Commit 27dc2ae7 authored by Beau Belgrave's avatar Beau Belgrave Committed by Steven Rostedt (Google)

tracing/user_events: Update documentation for ABI

The ABI for user_events has changed from mmap() based to remote writes.
Update the documentation to reflect these changes, add new section for
unregistering events since lifetime is now tied to tasks instead of
files.

Link: https://lkml.kernel.org/r/20230328235219.203-10-beaub@linux.microsoft.comSigned-off-by: default avatarBeau Belgrave <beaub@linux.microsoft.com>
Signed-off-by: default avatarSteven Rostedt (Google) <rostedt@goodmis.org>
parent 9211ddaa
......@@ -20,11 +20,10 @@ dynamic_events is the same as the ioctl with the u: prefix applied.
Typically programs will register a set of events that they wish to expose to
tools that can read trace_events (such as ftrace and perf). The registration
process gives back two ints to the program for each event. The first int is
the status bit. This describes which bit in little-endian format in the
/sys/kernel/tracing/user_events_status file represents this event. The
second int is the write index which describes the data when a write() or
writev() is called on the /sys/kernel/tracing/user_events_data file.
process tells the kernel which address and bit to reflect if any tool has
enabled the event and data should be written. The registration will give back
a write index which describes the data when a write() or writev() is called
on the /sys/kernel/tracing/user_events_data file.
The structures referenced in this document are contained within the
/include/uapi/linux/user_events.h file in the source tree.
......@@ -41,23 +40,64 @@ DIAG_IOCSREG.
This command takes a packed struct user_reg as an argument::
struct user_reg {
u32 size;
u64 name_args;
u32 status_bit;
u32 write_index;
};
/* Input: Size of the user_reg structure being used */
__u32 size;
/* Input: Bit in enable address to use */
__u8 enable_bit;
/* Input: Enable size in bytes at address */
__u8 enable_size;
/* Input: Flags for future use, set to 0 */
__u16 flags;
/* Input: Address to update when enabled */
__u64 enable_addr;
/* Input: Pointer to string with event name, description and flags */
__u64 name_args;
/* Output: Index of the event to use when writing data */
__u32 write_index;
} __attribute__((__packed__));
The struct user_reg requires all the above inputs to be set appropriately.
+ size: This must be set to sizeof(struct user_reg).
The struct user_reg requires two inputs, the first is the size of the structure
to ensure forward and backward compatibility. The second is the command string
to issue for registering. Upon success two outputs are set, the status bit
and the write index.
+ enable_bit: The bit to reflect the event status at the address specified by
enable_addr.
+ enable_size: The size of the value specified by enable_addr.
This must be 4 (32-bit) or 8 (64-bit). 64-bit values are only allowed to be
used on 64-bit kernels, however, 32-bit can be used on all kernels.
+ flags: The flags to use, if any. For the initial version this must be 0.
Callers should first attempt to use flags and retry without flags to ensure
support for lower versions of the kernel. If a flag is not supported -EINVAL
is returned.
+ enable_addr: The address of the value to use to reflect event status. This
must be naturally aligned and write accessible within the user program.
+ name_args: The name and arguments to describe the event, see command format
for details.
Upon successful registration the following is set.
+ write_index: The index to use for this file descriptor that represents this
event when writing out data. The index is unique to this instance of the file
descriptor that was used for the registration. See writing data for details.
User based events show up under tracefs like any other event under the
subsystem named "user_events". This means tools that wish to attach to the
events need to use /sys/kernel/tracing/events/user_events/[name]/enable
or perf record -e user_events:[name] when attaching/recording.
**NOTE:** *The write_index returned is only valid for the FD that was used*
**NOTE:** The event subsystem name by default is "user_events". Callers should
not assume it will always be "user_events". Operators reserve the right in the
future to change the subsystem name per-process to accomodate event isolation.
Command Format
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
......@@ -94,7 +134,7 @@ Would be represented by the following field::
struct mytype myname 20
Deleting
-----------
--------
Deleting an event from within a user process is done via ioctl() out to the
/sys/kernel/tracing/user_events_data file. The command to issue is
DIAG_IOCSDEL.
......@@ -104,92 +144,79 @@ its name. Delete will only succeed if there are no references left to the
event (in both user and kernel space). User programs should use a separate file
to request deletes than the one used for registration due to this.
Status
------
When tools attach/record user based events the status of the event is updated
in realtime. This allows user programs to only incur the cost of the write() or
writev() calls when something is actively attached to the event.
User programs call mmap() on /sys/kernel/tracing/user_events_status to
check the status for each event that is registered. The bit to check in the
file is given back after the register ioctl() via user_reg.status_bit. The bit
is always in little-endian format. Programs can check if the bit is set either
using a byte-wise index with a mask or a long-wise index with a little-endian
mask.
Unregistering
-------------
If after registering an event it is no longer wanted to be updated then it can
be disabled via ioctl() out to the /sys/kernel/tracing/user_events_data file.
The command to issue is DIAG_IOCSUNREG. This is different than deleting, where
deleting actually removes the event from the system. Unregistering simply tells
the kernel your process is no longer interested in updates to the event.
Currently the size of user_events_status is a single page, however, custom
kernel configurations can change this size to allow more user based events. In
all cases the size of the file is a multiple of a page size.
This command takes a packed struct user_unreg as an argument::
For example, if the register ioctl() gives back a status_bit of 3 you would
check byte 0 (3 / 8) of the returned mmap data and then AND the result with 8
(1 << (3 % 8)) to see if anything is attached to that event.
struct user_unreg {
/* Input: Size of the user_unreg structure being used */
__u32 size;
A byte-wise index check is performed as follows::
/* Input: Bit to unregister */
__u8 disable_bit;
int index, mask;
char *status_page;
/* Input: Reserved, set to 0 */
__u8 __reserved;
index = status_bit / 8;
mask = 1 << (status_bit % 8);
...
/* Input: Reserved, set to 0 */
__u16 __reserved2;
if (status_page[index] & mask) {
/* Enabled */
}
/* Input: Address to unregister */
__u64 disable_addr;
} __attribute__((__packed__));
A long-wise index check is performed as follows::
The struct user_unreg requires all the above inputs to be set appropriately.
#include <asm/bitsperlong.h>
#include <endian.h>
+ size: This must be set to sizeof(struct user_unreg).
#if __BITS_PER_LONG == 64
#define endian_swap(x) htole64(x)
#else
#define endian_swap(x) htole32(x)
#endif
+ disable_bit: This must be set to the bit to disable (same bit that was
previously registered via enable_bit).
long index, mask, *status_page;
+ disable_addr: This must be set to the address to disable (same address that was
previously registered via enable_addr).
index = status_bit / __BITS_PER_LONG;
mask = 1L << (status_bit % __BITS_PER_LONG);
mask = endian_swap(mask);
**NOTE:** Events are automatically unregistered when execve() is invoked. During
fork() the registered events will be retained and must be unregistered manually
in each process if wanted.
...
Status
------
When tools attach/record user based events the status of the event is updated
in realtime. This allows user programs to only incur the cost of the write() or
writev() calls when something is actively attached to the event.
if (status_page[index] & mask) {
/* Enabled */
}
The kernel will update the specified bit that was registered for the event as
tools attach/detach from the event. User programs simply check if the bit is set
to see if something is attached or not.
Administrators can easily check the status of all registered events by reading
the user_events_status file directly via a terminal. The output is as follows::
Byte:Name [# Comments]
Name [# Comments]
...
Active: ActiveCount
Busy: BusyCount
Max: MaxCount
For example, on a system that has a single event the output looks like this::
1:test
test
Active: 1
Busy: 0
Max: 32768
If a user enables the user event via ftrace, the output would change to this::
1:test # Used by ftrace
test # Used by ftrace
Active: 1
Busy: 1
Max: 32768
**NOTE:** *A status bit of 0 will never be returned. This allows user programs
to have a bit that can be used on error cases.*
Writing Data
------------
......@@ -217,7 +244,7 @@ For example, if I have a struct like this::
int src;
int dst;
int flags;
};
} __attribute__((__packed__));
It's advised for user programs to do the following::
......
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