystem must be mounted. All threads belonging to
363container "name" are monitored when they run on the monitored CPUs. Multiple cgroups
364can be provided. Each cgroup is applied to the corresponding event, i.e., first cgroup
365to first event, second cgroup to second event and so on. It is possible to provide
366an empty cgroup (monitor all the time) using, e.g., -G foo,,bar. Cgroups must have
367corresponding events, i.e., they always refer to events defined earlier on the command
368line. If the user wants to track multiple events for a specific cgroup, the user can
369use '-e e1 -e e2 -G foo,foo' or just use '-e e1 -e e2 -G foo'.
370
371If wanting to monitor, say, 'cycles' for a cgroup and also for system wide, this
372command line can be used: 'perf stat -e cycles -G cgroup_name -a -e cycles'.
373
374-b::
375--branch-any::
376Enable taken branch stack sampling. Any type of taken branch may be sampled.
377This is a shortcut for --branch-filter any. See --branch-filter for more infos.
378
379-j::
380--branch-filter::
381Enable taken branch stack sampling. Each sample captures a series of consecutive
382taken branches. The number of branches captured with each sample depends on the
383underlying hardware, the type of branches of interest, and the executed code.
384It is possible to select the types of branches captured by enabling filters. The
385following filters are defined:
386
387        - any:  any type of branches
388        - any_call: any function call or system call
389        - any_ret: any function return or system call return
390        - ind_call: any indirect branch
391        - call: direct calls, including far (to/from kernel) calls
392        - u:  only when the branch target is at the user level
393        - k: only when the branch target is in the kernel
394        - hv: only when the target is at the hypervisor level
395	- in_tx: only when the target is in a hardware transaction
396	- no_tx: only when the target is not in a hardware transaction
397	- abort_tx: only when the target is a hardware transaction abort
398	- cond: conditional branches
399	- save_type: save branch type during sampling in case binary is not available later
400		     For the platforms with Intel Arch LBR support (12th-Gen+ client or
401		     4th-Gen Xeon+ server), the save branch type is unconditionally enabled
402		     when the taken branch stack sampling is enabled.
403	- priv: save privilege state during sampling in case binary is not available later
404
405+
406The option requires at least one branch type among any, any_call, any_ret, ind_call, cond.
407The privilege levels may be omitted, in which case, the privilege levels of the associated
408event are applied to the branch filter. Both kernel (k) and hypervisor (hv) privilege
409levels are subject to permissions.  When sampling on multiple events, branch stack sampling
410is enabled for all the sampling events. The sampled branch type is the same for all events.
411The various filters must be specified as a comma separated list: --branch-filter any_ret,u,k
412Note that this feature may not be available on all processors.
413
414-W::
415--weight::
416Enable weightened sampling. An additional weight is recorded per sample and can be
417displayed with the weight and local_weight sort keys.  This currently works for TSX
418abort events and some memory events in precise mode on modern Intel CPUs.
419
420--namespaces::
421Record events of type PERF_RECORD_NAMESPACES.  This enables 'cgroup_id' sort key.
422
423--all-cgroups::
424Record events of type PERF_RECORD_CGROUP.  This enables 'cgroup' sort key.
425
426--transaction::
427Record transaction flags for transaction related events.
428
429--per-thread::
430Use per-thread mmaps.  By default per-cpu mmaps are created.  This option
431overrides that and uses per-thread mmaps.  A side-effect of that is that
432inheritance is automatically disabled.  --per-thread is ignored with a warning
433if combined with -a or -C options.
434
435-D::
436--delay=::
437After starting the program, wait msecs before measuring (-1: start with events
438disabled), or enable events only for specified ranges of msecs (e.g.
439-D 10-20,30-40 means wait 10 msecs, enable for 10 msecs, wait 10 msecs, enable
440for 10 msecs, then stop). Note, delaying enabling of events is useful to filter
441out the startup phase of the program, which is often very different.
442
443-I::
444--intr-regs::
445Capture machine state (registers) at interrupt, i.e., on counter overflows for
446each sample. List of captured registers depends on the architecture. This option
447is off by default. It is possible to select the registers to sample using their
448symbolic names, e.g. on x86, ax, si. To list the available registers use
449--intr-regs=\?. To name registers, pass a comma separated list such as
450--intr-regs=ax,bx. The list of register is architecture dependent.
451
452--user-regs::
453Similar to -I, but capture user registers at sample time. To list the available
454user registers use --user-regs=\?.
455
456--running-time::
457Record running and enabled time for read events (:S)
458
459-k::
460--clockid::
461Sets the clock id to use for the various time fields in the perf_event_type
462records. See clock_gettime(). In particular CLOCK_MONOTONIC and
463CLOCK_MONOTONIC_RAW are supported, some events might also allow
464CLOCK_BOOTTIME, CLOCK_REALTIME and CLOCK_TAI.
465
466-S::
467--snapshot::
468Select AUX area tracing Snapshot Mode. This option is valid only with an
469AUX area tracing event. Optionally, certain snapshot capturing parameters
470can be specified in a string that follows this option:
471  'e': take one last snapshot on exit; guarantees that there is at least one
472       snapshot in the output file;
473  <size>: if the PMU supports this, specify the desired snapshot size.
474
475In Snapshot Mode trace data is captured only when signal SIGUSR2 is received
476and on exit if the above 'e' option is given.
477
478--aux-sample[=OPTIONS]::
479Select AUX area sampling. At least one of the events selected by the -e option
480must be an AUX area event. Samples on other events will be created containing
481data from the AUX area. Optionally sample size may be specified, otherwise it
482defaults to 4KiB.
483
484--proc-map-timeout::
485When processing pre-existing threads /proc/XXX/mmap, it may take a long time,
486because the file may be huge. A time out is needed in such cases.
487This option sets the time out limit. The default value is 500 ms.
488
489--switch-events::
490Record context switch events i.e. events of type PERF_RECORD_SWITCH or
491PERF_RECORD_SWITCH_CPU_WIDE. In some cases (e.g. Intel PT, CoreSight or Arm SPE)
492switch events will be enabled automatically, which can be suppressed by
493by the option --no-switch-events.
494
495--clang-path=PATH::
496Path to clang binary to use for compiling BPF scriptlets.
497(enabled when BPF support is on)
498
499--clang-opt=OPTIONS::
500Options passed to clang when compiling BPF scriptlets.
501(enabled when BPF support is on)
502
503--vmlinux=PATH::
504Specify vmlinux path which has debuginfo.
505(enabled when BPF prologue is on)
506
507--buildid-all::
508Record build-id of all DSOs regardless whether it's actually hit or not.
509
510--buildid-mmap::
511Record build ids in mmap2 events, disables build id cache (implies --no-buildid).
512
513--aio[=n]::
514Use <n> control blocks in asynchronous (Posix AIO) trace writing mode (default: 1, max: 4).
515Asynchronous mode is supported only when linking Perf tool with libc library
516providing implementation for Posix AIO API.
517
518--affinity=mode::
519Set affinity mask of trace reading thread according to the policy defined by 'mode' value:
520  node - thread affinity mask is set to NUMA node cpu mask of the processed mmap buffer
521  cpu  - thread affinity mask is set to cpu of the processed mmap buffer
522
523--mmap-flush=number::
524
525Specify minimal number of bytes that is extracted from mmap data pages and
526processed for output. One can specify the number using B/K/M/G suffixes.
527
528The maximal allowed value is a quarter of the size of mmaped data pages.
529
530The default option value is 1 byte which means that every time that the output
531writing thread finds some new data in the mmaped buffer the data is extracted,
532possibly compressed (-z) and written to the output, perf.data or pipe.
533
534Larger data chunks are compressed more effectively in comparison to smaller
535chunks so extraction of larger chunks from the mmap data pages is preferable
536from the perspective of output size reduction.
537
538Also at some cases executing less output write syscalls with bigger data size
539can take less time than executing more output write syscalls with smaller data
540size thus lowering runtime profiling overhead.
541
542-z::
543--compression-level[=n]::
544Produce compressed trace using specified level n (default: 1 - fastest compression,
54522 - smallest trace)
546
547--all-kernel::
548Configure all used events to run in kernel space.
549
550--all-user::
551Configure all used events to run in user space.
552
553--kernel-callchains::
554Collect callchains only from kernel space. I.e. this option sets
555perf_event_attr.exclude_callchain_user to 1.
556
557--user-callchains::
558Collect callchains only from user space. I.e. this option sets
559perf_event_attr.exclude_callchain_kernel to 1.
560
561Don't use both --kernel-callchains and --user-callchains at the same time or no
562callchains will be collected.
563
564--timestamp-filename
565Append timestamp to output file name.
566
567--timestamp-boundary::
568Record timestamp boundary (time of first/last samples).
569
570--switch-output[=mode]::
571Generate multiple perf.data files, timestamp prefixed, switching to a new one
572based on 'mode' value:
573  "signal" - when receiving a SIGUSR2 (default value) or
574  <size>   - when reaching the size threshold, size is expected to
575             be a number with appended unit character - B/K/M/G
576  <time>   - when reaching the time threshold, size is expected to
577             be a number with appended unit character - s/m/h/d
578
579             Note: the precision of  the size  threshold  hugely depends
580             on your configuration  - the number and size of  your  ring
581             buffers (-m). It is generally more precise for higher sizes
582             (like >5M), for lower values expect different sizes.
583
584A possible use case is to, given an external event, slice the perf.data file
585that gets then processed, possibly via a perf script, to decide if that
586particular perf.data snapshot should be kept or not.
587
588Implies --timestamp-filename, --no-buildid and --no-buildid-cache.
589The reason for the latter two is to reduce the data file switching
590overhead. You can still switch them on with:
591
592  --switch-output --no-no-buildid  --no-no-buildid-cache
593
594--switch-output-event::
595Events that will cause the switch of the perf.data file, auto-selecting
596--switch-output=signal, the results are similar as internally the side band
597thread will also send a SIGUSR2 to the main one.
598
599Uses the same syntax as --event, it will just not be recorded, serving only to
600switch the perf.data file as soon as the --switch-output event is processed by
601a separate sideband thread.
602
603This sideband thread is also used to other purposes, like processing the
604PERF_RECORD_BPF_EVENT records as they happen, asking the kernel for extra BPF
605information, etc.
606
607--switch-max-files=N::
608
609When rotating perf.data with --switch-output, only keep N files.
610
611--dry-run::
612Parse options then exit. --dry-run can be used to detect errors in cmdline
613options.
614
615'perf record --dry-run -e' can act as a BPF script compiler if llvm.dump-obj
616in config file is set to true.
617
618--synth=TYPE::
619Collect and synthesize given type of events (comma separated).  Note that
620this option controls the synthesis from the /proc filesystem which represent
621task status for pre-existing threads.
622
623Kernel (and some other) events are recorded regardless of the
624choice in this option.  For example, --synth=no would have MMAP events for
625kernel and modules.
626
627Available types are:
628  'task'    - synthesize FORK and COMM events for each task
629  'mmap'    - synthesize MMAP events for each process (implies 'task')
630  'cgroup'  - synthesize CGROUP events for each cgroup
631  'all'     - synthesize all events (default)
632  'no'      - do not synthesize any of the above events
633
634--tail-synthesize::
635Instead of collecting non-sample events (for example, fork, comm, mmap) at
636the beginning of record, collect them during finalizing an output file.
637The collected non-sample events reflects the status of the system when
638record is finished.
639
640--overwrite::
641Makes all events use an overwritable ring buffer. An overwritable ring
642buffer works like a flight recorder: when it gets full, the kernel will
643overwrite the oldest records, that thus will never make it to the
644perf.data file.
645
646When '--overwrite' and '--switch-output' are used perf records and drops
647events until it receives a signal, meaning that something unusual was
648detected that warrants taking a snapshot of the most current events,
649those fitting in the ring buffer at that moment.
650
651'overwrite' attribute can also be set or canceled for an event using
652config terms. For example: 'cycles/overwrite/' and 'instructions/no-overwrite/'.
653
654Implies --tail-synthesize.
655
656--kcore::
657Make a copy of /proc/kcore and place it into a directory with the perf data file.
658
659--max-size=<size>::
660Limit the sample data max size, <size> is expected to be a number with
661appended unit character - B/K/M/G
662
663--num-thread-synthesize::
664	The number of threads to run when synthesizing events for existing processes.
665	By default, the number of threads equals 1.
666
667ifdef::HAVE_LIBPFM[]
668--pfm-events events::
669Select a PMU event using libpfm4 syntax (see http://perfmon2.sf.net)
670including support for event filters. For example '--pfm-events
671inst_retired:any_p:u:c=1:i'. More than one event can be passed to the
672option using the comma separator. Hardware events and generic hardware
673events cannot be mixed together. The latter must be used with the -e
674option. The -e option and this one can be mixed and matched.  Events
675can be grouped using the {} notation.
676endif::HAVE_LIBPFM[]
677
678--control=fifo:ctl-fifo[,ack-fifo]::
679--control=fd:ctl-fd[,ack-fd]::
680ctl-fifo / ack-fifo are opened and used as ctl-fd / ack-fd as follows.
681Listen on ctl-fd descriptor for command to control measurement.
682
683Available commands:
684  'enable'           : enable events
685  'disable'          : disable events
686  'enable name'      : enable event 'name'
687  'disable name'     : disable event 'name'
688  'snapshot'         : AUX area tracing snapshot).
689  'stop'             : stop perf record
690  'ping'             : ping
691
692  'evlist [-v|-g|-F] : display all events
693                       -F  Show just the sample frequency used for each event.
694                       -v  Show all fields.
695                       -g  Show event group information.
696
697Measurements can be started with events disabled using --delay=-1 option. Optionally
698send control command completion ('ack\n') to ack-fd descriptor to synchronize with the
699controlling process.  Example of bash shell script to enable and disable events during
700measurements:
701
702 #!/bin/bash
703
704 ctl_dir=/tmp/
705
706 ctl_fifo=${ctl_dir}perf_ctl.fifo
707 test -p ${ctl_fifo} && unlink ${ctl_fifo}
708 mkfifo ${ctl_fifo}
709 exec {ctl_fd}<>${ctl_fifo}
710
711 ctl_ack_fifo=${ctl_dir}perf_ctl_ack.fifo
712 test -p ${ctl_ack_fifo} && unlink ${ctl_ack_fifo}
713 mkfifo ${ctl_ack_fifo}
714 exec {ctl_fd_ack}<>${ctl_ack_fifo}
715
716 perf record -D -1 -e cpu-cycles -a               \
717             --control fd:${ctl_fd},${ctl_fd_ack} \
718             -- sleep 30 &
719 perf_pid=$!
720
721 sleep 5  && echo 'enable' >&${ctl_fd} && read -u ${ctl_fd_ack} e1 && echo "enabled(${e1})"
722 sleep 10 && echo 'disable' >&${ctl_fd} && read -u ${ctl_fd_ack} d1 && echo "disabled(${d1})"
723
724 exec {ctl_fd_ack}>&-
725 unlink ${ctl_ack_fifo}
726
727 exec {ctl_fd}>&-
728 unlink ${ctl_fifo}
729
730 wait -n ${perf_pid}
731 exit $?
732
733--threads=<spec>::
734Write collected trace data into several data files using parallel threads.
735<spec> value can be user defined list of masks. Masks separated by colon
736define CPUs to be monitored by a thread and affinity mask of that thread
737is separated by slash:
738
739    <cpus mask 1>/<affinity mask 1>:<cpus mask 2>/<affinity mask 2>:...
740
741CPUs or affinity masks must not overlap with other corresponding masks.
742Invalid CPUs are ignored, but masks containing only invalid CPUs are not
743allowed.
744
745For example user specification like the following:
746
747    0,2-4/2-4:1,5-7/5-7
748
749specifies parallel threads layout that consists of two threads,
750the first thread monitors CPUs 0 and 2-4 with the affinity mask 2-4,
751the second monitors CPUs 1 and 5-7 with the affinity mask 5-7.
752
753<spec> value can also be a string meaning predefined parallel threads
754layout:
755
756    cpu    - create new data streaming thread for every monitored cpu
757    core   - create new thread to monitor CPUs grouped by a core
758    package - create new thread to monitor CPUs grouped by a package
759    numa   - create new threed to monitor CPUs grouped by a NUMA domain
760
761Predefined layouts can be used on systems with large number of CPUs in
762order not to spawn multiple per-cpu streaming threads but still avoid LOST
763events in data directory files. Option specified with no or empty value
764defaults to CPU layout. Masks defined or provided by the option value are
765filtered through the mask provided by -C option.
766
767--debuginfod[=URLs]::
768	Specify debuginfod URL to be used when cacheing perf.data binaries,
769	it follows the same syntax as the DEBUGINFOD_URLS variable, like:
770
771	  http://192.168.122.174:8002
772
773	If the URLs is not specified, the value of DEBUGINFOD_URLS
774	system environment variable is used.
775
776--off-cpu::
777	Enable off-cpu profiling with BPF.  The BPF program will collect
778	task scheduling information with (user) stacktrace and save them
779	as sample data of a software event named "offcpu-time".  The
780	sample period will have the time the task slept in nanoseconds.
781
782	Note that BPF can collect stack traces using frame pointer ("fp")
783	only, as of now.  So the applications built without the frame
784	pointer might see bogus addresses.
785
786include::intel-hybrid.txt[]
787
788SEE ALSO
789--------
790linkperf:perf-stat[1], linkperf:perf-list[1], linkperf:perf-intel-pt[1]
791