Feb

 2015  

Linux Profiling at Netflix

using perf_events (aka "perf")

Brendan Gregg
Senior Performance Architect
Performance Engineering Team
[email protected] @brendangregg
 This Talk
•  This talk is about Linux profiling using perf_events
–  How to get CPU profiling to work, and overcome gotchas
–  A tour of perf_events and its features
•  This is based on our use of perf_events at Netflix
•  Massive Amazon EC2 Linux cloud
–  Tens of thousands of instances
–  Autoscale by ~3k each day
–  CentOS and Ubuntu, Java and Node.js
•  FreeBSD for content delivery
–  Approx 33% of the US Internet traffic at night
•  Performance is critical
–  Customer satisfaction: >50M subscribers
–  $$$ price/performance
–  Develop tools for cloud-wide analysis, and
make them open source: NetflixOSS
–  Use server tools as needed
 Agenda
1.  Why We Need Linux Profiling
2.  Crash Course
3.  CPU Profiling
4.  Gotchas
–  Stacks (gcc, Java)
–  Symbols (Node.js, Java)
–  Guest PMCs
–  PEBS
–  Overheads
5.  Tracing
1. Why We Need Linux Profiling
 Why We Need Linux Profiling
•  Our primary motivation is simple:
Understand CPU usage quickly and completely
 Netflix Vector
Quickly:

1.  Observe high CPU usage

2.  Generate a perf_events-based flame graph
 Flame Graph

Completely: Kernel  
(C)  
JVM  
(C++)  
Java  
 Value for Netflix
•  Uses for CPU profiling:
–  Help with incident response
–  Non-regression testing
–  Software evaluations
–  Identify performance tuning targets
–  Part of CPU workload characterization
•  Built into Netflix Vector
–  A near real-time instance analysis tool (will be NetflixOSS)
 Workload Characterization
•  For CPUs:

1.  Who
2.  Why
3.  What
4.  How
 Workload Characterization
•  For CPUs:

1.  Who: which PIDs, programs, users

2.  Why: code paths, context
3.  What: CPU instructions, cycles
4.  How: changing over time

•  Can you currently answer them? How?

 CPU Tools
Who Why

How What
 CPU Tools
Who Why

perf record -g!

top,  htop! flame  graphs  

How What

monitoring   perf stat -a -d!

Most companies & monitoring products today

Who Why

perf record -g!

top,  htop! flame  Graphs  

How What

monitoring   perf stat -a -d!

 Re-setting Expectations
•  That was pretty good… 20 years ago.
•  Today you should easily understand why CPUs are used:
–  A profile of all CPU consumers and code paths
–  Visualized effectively
–  This should be easy to do
•  Best done using:
–  A perf_events CPU profile of stack traces
–  Visualized as a flame graph
–  This will usually mean some sysadmin/devops work, to get
perf_events working, and to automate profiling
 Recent Example

1.  Poor performance, and 1

CPU at 100%
2.  perf_events flame graph
shows JVM stuck
compiling
2. Crash Course
 perf_events
•  The main Linux profiler, used via the "perf" command
•  Add from linux-tools-common, etc.
•  Source code & docs in Linux: tools/perf
•  Supports many profiling/tracing features:
–  CPU Performance Monitoring Counters (PMCs)
perf_events  
–  Statically defined tracepoints ponycorn  
–  User and kernel dynamic tracing
–  Kernel line and local variable tracing
–  Efficient in-kernel counts and filters
–  Stack tracing, libunwind
–  Code annotation
•  Some bugs in the past; has been stable for us
 A Multitool of Subcommands
# perf!
!
usage: perf [--version] [--help] COMMAND [ARGS]!
!
The most commonly used perf commands are:!
annotate Read perf.data (created by perf record) and display annotated code!
archive Create archive with object files with build-ids found in perf.data!
bench General framework for benchmark suites!
buildid-cache Manage build-id cache.!
buildid-list List the buildids in a perf.data file!
diff Read two perf.data files and display the differential profile!
evlist List the event names in a perf.data file!
inject Filter to augment the events stream with additional information!
kmem Tool to trace/measure kernel memory(slab) properties!
kvm Tool to trace/measure kvm guest os!
list List all symbolic event types!
lock Analyze lock events!
probe Define new dynamic tracepoints!
record Run a command and record its profile into perf.data!
report Read perf.data (created by perf record) and display the profile!
sched Tool to trace/measure scheduler properties (latencies)!
script Read perf.data (created by perf record) and display trace output!
stat Run a command and gather performance counter statistics!
test Runs sanity tests.!
timechart Tool to visualize total system behavior during a workload!
top System profiling tool.!
!
See 'perf help COMMAND' for more information on a specific command.!
 perf Command Format
•  perf instruments using stat or record. This has three
main parts: action, event, scope.
•  e.g., profiling on-CPU stack traces:

Ac+on:  record  stack  traces  

perf record -F 99 -a -g -- sleep 10!

Scope:  all  CPUs  

Event:  99  Hertz  

Note:  sleep  10  is  a  dummy  command  to  set  the  duraOon  
 perf Actions
•  Count events (perf stat …)
–  Uses an efficient in-kernel counter, and prints the results!
•  Sample events (perf record …)
–  Records details of every event to a dump file (perf.data)
•  Timestamp, CPU, PID, instruction pointer, …
–  This incurs higher overhead, relative to the rate of events!
–  Include the call graph (stack trace) using -g!
•  Other actions include:
–  List events (perf list)
–  Report from a perf.data file (perf report)
–  Dump a perf.data file as text (perf script)
–  top style profiling (perf top)
 perf Actions: Workflow

list  events   count  events   capture  stacks  

perf list! perf stat! perf record!

Typical  
Workflow   perf.data  
text  UI   dump  profile  
perf report! perf script!

stackcollapse-perf.pl!
flame  graph  
visualizaOon  
flamegraph.pl!
 perf Events
•  Custom timers
–  e.g., 99 Hertz (samples per second)
•  Hardware events
–  CPU Performance Monitoring Counters (PMCs)
•  Tracepoints
–  Statically defined in software
•  Dynamic tracing
–  Created using uprobes (user) or kprobes (kernel)
–  Can do kernel line tracing with local variables (needs kernel
debuginfo)
perf Events: Map
 perf Events: List
# perf list!
List of pre-defined events (to be used in -e):!
cpu-cycles OR cycles [Hardware event]!
instructions [Hardware event]!
cache-references [Hardware event]!
cache-misses [Hardware event]!
branch-instructions OR branches [Hardware event]!
branch-misses [Hardware event]!
bus-cycles [Hardware event]!
stalled-cycles-frontend OR idle-cycles-frontend [Hardware event]!
stalled-cycles-backend OR idle-cycles-backend [Hardware event]!
[…]!
cpu-clock [Software event]!
task-clock [Software event]!
page-faults OR faults [Software event]!
context-switches OR cs [Software event]!
cpu-migrations OR migrations [Software event]!
[…]!
L1-dcache-loads [Hardware cache event]!
L1-dcache-load-misses [Hardware cache event]!
L1-dcache-stores [Hardware cache event]!
[…] !
skb:kfree_skb [Tracepoint event]!
skb:consume_skb [Tracepoint event]!
skb:skb_copy_datagram_iovec [Tracepoint event]!
net:net_dev_xmit [Tracepoint event]!
net:net_dev_queue [Tracepoint event]!
net:netif_receive_skb [Tracepoint event]!
net:netif_rx [Tracepoint event]!
[…]!
 perf Scope
•  System-wide: all CPUs (-a)
•  Target PID (-p PID)
•  Target command (…)
•  Specific CPUs (-c …)
•  User-level only (<event>:u)
•  Kernel-level only (<event>:k)
•  A custom filter to match variables (--filter …)

The following one-liner tour includes some complex action,

event, and scope combinations.
 One-Liners: Listing Events
# Listing all currently known events:!
perf list!
!
# Searching for "sched" tracepoints:!
perf list | grep sched!
!
# Listing sched tracepoints:!
perf list 'sched:*'!
 One-Liners: Counting Events
# CPU counter statistics for the specified command:!
perf stat command!
!
# Detailed CPU counter statistics (includes extras) for the specified command:!
perf stat -d command!
!
# CPU counter statistics for the specified PID, until Ctrl-C:!
perf stat -p PID!
!
# CPU counter statistics for the entire system, for 5 seconds:!
perf stat -a sleep 5!
!
# Various CPU last level cache statistics for the specified command:!
perf stat -e LLC-loads,LLC-load-misses,LLC-stores,LLC-prefetches command!
!
# Count system calls for the specified PID, until Ctrl-C:!
perf stat -e 'syscalls:sys_enter_*' -p PID!
!
# Count scheduler events for the specified PID, for 10 seconds:!
perf stat -e 'sched:*' -p PID sleep 10!
!
# Count block device I/O events for the entire system, for 10 seconds:!
perf stat -e 'block:*' -a sleep 10!
!
# Show system calls by process, refreshing every 2 seconds:!
perf top -e raw_syscalls:sys_enter -ns comm!
 One-Liners: Profiling Events
# Sample on-CPU functions for the specified command, at 99 Hertz:!
perf record -F 99 command!
!
# Sample on-CPU functions for the specified PID, at 99 Hertz, until Ctrl-C:!
perf record -F 99 -p PID!
!
# Sample CPU stack traces for the specified PID, at 99 Hertz, for 10 seconds:!
perf record -F 99 -p PID -g -- sleep 10!
!
# Sample CPU stack traces for the entire system, at 99 Hertz, for 10 seconds:!
perf record -F 99 -ag -- sleep 10!
!
# Sample CPU stack traces, once every 10,000 Level 1 data cache misses, for 5 s:!
perf record -e L1-dcache-load-misses -c 10000 -ag -- sleep 5!
!
# Sample CPU stack traces, once every 100 last level cache misses, for 5 seconds:!
perf record -e LLC-load-misses -c 100 -ag -- sleep 5 !
!
# Sample on-CPU kernel instructions, for 5 seconds:!
perf record -e cycles:k -a -- sleep 5 !
!
# Sample on-CPU user instructions, for 5 seconds:!
perf record -e cycles:u -a -- sleep 5!
 One-Liners: Reporting
# Show perf.data in an ncurses browser (TUI) if possible:!
perf report!
!
# Show perf.data with a column for sample count:!
perf report -n!
!
# Show perf.data as a text report, with data coalesced and percentages:!
perf report --stdio!
!
# List all raw events from perf.data:!
perf script!
!
# List all raw events from perf.data, with customized fields:!
perf script -f comm,tid,pid,time,cpu,event,ip,sym,dso!
!
# Dump raw contents from perf.data as hex (for debugging):!
perf script -D!
!
# Disassemble and annotate instructions with percentages (needs some debuginfo):!
perf annotate --stdio!
 And More
•  perf can also probe and record dynamic tracepoints, and
custom CPU PMCs
•  This can get a little advanced
•  I'll start with CPU profiling, then gotchas
3. CPU Profiling
 CPU Profiling
•  Record stacks at a timed interval: simple and effective
–  Pros: Low (deterministic) overhead
–  Cons: Coarse accuracy, but usually sufficient

stack   B! B!
samples:   A! A! A! A! A!

B! syscall  
A!
Ome  
on-­‐CPU   off-­‐CPU  

block                                      interrupt  
 perf Screenshot
•  Sampling full stack traces at 99 Hertz:
# perf record -F 99 -ag -- sleep 30!
[ perf record: Woken up 9 times to write data ]!
[ perf record: Captured and wrote 2.745 MB perf.data (~119930 samples) ]!
# perf report -n --stdio!
1.40% 162 java [kernel.kallsyms] [k] _raw_spin_lock
|!
--- _raw_spin_lock!
| !
|--63.21%-- try_to_wake_up!
| | !
| |--63.91%-- default_wake_function!
| | | !
| | |--56.11%-- __wake_up_common!
| | | __wake_up_locked!
| | | ep_poll_callback!
| | | __wake_up_common!
| | | __wake_up_sync_key!
| | | | !
| | | |--59.19%-- sock_def_readable!
[…78,000 lines truncated…]!
 perf Reporting
•  perf report summarizes by combining common paths
•  Previous output truncated 78,000 lines of summary
•  The following is what a mere 8,000 lines looks like…
perf report
… as a Flame Graph
 Flame Graphs
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/brendangregg/FlameGraph!
cd FlameGraph!
perf record -F 99 -a –g -- sleep 30!
perf script | ./stackcollapse-perf.pl |./flamegraph.pl > perf.svg!

•  Flame Graphs:
–  x-axis: alphabetical stack sort, to maximize merging
–  y-axis: stack depth
–  color: random, or hue can be a dimension
•  e.g., software type, or difference between two profiles for
non-regression testing ("differential flame graphs")
–  interpretation: top edge is on-CPU, beneath it is ancestry
•  Just a Perl program to convert perf stacks into SVG
–  Includes JavaScript: open in a browser for interactivity
•  Easy to get working
http://www.brendangregg.com/FlameGraphs/cpuflamegraphs.html
4. Gotchas
 When you try to use perf
•  Stacks don't work (missing)
•  Symbols don't work (hex numbers)
•  Can't profile Java
•  Can't profile Node.js/io.js
•  PMCs aren't available
•  Dynamic tracing function arguments don't work
•  perf locks up
 How to really get started
1.  Get "perf" to work
2.  Get stack walking to work
3.  Fix symbol translation
4.  Get IPC to work
5.  Test perf under load

This is my actual checklist.

 How to really get started
1.  Get "perf" to work Install  perf-­‐tools-­‐common  
2.  Get stack walking to work and  perf-­‐tools-­‐`uname  -­‐r`  
packages;  Or  compile  in  the  
3.  Fix symbol translation Linux  source:  tools/perf  
4.  Get IPC to work
5.  Test perf under load The  "gotchas"…  

This is my actual checklist.

 Gotcha #1 Broken Stacks
perf record -F 99 -a –g -- sleep 30!
perf report -n --stdio!

Start by testing stacks:

1.  Take a CPU profile
2.  Run perf report
3.  If stacks are often < 3 frames, or don't reach "thread
start" or "main", they are probably broken. Fix them.
 Identifying Broken Stacks
28.10% 146 sed libc-2.19.so [.] re_search_internal !
|!
--- re_search_internal!
| !
|--12.25%-- 0x3!
| 0x100007!
broken  

12.06% 62 sed sed [.] re_search_internal !

|!
--- re_search_internal!
| !
|--96.78%-- re_search_stub!
| rpl_re_search!
| match_regex!
| do_subst!
| execute_program!
| process_files!
| main!
| __libc_start_main! not  broken  
| !
--3.22%-- rpl_re_search!
match_regex!
do_subst!
execute_program!
process_files!
main!
__libc_start_main!
 Identifying Broken Stacks
78.50% 409 sed libc-2.19.so [.] 0x00000000000dd7d4!
| !
|--3.65%-- 0x7f2516d5d10d!
| !
|--2.19%-- 0x7f2516d0332f!
| ! broken  
|--1.22%-- 0x7f2516cffbd2!
| !
|--1.22%-- 0x7f2516d5d5ad!

71.79% 334 sed sed [.] 0x000000000001afc1!

| !
|--11.65%-- 0x40a447!
| 0x40659a!
| 0x408dd8!
| 0x408ed1!
| 0x402689!
|
|
0x7fa1cd08aec5!
!
probably  not  broken  
|--1.33%-- 0x40a4a1!
| | !
| |--60.01%-- 0x40659a!
| | 0x408dd8!
|
|
|
|
0x408ed1!
0x402689!
missing  symbols,  but  
| | 0x7fa1cd08aec5! that's  another  problem  
 Broken Stacks Flame Graph

Broken  Java  stacks   Java  ==  green  

(missing  frame  pointer)   system  ==  red  
C++  ==  yellow  
 Fixing Broken Stacks
Either:
A.  Fix frame pointer-based stack walking (the default)
–  Pros: simple, supports any system stack walker
–  Cons: might cost a little extra CPU to make available
B.  Use libunwind and DWARF: perf record -g dwarf!
–  Pros: more debug info
–  Cons: not on older kernels, and inflates instance size
C.  Use a custom walker (probably needs kernel support)
–  Pros: full stack walking (e.g., unwind inlined frames) & args
–  Cons: custom kernel code, can cost more CPU when in use
Our current preference is (A)
–  So how do we fix the frame pointer…
 gcc -fno-omit-frame-pointer
•  Once upon a time, x86 had fewer registers, and the frame
pointer register was reused for general purpose to improve
performance. This breaks system stack walking.
•  gcc provides -fno-omit-frame-pointer to fix this
–  Please make this the default in gcc!
 JDK-8068945
•  Java's compilers also reuse the frame pointer, and
unfortunately there's no -XX:no-omit-frame-pointer (yet)
•  I hacked hotspot to fix the frame pointer, and published the
patch as a prototype suggestion (JDK-8068945)
--- openjdk8clean/hotspot/src/cpu/x86/vm/x86_64.ad 2014-03-04 …!
+++ openjdk8/hotspot/src/cpu/x86/vm/x86_64.ad 2014-11-08 …!
@@ -166,10 +166,9 @@!
// 3) reg_class stack_slots( /* one chunk of stack-based "registers" */ )!
//!
!
-// Class for all pointer registers (including RSP)!
+// Class for all pointer registers (including RSP, excluding RBP)!
reg_class any_reg(RAX, RAX_H,!
RDX, RDX_H,!
- RBP, RBP_H,!
RDI, RDI_H,! Remove  RBP  from  
RSI, RSI_H,!
RCX, RCX_H,! register  pools  
[...]!
 JDK-8068945
--- openjdk8clean/hotspot/src/cpu/x86/vm/macroAssembler_x86.cpp 2014-03-04…!
+++ openjdk8/hotspot/src/cpu/x86/vm/macroAssembler_x86.cpp 2014-11-07 …!
@@ -5236,6 +5236,7 @@!
// We always push rbp, so that on return to interpreter rbp, will be!
// restored correctly and we can correct the stack.!
push(rbp);!
+ mov(rbp, rsp);!
// Remove word for ebp!
Fix  x86-­‐64  funcOon  
framesize -= wordSize;! prologues  
!
--- openjdk8clean/hotspot/src/cpu/x86/vm/c1_MacroAssembler_x86.cpp …!
+++ openjdk8/hotspot/src/cpu/x86/vm/c1_MacroAssembler_x86.cpp …!
[...]!

•  We've been using our patched OpenJDK for profiling

•  To do: make this an option (-XX:MoreFramePointer), and (at
some point) fix for invokedynamic
–  See "A hotspot patch for stack profiling (frame pointer)" on the
hotspot compiler dev mailing list, being discussed now
 Broken Java Stacks
# perf script!
[…]! •  Check with "perf script"
java 4579 cpu-clock: !
ffffffff8172adff tracesys ([kernel.kallsyms])! to see stack samples
7f4183bad7ce pthread_cond_timedwait@@GLIBC_2…!
! •  These are 1 or 2 levels
java 4579 cpu-clock: !

!
7f417908c10b [unknown] (/tmp/perf-4458.map)! deep (junk values)
java 4579 cpu-clock: !
7f4179101c97 [unknown] (/tmp/perf-4458.map)!
!
java 4579 cpu-clock: !
7f41792fc65f [unknown] (/tmp/perf-4458.map)!
a2d53351ff7da603 [unknown] ([unknown])!
!
java 4579 cpu-clock: !
7f4179349aec [unknown] (/tmp/perf-4458.map)!
!
java 4579 cpu-clock: !
7f4179101d0f [unknown] (/tmp/perf-4458.map)!
!
java 4579 cpu-clock: !
7f417908c194 [unknown] (/tmp/perf-4458.map)!
[…]!
 Fixed Java Stacks
# perf script!
[…]! •  With JDK-8068945
java 8131 cpu-clock: !
7fff76f2dce1 [unknown] ([vdso])! stacks are full, and go
7fd3173f7a93 os::javaTimeMillis() (/usr/lib/jvm…!
7fd301861e46 [unknown] (/tmp/perf-8131.map)! all the way to
7fd30184def8 [unknown] (/tmp/perf-8131.map)!
7fd30174f544 [unknown] (/tmp/perf-8131.map)! start_thread()
7fd30175d3a8 [unknown] (/tmp/perf-8131.map)!
7fd30166d51c [unknown] (/tmp/perf-8131.map)!
7fd301750f34 [unknown] (/tmp/perf-8131.map)!
•  This is what the CPUs
7fd3016c2280 [unknown] (/tmp/perf-8131.map)!
7fd301b02ec0 [unknown] (/tmp/perf-8131.map)!
are really running:
7fd3016f9888 [unknown] (/tmp/perf-8131.map)!
7fd3016ece04 [unknown] (/tmp/perf-8131.map)!
inlined frames are not
7fd30177783c [unknown] (/tmp/perf-8131.map)!
7fd301600aa8 [unknown] (/tmp/perf-8131.map)!
present
7fd301a4484c [unknown] (/tmp/perf-8131.map)!
7fd3010072e0 [unknown] (/tmp/perf-8131.map)!
7fd301007325 [unknown] (/tmp/perf-8131.map)!
7fd301007325 [unknown] (/tmp/perf-8131.map)!
7fd3010004e7 [unknown] (/tmp/perf-8131.map)!
7fd3171df76a JavaCalls::call_helper(JavaValue*,…!
7fd3171dce44 JavaCalls::call_virtual(JavaValue*…!
7fd3171dd43a JavaCalls::call_virtual(JavaValue*…!
7fd31721b6ce thread_entry(JavaThread*, Thread*)…!
7fd3175389e0 JavaThread::thread_main_inner() (/…!
7fd317538cb2 JavaThread::run() (/usr/lib/jvm/nf…!
7fd3173f6f52 java_start(Thread*) (/usr/lib/jvm/…!
7fd317a7e182 start_thread (/lib/x86_64-linux-gn…!
Fixed Stacks Flame Graph

Java  
(no  symbols)  
 Gotcha #2 Missing Symbols
•  Missing symbols should be obvious in perf report/script:
71.79% 334 sed sed [.] 0x000000000001afc1!
| !
|--11.65%-- 0x40a447!
| 0x40659a!
| 0x408dd8!
| 0x408ed1! broken  
| 0x402689!
| 0x7fa1cd08aec5!

12.06% 62 sed sed [.] re_search_internal !

|!
--- re_search_internal!
| !
|--96.78%-- re_search_stub!
| rpl_re_search!
| match_regex!
| do_subst! not  broken  
| execute_program!
| process_files!
| main!
| __libc_start_main!
 Fixing Symbols
•  For installed packages:
A.  Add a -dbgsym package, if available
B.  Recompile from source
•  For JIT (Java, Node.js, …):
A.  Create a /tmp/perf-PID.map file. perf already looks for this
B.  Or use one of the new symbol loggers (see lkml)
# perf script!
Failed to open /tmp/perf-8131.map, continuing without symbols!
[…]!
java 8131 cpu-clock: !
7fff76f2dce1 [unknown] ([vdso])!
7fd3173f7a93 os::javaTimeMillis() (/usr/lib/jvm…!
7fd301861e46 [unknown] (/tmp/perf-8131.map)!
[…]!
 perf JIT symbols: Java, Node.js
•  Using the /tmp map file for symbol translation:
–  Pros: simple, can be low overhead (snapshot on demand)
–  Cons: stale symbols
–  Map format is "START SIZE symbolname"
–  Another gotcha: If perf is run as root, chown root <mapfile>
•  Java
–  https://github.com/jrudolph/perf-map-agent
–  Agent attaches and writes the map file on demand (previous
versions attached on Java start, and wrote continually)
•  Node.js
–  node --perf_basic_prof writes the map file continually
–  Available from 0.11.13+
–  Currently has a file growth issue; see my patch in
https://code.google.com/p/v8/issues/detail?id=3453
 Java: Stacks & Symbols
flamegraph.pl --color=java!

Kernel  
JVM  
Java  
 Java: Inlining
•  Disabling inlining:
No  inlining  
–  -XX:-Inline
–  Many more Java frames
–  80% slower (in this case)
•  Not really necessary
–  Inlined flame graphs often
make enough sense
–  Or tune -XX:MaxInlineSize
and -XX:InlineSmallCode a
little to reveal more frames,
without costing much perf
–  Can even go faster!
 Node.js: Stacks & Symbols
•  Covered previously on the Netflix Tech Blog
http://techblog.netflix.com/2014/11/nodejs-in-flames.html
 Gotcha #3 Guest PMCs
•  Using PMCs from a Xen guest (currently):
# perf stat -a -d sleep 5!
!
Performance counter stats for 'system wide':!
!
10003.718595 task-clock (msec) # 2.000 CPUs utilized [100.00%]!
323 context-switches # 0.032 K/sec [100.00%]!
17 cpu-migrations # 0.002 K/sec [100.00%]!
233 page-faults # 0.023 K/sec !
<not supported> cycles !
<not supported> stalled-cycles-frontend !
<not supported> stalled-cycles-backend !
<not supported> instructions !
<not supported> branches !
<not supported> branch-misses !
<not supported> L1-dcache-loads !
<not supported> L1-dcache-load-misses !
<not supported> LLC-loads !
<not supported> LLC-load-misses !
!
5.001607197 seconds time elapsed!
 Guest PMCs
•  Without PMCs, %CPU is ambiguous. We can't measure:
–  Instructions Per Cycle (IPC)
–  CPU cache hits/misses
–  MMU TLB hits/misses
–  Branch misprediction
–  Stall cycles
•  Should be fixable: hypervisors can expose PMCs
–  At the very least, enough PMCs for IPC to work:
INST_RETIRED.ANY_P & CPU_CLK_UNHALTED.THREAD_P
•  In the meantime
–  I'm using a physical server for PMC analysis
–  Also some MSRs on the cloud
 MSRs
•  Model Specific Registers (MSRs) may be exposed when
PMCs are not
•  Better than nothing. Can solve some issues.
# ./showboost!
CPU MHz : 2500!
Turbo MHz : 2900 (10 active)!
Turbo Ratio : 116% (10 active)!
CPU 0 summary every 5 seconds...!
!
TIME C0_MCYC C0_ACYC UTIL RATIO MHz!
17:28:03 4226511637 4902783333 33% 116% 2900!
17:28:08 4397892841 5101713941 35% 116% 2900!
17:28:13 4550831380 5279462058 36% 116% 2900!
17:28:18 4680962051 5429605341 37% 115% 2899!
17:28:23 4782942155 5547813280 38% 115% 2899!
[...]!

–  showboost is from my msr-cloud-tools collection (on github)

 Gotcha #4 Instruction Profiling
# perf annotate -i perf.data.noplooper --stdio!
Percent | Source code & Disassembly of noplooper!
--------------------------------------------------------!
: Disassembly of section .text:!
:!
: 00000000004004ed <main>:!
0.00 : 4004ed: push %rbp!
0.00 : 4004ee: mov %rsp,%rbp!
20.86 : 4004f1: nop!
0.00 : 4004f2: nop!
0.00 :
0.00 :
4004f3:
4004f4:
nop!
nop! 16  NOPs  in  a  loop  
19.84 :
0.00 :
4004f5:
4004f6:
nop!
nop!
 
0.00 :
0.00 :
4004f7:
4004f8:
nop!
nop!
Let's  profile  instrucOons  
18.73 : 4004f9: nop! to  see  which  are  hot!  
0.00 : 4004fa: nop!
0.00 : 4004fb: nop!  
0.00 : 4004fc: nop!
19.08 : 4004fd: nop! (have  I  lost  my  mind?)  
0.00 : 4004fe: nop!
0.00 : 4004ff: nop!
0.00 : 400500: nop!
21.49 : 400501: jmp 4004f1 <main+0x4>!
 Instruction Profiling
•  Even distribution (A)? Or something else?

(A)   (B)  

(C)   (D)  
 Instruction Profiling
# perf annotate -i perf.data.noplooper --stdio!
Percent | Source code & Disassembly of noplooper!
--------------------------------------------------------!
: Disassembly of section .text:!
:!
: 00000000004004ed <main>:!
0.00 : 4004ed: push %rbp!
0.00 : 4004ee: mov %rsp,%rbp!
20.86 : 4004f1: nop!
0.00 : 4004f2: nop!
0.00 : 4004f3: nop!
0.00 : 4004f4: nop!
19.84 : 4004f5: nop!
0.00 : 4004f6: nop!
0.00 : 4004f7: nop!
0.00 : 4004f8: nop!
18.73 : 4004f9: nop!
0.00 : 4004fa: nop!
0.00 : 4004fb: nop!
0.00 : 4004fc: nop!
19.08 : 4004fd: nop! Go  home  instrucOon  
0.00 :
0.00 :
4004fe:
4004ff:
nop!
nop!
pointer,  you're  drunk  
0.00 : 400500: nop!
21.49 : 400501: jmp 4004f1 <main+0x4>!
 PEBS
•  I believe this is sample "skid", plus parallel and out-of-
order execution of micro-ops: the sampled IP is the
resumption instruction, not what is currently executing.
•  PEBS may help: Intel's Precise Event Based Sampling
•  perf_events has support:
–  perf record -e cycles:pp!
–  The 'p' can be specified multiple times:
•  0 - SAMPLE_IP can have arbitrary skid
•  1 - SAMPLE_IP must have constant skid
•  2 - SAMPLE_IP requested to have 0 skid
•  3 - SAMPLE_IP must have 0 skid
–  … from tools/perf/Documentation/perf-list.txt
 Gotcha #5 Overhead
•  Overhead is relative to the rate of events instrumented
•  perf stat does in-kernel counts, with relatively low
CPU overhead
•  perf record writes perf.data, which has slightly
higher CPU overhead, plus file system and disk I/O
•  Test before use
–  In the lab
–  Run perf stat to understand rate, before perf record
•  Also consider --filter, to filter events in-kernel
5. Tracing
 Profiling vs Tracing
•  Profiling takes samples. Tracing records every event.
•  There are many tracers for Linux (SystemTap, ktap, etc),
but only two in mainline: perf_events and ftrace

Linux  Tracing  Stack  

one-­‐liners:   many  
front-­‐end  tools:   perf,  perf-­‐tools  
tracing  frameworks:   perf_events,  krace,  eBPF,  …  
tracing  instrumentaOon:   tracepoints,  kprobes,  uprobes  
 Tracing Example
# perf record -e block:block_rq_insert -a!
^C[ perf record: Woken up 1 times to write data ]!
[ perf record: Captured and wrote 0.172 MB perf.data (~7527 samples) ]!
!
# perf script!
[…]!
java 9940 [015] 1199510.044783: block_rq_insert: 202,1 R 0 () 4783360 + 88 [java]!
java 9940 [015] 1199510.044786: block_rq_insert: 202,1 R 0 () 4783448 + 88 [java]!
java 9940 [015] 1199510.044786: block_rq_insert: 202,1 R 0 () 4783536 + 24 [java]!
java 9940 [000] 1199510.065195: block_rq_insert: 202,1 R 0 () 4864088 + 88 [java]!
[…]!
 Tracing Example
# perf record -e block:block_rq_insert -a!
^C[ perf record: Woken up 1 times to write data ]!
[ perf record: Captured and wrote 0.172 MB perf.data (~7527 samples) ]!
!
# perf script!
[…]!
java 9940 [015] 1199510.044783: block_rq_insert: 202,1 R 0 () 4783360 + 88 [java]!
java 9940 [015] 1199510.044786: block_rq_insert: 202,1 R 0 () 4783448 + 88 [java]!
java 9940 [015] 1199510.044786: block_rq_insert: 202,1 R 0 () 4783536 + 24 [java]!
java 9940 [000] 1199510.065195: block_rq_insert: 202,1 R 0 () 4864088 + 88 [java]!
[…]!

process  PID  [CPU]  Omestamp:  eventname:   format  string  

include/trace/events/block.h: java 9940 [015] 1199510.044783: block_rq_insert: 202,1 R 0 ()

4783360 + 88 [java]!
DECLARE_EVENT_CLASS(block_rq,!
[...]!
TP_printk("%d,%d %s %u (%s) %llu + %u [%s]",!
MAJOR(__entry->dev), MINOR(__entry->dev),! kernel  source  
__entry->rwbs, __entry->bytes, __get_str(cmd),! may  be  the  
(unsigned long long)__entry->sector,!
__entry->nr_sector, __entry->comm)! only  docs  
 perf Block I/O Latency Heat Map
•  Trace data may only make sense when visualized
•  e.g., block I/O latency from perf_events trace data:

SSD  I/O   HDD  I/O  

(fast,  with  queueing)   (random,  modes)  

hop://www.brendangregg.com/blog/2014-­‐07-­‐01/perf-­‐heat-­‐maps.html  
 One-Liners: Static Tracing
# Trace new processes, until Ctrl-C:!
perf record -e sched:sched_process_exec -a!
!
# Trace all context-switches with stack traces, for 1 second:!
perf record -e context-switches –ag -- sleep 1!
!
# Trace CPU migrations, for 10 seconds:!
perf record -e migrations -a -- sleep 10!
!
# Trace all connect()s with stack traces (outbound connections), until Ctrl-C:!
perf record -e syscalls:sys_enter_connect –ag!
!
# Trace all block device (disk I/O) requests with stack traces, until Ctrl-C:!
perf record -e block:block_rq_insert -ag!
!
# Trace all block device issues and completions (has timestamps), until Ctrl-C:!
perf record -e block:block_rq_issue -e block:block_rq_complete -a!
!
# Trace all block completions, of size at least 100 Kbytes, until Ctrl-C:!
perf record -e block:block_rq_complete --filter 'nr_sector > 200'!
!
# Trace all block completions, synchronous writes only, until Ctrl-C:!
perf record -e block:block_rq_complete --filter 'rwbs == "WS"'!
!
# Trace all block completions, all types of writes, until Ctrl-C:!
perf record -e block:block_rq_complete --filter 'rwbs ~ "*W*"'!
!
# Trace all ext4 calls, and write to a non-ext4 location, until Ctrl-C:!
perf record -e 'ext4:*' -o /tmp/perf.data -a!
 Tracepoint Variables
•  Some previous one-liners used variables with --filter
•  The ftrace interface has a way to print them:
# cat /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/events/block/block_rq_insert/format !
name: block_rq_insert!
ID: 884!
format:!
!field:unsigned short common_type; !offset:0;!size:2; !signed:0;!
!field:unsigned char common_flags; !offset:2;!size:1; !signed:0;!
!field:unsigned char common_preempt_count; !offset:3;!size:1; !signed:0;!
!field:int common_pid; !offset:4;!size:4; !signed:1;!
!
!field:dev_t dev; !offset:8;!size:4; !signed:0;! variables  
!field:sector_t sector; !offset:16; !size:8; !signed:0;!
!field:unsigned int nr_sector; !offset:24;
!size:4; !signed:0;!
!field:unsigned int bytes;!offset:28;
!size:4; !signed:0;!
!field:char rwbs[8];!offset:32;!size:8; !signed:1;! (format  string  
!field:char comm[16];!offset:40;
!size:16; !signed:1;!
!field:__data_loc char[] cmd; !offset:56;!size:4; !signed:1;!
internals)  
!
print fmt: "%d,%d %s %u (%s) %llu + %u [%s]", ((unsigned int) ((REC->dev) >> 20)),
((unsigned int) ((REC->dev) & ((1U << 20) - 1))), REC->rwbs, REC->bytes, __get_str(cmd),
(unsigned long long)REC->sector, REC->nr_sector, REC->comm!
 One-Liners: Dynamic Tracing
# Add a tracepoint for the kernel tcp_sendmsg() function entry (--add optional):!
perf probe --add tcp_sendmsg!
!
# Remove the tcp_sendmsg() tracepoint (or use --del):!
perf probe -d tcp_sendmsg!
!
# Add a tracepoint for the kernel tcp_sendmsg() function return:!
perf probe 'tcp_sendmsg%return'!
!
# Show avail vars for the tcp_sendmsg(), plus external vars (needs debuginfo):!
perf probe -V tcp_sendmsg --externs!
!
# Show available line probes for tcp_sendmsg() (needs debuginfo):!
perf probe -L tcp_sendmsg!
!
# Add a tracepoint for tcp_sendmsg() line 81 with local var seglen (debuginfo):!
perf probe 'tcp_sendmsg:81 seglen'!
!
# Add a tracepoint for do_sys_open() with the filename as a string (debuginfo):!
perf probe 'do_sys_open filename:string'!
!
# Add a tracepoint for myfunc() return, and include the retval as a string:!
perf probe 'myfunc%return +0($retval):string'!
!
# Add a tracepoint for the user-level malloc() function from libc:!
perf probe -x /lib64/libc.so.6 malloc!
!
# List currently available dynamic probes:!
perf probe -l!
One-Liners: Advanced Dynamic Tracing
# Add a tracepoint for tcp_sendmsg(), with three entry regs (platform specific):!
perf probe 'tcp_sendmsg %ax %dx %cx'!
!
# Add a tracepoint for tcp_sendmsg(), with an alias ("bytes") for %cx register:!
perf probe 'tcp_sendmsg bytes=%cx'!
!
# Trace previously created probe when the bytes (alias) var is greater than 100:!
perf record -e probe:tcp_sendmsg --filter 'bytes > 100'!
!
# Add a tracepoint for tcp_sendmsg() return, and capture the return value:!
perf probe 'tcp_sendmsg%return $retval'!
!
# Add a tracepoint for tcp_sendmsg(), and "size" entry argument (debuginfo):!
perf probe 'tcp_sendmsg size'!
!
# Add a tracepoint for tcp_sendmsg(), with size and socket state (debuginfo):!
perf probe 'tcp_sendmsg size sk->__sk_common.skc_state'!
!
# Trace previous probe when size > 0, and state != TCP_ESTABLISHED(1) (debuginfo):!
perf record -e probe:tcp_sendmsg --filter 'size > 0 && skc_state != 1' -a!

•  Kernel debuginfo is an onerous requirement for the Netflix cloud

•  We can use registers instead (as above). But which registers?
 The Rosetta Stone of Registers
One server instance with kernel debuginfo, and -nv (dry run, verbose):
# perf probe -nv 'tcp_sendmsg size sk->__sk_common.skc_state'!
[…]!
Added new event:!
Writing event: p:probe/tcp_sendmsg tcp_sendmsg+0 size=%cx:u64 skc_state=+18(%si):u8!
probe:tcp_sendmsg (on tcp_sendmsg with size skc_state=sk->__sk_common.skc_state)!
!
You can now use it in all perf tools, such as:!
!
!perf record -e probe:tcp_sendmsg -aR sleep 1!

Copy-­‐n-­‐paste!  
All other instances (of the same kernel version):
# perf probe 'tcp_sendmsg+0 size=%cx:u64 skc_state=+18(%si):u8'!
Failed to find path of kernel module.!
Added new event:!
probe:tcp_sendmsg (on tcp_sendmsg with size=%cx:u64 skc_state=+18(%si):u8)!
!
You can now use it in all perf tools, such as:!
!
!perf record -e probe:tcp_sendmsg -aR sleep 1!

Masami Hiramatsu was investigating a way to better automate this

 perf_events Scripting
•  perf also has a scripting interface (Perl or Python)
–  These run perf and post-process trace data in user-space
–  Data path has some optimizations
•  Kernel buffering, and dynamic (optimal) number of buffer reads
•  But may still not be enough for high volume events
•  Andi Kleen has scripted perf for his PMC tools
–  https://github.com/andikleen/pmu-tools
–  Includes toplev for applying "Top Down" methodology
•  I've developed my own tools for perf & ftrace
–  https://github.com/brendangregg/perf-tools
–  Each tool has a man page and examples file
–  These are unsupported temporary hacks; their internals
should be rewritten when kernel features arrive (e.g., eBPF)
 perf-tools: bitesize
•  Block (disk) I/O size distributions:
# ./bitesize !
Tracing block I/O size (bytes), until Ctrl-C...!
^C!
Kbytes : I/O Distribution!
-> 0.9 : 0 | |!
1.0 -> 7.9 : 38 |# |!
8.0 -> 63.9 : 10108 |######################################|!
64.0 -> 127.9 : 13 |# |!
128.0 -> : 1 |# |
[…]!

•  This automates perf with a set of in-kernel filters and

counts for each bucket, to reduce overhead
•  Will be much easier with eBPF
 eBPF
•  Extended BPF: programs on tracepoints
–  High-performance filtering: JIT
–  In-kernel summaries: maps
•  e.g., in-kernel latency heat map (showing bimodal):

Low   High  
latency   latency  
Time  

cache   device  
hits   I/O  
 Linux Profiling Future
•  eBPF is integrating, and provides the final missing piece
of tracing infrastructure: efficient kernel programming
–  perf_events + eBPF?
–  ftrace + eBPF?
–  Other tracers + eBPF?
•  At Netflix, the future is Vector, and more self-service
automation of perf_events
 Summary & Your Action Items
•  Short term: get full CPU profiling to work
A.  Automate perf CPU profiles with flame graphs. See this talk!
B.  … or use Netflix Vector when it is open sourced
C.  … or ask performance monitoring vendors for this
–  Most importantly, you should expect that full CPU profiles are
available at your company. The ROI is worth it.
•  Long term: PMCs & tracing The  "real"  checklist  reminder:  
–  Use perf_events to profile 1.  Get  "perf"  to  work  
other targets: CPU cycles, 2.  Get  stack  walking  to  work  
file system I/O, disk I/O, 3.  Fix  symbol  translaOon  
memory usage, … 4.  Get  IPC  to  work  
•  Go forth and profile! 5.  Test  perf  under  load  
 Links & References
•  perf_events
•  Kernel source: tools/perf/Documentation
•  https://perf.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Main_Page
•  http://www.brendangregg.com/perf.html
•  http://web.eece.maine.edu/~vweaver/projects/perf_events/
•  Mailing list http://vger.kernel.org/vger-lists.html#linux-perf-users
•  perf-tools: https://github.com/brendangregg/perf-tools
•  PMU tools: https://github.com/andikleen/pmu-tools
•  perf, ftrace, and more: http://www.brendangregg.com/linuxperf.html
•  Java frame pointer patch
•  http://mail.openjdk.java.net/pipermail/hotspot-compiler-dev/2014-December/016477.html
•  https://bugs.openjdk.java.net/browse/JDK-8068945
•  Node.js: http://techblog.netflix.com/2014/11/nodejs-in-flames.html
•  Methodology: http://www.brendangregg.com/methodology.html
•  Flame graphs: http://www.brendangregg.com/flamegraphs.html
•  Heat maps: http://www.brendangregg.com/heatmaps.html
•  eBPF: http://lwn.net/Articles/603983/
 Thanks
•  Questions?
•  http://slideshare.net/brendangregg
•  http://www.brendangregg.com
•  [email protected]
–  Performance and Reliability Engineering
•  @brendangregg