2 files changed, 86 insertions, 1 deletions

diff --git a/Documentation/DocBook/Makefile b/Documentation/DocBook/Makefile
index 8918a32c6b3a..4c8f4d6e114a 100644
--- a/Documentation/DocBook/Makefile
+++ b/Documentation/DocBook/Makefile
@@ -13,7 +13,8 @@ DOCBOOKS := z8530book.xml mcabook.xml device-drivers.xml \
             gadget.xml libata.xml mtdnand.xml librs.xml rapidio.xml \
             genericirq.xml s390-drivers.xml uio-howto.xml scsi.xml \
             mac80211.xml debugobjects.xml sh.xml regulator.xml \
-            alsa-driver-api.xml writing-an-alsa-driver.xml
+            alsa-driver-api.xml writing-an-alsa-driver.xml \
+            tracepoint.xml
 
 ###
 # The build process is as follows (targets):
diff --git a/Documentation/DocBook/tracepoint.tmpl b/Documentation/DocBook/tracepoint.tmpl
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..70891bc68491
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/DocBook/tracepoint.tmpl
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<!DOCTYPE book PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.1.2//EN"
+        "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.1.2/docbookx.dtd" []>
+
+<book id="Tracepoints">
+ <bookinfo>
+  <title>The Linux Kernel Tracepoint API</title>
+
+  <authorgroup>
+   <author>
+    <firstname>Jason</firstname>
+    <surname>Baron</surname>
+    <affiliation>
+     <address>
+      <email>jbaron@redhat.com</email>
+     </address>
+    </affiliation>
+   </author>
+  </authorgroup>
+
+  <legalnotice>
+   <para>
+     This documentation is free software; you can redistribute
+     it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public
+     License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+     version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later
+     version.
+   </para>
+
+   <para>
+     This program is distributed in the hope that it will be
+     useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied
+     warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
+     See the GNU General Public License for more details.
+   </para>
+
+   <para>
+     You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public
+     License along with this program; if not, write to the Free
+     Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston,
+     MA 02111-1307 USA
+   </para>
+
+   <para>
+     For more details see the file COPYING in the source
+     distribution of Linux.
+   </para>
+  </legalnotice>
+ </bookinfo>
+
+ <toc></toc>
+  <chapter id="intro">
+   <title>Introduction</title>
+   <para>
+     Tracepoints are static probe points that are located in strategic points
+     throughout the kernel. 'Probes' register/unregister with tracepoints
+     via a callback mechanism. The 'probes' are strictly typed functions that
+     are passed a unique set of parameters defined by each tracepoint.
+   </para>
+
+   <para>
+     From this simple callback mechanism, 'probes' can be used to profile, debug,
+     and understand kernel behavior. There are a number of tools that provide a
+     framework for using 'probes'. These tools include Systemtap, ftrace, and
+     LTTng.
+   </para>
+
+   <para>
+     Tracepoints are defined in a number of header files via various macros. Thus,
+     the purpose of this document is to provide a clear accounting of the available
+     tracepoints. The intention is to understand not only what tracepoints are
+     available but also to understand where future tracepoints might be added.
+   </para>
+
+   <para>
+     The API presented has functions of the form:
+     <function>trace_tracepointname(function parameters)</function>. These are the
+     tracepoints callbacks that are found throughout the code. Registering and
+     unregistering probes with these callback sites is covered in the
+     <filename>Documentation/trace/*</filename> directory.
+   </para>
+  </chapter>
+
+</book>