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author | Frederic Weisbecker <fweisbec@gmail.com> | 2009-09-23 17:08:43 -0400 |
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committer | Frederic Weisbecker <fweisbec@gmail.com> | 2009-09-23 17:08:43 -0400 |
commit | d7a4b414eed51f1653bb05ebe84122bf9a7ae18b (patch) | |
tree | bd6603a0c27de4c138a1767871897e9cd3e1a1d2 /Documentation/trace/ftrace-design.txt | |
parent | 1f0ab40976460bc4673fa204ce917a725185d8f2 (diff) | |
parent | a724eada8c2a7b62463b73ccf73fd0bb6e928aeb (diff) |
Merge commit 'linus/master' into tracing/kprobes
Conflicts:
kernel/trace/Makefile
kernel/trace/trace.h
kernel/trace/trace_event_types.h
kernel/trace/trace_export.c
Merge reason:
Sync with latest significant tracing core changes.
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/trace/ftrace-design.txt')
-rw-r--r-- | Documentation/trace/ftrace-design.txt | 233 |
1 files changed, 233 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/trace/ftrace-design.txt b/Documentation/trace/ftrace-design.txt new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..7003e10f10f5 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/trace/ftrace-design.txt | |||
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1 | function tracer guts | ||
2 | ==================== | ||
3 | |||
4 | Introduction | ||
5 | ------------ | ||
6 | |||
7 | Here we will cover the architecture pieces that the common function tracing | ||
8 | code relies on for proper functioning. Things are broken down into increasing | ||
9 | complexity so that you can start simple and at least get basic functionality. | ||
10 | |||
11 | Note that this focuses on architecture implementation details only. If you | ||
12 | want more explanation of a feature in terms of common code, review the common | ||
13 | ftrace.txt file. | ||
14 | |||
15 | |||
16 | Prerequisites | ||
17 | ------------- | ||
18 | |||
19 | Ftrace relies on these features being implemented: | ||
20 | STACKTRACE_SUPPORT - implement save_stack_trace() | ||
21 | TRACE_IRQFLAGS_SUPPORT - implement include/asm/irqflags.h | ||
22 | |||
23 | |||
24 | HAVE_FUNCTION_TRACER | ||
25 | -------------------- | ||
26 | |||
27 | You will need to implement the mcount and the ftrace_stub functions. | ||
28 | |||
29 | The exact mcount symbol name will depend on your toolchain. Some call it | ||
30 | "mcount", "_mcount", or even "__mcount". You can probably figure it out by | ||
31 | running something like: | ||
32 | $ echo 'main(){}' | gcc -x c -S -o - - -pg | grep mcount | ||
33 | call mcount | ||
34 | We'll make the assumption below that the symbol is "mcount" just to keep things | ||
35 | nice and simple in the examples. | ||
36 | |||
37 | Keep in mind that the ABI that is in effect inside of the mcount function is | ||
38 | *highly* architecture/toolchain specific. We cannot help you in this regard, | ||
39 | sorry. Dig up some old documentation and/or find someone more familiar than | ||
40 | you to bang ideas off of. Typically, register usage (argument/scratch/etc...) | ||
41 | is a major issue at this point, especially in relation to the location of the | ||
42 | mcount call (before/after function prologue). You might also want to look at | ||
43 | how glibc has implemented the mcount function for your architecture. It might | ||
44 | be (semi-)relevant. | ||
45 | |||
46 | The mcount function should check the function pointer ftrace_trace_function | ||
47 | to see if it is set to ftrace_stub. If it is, there is nothing for you to do, | ||
48 | so return immediately. If it isn't, then call that function in the same way | ||
49 | the mcount function normally calls __mcount_internal -- the first argument is | ||
50 | the "frompc" while the second argument is the "selfpc" (adjusted to remove the | ||
51 | size of the mcount call that is embedded in the function). | ||
52 | |||
53 | For example, if the function foo() calls bar(), when the bar() function calls | ||
54 | mcount(), the arguments mcount() will pass to the tracer are: | ||
55 | "frompc" - the address bar() will use to return to foo() | ||
56 | "selfpc" - the address bar() (with _mcount() size adjustment) | ||
57 | |||
58 | Also keep in mind that this mcount function will be called *a lot*, so | ||
59 | optimizing for the default case of no tracer will help the smooth running of | ||
60 | your system when tracing is disabled. So the start of the mcount function is | ||
61 | typically the bare min with checking things before returning. That also means | ||
62 | the code flow should usually kept linear (i.e. no branching in the nop case). | ||
63 | This is of course an optimization and not a hard requirement. | ||
64 | |||
65 | Here is some pseudo code that should help (these functions should actually be | ||
66 | implemented in assembly): | ||
67 | |||
68 | void ftrace_stub(void) | ||
69 | { | ||
70 | return; | ||
71 | } | ||
72 | |||
73 | void mcount(void) | ||
74 | { | ||
75 | /* save any bare state needed in order to do initial checking */ | ||
76 | |||
77 | extern void (*ftrace_trace_function)(unsigned long, unsigned long); | ||
78 | if (ftrace_trace_function != ftrace_stub) | ||
79 | goto do_trace; | ||
80 | |||
81 | /* restore any bare state */ | ||
82 | |||
83 | return; | ||
84 | |||
85 | do_trace: | ||
86 | |||
87 | /* save all state needed by the ABI (see paragraph above) */ | ||
88 | |||
89 | unsigned long frompc = ...; | ||
90 | unsigned long selfpc = <return address> - MCOUNT_INSN_SIZE; | ||
91 | ftrace_trace_function(frompc, selfpc); | ||
92 | |||
93 | /* restore all state needed by the ABI */ | ||
94 | } | ||
95 | |||
96 | Don't forget to export mcount for modules ! | ||
97 | extern void mcount(void); | ||
98 | EXPORT_SYMBOL(mcount); | ||
99 | |||
100 | |||
101 | HAVE_FUNCTION_TRACE_MCOUNT_TEST | ||
102 | ------------------------------- | ||
103 | |||
104 | This is an optional optimization for the normal case when tracing is turned off | ||
105 | in the system. If you do not enable this Kconfig option, the common ftrace | ||
106 | code will take care of doing the checking for you. | ||
107 | |||
108 | To support this feature, you only need to check the function_trace_stop | ||
109 | variable in the mcount function. If it is non-zero, there is no tracing to be | ||
110 | done at all, so you can return. | ||
111 | |||
112 | This additional pseudo code would simply be: | ||
113 | void mcount(void) | ||
114 | { | ||
115 | /* save any bare state needed in order to do initial checking */ | ||
116 | |||
117 | + if (function_trace_stop) | ||
118 | + return; | ||
119 | |||
120 | extern void (*ftrace_trace_function)(unsigned long, unsigned long); | ||
121 | if (ftrace_trace_function != ftrace_stub) | ||
122 | ... | ||
123 | |||
124 | |||
125 | HAVE_FUNCTION_GRAPH_TRACER | ||
126 | -------------------------- | ||
127 | |||
128 | Deep breath ... time to do some real work. Here you will need to update the | ||
129 | mcount function to check ftrace graph function pointers, as well as implement | ||
130 | some functions to save (hijack) and restore the return address. | ||
131 | |||
132 | The mcount function should check the function pointers ftrace_graph_return | ||
133 | (compare to ftrace_stub) and ftrace_graph_entry (compare to | ||
134 | ftrace_graph_entry_stub). If either of those are not set to the relevant stub | ||
135 | function, call the arch-specific function ftrace_graph_caller which in turn | ||
136 | calls the arch-specific function prepare_ftrace_return. Neither of these | ||
137 | function names are strictly required, but you should use them anyways to stay | ||
138 | consistent across the architecture ports -- easier to compare & contrast | ||
139 | things. | ||
140 | |||
141 | The arguments to prepare_ftrace_return are slightly different than what are | ||
142 | passed to ftrace_trace_function. The second argument "selfpc" is the same, | ||
143 | but the first argument should be a pointer to the "frompc". Typically this is | ||
144 | located on the stack. This allows the function to hijack the return address | ||
145 | temporarily to have it point to the arch-specific function return_to_handler. | ||
146 | That function will simply call the common ftrace_return_to_handler function and | ||
147 | that will return the original return address with which, you can return to the | ||
148 | original call site. | ||
149 | |||
150 | Here is the updated mcount pseudo code: | ||
151 | void mcount(void) | ||
152 | { | ||
153 | ... | ||
154 | if (ftrace_trace_function != ftrace_stub) | ||
155 | goto do_trace; | ||
156 | |||
157 | +#ifdef CONFIG_FUNCTION_GRAPH_TRACER | ||
158 | + extern void (*ftrace_graph_return)(...); | ||
159 | + extern void (*ftrace_graph_entry)(...); | ||
160 | + if (ftrace_graph_return != ftrace_stub || | ||
161 | + ftrace_graph_entry != ftrace_graph_entry_stub) | ||
162 | + ftrace_graph_caller(); | ||
163 | +#endif | ||
164 | |||
165 | /* restore any bare state */ | ||
166 | ... | ||
167 | |||
168 | Here is the pseudo code for the new ftrace_graph_caller assembly function: | ||
169 | #ifdef CONFIG_FUNCTION_GRAPH_TRACER | ||
170 | void ftrace_graph_caller(void) | ||
171 | { | ||
172 | /* save all state needed by the ABI */ | ||
173 | |||
174 | unsigned long *frompc = &...; | ||
175 | unsigned long selfpc = <return address> - MCOUNT_INSN_SIZE; | ||
176 | prepare_ftrace_return(frompc, selfpc); | ||
177 | |||
178 | /* restore all state needed by the ABI */ | ||
179 | } | ||
180 | #endif | ||
181 | |||
182 | For information on how to implement prepare_ftrace_return(), simply look at | ||
183 | the x86 version. The only architecture-specific piece in it is the setup of | ||
184 | the fault recovery table (the asm(...) code). The rest should be the same | ||
185 | across architectures. | ||
186 | |||
187 | Here is the pseudo code for the new return_to_handler assembly function. Note | ||
188 | that the ABI that applies here is different from what applies to the mcount | ||
189 | code. Since you are returning from a function (after the epilogue), you might | ||
190 | be able to skimp on things saved/restored (usually just registers used to pass | ||
191 | return values). | ||
192 | |||
193 | #ifdef CONFIG_FUNCTION_GRAPH_TRACER | ||
194 | void return_to_handler(void) | ||
195 | { | ||
196 | /* save all state needed by the ABI (see paragraph above) */ | ||
197 | |||
198 | void (*original_return_point)(void) = ftrace_return_to_handler(); | ||
199 | |||
200 | /* restore all state needed by the ABI */ | ||
201 | |||
202 | /* this is usually either a return or a jump */ | ||
203 | original_return_point(); | ||
204 | } | ||
205 | #endif | ||
206 | |||
207 | |||
208 | HAVE_FTRACE_NMI_ENTER | ||
209 | --------------------- | ||
210 | |||
211 | If you can't trace NMI functions, then skip this option. | ||
212 | |||
213 | <details to be filled> | ||
214 | |||
215 | |||
216 | HAVE_FTRACE_SYSCALLS | ||
217 | --------------------- | ||
218 | |||
219 | <details to be filled> | ||
220 | |||
221 | |||
222 | HAVE_FTRACE_MCOUNT_RECORD | ||
223 | ------------------------- | ||
224 | |||
225 | See scripts/recordmcount.pl for more info. | ||
226 | |||
227 | <details to be filled> | ||
228 | |||
229 | |||
230 | HAVE_DYNAMIC_FTRACE | ||
231 | --------------------- | ||
232 | |||
233 | <details to be filled> | ||