[lttng-docs.git] / 2.5 / lttng-docs-2.5.txt

The LTTng Documentation
=======================
Philippe Proulx <pproulx@efficios.com>
v2.5, 21 October 2016


include::../common/copyright.txt[]


include::../common/warning-not-maintained.txt[]


include::../common/welcome.txt[]


include::../common/audience.txt[]


[[chapters]]
=== Chapter descriptions

What follows is a list of brief descriptions of this documentation's
chapters. The latter are ordered in such a way as to make the reading
as linear as possible.

. <<nuts-and-bolts,Nuts and bolts>> explains the
  rudiments of software tracing and the rationale behind the
  LTTng project.
. <<installing-lttng,Installing LTTng>> is divided into
  sections describing the steps needed to get a working installation
  of LTTng packages for common Linux distributions and from its
  source.
. <<getting-started,Getting started>> is a very concise guide to
  get started quickly with LTTng kernel and user space tracing. This
  chapter is recommended if you're new to LTTng or software tracing
  in general.
. <<understanding-lttng,Understanding LTTng>> deals with some
  core concepts and components of the LTTng suite. Understanding
  those is important since the next chapter assumes you're familiar
  with them.
. <<using-lttng,Using LTTng>> is a complete user guide of the
  LTTng project. It shows in great details how to instrument user
  applications and the Linux kernel, how to control tracing sessions
  using the `lttng` command line tool and miscellaneous practical use
  cases.
. <<reference,Reference>> contains references of LTTng components,
  like links to online manpages and various APIs.

We recommend that you read the above chapters in this order, although
some of them may be skipped depending on your situation. You may skip
<<nuts-and-bolts,Nuts and bolts>> if you're familiar with tracing
and LTTng. Also, you may jump over <<installing-lttng,Installing LTTng>>
if LTTng is already properly installed on your target system.


include::../common/convention.txt[]


include::../common/acknowledgements.txt[]


[[whats-new]]
== What's new in LTTng {revision}?

The **LTTng {revision}** toolchain introduces many interesting features,
some of them which have been requested by users many times.

It is now possible to
<<saving-loading-tracing-session,save and restore tracing sessions>>.
Sessions are saved to and loaded from XML files located by default in a
subdirectory of the user's home directory. LTTng daemons are also
configurable by configuration files as of LTTng-tools {revision}. This version
also makes it possible to load user-defined kernel probes with the new
session daemon's `--kmod-probes` option (or using the
`LTTNG_KMOD_PROBES` environment variable).

<<tracef,`tracef()`>> is a new instrumentation facility in LTTng-UST {revision}
which makes it possible to insert `printf()`-like tracepoints in C/$$C++$$
code for quick debugging. LTTng-UST {revision} also adds support for perf PMU
counters in user space on the x86 architecture
(see <<adding-context,Adding some context to channels>>).

As of LTTng-modules {revision}, a new
<<proc-lttng-logger-abi,LTTng logger ABI>>
is made available, making tracing Bash scripts, for example, much more
easier (just `echo` whatever you need to record to path:{/proc/lttng-logger}
while tracing is active). On the kernel side, some tracepoints are
added: state dumps of block devices, file descriptors, and file modes,
as well as http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video4Linux[V4L2] events. Linux
3.15 is now officially supported, and system call tracing is now
possible on the MIPS32 architecture.

To learn more about the new features of LTTng {revision}, see
http://lttng.org/blog/2014/08/04/lttng-toolchain-2-5-0-is-out/[this
release announcement].


[[nuts-and-bolts]]
== Nuts and bolts

What is LTTng? As its name suggests, the _Linux Trace Toolkit: next
generation_ is a modern toolkit for tracing Linux systems and
applications. So your first question might rather be: **what is
tracing?**

As the history of software engineering progressed and led to what
we now take for granted--complex, numerous and
interdependent software applications running in parallel on
sophisticated operating systems like Linux--the authors of such
components, or software developers, began feeling a natural
urge of having tools to ensure the robustness and good performance
of their masterpieces.

One major achievement in this field is, inarguably, the
https://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/[GNU debugger (GDB)], which is an
essential tool for developers to find and fix bugs. But even the best
debugger won't help make your software run faster, and nowadays, faster
software means either more work done by the same hardware, or cheaper
hardware for the same work.

A _profiler_ is often the tool of choice to identify performance
bottlenecks. Profiling is suitable to identify _where_ performance is
lost in a given software; the profiler outputs a profile, a statistical
summary of observed events, which you may use to know which functions
took the most time to execute. However, a profiler won't report _why_
some identified functions are the bottleneck. Also, bottlenecks might
only occur when specific conditions are met. For a thorough
investigation of software performance issues, a history of execution,
with historical values of chosen variables, is essential. This is where
tracing comes in handy.

_Tracing_ is a technique used to understand what goes on in a running
software system. The software used for tracing is called a _tracer_,
which is conceptually similar to a tape recorder. When recording,
specific points placed in the software source code generate events that
are saved on a giant tape: a _trace_ file. Both user applications and
the operating system may be traced at the same time, opening the
possibility of resolving a wide range of problems that are otherwise
extremely challenging.

Tracing is often compared to _logging_. However, tracers and loggers are
two different types of tools, serving two different purposes. Tracers
are designed to record much lower-level events that occur much more
frequently than log messages, often in the thousands per second range,
with very little execution overhead. Logging is more appropriate for
very high-level analysis of less frequent events: user accesses,
exceptional conditions (e.g., errors, warnings), database transactions,
instant messaging communications, etc. More formally, logging is one of
several use cases that can be accomplished with tracing.

The list of recorded events inside a trace file may be read manually
like a log file for the maximum level of detail, but it is generally
much more interesting to perform application-specific analyses to
produce reduced statistics and graphs that are useful to resolve a given
problem. Trace viewers and analysers are specialized tools which achieve
this.

So, in the end, this is what LTTng is: a powerful, open source set of
tools to trace the Linux kernel and user applications. LTTng is composed
of several components actively maintained and developed by its
http://lttng.org/community/#where[community].

Excluding proprietary solutions, a few competing software tracers exist
for Linux.
https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/trace/ftrace.txt[ftrace] is the
de facto function tracer of the Linux kernel.
http://linux.die.net/man/1/strace[strace] is able to record all system
calls made by a user process.
https://sourceware.org/systemtap/[SystemTap] is a Linux kernel and user
space tracer which uses custom user scripts to produce plain text
traces. http://www.sysdig.org/[sysdig] also uses scripts, written in
Lua, to trace and analyze the Linux kernel.

The main distinctive features of LTTng is that it produces correlated
kernel and user space traces, as well as doing so with the lowest
overhead amongst other solutions.  It produces trace files in the
http://www.efficios.com/ctf[CTF] format, an optimized file format for
production and analyses of multi-gigabyte data. LTTng is the result of
close to 10 years of active development by a community of passionate
developers. It is currently available on some major desktop, server, and
embedded Linux distributions.

The main interface for tracing control is a single command line tool
named `lttng`. The latter can create several tracing sessions,
enable/disable events on the fly, filter them efficiently with custom
user expressions, start/stop tracing and do much more. Traces can be
recorded on disk or sent over the network, kept totally or partially,
and viewed once tracing is inactive or in real-time.

<<installing-lttng,Install LTTng now>> and start tracing!


[[installing-lttng]]
== Installing LTTng

**LTTng** is a set of software components which interact to allow
instrumenting the Linux kernel and user applications and controlling
tracing sessions (starting/stopping tracing, enabling/disabling events,
etc.). Those components are bundled into the following packages:

LTTng-tools::
  Libraries and command line interface to control tracing sessions.

LTTng-modules::
  Linux kernel modules allowing Linux to be traced using LTTng.

LTTng-UST::
  User space tracing library.

Most distributions mark the LTTng-modules and LTTng-UST packages as
optional. In the following sections, we always provide the steps to
install all three, but be aware that LTTng-modules is only required if
you intend to trace the Linux kernel and LTTng-UST is only required if
you intend to trace user space applications.

This chapter shows how to install the above packages on a Linux system.
The easiest way is to use the package manager of the system's
distribution (<<desktop-distributions,desktop>> or
<<embedded-distributions,embedded>>). Support is also available for
<<enterprise-distributions,enterprise distributions>>, such as Red Hat
Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES).
Otherwise, you can
<<building-from-source,build the LTTng packages from source>>.


[[desktop-distributions]]
=== Desktop distributions

Official LTTng {revision} packages are available for <<ubuntu,Ubuntu>> and
<<debian,Debian>>.

More recent versions of LTTng are available for Fedora, openSUSE,
as well as Arch Linux.

Should any issue arise when following the procedures below, please
inform the http://lttng.org/community[community] about it.


[[ubuntu]]
==== Ubuntu

LTTng {revision} is packaged in Ubuntu 15.04 _Vivid Vervet_. For other
releases of Ubuntu, you need to build and install LTTng
<<building-from-source,from source>>. Ubuntu 15.10 _Wily Werewolf_
ships with link:/docs/v2.6/[LTTng 2.6].

To install LTTng {revision} from the official Ubuntu repositories,
simply use `apt-get`:

[role="term"]
----
sudo apt-get install lttng-tools
sudo apt-get install lttng-modules-dkms
sudo apt-get install liblttng-ust-dev
----


[[debian]]
==== Debian

Debian "jessie" has official packages of LTTng {revision}:

[role="term"]
----
sudo apt-get install lttng-tools
sudo apt-get install lttng-modules-dkms
sudo apt-get install liblttng-ust-dev
----


[[embedded-distributions]]
=== Embedded distributions

Some developers may be interested in tracing the Linux kernel and user space
applications running on embedded systems. LTTng is packaged by two popular
embedded Linux distributions: <<buildroot,Buildroot>> and
<<oe-yocto,OpenEmbedded/Yocto>>.


[[buildroot]]
==== Buildroot

LTTng {revision} packages in Buildroot 2014.11 and 2015.02 are named
`lttng-tools`, `lttng-modules`, and `lttng-libust`.

To enable them, start the Buildroot configuration menu as usual:

[role="term"]
----
make menuconfig
----

In:

* _Kernel_: make sure _Linux kernel_ is enabled
* _Toolchain_: make sure the following options are enabled:
** _Enable large file (files > 2GB) support_
** _Enable WCHAR support_

In _Target packages_/_Debugging, profiling and benchmark_, enable
_lttng-modules_ and _lttng-tools_. In
_Target packages_/_Libraries_/_Other_, enable _lttng-libust_.


[[oe-yocto]]
==== OpenEmbedded/Yocto

LTTng {revision} recipes are available in the `openembedded-core` layer of
OpenEmbedded from August 15th, 2014 to February 8th, 2015 under the
following names:

* `lttng-tools`
* `lttng-modules`
* `lttng-ust`

Using BitBake, the simplest way to include LTTng recipes in your
target image is to add them to `IMAGE_INSTALL_append` in
path:{conf/local.conf}:

----
IMAGE_INSTALL_append = " lttng-tools lttng-modules lttng-ust"
----

If you're using Hob, click _Edit image recipe_ once you have selected
a machine and an image recipe. Then, in the _All recipes_ tab, search
for `lttng` and you should find and be able to include the three LTTng
recipes.


[[enterprise-distributions]]
=== Enterprise distributions (RHEL, SLES)

To install LTTng on enterprise Linux distributions
(such as RHEL and SLES), please see
http://packages.efficios.com/[EfficiOS Enterprise Packages].


[[building-from-source]]
=== Building from source

As <<installing-lttng,previously stated>>, LTTng is shipped as three
packages: LTTng-tools, LTTng-modules and LTTng-UST. LTTng-tools contains
everything needed to control tracing sessions, while LTTng-modules is
only needed for Linux kernel tracing and LTTng-UST is only needed for
user space tracing.

The tarballs are available in the
http://lttng.org/download#build-from-source[Download section]
of the LTTng website.

Please refer to the path:{README.md} files provided by each package to
properly build and install them.

TIP: The aforementioned path:{README.md} files are rendered as
rich text when https://github.com/lttng[viewed on GitHub].


[[getting-started]]
== Getting started with LTTng

This is a small guide to get started quickly with LTTng kernel and user
space tracing. For intermediate to advanced use cases and a more
thorough understanding of LTTng, see <<using-lttng,Using LTTng>> and
<<understanding-lttng,Understanding LTTng>>.

Before reading this guide, make sure LTTng
<<installing-lttng,is installed>>. You will at least need LTTng-tools.
Also install LTTng-modules for
<<tracing-the-linux-kernel,tracing the Linux kernel>>
and LTTng-UST for <<tracing-your-own-user-application,tracing your own
user space applications>>. When your traces are finally written and
complete, the
<<viewing-and-analyzing-your-traces,Viewing and analyzing your traces>>
section of this chapter will help you analyze your tracepoint
events to investigate.


[[tracing-the-linux-kernel]]
=== Tracing the Linux kernel

Make sure LTTng-tools and LTTng-modules packages
<<installing-lttng,are installed>>.

Since you're about to trace the Linux kernel itself, let's look at the
available kernel events using the `lttng` tool, which has a
Git-like command line structure:

[role="term"]
----
lttng list --kernel
----

Before tracing, you need to create a session:

[role="term"]
----
sudo lttng create my-session
----

TIP: You can avoid using `sudo` in the previous and following commands
if your user is a member of the <<lttng-sessiond,tracing group>>.

`my-session` is the tracing session name and could be anything you
like. `auto` will be used if omitted.

Let's now enable some events for this session:

[role="term"]
----
sudo lttng enable-event --kernel sched_switch,sched_process_fork
----

or you might want to simply enable all available kernel events (beware
that trace files will grow rapidly when doing this):

[role="term"]
----
sudo lttng enable-event --kernel --all
----

Start tracing:

[role="term"]
----
sudo lttng start
----

By default, traces are saved in
+\~/lttng-traces/__name__-__date__-__time__+,
where +__name__+ is the session name.

When you're done tracing:

[role="term"]
----
sudo lttng stop
sudo lttng destroy
----

Although `destroy` looks scary here, it doesn't actually destroy the
outputted trace files: it only destroys the tracing session.

What's next? Have a look at
<<viewing-and-analyzing-your-traces,Viewing and analyzing your traces>>
to view and analyze the trace you just recorded.


[[tracing-your-own-user-application]]
=== Tracing your own user application

The previous section helped you create a trace out of Linux kernel
events. This section steps you through a simple example showing you how
to trace a _Hello world_ program written in C.

Make sure LTTng-tools and LTTng-UST packages
<<installing-lttng,are installed>>.

Tracing is just like having `printf()` calls at specific locations of
your source code, albeit LTTng is much faster and more flexible than
`printf()`. In the LTTng realm, **`tracepoint()`** is analogous to
`printf()`.

Unlike `printf()`, though, `tracepoint()` does not use a format string to
know the types of its arguments: the formats of all tracepoints must be
defined before using them. So before even writing our _Hello world_ program,
we need to define the format of our tracepoint. This is done by writing a
**template file**, with a name usually ending
with the `.tp` extension (for **t**race**p**oint),
which the `lttng-gen-tp` tool (shipped with LTTng-UST) will use to generate
an object file (along with a `.c` file) and a header to be
included in our application source code.

Here's the whole flow:

[role="img-80"]
.Build workflow for LTTng application tracing.
image::lttng-lttng-gen-tp.png[]

The template file format is a list of tracepoint definitions
and other optional definition entries which we will skip for
this quickstart. Each tracepoint is defined using the
`TRACEPOINT_EVENT()` macro. For each tracepoint, you must provide:

* a **provider name**, which is the "scope" of this tracepoint (this usually
  includes the company and project names)
* a **tracepoint name**
* a **list of arguments** for the eventual `tracepoint()` call,
  each item being:
** the argument C type
** the argument name
* a **list of fields**, which will be the actual fields of the recorded events
  for this tracepoint

Here's a simple tracepoint definition example with two arguments: an integer
and a string:

[source,c]
----
TRACEPOINT_EVENT(
    hello_world,
    my_first_tracepoint,
    TP_ARGS(
        int, my_integer_arg,
        char*, my_string_arg
    ),
    TP_FIELDS(
        ctf_string(my_string_field, my_string_arg)
        ctf_integer(int, my_integer_field, my_integer_arg)
    )
)
----

The exact syntax is well explained in the
<<c-application,C application>> instrumenting guide of the
<<using-lttng,Using LTTng>> chapter, as well as in man:lttng-ust(3).

Save the above snippet as path:{hello-tp.tp} and run:

[role="term"]
----
lttng-gen-tp hello-tp.tp
----

The following files will be created next to path:{hello-tp.tp}:

* path:{hello-tp.c}
* path:{hello-tp.o}
* path:{hello-tp.h}

path:{hello-tp.o} is the compiled object file of path:{hello-tp.c}.

Now, by including path:{hello-tp.h} in your own application, you may use the
tracepoint defined above by properly refering to it when calling
`tracepoint()`:

[source,c]
----
#include <stdio.h>
#include "hello-tp.h"

int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
    int x;

    puts("Hello, World!\nPress Enter to continue...");

    /* The following getchar() call is only placed here for the purpose
     * of this demonstration, for pausing the application in order for
     * you to have time to list its events. It's not needed otherwise.
     */
    getchar();

    /* A tracepoint() call. Arguments, as defined in hello-tp.tp:
     *
     *     1st: provider name (always)
     *     2nd: tracepoint name (always)
     *     3rd: my_integer_arg (first user-defined argument)
     *     4th: my_string_arg (second user-defined argument)
     *
     * Notice the provider and tracepoint names are NOT strings;
     * they are in fact parts of variables created by macros in
     * hello-tp.h.
     */
    tracepoint(hello_world, my_first_tracepoint, 23, "hi there!");

    for (x = 0; x < argc; ++x) {
        tracepoint(hello_world, my_first_tracepoint, x, argv[x]);
    }

    puts("Quitting now!");

    tracepoint(hello_world, my_first_tracepoint, x * x, "x^2");

    return 0;
}
----

Save this as path:{hello.c}, next to path:{hello-tp.tp}.

Notice path:{hello-tp.h}, the header file generated by path:{lttng-gen-tp} from
our template file path:{hello-tp.tp}, is included by path:{hello.c}.

You are now ready to compile the application with LTTng-UST support:

[role="term"]
----
gcc -o hello hello.c hello-tp.o -llttng-ust -ldl
----

If you followed the
<<tracing-the-linux-kernel,Tracing the Linux kernel>> section, the
following steps will look familiar.

First, run the application with a few arguments:

[role="term"]
----
./hello world and beyond
----

You should see

----
Hello, World!
Press Enter to continue...
----

Use the `lttng` tool to list all available user space events:

[role="term"]
----
lttng list --userspace
----

You should see the `hello_world:my_first_tracepoint` tracepoint listed
under the `./hello` process.

Create a tracing session:

[role="term"]
----
lttng create my-userspace-session
----

Enable the `hello_world:my_first_tracepoint` tracepoint:

[role="term"]
----
lttng enable-event --userspace hello_world:my_first_tracepoint
----

Start tracing:

[role="term"]
----
lttng start
----

Go back to the running path:{hello} application and press Enter. All
`tracepoint()` calls will be executed and the program will finally exit.

Stop tracing:

[role="term"]
----
lttng stop
----

Done! You may use `lttng view` to list the recorded events. This command
starts
http://www.efficios.com/babeltrace[`babeltrace`]
in the background, if it is installed:

[role="term"]
----
lttng view
----

should output something like:

----
[18:10:27.684304496] (+?.?????????) hostname hello_world:my_first_tracepoint: { cpu_id = 0 }, { my_string_field = "hi there!", my_integer_field = 23 }
[18:10:27.684338440] (+0.000033944) hostname hello_world:my_first_tracepoint: { cpu_id = 0 }, { my_string_field = "./hello", my_integer_field = 0 }
[18:10:27.684340692] (+0.000002252) hostname hello_world:my_first_tracepoint: { cpu_id = 0 }, { my_string_field = "world", my_integer_field = 1 }
[18:10:27.684342616] (+0.000001924) hostname hello_world:my_first_tracepoint: { cpu_id = 0 }, { my_string_field = "and", my_integer_field = 2 }
[18:10:27.684343518] (+0.000000902) hostname hello_world:my_first_tracepoint: { cpu_id = 0 }, { my_string_field = "beyond", my_integer_field = 3 }
[18:10:27.684357978] (+0.000014460) hostname hello_world:my_first_tracepoint: { cpu_id = 0 }, { my_string_field = "x^2", my_integer_field = 16 }
----

When you're done, you may destroy the tracing session, which does _not_
destroy the generated trace files, leaving them available for further
analysis:

[role="term"]
----
lttng destroy my-userspace-session
----

The next section presents other alternatives to view and analyze your
LTTng traces.


[[viewing-and-analyzing-your-traces]]
=== Viewing and analyzing your traces

This section describes how to visualize the data gathered after tracing
the Linux kernel or a user space application.

Many ways exist to read your LTTng traces:

* **`babeltrace`** is a command line utility which converts trace formats;
  it supports the format used by LTTng,
  CTF, as well as a basic
  text output which may be ++grep++ed. The `babeltrace` command is
  part of the http://www.efficios.com/babeltrace[Babeltrace] project.
* Babeltrace also includes a **Python binding** so that you may
  easily open and read an LTTng trace with your own script, benefiting
  from the power of Python.
* **http://projects.eclipse.org/projects/tools.tracecompass[Trace Compass]**
  is an Eclipse plugin used to visualize and analyze various types of
  traces, including LTTng's. It also comes as a standalone application
  and can be downloaded from
  http://projects.eclipse.org/projects/tools.tracecompass/downloads[here].

LTTng trace files are usually recorded in the path:{~/lttng-traces} directory.
Let's now view the trace and perform a basic analysis using
`babeltrace`.

The simplest way to list all the recorded events of a trace is to pass its
path to `babeltrace` with no options:

[role="term"]
----
babeltrace ~/lttng-traces/my-session
----

`babeltrace` will find all traces within the given path recursively and
output all their events, merging them intelligently.

Listing all the system calls of a Linux kernel trace with their arguments is
easy with `babeltrace` and `grep`:

[role="term"]
----
babeltrace ~/lttng-traces/my-kernel-session | grep sys_
----

Counting events is also straightforward:

[role="term"]
----
babeltrace ~/lttng-traces/my-kernel-session | grep sys_read | wc --lines
----

The text output of `babeltrace` is useful for isolating events by simple
matching using `grep` and similar utilities. However, more elaborate filters
such as keeping only events with a field value falling within a specific range
are not trivial to write using a shell. Moreover, reductions and even the
most basic computations involving multiple events are virtually impossible
to implement.

Fortunately, Babeltrace ships with a Python 3 binding which makes it
really easy to read the events of an LTTng trace sequentially and compute
the desired information.

Here's a simple example using the Babeltrace Python binding. The following
script accepts an LTTng Linux kernel trace path as its first argument and
outputs the short names of the top 5 running processes on CPU 0 during the
whole trace:

[source,python]
----
import sys
from collections import Counter
import babeltrace


def top5proc():
    if len(sys.argv) != 2:
        msg = 'Usage: python {} TRACEPATH'.format(sys.argv[0])
        raise ValueError(msg)

    # a trace collection holds one to many traces
    col = babeltrace.TraceCollection()

    # add the trace provided by the user
    # (LTTng traces always have the 'ctf' format)
    if col.add_trace(sys.argv[1], 'ctf') is None:
        raise RuntimeError('Cannot add trace')

    # this counter dict will hold execution times:
    #
    #   task command name -> total execution time (ns)
    exec_times = Counter()

    # this holds the last `sched_switch` timestamp
    last_ts = None

    # iterate events
    for event in col.events:
        # keep only `sched_switch` events
        if event.name != 'sched_switch':
            continue

        # keep only events which happened on CPU 0
        if event['cpu_id'] != 0:
            continue

        # event timestamp
        cur_ts = event.timestamp

        if last_ts is None:
            # we start here
            last_ts = cur_ts

        # previous task command (short) name
        prev_comm = event['prev_comm']

        # initialize entry in our dict if not yet done
        if prev_comm not in exec_times:
            exec_times[prev_comm] = 0

        # compute previous command execution time
        diff = cur_ts - last_ts

        # update execution time of this command
        exec_times[prev_comm] += diff

        # update last timestamp
        last_ts = cur_ts

    # display top 10
    for name, ns in exec_times.most_common(5):
        s = ns / 1000000000
        print('{:20}{} s'.format(name, s))


if __name__ == '__main__':
    top5proc()
----

Save this script as path:{top5proc.py} and run it with Python 3, providing the
path to an LTTng Linux kernel trace as the first argument:

[role="term"]
----
python3 top5proc.py ~/lttng-sessions/my-session-.../kernel
----

Make sure the path you provide is the directory containing actual trace
files (path:{channel0_0}, path:{metadata}, etc.): the `babeltrace` utility
recurses directories, but the Python binding does not.

Here's an example of output:

----
swapper/0           48.607245889 s
chromium            7.192738188 s
pavucontrol         0.709894415 s
Compositor          0.660867933 s
Xorg.bin            0.616753786 s
----

Note that `swapper/0` is the "idle" process of CPU 0 on Linux; since we
weren't using the CPU that much when tracing, its first position in the list
makes sense.


[[understanding-lttng]]
== Understanding LTTng

If you're going to use LTTng in any serious way, it is fundamental that
you become familiar with its core concepts. Technical terms like
_tracing sessions_, _domains_, _channels_ and _events_ are used over
and over in the <<using-lttng,Using LTTng>> chapter,
and it is assumed that you understand what they mean when reading it.

LTTng, as you already know, is a _toolkit_. It would be wrong
to call it a simple _tool_ since it is composed of multiple interacting
components. This chapter also describes the latter, providing details
about their respective roles and how they connect together to form
the current LTTng ecosystem.


[[core-concepts]]
=== Core concepts

This section explains the various elementary concepts a user has to deal
with when using LTTng. They are:

* <<tracing-session,tracing session>>
* <<domain,domain>>
* <<channel,channel>>
* <<event,event>>


[[tracing-session]]
==== Tracing session

A _tracing session_ is--like any session--a container of
state. Anything that is done when tracing using LTTng happens in the
scope of a tracing session. In this regard, it is analogous to a bank
website's session: you can't interact online with your bank account
unless you are logged in a session, except for reading a few static
webpages (LTTng, too, can report some static information that does not
need a created tracing session).

A tracing session holds the following attributes and objects (some of
which are described in the following sections):

* a name
* the tracing state (tracing started or stopped)
* the trace data output path/URL (local path or sent over the network)
* a mode (normal, snapshot or live)
* the snapshot output paths/URLs (if applicable)
* for each <<domain,domain>>, a list of <<channel,channels>>
* for each channel:
** a name
** the channel state (enabled or disabled)
** its parameters (event loss mode, sub-buffers size and count,
   timer periods, output type, trace files size and count, etc.)
** a list of added context information
** a list of <<event,events>>
* for each event:
** its state (enabled or disabled)
** a list of instrumentation points (tracepoints, system calls,
   dynamic probes, etc.)
** associated log levels
** a filter expression

All this information is completely isolated between tracing sessions.

Conceptually, a tracing session is a per-user object; the
<<plumbing,Plumbing>> section shows how this is actually
implemented. Any user may create as many concurrent tracing sessions
as desired. As you can see in the list above, even the tracing state
is a per-tracing session attribute, so that you may trace your target
system/application in a given tracing session with a specific
configuration while another one stays inactive.

The trace data generated in a tracing session may be either saved
to disk, sent over the network or not saved at all (in which case
snapshots may still be saved to disk or sent to a remote machine).


[[domain]]
==== Domain

A tracing _domain_ is the official term the LTTng project uses to
designate a tracer category.

There are currently three known domains:

* Linux kernel
* user space
* `java.util.logging` (JUL)

Different tracers expose common features in their own interfaces, but,
from a user's perspective, you still need to target a specific type of
tracer to perform some actions. For example, since both kernel and user
space tracers support named tracepoints (probes manually inserted in
source code), you need to specify which one is concerned when enabling
an event because both domains could have existing events with the same
name.

Some features are not available in all domains. Filtering enabled
events using custom expressions, for example, is currently not
supported in the kernel domain, but support could be added in the
future.


[[channel]]
==== Channel

A _channel_ is a set of events with specific parameters and potential
added context information. Channels have unique names per domain within
a tracing session. A given event is always registered to at least one
channel; having an enabled event in two channels will produce a trace
with this event recorded twice everytime it occurs.

Channels may be individually enabled or disabled. Occurring events of
a disabled channel will never make it to recorded events.

The fundamental role of a channel is to keep a shared ring buffer, where
events are eventually recorded by the tracer and consumed by a consumer
daemon. This internal ring buffer is divided into many sub-buffers of
equal size.

Channels, when created, may be fine-tuned thanks to a few parameters,
many of them related to sub-buffers. The following subsections explain
what those parameters are and in which situations you should manually
adjust them.


[[channel-overwrite-mode-vs-discard-mode]]
===== Overwrite and discard event loss modes

As previously mentioned, a channel's ring buffer is divided into many
equally sized sub-buffers.

As events occur, they are serialized as trace data into a specific
sub-buffer (yellow arc in the following animation) until it is full:
when this happens, the sub-buffer is marked as consumable (red) and
another, _empty_ (white) sub-buffer starts receiving the following
events. The marked sub-buffer will be consumed eventually by a consumer
daemon (returns to white).

[NOTE]
[role="docsvg-channel-subbuf-anim"]
====
{note-no-anim}
====

In an ideal world, sub-buffers are consumed faster than filled, like it
is the case above. In the real world, however, all sub-buffers could be
full at some point, leaving no space to record the following events. By
design, LTTng is a _non-blocking_ tracer: when no empty sub-buffer
exists, losing events is acceptable when the alternative would be to
cause substantial delays in the instrumented application's execution.
LTTng privileges performance over integrity, aiming at perturbing the
traced system as little as possible in order to make tracing of subtle
race conditions and rare interrupt cascades possible.

When it comes to losing events because no empty sub-buffer is available,
the channel's _event loss mode_ determines what to do amongst:

Discard::
  Drop the newest events until a sub-buffer is released.

Overwrite::
  Clear the sub-buffer containing the oldest recorded
  events and start recording the newest events there. This mode is
  sometimes called _flight recorder mode_ because it behaves like a
  flight recorder: always keep a fixed amount of the latest data.

Which mechanism you should choose depends on your context: prioritize
the newest or the oldest events in the ring buffer?

Beware that, in overwrite mode, a whole sub-buffer is abandoned as soon
as a new event doesn't find an empty sub-buffer, whereas in discard
mode, only the event that doesn't fit is discarded.

Also note that a count of lost events will be incremented and saved in
the trace itself when an event is lost in discard mode, whereas no
information is kept when a sub-buffer gets overwritten before being
committed.

There are known ways to decrease your probability of losing events. The
next section shows how tuning the sub-buffers count and size can be
used to virtually stop losing events.


[[channel-subbuf-size-vs-subbuf-count]]
===== Sub-buffers count and size

For each channel, an LTTng user may set its number of sub-buffers and
their size.

Note that there is a noticeable tracer's CPU overhead introduced when
switching sub-buffers (marking a full one as consumable and switching
to an empty one for the following events to be recorded). Knowing this,
the following list presents a few practical situations along with how
to configure sub-buffers for them:

High event throughput::
  In general, prefer bigger sub-buffers to
  lower the risk of losing events. Having bigger sub-buffers will
  also ensure a lower sub-buffer switching frequency. The number of
  sub-buffers is only meaningful if the channel is in overwrite mode:
  in this case, if a sub-buffer overwrite happens, you will still have
  the other sub-buffers left unaltered.

Low event throughput::
  In general, prefer smaller sub-buffers
  since the risk of losing events is already low. Since events
  happen less frequently, the sub-buffer switching frequency should
  remain low and thus the tracer's overhead should not be a problem.

Low memory system::
  If your target system has a low memory
  limit, prefer fewer first, then smaller sub-buffers. Even if the
  system is limited in memory, you want to keep the sub-buffers as
  big as possible to avoid a high sub-buffer switching frequency.

You should know that LTTng uses CTF as its trace format, which means
event data is very compact. For example, the average LTTng Linux kernel
event weights about 32{nbsp}bytes. A sub-buffer size of 1{nbsp}MiB is
thus considered big.

The previous situations highlight the major trade-off between a few big
sub-buffers and more, smaller sub-buffers: sub-buffer switching
frequency vs. how much data is lost in overwrite mode. Assuming a
constant event throughput and using the overwrite mode, the two
following configurations have the same ring buffer total size:

[NOTE]
[role="docsvg-channel-subbuf-size-vs-count-anim"]
====
{note-no-anim}
====

* **2 sub-buffers of 4 MiB each** lead to a very low sub-buffer
  switching frequency, but if a sub-buffer overwrite happens, half of
  the recorded events so far (4{nbsp}MiB) are definitely lost.
* **8 sub-buffers of 1 MiB each** lead to 4{nbsp}times the tracer's
  overhead as the previous configuration, but if a sub-buffer
  overwrite happens, only the eighth of events recorded so far are
  definitely lost.

In discard mode, the sub-buffers count parameter is pointless: use two
sub-buffers and set their size according to the requirements of your
situation.


[[channel-switch-timer]]
===== Switch timer

The _switch timer_ period is another important configurable feature of
channels to ensure periodic sub-buffer flushing.

When the _switch timer_ fires, a sub-buffer switch happens. This timer
may be used to ensure that event data is consumed and committed to
trace files periodically in case of a low event throughput:

[NOTE]
[role="docsvg-channel-switch-timer"]
====
{note-no-anim}
====

It's also convenient when big sub-buffers are used to cope with
sporadic high event throughput, even if the throughput is normally
lower.


[[channel-buffering-schemes]]
===== Buffering schemes

In the user space tracing domain, two **buffering schemes** are
available when creating a channel:

Per-PID buffering::
  Keep one ring buffer per process.

Per-UID buffering::
  Keep one ring buffer for all processes of a single user.

The per-PID buffering scheme will consume more memory than the per-UID
option if more than one process is instrumented for LTTng-UST. However,
per-PID buffering ensures that one process having a high event
throughput won't fill all the shared sub-buffers, only its own.

The Linux kernel tracing domain only has one available buffering scheme
which is to use a single ring buffer for the whole system.


[[event]]
==== Event

An _event_, in LTTng's realm, is a term often used metonymically,
having multiple definitions depending on the context:

. When tracing, an event is a _point in space-time_. Space, in a
  tracing context, is the set of all executable positions of a
  compiled application by a logical processor. When a program is
  executed by a processor and some instrumentation point, or
  _probe_, is encountered, an event occurs. This event is accompanied
  by some contextual payload (values of specific variables at this
  point of execution) which may or may not be recorded.
. In the context of a recorded trace file, the term _event_ implies
  a _recorded event_.
. When configuring a tracing session, _enabled events_ refer to
  specific rules which could lead to the transfer of actual
  occurring events (1) to recorded events (2).

The whole <<core-concepts,Core concepts>> section focuses on the
third definition. An event is always registered to _one or more_
channels and may be enabled or disabled at will per channel. A disabled
event will never lead to a recorded event, even if its channel
is enabled.

An event (3) is enabled with a few conditions that must _all_ be met
when an event (1) happens in order to generate a recorded event (2):

. A _probe_ or group of probes in the traced application must be
  executed.
. **Optionally**, the probe must have a log level matching a
  log level range specified when enabling the event.
. **Optionally**, the occurring event must satisfy a custom
  expression, or _filter_, specified when enabling the event.

The following illustration summarizes how tracing sessions, domains,
channels and events are related:

[role="img-90"]
.Core concepts.
image::core-concepts.png[]

This diagram also shows how events may be individually enabled/disabled
(green/grey) and how a given event may be registered to more than one
channel.


[[plumbing]]
=== Plumbing

The previous section described the concepts at the heart of LTTng.
This section summarizes LTTng's implementation: how those objects are
managed by different applications and libraries working together to
form the toolkit.


[[plumbing-overview]]
==== Overview

As <<installing-lttng,mentioned previously>>, the whole LTTng suite
is made of the following packages: LTTng-tools, LTTng-UST, and
LTTng-modules. Together, they provide different daemons, libraries,
kernel modules and command line interfaces. The following tree shows
which usable component belongs to which package:

* **LTTng-tools**:
** session daemon (`lttng-sessiond`)
** consumer daemon (`lttng-consumerd`)
** relay daemon (`lttng-relayd`)
** tracing control library (`liblttng-ctl`)
** tracing control command line tool (`lttng`)
* **LTTng-UST**:
** user space tracing library (`liblttng-ust`) and its headers
** preloadable user space tracing helpers
   (`liblttng-ust-libc-wrapper`, `liblttng-ust-pthread-wrapper`,
   `liblttng-ust-cyg-profile`, `liblttng-ust-cyg-profile-fast`
   and `liblttng-ust-dl`)
** user space tracepoint code generator command line tool
   (`lttng-gen-tp`)
** `java.util.logging` tracepoint provider (`liblttng-ust-jul-jni`)
   and JAR file (path:{liblttng-ust-jul.jar})
* **LTTng-modules**:
** LTTng Linux kernel tracer module
** tracing ring buffer kernel modules
** many LTTng probe kernel modules

The following diagram shows how the most important LTTng components
interact. Plain black arrows represent trace data paths while dashed
red arrows indicate control communications. The LTTng relay daemon is
shown running on a remote system, although it could as well run on the
target (monitored) system.

[role="img-90"]
.LTTng plumbing.
image::plumbing.png[]

Each component is described in the following subsections.


[[lttng-sessiond]]
==== Session daemon

At the heart of LTTng's plumbing is the _session daemon_, often called
by its command name, `lttng-sessiond`.

The session daemon is responsible for managing tracing sessions and
what they logically contain (channel properties, enabled/disabled
events, etc.). By communicating locally with instrumented applications
(using LTTng-UST) and with the LTTng Linux kernel modules
(LTTng-modules), it oversees all tracing activities.

One of the many things that `lttng-sessiond` does is to keep
track of the available event types. User space applications and
libraries actively connect and register to the session daemon when they
start. By contrast, `lttng-sessiond` seeks out and loads the appropriate
LTTng kernel modules as part of its own initialization. Kernel event
types are _pulled_ by `lttng-sessiond`, whereas user space event types
are _pushed_ to it by the various user space tracepoint providers.

Using a specific inter-process communication protocol with Linux kernel
and user space tracers, the session daemon can send channel information
so that they are initialized, enable/disable specific probes based on
enabled/disabled events by the user, send event filters information to
LTTng tracers so that filtering actually happens at the tracer site,
start/stop tracing a specific application or the Linux kernel, etc.

The session daemon is not useful without some user controlling it,
because it's only a sophisticated control interchange and thus
doesn't make any decision on its own. `lttng-sessiond` opens a local
socket for controlling it, albeit the preferred way to control it is
using `liblttng-ctl`, an installed C library hiding the communication
protocol behind an easy-to-use API. The `lttng` tool makes use of
`liblttng-ctl` to implement a user-friendly command line interface.

`lttng-sessiond` does not receive any trace data from instrumented
applications; the _consumer daemons_ are the programs responsible for
collecting trace data using shared ring buffers. However, the session
daemon is the one that must spawn a consumer daemon and establish
a control communication with it.

Session daemons run on a per-user basis. Knowing this, multiple
instances of `lttng-sessiond` may run simultaneously, each belonging
to a different user and each operating independently of the others.
Only `root`'s session daemon, however, may control LTTng kernel modules
(i.e. the kernel tracer). With that in mind, if a user has no root
access on the target system, he cannot trace the system's kernel, but
should still be able to trace its own instrumented applications.

It has to be noted that, although only `root`'s session daemon may
control the kernel tracer, the `lttng-sessiond` command has a `--group`
option which may be used to specify the name of a special user group
allowed to communicate with `root`'s session daemon and thus record
kernel traces. By default, this group is named `tracing`.

If not done yet, the `lttng` tool, by default, automatically starts a
session daemon. `lttng-sessiond` may also be started manually:

[role="term"]
----
lttng-sessiond
----

This will start the session daemon in foreground. Use

[role="term"]
----
lttng-sessiond --daemonize
----

to start it as a true daemon.

To kill the current user's session daemon, `pkill` may be used:

[role="term"]
----
pkill lttng-sessiond
----

The default `SIGTERM` signal will terminate it cleanly.

Several other options are available and described in
man:lttng-sessiond(8) or by running `lttng-sessiond --help`.


[[lttng-consumerd]]
==== Consumer daemon

The _consumer daemon_, or `lttng-consumerd`, is a program sharing some
ring buffers with user applications or the LTTng kernel modules to
collect trace data and output it at some place (on disk or sent over
the network to an LTTng relay daemon).

Consumer daemons are created by a session daemon as soon as events are
enabled within a tracing session, well before tracing is activated
for the latter. Entirely managed by session daemons,
consumer daemons survive session destruction to be reused later,
should a new tracing session be created. Consumer daemons are always
owned by the same user as their session daemon. When its owner session
daemon is killed, the consumer daemon also exits. This is because
the consumer daemon is always the child process of a session daemon.
Consumer daemons should never be started manually. For this reason,
they are not installed in one of the usual locations listed in the
`PATH` environment variable. `lttng-sessiond` has, however, a
bunch of options (see man:lttng-sessiond(8)) to
specify custom consumer daemon paths if, for some reason, a consumer
daemon other than the default installed one is needed.

There are up to two running consumer daemons per user, whereas only one
session daemon may run per user. This is because each process has
independent bitness: if the target system runs a mixture of 32-bit and
64-bit processes, it is more efficient to have separate corresponding
32-bit and 64-bit consumer daemons. The `root` user is an exception: it
may have up to _three_ running consumer daemons: 32-bit and 64-bit
instances for its user space applications and one more reserved for
collecting kernel trace data.

As new tracing domains are added to LTTng, the development community's
intent is to minimize the need for additionnal consumer daemon instances
dedicated to them. For instance, the `java.util.logging` (JUL) domain
events are in fact mapped to the user space domain, thus tracing this
particular domain is handled by existing user space domain consumer
daemons.


[[lttng-relayd]]
==== Relay daemon

When a tracing session is configured to send its trace data over the
network, an LTTng _relay daemon_ must be used at the other end to
receive trace packets and serialize them to trace files. This setup
makes it possible to trace a target system without ever committing trace
data to its local storage, a feature which is useful for embedded
systems, amongst others. The command implementing the relay daemon
is `lttng-relayd`.

The basic use case of `lttng-relayd` is to transfer trace data received
over the network to trace files on the local file system. The relay
daemon must listen on two TCP ports to achieve this: one control port,
used by the target session daemon, and one data port, used by the
target consumer daemon. The relay and session daemons agree on common
default ports when custom ones are not specified.

Since the communication transport protocol for both ports is standard
TCP, the relay daemon may be started either remotely or locally (on the
target system).

While two instances of consumer daemons (32-bit and 64-bit) may run
concurrently for a given user, `lttng-relayd` needs only be of its
host operating system's bitness.

The other important feature of LTTng's relay daemon is the support of
_LTTng live_. LTTng live is an application protocol to view events as
they arrive. The relay daemon will still record events in trace files,
but a _tee_ may be created to inspect incoming events. Using LTTng live
locally thus requires to run a local relay daemon.


[[liblttng-ctl-lttng]]
==== [[lttng-cli]]Control library and command line interface

The LTTng control library, `liblttng-ctl`, can be used to communicate
with the session daemon using a C API that hides the underlying
protocol's details. `liblttng-ctl` is part of LTTng-tools.

`liblttng-ctl` may be used by including its "master" header:

[source,c]
----
#include <lttng/lttng.h>
----

Some objects are referred by name (C string), such as tracing sessions,
but most of them require creating a handle first using
`lttng_create_handle()`. The best available developer documentation for
`liblttng-ctl` is, for the moment, its installed header files as such.
Every function/structure is thoroughly documented.

The `lttng` program is the _de facto_ standard user interface to
control LTTng tracing sessions. `lttng` uses `liblttng-ctl` to
communicate with session daemons behind the scenes.
Its man page, man:lttng(1), is exhaustive, as well as its command
line help (+lttng _cmd_ --help+, where +_cmd_+ is the command name).

The <<controlling-tracing,Controlling tracing>> section is a feature
tour of the `lttng` tool.


[[lttng-ust]]
==== User space tracing library

The user space tracing part of LTTng is possible thanks to the user
space tracing library, `liblttng-ust`, which is part of the LTTng-UST
package.

`liblttng-ust` provides header files containing macros used to define
tracepoints and create tracepoint providers, as well as a shared object
that must be linked to individual applications to connect to and
communicate with a session daemon and a consumer daemon as soon as the
application starts.

The exact mechanism by which an application is registered to the
session daemon is beyond the scope of this documentation. The only thing
you need to know is that, since the library constructor does this job
automatically, tracepoints may be safely inserted anywhere in the source
code without prior manual initialization of `liblttng-ust`.

The `liblttng-ust`-session daemon collaboration also provides an
interesting feature: user space events may be enabled _before_
applications actually start. By doing this and starting tracing before
launching the instrumented application, you make sure that even the
earliest occurring events can be recorded.

The <<c-application,C application>> instrumenting guide of the
<<using-lttng,Using LTTng>> chapter focuses on using `liblttng-ust`:
instrumenting, building/linking and running a user application.


[[lttng-modules]]
==== LTTng kernel modules

The LTTng Linux kernel modules provide everything needed to trace the
Linux kernel: various probes, a ring buffer implementation for a
consumer daemon to read trace data and the tracer itself.

Only in exceptional circumstances should you ever need to load the
LTTng kernel modules manually: it is normally the responsability of
`root`'s session daemon to do so. If you were to develop your own LTTng
probe module, however--for tracing a custom kernel or some kernel
module (this topic is covered in the
<<instrumenting-linux-kernel,Linux kernel>> instrumenting guide of
the <<using-lttng,Using LTTng>> chapter)--you should either
load it manually, or use the `--kmod-probes` option of the session
daemon to load a specific list of kernel probes (beware, however,
that the `--kmod-probes` option specifies an _absolute_ list, which
means you also have to specify the default probes you need). The
session and consumer daemons of regular users do not interact with the
LTTng kernel modules at all.

LTTng kernel modules are installed, by default, in
+/usr/lib/modules/_release_/extra+, where +_release_+ is the
kernel release (see `uname --kernel-release`).


[[using-lttng]]
== Using LTTng

Using LTTng involves two main activities: **instrumenting** and
**controlling tracing**.

_<<instrumenting,Instrumenting>>_ is the process of inserting probes
into some source code. It can be done manually, by writing tracepoint
calls at specific locations in the source code of the program to trace,
or more automatically using dynamic probes (address in assembled code,
symbol name, function entry/return, etc.).

It has to be noted that, as an LTTng user, you may not have to worry
about the instrumentation process. Indeed, you may want to trace a
program already instrumented. As an example, the Linux kernel is
thoroughly instrumented, which is why you can trace it without caring
about adding probes.

_<<controlling-tracing,Controlling tracing>>_ is everything
that can be done by the LTTng session daemon, which is controlled using
`liblttng-ctl` or its command line utility, `lttng`: creating tracing
sessions, listing tracing sessions and events, enabling/disabling
events, starting/stopping the tracers, taking snapshots, etc.

This chapter is a complete user guide of both activities,
with common use cases of LTTng exposed throughout the text. It is
assumed that you are familiar with LTTng's concepts (events, channels,
domains, tracing sessions) and that you understand the roles of its
components (daemons, libraries, command line tools); if not, we invite
you to read the <<understanding-lttng,Understanding LTTng>> chapter
before you begin reading this one.

If you're new to LTTng, we suggest that you rather start with the
<<getting-started,Getting started>> small guide first, then come
back here to broaden your knowledge.

If you're only interested in tracing the Linux kernel with its current
instrumentation, you may skip the
<<instrumenting,Instrumenting>> section.


[[instrumenting]]
=== Instrumenting

There are many examples of tracing and monitoring in our everyday life.
You have access to real-time and historical weather reports and forecasts
thanks to weather stations installed around the country. You know your
possibly hospitalized friends' and family's hearts are safe thanks to
electrocardiography. You make sure not to drive your car too fast
and have enough fuel to reach your destination thanks to gauges visible
on your dashboard.

All the previous examples have something in common: they rely on
**probes**. Without electrodes attached to the surface of a body's
skin, cardiac monitoring would be futile.

LTTng, as a tracer, is no different from the real life examples above.
If you're about to trace a software system, i.e. record its history of
execution, you better have probes in the subject you're
tracing: the actual software. Various ways were developed to do this.
The most straightforward one is to manually place probes, called
_tracepoints_, in the software's source code. The Linux kernel tracing
domain also allows probes added dynamically.

If you're only interested in tracing the Linux kernel, it may very well
be that your tracing needs are already appropriately covered by LTTng's
built-in Linux kernel tracepoints and other probes. Or you may be in
possession of a user space application which has already been
instrumented. In such cases, the work will reside entirely in the design
and execution of tracing sessions, allowing you to jump to
<<controlling-tracing,Controlling tracing>> right now.

This chapter focuses on the following use cases of instrumentation:

* <<c-application,C>> and <<cxx-application,$$C++$$>> applications
* <<prebuilt-ust-helpers,prebuilt user space tracing helpers>>
* <<java-application,Java application>>
* <<instrumenting-linux-kernel,Linux kernel>> module or the
  kernel itself
* the <<proc-lttng-logger-abi,path:{/proc/lttng-logger} ABI>>

Some advanced techniques are also presented at the very end of this
chapter.


[[c-application]]
==== C application

Instrumenting a C (or $$C++$$) application, be it an executable program or
a library, implies using LTTng-UST, the
user space tracing component of LTTng. For C/$$C++$$ applications, the
LTTng-UST package includes a dynamically loaded library
(`liblttng-ust`), C headers and the `lttng-gen-tp` command line utility.

Since C and $$C++$$ are the base languages of virtually all other
programming languages
(Java virtual machine, Python, Perl, PHP and Node.js interpreters, etc.),
implementing user space tracing for an unsupported language is just a
matter of using the LTTng-UST C API at the right places.

The usual work flow to instrument a user space C application with
LTTng-UST is:

. Define tracepoints (actual probes)
. Write tracepoint providers
. Insert tracepoints into target source code
. Package (build) tracepoint providers
. Build user application and link it with tracepoint providers

The steps above are discussed in greater detail in the following
subsections.


[[tracepoint-provider]]
===== Tracepoint provider

Before jumping into defining tracepoints and inserting
them into the application source code, you must understand what a
_tracepoint provider_ is.

For the sake of this guide, consider the following two files:

[source,c]
.path:{tp.h}
----
#undef TRACEPOINT_PROVIDER
#define TRACEPOINT_PROVIDER my_provider

#undef TRACEPOINT_INCLUDE
#define TRACEPOINT_INCLUDE "./tp.h"

#if !defined(_TP_H) || defined(TRACEPOINT_HEADER_MULTI_READ)
#define _TP_H

#include <lttng/tracepoint.h>

TRACEPOINT_EVENT(
    my_provider,
    my_first_tracepoint,
    TP_ARGS(
        int, my_integer_arg,
        char*, my_string_arg
    ),
    TP_FIELDS(
        ctf_string(my_string_field, my_string_arg)
        ctf_integer(int, my_integer_field, my_integer_arg)
    )
)

TRACEPOINT_EVENT(
    my_provider,
    my_other_tracepoint,
    TP_ARGS(
        int, my_int
    ),
    TP_FIELDS(
        ctf_integer(int, some_field, my_int)
    )
)

#endif /* _TP_H */

#include <lttng/tracepoint-event.h>
----

[source,c]
.path:{tp.c}
----
#define TRACEPOINT_CREATE_PROBES

#include "tp.h"
----

The two files above are defining a _tracepoint provider_. A tracepoint
provider is some sort of namespace for _tracepoint definitions_. Tracepoint
definitions are written above with the `TRACEPOINT_EVENT()` macro, and allow
eventual `tracepoint()` calls respecting their definitions to be inserted
into the user application's C source code (we explore this in a
later section).

Many tracepoint definitions may be part of the same tracepoint provider
and many tracepoint providers may coexist in a user space application. A
tracepoint provider is packaged either:

* directly into an existing user application's C source file
* as an object file
* as a static library
* as a shared library

The two files above, path:{tp.h} and path:{tp.c}, show a typical template for
writing a tracepoint provider. LTTng-UST was designed so that two
tracepoint providers should not be defined in the same header file.

We will now go through the various parts of the above files and
give them a meaning. As you may have noticed, the LTTng-UST API for
C/$$C++$$ applications is some preprocessor sorcery. The LTTng-UST macros
used in your application and those in the LTTng-UST headers are
combined to produce actual source code needed to make tracing possible
using LTTng.

Let's start with the header file, path:{tp.h}. It begins with

[source,c]
----
#undef TRACEPOINT_PROVIDER
#define TRACEPOINT_PROVIDER my_provider
----

`TRACEPOINT_PROVIDER` defines the name of the provider to which the
following tracepoint definitions will belong. It is used internally by
LTTng-UST headers and _must_ be defined. Since `TRACEPOINT_PROVIDER`
could have been defined by another header file also included by the same
C source file, the best practice is to undefine it first.

NOTE: Names in LTTng-UST follow the C
_identifier_ syntax (starting with a letter and containing either
letters, numbers or underscores); they are _not_ C strings
(not surrounded by double quotes). This is because LTTng-UST macros
use those identifier-like strings to create symbols (named types and
variables).

The tracepoint provider is a group of tracepoint definitions; its chosen
name should reflect this. A hierarchy like Java packages is recommended,
using underscores instead of dots, e.g., `org_company_project_component`.

Next is `TRACEPOINT_INCLUDE`:

[source,c]
----
#undef TRACEPOINT_INCLUDE
#define TRACEPOINT_INCLUDE "./tp.h"
----

This little bit of instrospection is needed by LTTng-UST to include
your header at various predefined places.

Include guard follows:

[source,c]
----
#if !defined(_TP_H) || defined(TRACEPOINT_HEADER_MULTI_READ)
#define _TP_H
----

Add these precompiler conditionals to ensure the tracepoint event
generation can include this file more than once.

The `TRACEPOINT_EVENT()` macro is defined in a LTTng-UST header file which
must be included:

[source,c]
----
#include <lttng/tracepoint.h>
----

This will also allow the application to use the `tracepoint()` macro.

Next is a list of `TRACEPOINT_EVENT()` macro calls which create the
actual tracepoint definitions. We will skip this for the moment and
come back to how to use `TRACEPOINT_EVENT()`
<<defining-tracepoints,in a later section>>. Just pay attention to
the first argument: it's always the name of the tracepoint provider
being defined in this header file.

End of include guard:

[source,c]
----
#endif /* _TP_H */
----

Finally, include `<lttng/tracepoint-event.h>` to expand the macros:

[source,c]
----
#include <lttng/tracepoint-event.h>
----

That's it for path:{tp.h}. Of course, this is only a header file; it must be
included in some C source file to actually use it. This is the job of
path:{tp.c}:

[source,c]
----
#define TRACEPOINT_CREATE_PROBES

#include "tp.h"
----

When `TRACEPOINT_CREATE_PROBES` is defined, the macros used in path:{tp.h},
which is included just after, will actually create the source code for
LTTng-UST probes (global data structures and functions) out of your
tracepoint definitions. How exactly this is done is out of this text's scope.
`TRACEPOINT_CREATE_PROBES` is discussed further
in
<<building-tracepoint-providers-and-user-application,Building/linking
tracepoint providers and the user application>>.

You could include other header files like path:{tp.h} here to create the probes
of different tracepoint providers, e.g.:

[source,c]
----
#define TRACEPOINT_CREATE_PROBES

#include "tp1.h"
#include "tp2.h"
----

The rule is: probes of a given tracepoint provider
must be created in exactly one source file. This source file could be one
of your project's; it doesn't have to be on its own like
path:{tp.c}, although
<<building-tracepoint-providers-and-user-application,a later section>>
shows that doing so allows packaging the tracepoint providers
independently and keep them out of your application, also making it
possible to reuse them between projects.

The following sections explain how to define tracepoints, how to use the
`tracepoint()` macro to instrument your user space C application and how
to build/link tracepoint providers and your application with LTTng-UST
support.


[[lttng-gen-tp]]
===== Using `lttng-gen-tp`

LTTng-UST ships with `lttng-gen-tp`, a handy command line utility for
generating most of the stuff discussed above. It takes a _template file_,
with a name usually ending with the `.tp` extension, containing only
tracepoint definitions, and outputs a tracepoint provider (either a C
source file or a precompiled object file) with its header file.

`lttng-gen-tp` should suffice in <<static-linking,static linking>>
situations. When using it, write a template file containing a list of
`TRACEPOINT_EVENT()` macro calls. The tool will find the provider names
used and generate the appropriate files which are going to look a lot
like path:{tp.h} and path:{tp.c} above.

Just call `lttng-gen-tp` like this:

[role="term"]
----
lttng-gen-tp my-template.tp
----

path:{my-template.c}, path:{my-template.o} and path:{my-template.h}
will be created in the same directory.

You may specify custom C flags passed to the compiler invoked by
`lttng-gen-tp` using the `CFLAGS` environment variable:

[role="term"]
----
CFLAGS=-I/custom/include/path lttng-gen-tp my-template.tp
----

For more information on `lttng-gen-tp`, see man:lttng-gen-tp(1).


[[defining-tracepoints]]
===== Defining tracepoints

As written in <<tracepoint-provider,Tracepoint provider>>,
tracepoints are defined using the
`TRACEPOINT_EVENT()` macro. Each tracepoint, when called using the
`tracepoint()` macro in the actual application's source code, generates
a specific event type with its own fields.

Let's have another look at the example above, with a few added comments:

[source,c]
----
TRACEPOINT_EVENT(
    /* tracepoint provider name */
    my_provider,

    /* tracepoint/event name */
    my_first_tracepoint,

    /* list of tracepoint arguments */
    TP_ARGS(
        int, my_integer_arg,
        char*, my_string_arg
    ),

    /* list of fields of eventual event  */
    TP_FIELDS(
        ctf_string(my_string_field, my_string_arg)
        ctf_integer(int, my_integer_field, my_integer_arg)
    )
)
----

The tracepoint provider name must match the name of the tracepoint
provider in which this tracepoint is defined
(see <<tracepoint-provider,Tracepoint provider>>). In other words,
always use the same string as the value of `TRACEPOINT_PROVIDER` above.

The tracepoint name will become the event name once events are recorded
by the LTTng-UST tracer. It must follow the tracepoint provider name
syntax: start with a letter and contain either letters, numbers or
underscores. Two tracepoints under the same provider cannot have the
same name, i.e. you cannot overload a tracepoint like you would
overload functions and methods in $$C++$$/Java.

NOTE: The concatenation of the tracepoint
provider name and the tracepoint name cannot exceed 254 characters. If
it does, the instrumented application will compile and run, but LTTng
will issue multiple warnings and you could experience serious problems.

The list of tracepoint arguments gives this tracepoint its signature:
see it like the declaration of a C function. The format of `TP_ARGS()`
arguments is: C type, then argument name; repeat as needed, up to ten
times. For example, if we were to replicate the signature of C standard
library's `fseek()`, the `TP_ARGS()` part would look like:

[source,c]
----
    TP_ARGS(
        FILE*, stream,
        long int, offset,
        int, origin
    ),
----

Of course, you will need to include appropriate header files before
the `TRACEPOINT_EVENT()` macro calls if any argument has a complex type.

`TP_ARGS()` may not be omitted, but may be empty. `TP_ARGS(void)` is
also accepted.

The list of fields is where the fun really begins. The fields defined
in this list will be the fields of the events generated by the execution
of this tracepoint. Each tracepoint field definition has a C
_argument expression_ which will be evaluated when the execution reaches
the tracepoint. Tracepoint arguments _may be_ used freely in those
argument expressions, but they _don't_ have to.

There are several types of tracepoint fields available. The macros to
define them are given and explained in the
<<liblttng-ust-tp-fields,LTTng-UST library reference>> section.

Field names must follow the standard C identifier syntax: letter, then
optional sequence of letters, numbers or underscores. Each field must have
a different name.

Those `ctf_*()` macros are added to the `TP_FIELDS()` part of
`TRACEPOINT_EVENT()`. Note that they are not delimited by commas.
`TP_FIELDS()` may be empty, but the `TP_FIELDS(void)` form is _not_
accepted.

The following snippet shows how argument expressions may be used in
tracepoint fields and how they may refer freely to tracepoint arguments.

[source,c]
----
/* for struct stat */
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/stat.h>
#include <unistd.h>

TRACEPOINT_EVENT(
    my_provider,
    my_tracepoint,
    TP_ARGS(
        int, my_int_arg,
        char*, my_str_arg,
        struct stat*, st
    ),
    TP_FIELDS(
        /* simple integer field with constant value */
        ctf_integer(
            int,                    /* field C type */
            my_constant_field,      /* field name */
            23 + 17                 /* argument expression */
        )

        /* my_int_arg tracepoint argument */
        ctf_integer(
            int,
            my_int_arg_field,
            my_int_arg
        )

        /* my_int_arg squared */
        ctf_integer(
            int,
            my_int_arg_field2,
            my_int_arg * my_int_arg
        )

        /* sum of first 4 characters of my_str_arg */
        ctf_integer(
            int,
            sum4,
            my_str_arg[0] + my_str_arg[1] +
            my_str_arg[2] + my_str_arg[3]
        )

        /* my_str_arg as string field */
        ctf_string(
            my_str_arg_field,       /* field name */
            my_str_arg              /* argument expression */
        )

        /* st_size member of st tracepoint argument, hexadecimal */
        ctf_integer_hex(
            off_t,                  /* field C type */
            size_field,             /* field name */
            st->st_size             /* argument expression */
        )

        /* st_size member of st tracepoint argument, as double */
        ctf_float(
            double,                 /* field C type */
            size_dbl_field,         /* field name */
            (double) st->st_size    /* argument expression */
        )

        /* half of my_str_arg string as text sequence */
        ctf_sequence_text(
            char,                   /* element C type */
            half_my_str_arg_field,  /* field name */
            my_str_arg,             /* argument expression */
            size_t,                 /* length expression C type */
            strlen(my_str_arg) / 2  /* length expression */
        )
    )
)
----

As you can see, having a custom argument expression for each field
makes tracepoints very flexible for tracing a user space C application.
This tracepoint definition is reused later in this guide, when
actually using tracepoints in a user space application.


[[using-tracepoint-classes]]
===== Using tracepoint classes

In LTTng-UST, a _tracepoint class_ is a class of tracepoints sharing the
same field types and names. A _tracepoint instance_ is one instance of
such a declared tracepoint class, with its own event name and tracepoint
provider name.

What is documented in <<defining-tracepoints,Defining tracepoints>>
is actually how to declare a _tracepoint class_ and define a
_tracepoint instance_ at the same time. Without revealing the internals
of LTTng-UST too much, it has to be noted that one serialization
function is created for each tracepoint class. A serialization
function is responsible for serializing the fields of a tracepoint
into a sub-buffer when tracing. For various performance reasons, when
your situation requires multiple tracepoints with different names, but
with the same fields layout, the best practice is to manually create
a tracepoint class and instantiate as many tracepoint instances as
needed. One positive effect of such a design, amongst other advantages,
is that all tracepoint instances of the same tracepoint class will
reuse the same serialization function, thus reducing cache pollution.

As an example, here are three tracepoint definitions as we know them:

[source,c]
----
TRACEPOINT_EVENT(
    my_app,
    get_account,
    TP_ARGS(
        int, userid,
        size_t, len
    ),
    TP_FIELDS(
        ctf_integer(int, userid, userid)
        ctf_integer(size_t, len, len)
    )
)

TRACEPOINT_EVENT(
    my_app,
    get_settings,
    TP_ARGS(
        int, userid,
        size_t, len
    ),
    TP_FIELDS(
        ctf_integer(int, userid, userid)
        ctf_integer(size_t, len, len)
    )
)

TRACEPOINT_EVENT(
    my_app,
    get_transaction,
    TP_ARGS(
        int, userid,
        size_t, len
    ),
    TP_FIELDS(
        ctf_integer(int, userid, userid)
        ctf_integer(size_t, len, len)
    )
)
----

In this case, three tracepoint classes are created, with one tracepoint
instance for each of them: `get_account`, `get_settings` and
`get_transaction`. However, they all share the same field names and
types. Declaring one tracepoint class and three tracepoint instances of
the latter is a better design choice:

[source,c]
----
/* the tracepoint class */
TRACEPOINT_EVENT_CLASS(
    /* tracepoint provider name */
    my_app,

    /* tracepoint class name */
    my_class,

    /* arguments */
    TP_ARGS(
        int, userid,
        size_t, len
    ),

    /* fields */
    TP_FIELDS(
        ctf_integer(int, userid, userid)
        ctf_integer(size_t, len, len)
    )
)

/* the tracepoint instances */
TRACEPOINT_EVENT_INSTANCE(
    /* tracepoint provider name */
    my_app,

    /* tracepoint class name */
    my_class,

    /* tracepoint/event name */
    get_account,

    /* arguments */
    TP_ARGS(
        int, userid,
        size_t, len
    )
)
TRACEPOINT_EVENT_INSTANCE(
    my_app,
    my_class,
    get_settings,
    TP_ARGS(
        int, userid,
        size_t, len
    )
)
TRACEPOINT_EVENT_INSTANCE(
    my_app,
    my_class,
    get_transaction,
    TP_ARGS(
        int, userid,
        size_t, len
    )
)
----

Of course, all those names and `TP_ARGS()` invocations are redundant,
but some C preprocessor magic can solve this:

[source,c]
----
#define MY_TRACEPOINT_ARGS \
    TP_ARGS( \
        int, userid, \
        size_t, len \
    )

TRACEPOINT_EVENT_CLASS(
    my_app,
    my_class,
    MY_TRACEPOINT_ARGS,
    TP_FIELDS(
        ctf_integer(int, userid, userid)
        ctf_integer(size_t, len, len)
    )
)

#define MY_APP_TRACEPOINT_INSTANCE(name) \
    TRACEPOINT_EVENT_INSTANCE( \
        my_app, \
        my_class, \
        name, \
        MY_TRACEPOINT_ARGS \
    )

MY_APP_TRACEPOINT_INSTANCE(get_account)
MY_APP_TRACEPOINT_INSTANCE(get_settings)
MY_APP_TRACEPOINT_INSTANCE(get_transaction)
----


[[assigning-log-levels]]
===== Assigning log levels to tracepoints

Optionally, a log level can be assigned to a defined tracepoint.
Assigning different levels of importance to tracepoints can be useful;
when controlling tracing sessions,
<<controlling-tracing,you can choose>> to only enable tracepoints
falling into a specific log level range.

Log levels are assigned to defined tracepoints using the
`TRACEPOINT_LOGLEVEL()` macro. The latter must be used _after_ having
used `TRACEPOINT_EVENT()` for a given tracepoint. The
`TRACEPOINT_LOGLEVEL()` macro has the following construct:

[source,c]
----
TRACEPOINT_LOGLEVEL(PROVIDER_NAME, TRACEPOINT_NAME, LOG_LEVEL)
----

where the first two arguments are the same as the first two arguments
of `TRACEPOINT_EVENT()` and `LOG_LEVEL` is one
of the values given in the
<<liblttng-ust-tracepoint-loglevel,LTTng-UST library reference>>
section.

As an example, let's assign a `TRACE_DEBUG_UNIT` log level to our
previous tracepoint definition:

[source,c]
----
TRACEPOINT_LOGLEVEL(my_provider, my_tracepoint, TRACE_DEBUG_UNIT)
----


[[probing-the-application-source-code]]
===== Probing the application's source code

Once tracepoints are properly defined within a tracepoint provider,
they may be inserted into the user application to be instrumented
using the `tracepoint()` macro. Its first argument is the tracepoint
provider name and its second is the tracepoint name. The next, optional
arguments are defined by the `TP_ARGS()` part of the definition of
the tracepoint to use.

As an example, let us again take the following tracepoint definition:

[source,c]
----
TRACEPOINT_EVENT(
    /* tracepoint provider name */
    my_provider,

    /* tracepoint/event name */
    my_first_tracepoint,

    /* list of tracepoint arguments */
    TP_ARGS(
        int, my_integer_arg,
        char*, my_string_arg
    ),

    /* list of fields of eventual event  */
    TP_FIELDS(
        ctf_string(my_string_field, my_string_arg)
        ctf_integer(int, my_integer_field, my_integer_arg)
    )
)
----

Assuming this is part of a file named path:{tp.h} which defines the tracepoint
provider and which is included by path:{tp.c}, here's a complete C application
calling this tracepoint (multiple times):

[source,c]
----
#define TRACEPOINT_DEFINE
#include "tp.h"

int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
    int i;

    tracepoint(my_provider, my_first_tracepoint, 23, "Hello, World!");

    for (i = 0; i < argc; ++i) {
        tracepoint(my_provider, my_first_tracepoint, i, argv[i]);
    }

    return 0;
}
----

For each tracepoint provider, `TRACEPOINT_DEFINE` must be defined into
exactly one translation unit (C source file) of the user application,
before including the tracepoint provider header file. In other words,
for a given tracepoint provider, you cannot define `TRACEPOINT_DEFINE`,
and then include its header file in two separate C source files of
the same application. `TRACEPOINT_DEFINE` is discussed further in
<<building-tracepoint-providers-and-user-application,Building/linking
tracepoint providers and the user application>>.

As another example, remember this definition we wrote in a previous
section (comments are stripped):

[source,c]
----
/* for struct stat */
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/stat.h>
#include <unistd.h>

TRACEPOINT_EVENT(
    my_provider,
    my_tracepoint,
    TP_ARGS(
        int, my_int_arg,
        char*, my_str_arg,
        struct stat*, st
    ),
    TP_FIELDS(
        ctf_integer(int, my_constant_field, 23 + 17)
        ctf_integer(int, my_int_arg_field, my_int_arg)
        ctf_integer(int, my_int_arg_field2, my_int_arg * my_int_arg)
        ctf_integer(int, sum4_field, my_str_arg[0] + my_str_arg[1] +
                                     my_str_arg[2] + my_str_arg[3])
        ctf_string(my_str_arg_field, my_str_arg)
        ctf_integer_hex(off_t, size_field, st->st_size)
        ctf_float(double, size_dbl_field, (double) st->st_size)
        ctf_sequence_text(char, half_my_str_arg_field, my_str_arg,
                          size_t, strlen(my_str_arg) / 2)
    )
)
----

Here's an example of calling it:

[source,c]
----
#define TRACEPOINT_DEFINE
#include "tp.h"

int main(void)
{
    struct stat s;

    stat("/etc/fstab", &s);

    tracepoint(my_provider, my_tracepoint, 23, "Hello, World!", &s);

    return 0;
}
----

When viewing the trace, assuming the file size of path:{/etc/fstab} is
301{nbsp}bytes, the event generated by the execution of this tracepoint
should have the following fields, in this order:

----
my_constant_field           40
my_int_arg_field            23
my_int_arg_field2           529
sum4_field                  389
my_str_arg_field            "Hello, World!"
size_field                  0x12d
size_dbl_field              301.0
half_my_str_arg_field       "Hello,"
----


[[building-tracepoint-providers-and-user-application]]
===== Building/linking tracepoint providers and the user application

The final step of using LTTng-UST for tracing a user space C application
(beside running the application) is building and linking tracepoint
providers and the application itself.

As discussed above, the macros used by the user-written tracepoint provider
header file are useless until actually used to create probes code
(global data structures and functions) in a translation unit (C source file).
This is accomplished by defining `TRACEPOINT_CREATE_PROBES` in a translation
unit and then including the tracepoint provider header file.
When `TRACEPOINT_CREATE_PROBES` is defined, macros used and included by
the tracepoint provider header will output actual source code needed by any
application using the defined tracepoints. Defining
`TRACEPOINT_CREATE_PROBES` produces code used when registering
tracepoint providers when the tracepoint provider package loads.

The other important definition is `TRACEPOINT_DEFINE`. This one creates
global, per-tracepoint structures referencing the tracepoint providers
data. Those structures are required by the actual functions inserted
where `tracepoint()` macros are placed and need to be defined by the
instrumented application.

Both `TRACEPOINT_CREATE_PROBES` and `TRACEPOINT_DEFINE` need to be defined
at some places in order to trace a user space C application using LTTng.
Although explaining their exact mechanism is beyond the scope of this
document, the reason they both exist separately is to allow the trace
providers to be packaged as a shared object (dynamically loaded library).

There are two ways to compile and link the tracepoint providers
with the application: _<<static-linking,statically>>_ or
_<<dynamic-linking,dynamically>>_. Both methods are covered in the
following subsections.


[[static-linking]]
===== Static linking the tracepoint providers to the application

With the static linking method, compiled tracepoint providers are copied
into the target application. There are three ways to do this:

. Use one of your **existing C source files** to create probes.
. Create probes in a separate C source file and build it as an
  **object file** to be linked with the application (more decoupled).
. Create probes in a separate C source file, build it as an
  object file and archive it to create a **static library**
  (more decoupled, more portable).

The first approach is to define `TRACEPOINT_CREATE_PROBES` and include
your tracepoint provider(s) header file(s) directly into an existing C
source file. Here's an example:

[source,c]
----
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>
/* ... */

#define TRACEPOINT_CREATE_PROBES
#define TRACEPOINT_DEFINE
#include "tp.h"

/* ... */

int my_func(int a, const char* b)
{
    /* ... */

    tracepoint(my_provider, my_tracepoint, buf, sz, limit, &tt)

    /* ... */
}

/* ... */
----

Again, before including a given tracepoint provider header file,
`TRACEPOINT_CREATE_PROBES` and `TRACEPOINT_DEFINE` must be defined in
one, **and only one**, translation unit. Other C source files of the
same application may include path:{tp.h} to use tracepoints with
the `tracepoint()` macro, but must not define
`TRACEPOINT_CREATE_PROBES`/`TRACEPOINT_DEFINE` again.

This translation unit may be built as an object file by making sure to
add `.` to the include path:

[role="term"]
----
gcc -c -I. file.c
----

The second approach is to isolate the tracepoint provider code into a
separate object file by using a dedicated C source file to create probes:

[source,c]
----
#define TRACEPOINT_CREATE_PROBES

#include "tp.h"
----

`TRACEPOINT_DEFINE` must be defined by a translation unit of the
application. Since we're talking about static linking here, it could as
well be defined directly in the file above, before `#include "tp.h"`:

[source,c]
----
#define TRACEPOINT_CREATE_PROBES
#define TRACEPOINT_DEFINE

#include "tp.h"
----

This is actually what <<lttng-gen-tp,`lttng-gen-tp`>> does, and is
the recommended practice.

Build the tracepoint provider:

[role="term"]
----
gcc -c -I. tp.c
----

Finally, the resulting object file may be archived to create a
more portable tracepoint provider static library:

[role="term"]
----
ar rc tp.a tp.o
----

Using a static library does have the advantage of centralising the
tracepoint providers objects so they can be shared between multiple
applications. This way, when the tracepoint provider is modified, the
source code changes don't have to be patched into each application's source
code tree. The applications need to be relinked after each change, but need
not to be otherwise recompiled (unless the tracepoint provider's API
changes).

Regardless of which method you choose, you end up with an object file
(potentially archived) containing the trace providers assembled code.
To link this code with the rest of your application, you must also link
with `liblttng-ust` and `libdl`:

[role="term"]
----
gcc -o app tp.o other.o files.o of.o your.o app.o -llttng-ust -ldl
----

or

[role="term"]
----
gcc -o app tp.a other.o files.o of.o your.o app.o -llttng-ust -ldl
----

If you're using a BSD
system, replace `-ldl` with `-lc`:

[role="term"]
----
gcc -o app tp.a other.o files.o of.o your.o app.o -llttng-ust -lc
----

The application can be started as usual, e.g.:

[role="term"]
----
./app
----

The `lttng` command line tool can be used to
<<controlling-tracing,control tracing>>.


[[dynamic-linking]]
===== Dynamic linking the tracepoint providers to the application

The second approach to package the tracepoint providers is to use
dynamic linking: the library and its member functions are explicitly
sought, loaded and unloaded at runtime using `libdl`.

It has to be noted that, for a variety of reasons, the created shared
library will be dynamically _loaded_, as opposed to dynamically
_linked_. The tracepoint provider shared object is, however, linked
with `liblttng-ust`, so that `liblttng-ust` is guaranteed to be loaded
as soon as the tracepoint provider is. If the tracepoint provider is
not loaded, since the application itself is not linked with
`liblttng-ust`, the latter is not loaded at all and the tracepoint calls
become inert.

The process to create the tracepoint provider shared object is pretty
much the same as the static library method, except that:

* since the tracepoint provider is not part of the application
  anymore, `TRACEPOINT_DEFINE` _must_ be defined, for each tracepoint
  provider, in exactly one translation unit (C source file) of the
  _application_;
* `TRACEPOINT_PROBE_DYNAMIC_LINKAGE` must be defined next to
  `TRACEPOINT_DEFINE`.

Regarding `TRACEPOINT_DEFINE` and `TRACEPOINT_PROBE_DYNAMIC_LINKAGE`,
the recommended practice is to use a separate C source file in your
application to define them, and then include the tracepoint provider
header files afterwards, e.g.:

[source,c]
----
#define TRACEPOINT_DEFINE
#define TRACEPOINT_PROBE_DYNAMIC_LINKAGE

/* include the header files of one or more tracepoint providers below */
#include "tp1.h"
#include "tp2.h"
#include "tp3.h"
----

`TRACEPOINT_PROBE_DYNAMIC_LINKAGE` makes the macros included afterwards
(by including the tracepoint provider header, which itself includes
LTTng-UST headers) aware that the tracepoint provider is to be loaded
dynamically and not part of the application's executable.

The tracepoint provider object file used to create the shared library
is built like it is using the static library method, only with the
`-fpic` option added:

[role="term"]
----
gcc -c -fpic -I. tp.c
----

It is then linked as a shared library like this:

[role="term"]
----
gcc -shared -Wl,--no-as-needed -o tp.so -llttng-ust tp.o
----

As previously stated, this tracepoint provider shared object isn't
linked with the user application: it will be loaded manually. This is
why the application is built with no mention of this tracepoint
provider, but still needs `libdl`:

[role="term"]
----
gcc -o app other.o files.o of.o your.o app.o -ldl
----

Now, to make LTTng-UST tracing available to the application, the
`LD_PRELOAD` environment variable is used to preload the tracepoint
provider shared library _before_ the application actually starts:

[role="term"]
----
LD_PRELOAD=/path/to/tp.so ./app
----

[NOTE]
====
It is not safe to use
`dlclose()` on a tracepoint provider shared object that
is being actively used for tracing, due to a lack of reference
counting from LTTng-UST to the shared object.

For example, statically linking a tracepoint provider to a
shared object which is to be dynamically loaded by an application
(e.g., a plugin) is not safe: the shared object, which contains the
tracepoint provider, could be dynamically closed
(`dlclose()`) at any time by the application.

To instrument a shared object, either:

* Statically link the tracepoint provider to the _application_, or
* Build the tracepoint provider as a shared object (following
  the procedure shown in this section), and preload it when
  tracing is needed using the `LD_PRELOAD`
  environment variable.
====

Your application will still work without this preloading, albeit without
LTTng-UST tracing support:

[role="term"]
----
./app
----


[[using-lttng-ust-with-daemons]]
===== Using LTTng-UST with daemons

Some extra care is needed when using `liblttng-ust` with daemon
applications that call `fork()`, `clone()` or BSD's `rfork()` without
a following `exec()` family system call. The `liblttng-ust-fork`
library must be preloaded for the application.

Example:

[role="term"]
----
LD_PRELOAD=liblttng-ust-fork.so ./app
----

Or, if you're using a tracepoint provider shared library:

[role="term"]
----
LD_PRELOAD="liblttng-ust-fork.so /path/to/tp.so" ./app
----


[[lttng-ust-pkg-config]]
===== Using pkg-config

On some distributions, LTTng-UST is shipped with a pkg-config metadata
file, so that you may use the `pkg-config` tool:

[role="term"]
----
pkg-config --libs lttng-ust
----

This will return `-llttng-ust -ldl` on Linux systems.

You may also check the LTTng-UST version using `pkg-config`:

[role="term"]
----
pkg-config --modversion lttng-ust
----

For more information about pkg-config, see
http://linux.die.net/man/1/pkg-config[its manpage].


[[tracef]]
===== Using `tracef()`

`tracef()` is a small LTTng-UST API to avoid defining your own
tracepoints and tracepoint providers. The signature of `tracef()` is
the same as `printf()`'s.

The `tracef()` utility function was developed to make user space tracing
super simple, albeit with notable disadvantages compared to custom,
full-fledged tracepoint providers:

* All generated events have the same provider/event names, respectively
  `lttng_ust_tracef` and `event`.
* There's no static type checking.
* The only event field you actually get, named `msg`, is a string
  potentially containing the values you passed to the function
  using your own format. This also means that you cannot use filtering
  using a custom expression at runtime because there are no isolated
  fields.
* Since `tracef()` uses C standard library's `vasprintf()` function
  in the background to format the strings at runtime, its
  expected performance is lower than using custom tracepoint providers
  with typed fields, which do not require a conversion to a string.

Thus, `tracef()` is useful for quick prototyping and debugging, but
should not be considered for any permanent/serious application
instrumentation.

To use `tracef()`, first include `<lttng/tracef.h>` in the C source file
where you need to insert probes:

[source,c]
----
#include <lttng/tracef.h>
----

Use `tracef()` like you would use `printf()` in your source code, e.g.:

[source,c]
----
    /* ... */

    tracef("my message, my integer: %d", my_integer);

    /* ... */
----

Link your application with `liblttng-ust`:

[role="term"]
----
gcc -o app app.c -llttng-ust
----

Execute the application as usual:

[role="term"]
----
./app
----

Voilà! Use the `lttng` command line tool to
<<controlling-tracing,control tracing>>. You can enable `tracef()`
events like this:

[role="term"]
----
lttng enable-event --userspace 'lttng_ust_tracef:*'
----


[[lttng-ust-environment-variables-compiler-flags]]
===== LTTng-UST environment variables and special compilation flags

A few special environment variables and compile flags may affect the
behavior of LTTng-UST.

LTTng-UST's debugging can be activated by setting the environment
variable `LTTNG_UST_DEBUG` to `1` when launching the application. It
can also be enabled at compile time by defining `LTTNG_UST_DEBUG` when
compiling LTTng-UST (using the `-DLTTNG_UST_DEBUG` compiler option).

The environment variable `LTTNG_UST_REGISTER_TIMEOUT` can be used to
specify how long the application should wait for the
<<lttng-sessiond,session daemon>>'s _registration done_ command
before proceeding to execute the main program. The timeout value is
specified in milliseconds. 0 means _don't wait_. -1 means
_wait forever_. Setting this environment variable to 0 is recommended
for applications with time contraints on the process startup time.

The default value of `LTTNG_UST_REGISTER_TIMEOUT` (when not defined)
is **3000{nbsp}ms**.

The compilation definition `LTTNG_UST_DEBUG_VALGRIND` should be enabled
at build time (`-DLTTNG_UST_DEBUG_VALGRIND`) to allow `liblttng-ust`
to be used with http://valgrind.org/[Valgrind].
The side effect of defining `LTTNG_UST_DEBUG_VALGRIND` is that per-CPU
buffering is disabled.


[[cxx-application]]
==== $$C++$$ application

Because of $$C++$$'s cross-compatibility with the C language, $$C++$$
applications can be readily instrumented with the LTTng-UST C API.

Follow the <<c-application,C application>> user guide above. It
should be noted that, in this case, tracepoint providers should have
the typical `.cpp`, `.cxx` or `.cc` extension and be built with `g++`
instead of `gcc`. This is the easiest way of avoiding linking errors
due to symbol name mangling incompatibilities between both languages.


[[prebuilt-ust-helpers]]
==== Prebuilt user space tracing helpers

The LTTng-UST package provides a few helpers that one may find
useful in some situations. They all work the same way: you must
preload the appropriate shared object before running the user
application (using the `LD_PRELOAD` environment variable).

The shared objects are normally found in dir:{/usr/lib}.

The current installed helpers are:

path:{liblttng-ust-libc-wrapper.so} and path:{liblttng-ust-pthread-wrapper.so}::
  <<liblttng-ust-libc-pthread-wrapper,C{nbsp}standard library
  and POSIX threads tracing>>.

path:{liblttng-ust-cyg-profile.so} and path:{liblttng-ust-cyg-profile-fast.so}::
  <<liblttng-ust-cyg-profile,Function tracing>>.

path:{liblttng-ust-dl.so}::
  <<liblttng-ust-dl,Dynamic linker tracing>>.

The following subsections document what helpers instrument exactly
and how to use them.


[[liblttng-ust-libc-pthread-wrapper]]
===== C standard library and POSIX threads tracing

path:{liblttng-ust-libc-wrapper.so} and path:{liblttng-ust-pthread-wrapper.so}
can add instrumentation to respectively some C standard library and
POSIX threads functions.

The following functions are traceable by path:{liblttng-ust-libc-wrapper.so}:

[role="growable"]
.Functions instrumented by path:{liblttng-ust-libc-wrapper.so}
|====
|TP provider name |TP name |Instrumented function

.6+|`ust_libc` |`malloc`         |`malloc()`
               |`calloc`         |`calloc()`
               |`realloc`        |`realloc()`
               |`free`           |`free()`
               |`memalign`       |`memalign()`
               |`posix_memalign` |`posix_memalign()`
|====

The following functions are traceable by
path:{liblttng-ust-pthread-wrapper.so}:

[role="growable"]
.Functions instrumented by path:{liblttng-ust-pthread-wrapper.so}
|====
|TP provider name |TP name |Instrumented function

.4+|`ust_pthread` |`pthread_mutex_lock_req` |`pthread_mutex_lock()` (request time)
                  |`pthread_mutex_lock_acq` |`pthread_mutex_lock()` (acquire time)
                  |`pthread_mutex_trylock`  |`pthread_mutex_trylock()`
                  |`pthread_mutex_unlock`   |`pthread_mutex_unlock()`
|====

All tracepoints have fields corresponding to the arguments of the
function they instrument.

To use one or the other with any user application, independently of
how the latter is built, do:

[role="term"]
----
LD_PRELOAD=liblttng-ust-libc-wrapper.so my-app
----

or

[role="term"]
----
LD_PRELOAD=liblttng-ust-pthread-wrapper.so my-app
----

To use both, do:

[role="term"]
----
LD_PRELOAD="liblttng-ust-libc-wrapper.so liblttng-ust-pthread-wrapper.so" my-app
----

When the shared object is preloaded, it effectively replaces the
functions listed in the above tables by wrappers which add tracepoints
and call the replaced functions.

Of course, like any other tracepoint, the ones above need to be enabled
in order for LTTng-UST to generate events. This is done using the
`lttng` command line tool
(see <<controlling-tracing,Controlling tracing>>).


[[liblttng-ust-cyg-profile]]
===== Function tracing

Function tracing is the recording of which functions are entered and
left during the execution of an application. Like with any LTTng event,
the precise time at which this happens is also kept.

GCC and clang have an option named
https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc-4.9.1/gcc/Code-Gen-Options.html[`-finstrument-functions`]
which generates instrumentation calls for entry and exit to functions.
The LTTng-UST function tracing helpers, path:{liblttng-ust-cyg-profile.so}
and path:{liblttng-ust-cyg-profile-fast.so}, take advantage of this feature
to add instrumentation to the two generated functions (which contain
`cyg_profile` in their names, hence the shared object's name).

In order to use LTTng-UST function tracing, the translation units to
instrument must be built using the `-finstrument-functions` compiler
flag.

LTTng-UST function tracing comes in two flavors, each providing
different trade-offs: path:{liblttng-ust-cyg-profile-fast.so} and
path:{liblttng-ust-cyg-profile.so}.

**path:{liblttng-ust-cyg-profile-fast.so}** is a lightweight variant that
should only be used where it can be _guaranteed_ that the complete event
stream is recorded without any missing events. Any kind of duplicate
information is left out. This version registers the following
tracepoints:

[role="growable",options="header,autowidth"]
.Functions instrumented by path:{liblttng-ust-cyg-profile-fast.so}
|====
|TP provider name |TP name |Instrumented function

.2+|`lttng_ust_cyg_profile_fast`

|`func_entry`
a|Function entry

`addr`::
  Address of called function.

|`func_exit`
|Function exit
|====

Assuming no event is lost, having only the function addresses on entry
is enough for creating a call graph (remember that a recorded event
always contains the ID of the CPU that generated it). A tool like
https://sourceware.org/binutils/docs/binutils/addr2line.html[`addr2line`]
may be used to convert function addresses back to source files names
and line numbers.

The other helper,
**path:{liblttng-ust-cyg-profile.so}**,
is a more robust variant which also works for use cases where
events might get discarded or not recorded from application startup.
In these cases, the trace analyzer needs extra information to be
able to reconstruct the program flow. This version registers the
following tracepoints:

[role="growable",options="header,autowidth"]
.Functions instrumented by path:{liblttng-ust-cyg-profile.so}
|====
|TP provider name |TP name |Instrumented function

.2+|`lttng_ust_cyg_profile`

|`func_entry`
a|Function entry

`addr`::
  Address of called function.

`call_site`::
  Call site address.

|`func_exit`
a|Function exit

`addr`::
  Address of called function.

`call_site`::
  Call site address.
|====

To use one or the other variant with any user application, assuming at
least one translation unit of the latter is compiled with the
`-finstrument-functions` option, do:

[role="term"]
----
LD_PRELOAD=liblttng-ust-cyg-profile-fast.so my-app
----

or

[role="term"]
----
LD_PRELOAD=liblttng-ust-cyg-profile.so my-app
----

It might be necessary to limit the number of source files where
`-finstrument-functions` is used to prevent excessive amount of trace
data to be generated at runtime.

TIP: When using GCC, at least, you can use
    the `-finstrument-functions-exclude-function-list`
    option to avoid instrumenting entries and exits of specific
    symbol names.

All events generated from LTTng-UST function tracing are provided on
log level `TRACE_DEBUG_FUNCTION`, which is useful to easily enable
function tracing events in your tracing session using the
`--loglevel-only` option of `lttng enable-event`
(see <<controlling-tracing,Controlling tracing>>).


[[liblttng-ust-dl]]
===== Dynamic linker tracing

This LTTng-UST helper causes all calls to `dlopen()` and `dlclose()`
in the target application to be traced with LTTng.

The helper's shared object, path:{liblttng-ust-dl.so}, registers the
following tracepoints when preloaded:

[role="growable",options="header,autowidth"]
.Functions instrumented by path:{liblttng-ust-dl.so}
|====
|TP provider name |TP name |Instrumented function

.2+|`ust_baddr`

|`push`
a|`dlopen()` call

`baddr`::
  Memory base address (where the dynamic linker placed the shared
  object).

`sopath`::
  File system path to the loaded shared object.

`size`::
  File size of the the loaded shared object.

`mtime`::
  Last modification time (seconds since Epoch time) of the loaded shared
  object.

|`pop`
a|Function exit

`baddr`::
  Memory base address (where the dynamic linker placed the shared
  object).
|====

To use this LTTng-UST helper with any user application, independently of
how the latter is built, do:

[role="term"]
----
LD_PRELOAD=liblttng-ust-dl.so my-app
----

Of course, like any other tracepoint, the ones above need to be enabled
in order for LTTng-UST to generate events. This is done using the
`lttng` command line tool
(see <<controlling-tracing,Controlling tracing>>).


[[java-application]]
==== Java application

LTTng-UST provides a _logging_ back-end for Java applications using
http://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/util/logging/Logger.html[`java.util.logging`]
(JUL). This back-end is called the _LTTng-UST JUL agent_ and is
responsible for communications with an LTTng session daemon.

From the user's point of view, once the LTTng-UST JUL agent has been
initialized, JUL loggers may be created and used as usual. The agent
adds its own handler to the _root logger_, so that all loggers may
generate LTTng events with no effort.

Common JUL features are supported using the `lttng` tool
(see <<controlling-tracing,Controlling tracing>>):

* listing all logger names
* enabling/disabling events per logger name
* JUL log levels

Here's an example:

[source,java]
----
import java.util.logging.Logger;
import org.lttng.ust.jul.LTTngAgent;

public class Test
{
    public static void main(String[] argv) throws Exception
    {
        // create a logger
        Logger logger = Logger.getLogger("jello");

        // call this as soon as possible (before logging)
        LTTngAgent lttngAgent = LTTngAgent.getLTTngAgent();

        // log at will!
        logger.info("some info");
        logger.warning("some warning");
        Thread.sleep(500);
        logger.finer("finer information...");
        Thread.sleep(123);
        logger.severe("error!");

        // not mandatory, but cleaner
        lttngAgent.dispose();
    }
}
----

The LTTng-UST JUL agent Java classes are packaged in a JAR file named
path:{liblttng-ust-jul.jar}. It is typically located in
dir:{/usr/lib/lttng/java}. To compile the snippet above
(saved as path:{Test.java}), do:

[role="term"]
----
javac -cp /usr/lib/lttng/java/liblttng-ust-jul.jar Test.java
----

You can run the resulting compiled class:

[role="term"]
----
java -cp /usr/lib/lttng/java/liblttng-ust-jul.jar:. Test
----

NOTE: http://openjdk.java.net/[OpenJDK] 7 is used for development and
continuous integration, thus this version is directly supported.
However, the LTTng-UST JUL agent has also been tested with OpenJDK 6.


[[instrumenting-linux-kernel]]
==== Linux kernel

The Linux kernel can be instrumented for LTTng tracing, either its core
source code or a kernel module. It has to be noted that Linux is
readily traceable using LTTng since many parts of its source code are
already instrumented: this is the job of the upstream
http://git.lttng.org/?p=lttng-modules.git[LTTng-modules]
package. This section presents how to add LTTng instrumentation where it
does not currently exist and how to instrument custom kernel modules.

All LTTng instrumentation in the Linux kernel is based on an existing
infrastructure which bears the name of its main macro, `TRACE_EVENT()`.
This macro is used to define tracepoints,
each tracepoint having a name, usually with the
+__subsys__&#95;__name__+ format,
+_subsys_+ being the subsystem name and
+_name_+ the specific event name.

Tracepoints defined with `TRACE_EVENT()` may be inserted anywhere in
the Linux kernel source code, after what callbacks, called _probes_,
may be registered to execute some action when a tracepoint is
executed. This mechanism is directly used by ftrace and perf,
but cannot be used as is by LTTng: an adaptation layer is added to
satisfy LTTng's specific needs.

With that in mind, this documentation does not cover the `TRACE_EVENT()`
format and how to use it, but it is mandatory to understand it and use
it to instrument Linux for LTTng. A series of
LWN articles explain
`TRACE_EVENT()` in details:
http://lwn.net/Articles/379903/[part 1],
http://lwn.net/Articles/381064/[part 2], and
http://lwn.net/Articles/383362/[part 3].
Once you master `TRACE_EVENT()` enough for your use case, continue
reading this section so that you can add the LTTng adaptation layer of
instrumentation.

This section first discusses the general method of instrumenting the
Linux kernel for LTTng. This method is then reused for the specific
case of instrumenting a kernel module.


[[instrumenting-linux-kernel-itself]]
===== Instrumenting the Linux kernel for LTTng

The following subsections explain strictly how to add custom LTTng
instrumentation to the Linux kernel. They do not explain how the
macros actually work and the internal mechanics of the tracer.

You should have a Linux kernel source code tree to work with.
Throughout this section, all file paths are relative to the root of
this tree unless otherwise stated.

You will need a copy of the LTTng-modules Git repository:

[role="term"]
----
git clone git://git.lttng.org/lttng-modules.git
----

The steps to add custom LTTng instrumentation to a Linux kernel
involves defining and using the mainline `TRACE_EVENT()` tracepoints
first, then writing and using the LTTng adaptation layer.


[[mainline-trace-event]]
===== Defining/using tracepoints with mainline `TRACE_EVENT()` infrastructure

The first step is to define tracepoints using the mainline Linux
`TRACE_EVENT()` macro and insert tracepoints where you want them.
Your tracepoint definitions reside in a header file in
dir:{include/trace/events}. If you're adding tracepoints to an existing
subsystem, edit its appropriate header file.

As an example, the following header file (let's call it
path:{include/trace/events/hello.h}) defines one tracepoint using
`TRACE_EVENT()`:

[source,c]
----
/* subsystem name is "hello" */
#undef TRACE_SYSTEM
#define TRACE_SYSTEM hello

#if !defined(_TRACE_HELLO_H) || defined(TRACE_HEADER_MULTI_READ)
#define _TRACE_HELLO_H

#include <linux/tracepoint.h>

TRACE_EVENT(
    /* "hello" is the subsystem name, "world" is the event name */
    hello_world,

    /* tracepoint function prototype */
    TP_PROTO(int foo, const char* bar),

    /* arguments for this tracepoint */
    TP_ARGS(foo, bar),

    /* LTTng doesn't need those */
    TP_STRUCT__entry(),
    TP_fast_assign(),
    TP_printk("", 0)
);

#endif

/* this part must be outside protection */
#include <trace/define_trace.h>
----

Notice that we don't use any of the last three arguments: they
are left empty here because LTTng doesn't need them. You would only fill
`TP_STRUCT__entry()`, `TP_fast_assign()` and `TP_printk()` if you were
to also use this tracepoint for ftrace/perf.

Once this is done, you may place calls to `trace_hello_world()`
wherever you want in the Linux source code. As an example, let us place
such a tracepoint in the `usb_probe_device()` static function
(path:{drivers/usb/core/driver.c}):

[source,c]
----
/* called from driver core with dev locked */
static int usb_probe_device(struct device *dev)
{
    struct usb_device_driver *udriver = to_usb_device_driver(dev->driver);
    struct usb_device *udev = to_usb_device(dev);
    int error = 0;

    trace_hello_world(udev->devnum, udev->product);

    /* ... */
}
----

This tracepoint should fire every time a USB device is plugged in.

At the top of path:{driver.c}, we need to include our actual tracepoint
definition and, in this case (one place per subsystem), define
`CREATE_TRACE_POINTS`, which will create our tracepoint:

[source,c]
----
/* ... */

#include "usb.h"

#define CREATE_TRACE_POINTS
#include <trace/events/hello.h>

/* ... */
----

Build your custom Linux kernel. In order to use LTTng, make sure the
following kernel configuration options are enabled:

* `CONFIG_MODULES` (loadable module support)
* `CONFIG_KALLSYMS` (load all symbols for debugging/kksymoops)
* `CONFIG_HIGH_RES_TIMERS` (high resolution timer support)
* `CONFIG_TRACEPOINTS` (kernel tracepoint instrumentation)

Boot the custom kernel. The directory
dir:{/sys/kernel/debug/tracing/events/hello} should exist if everything
went right, with a dir:{hello_world} subdirectory.


[[lttng-adaptation-layer]]
===== Adding the LTTng adaptation layer

The steps to write the LTTng adaptation layer are, in your
LTTng-modules copy's source code tree:

. In dir:{instrumentation/events/lttng-module},
  add a header +__subsys__.h+ for your custom
  subsystem +__subsys__+ and write your
  tracepoint definitions using LTTng-modules macros in it.
  Those macros look like the mainline kernel equivalents,
  but they present subtle, yet important differences.
. In dir:{probes}, create the C source file of the LTTng probe kernel
  module for your subsystem. It should be named
  +lttng-probe-__subsys__.c+.
. Edit path:{probes/Makefile} so that the LTTng-modules project
  builds your custom LTTng probe kernel module.
. Build and install LTTng kernel modules.

Following our `hello_world` event example, here's the content of
path:{instrumentation/events/lttng-module/hello.h}:

[source,c]
----
#undef TRACE_SYSTEM
#define TRACE_SYSTEM hello

#if !defined(_TRACE_HELLO_H) || defined(TRACE_HEADER_MULTI_READ)
#define _TRACE_HELLO_H

#include <linux/tracepoint.h>

LTTNG_TRACEPOINT_EVENT(
    /* format identical to mainline version for those */
    hello_world,
    TP_PROTO(int foo, const char* bar),
    TP_ARGS(foo, bar),

    /* possible differences */
    TP_STRUCT__entry(
        __field(int, my_int)
        __field(char, char0)
        __field(char, char1)
        __string(product, bar)
    ),

    /* notice the use of tp_assign()/tp_strcpy() and no semicolons */
    TP_fast_assign(
        tp_assign(my_int, foo)
        tp_assign(char0, bar[0])
        tp_assign(char1, bar[1])
        tp_strcpy(product, bar)
    ),

    /* This one is actually not used by LTTng either, but must be
     * present for the moment.
     */
    TP_printk("", 0)

/* no semicolon after this either */
)

#endif

/* other difference: do NOT include <trace/define_trace.h> */
#include "../../../probes/define_trace.h"
----

Some possible entries for `TP_STRUCT__entry()` and `TP_fast_assign()`,
in the case of LTTng-modules, are shown in the
<<lttng-modules-ref,LTTng-modules reference>> section.

The best way to learn how to use the above macros is to inspect
existing LTTng tracepoint definitions in
dir:{instrumentation/events/lttng-module} header files. Compare
them with the Linux kernel mainline versions in
dir:{include/trace/events}.

The next step is writing the LTTng probe kernel module C source file.
This one is named +lttng-probe-__subsys__.c+
in dir:{probes}. You may always use the following template:

[source,c]
----
#include <linux/module.h>
#include "../lttng-tracer.h"

/* Build time verification of mismatch between mainline TRACE_EVENT()
 * arguments and LTTng adaptation layer LTTNG_TRACEPOINT_EVENT() arguments.
 */
#include <trace/events/hello.h>

/* create LTTng tracepoint probes */
#define LTTNG_PACKAGE_BUILD
#define CREATE_TRACE_POINTS
#define TRACE_INCLUDE_PATH ../instrumentation/events/lttng-module

#include "../instrumentation/events/lttng-module/hello.h"

MODULE_LICENSE("GPL and additional rights");
MODULE_AUTHOR("Your name <your-email>");
MODULE_DESCRIPTION("LTTng hello probes");
MODULE_VERSION(__stringify(LTTNG_MODULES_MAJOR_VERSION) "."
    __stringify(LTTNG_MODULES_MINOR_VERSION) "."
    __stringify(LTTNG_MODULES_PATCHLEVEL_VERSION)
    LTTNG_MODULES_EXTRAVERSION);
----

Just replace `hello` with your subsystem name. In this example,
`<trace/events/hello.h>`, which is the original mainline tracepoint
definition header, is included for verification purposes: the
LTTng-modules build system is able to emit an error at build time when
the arguments of the mainline `TRACE_EVENT()` definitions do not match
the ones of the LTTng-modules adaptation layer
(`LTTNG_TRACEPOINT_EVENT()`).

Edit path:{probes/Makefile} and add your new kernel module object
next to existing ones:

[source,make]
----
# ...

obj-m += lttng-probe-module.o
obj-m += lttng-probe-power.o

obj-m += lttng-probe-hello.o

# ...
----

Time to build! Point to your custom Linux kernel source tree using
the `KERNELDIR` variable:

[role="term"]
----
make KERNELDIR=/path/to/custom/linux
----

Finally, install modules:

[role="term"]
----
sudo make modules_install
----


[[instrumenting-linux-kernel-tracing]]
===== Tracing

The <<controlling-tracing,Controlling tracing>> section explains
how to use the `lttng` tool to create and control tracing sessions.
Although the `lttng` tool will load the appropriate _known_ LTTng kernel
modules when needed (by launching `root`'s session daemon), it won't
load your custom `lttng-probe-hello` module by default. You need to
manually load the `lttng-probe-hello` module, and start an LTTng session
daemon as `root`:

[role="term"]
----
sudo pkill -u root lttng-sessiond
sudo modprobe lttng_probe_hello
sudo lttng-sessiond
----

The first command makes sure any existing instance is killed. If
you're not interested in using the default probes, or if you only
want to use a few of them, you can use the `--kmod-probes` option
of `lttng-sessiond` instead, which specifies an absolute list of
probes to load (without the `lttng-probe-` prefix):

[role="term"]
----
sudo lttng-sessiond --kmod-probes=hello,ext4,net,block,signal,sched
----

Confirm the custom probe module is loaded:

[role="term"]
----
lsmod | grep lttng_probe_hello
----

The `hello_world` event should appear in the list when doing

[role="term"]
----
lttng list --kernel | grep hello
----

You may now create an LTTng tracing session, enable the `hello_world`
kernel event (and others if you wish) and start tracing:

[role="term"]
----
sudo lttng create my-session
sudo lttng enable-event --kernel hello_world
sudo lttng start
----

Plug a few USB devices, then stop tracing and inspect the trace (if
http://diamon.org/babeltrace[Babeltrace]
is installed):

[role="term"]
----
sudo lttng stop
sudo lttng view
----

Here's a sample output:

----
[15:30:34.835895035] (+?.?????????) hostname hello_world: { cpu_id = 1 }, { my_int = 8, char0 = 68, char1 = 97, product = "DataTraveler 2.0" }
[15:30:42.262781421] (+7.426886386) hostname hello_world: { cpu_id = 1 }, { my_int = 9, char0 = 80, char1 = 97, product = "Patriot Memory" }
[15:30:48.175621778] (+5.912840357) hostname hello_world: { cpu_id = 1 }, { my_int = 10, char0 = 68, char1 = 97, product = "DataTraveler 2.0" }
----

Two USB flash drives were used for this test.

You may change your LTTng custom probe, rebuild it and reload it at
any time when not tracing. Make sure you remove the old module
(either by killing the root LTTng session daemon which loaded the
module in the first place (if you used `--kmod-probes`), or by
using `modprobe --remove` directly) before loading the updated one.


[[instrumenting-out-of-tree-linux-kernel]]
===== Advanced: Instrumenting an out-of-tree Linux kernel module for LTTng

Instrumenting a custom Linux kernel module for LTTng follows the exact
same steps as
<<instrumenting-linux-kernel-itself,adding instrumentation
to the Linux kernel itself>>,
the only difference being that your mainline tracepoint definition
header doesn't reside in the mainline source tree, but in your
kernel module source tree.

The only reference to this mainline header is in the LTTng custom
probe's source code (path:{probes/lttng-probe-hello.c} in our example),
for build time verification:

[source,c]
----
/* ... */

/* Build time verification of mismatch between mainline TRACE_EVENT()
 * arguments and LTTng adaptation layer LTTNG_TRACEPOINT_EVENT() arguments.
 */
#include <trace/events/hello.h>

/* ... */
----

The preferred, flexible way to include your module's mainline
tracepoint definition header is to put it in a specific directory
relative to your module's root, e.g., dir:{tracepoints}, and include it
relative to your module's root directory in the LTTng custom probe's
source:

[source,c]
----
#include <tracepoints/hello.h>
----

You may then build LTTng-modules by adding your module's root
directory as an include path to the extra C flags:

[role="term"]
----
make ccflags-y=-I/path/to/kernel/module KERNELDIR=/path/to/custom/linux
----

Using `ccflags-y` allows you to move your kernel module to another
directory and rebuild the LTTng-modules project with no change to
source files.


[[proc-lttng-logger-abi]]
==== LTTng logger ABI

The `lttng-tracer` Linux kernel module, installed by the LTTng-modules
package, creates a special LTTng logger ABI file path:{/proc/lttng-logger}
when loaded. Writing text data to this file generates an LTTng kernel
domain event named `lttng_logger`.

Unlike other kernel domain events, `lttng_logger` may be enabled by
any user, not only root users or members of the tracing group.

To use the LTTng logger ABI, simply write a string to
path:{/proc/lttng-logger}:

[role="term"]
----
echo -n 'Hello, World!' > /proc/lttng-logger
----

The `msg` field of the `lttng_logger` event contains the recorded
message.

NOTE: Messages are split in chunks of 1024{nbsp}bytes.

The LTTng logger ABI is a quick and easy way to trace some events from
user space through the kernel tracer. However, it is much more basic
than LTTng-UST: it's slower (involves system call round-trip to the
kernel and only supports logging strings). The LTTng logger ABI is
particularly useful for recording logs as LTTng traces from shell
scripts, potentially combining them with other Linux kernel/user space
events.


[[instrumenting-32-bit-app-on-64-bit-system]]
==== Advanced: Instrumenting a 32-bit application on a 64-bit system

[[advanced-instrumenting-techniques]]In order to trace a 32-bit
application running on a 64-bit system,
LTTng must use a dedicated 32-bit
<<lttng-consumerd,consumer daemon>>. This section discusses how to
build that daemon (which is _not_ part of the default 64-bit LTTng
build) and the LTTng 32-bit tracing libraries, and how to instrument
a 32-bit application in that context.

Make sure you install all 32-bit versions of LTTng dependencies.
Their names can be found in the path:{README.md} files of each LTTng package
source. How to find and install them will vary depending on your target
Linux distribution. `gcc-multilib` is a common package name for the
multilib version of GCC, which you will also need.

The following packages will be built for 32-bit support on a 64-bit
system: http://urcu.so/[Userspace RCU],
LTTng-UST and LTTng-tools.


[[building-32-bit-userspace-rcu]]
===== Building 32-bit Userspace RCU

Follow this:

[role="term"]
----
git clone git://git.urcu.so/urcu.git
cd urcu
./bootstrap
./configure --libdir=/usr/lib32 CFLAGS=-m32
make
sudo make install
sudo ldconfig
----

The `-m32` C compiler flag creates 32-bit object files and `--libdir`
indicates where to install the resulting libraries.


[[building-32-bit-lttng-ust]]
===== Building 32-bit LTTng-UST

Follow this:

[role="term"]
----
git clone http://git.lttng.org/lttng-ust.git
cd lttng-ust
./bootstrap
./configure --prefix=/usr \
            --libdir=/usr/lib32 \
            CFLAGS=-m32 CXXFLAGS=-m32 \
            LDFLAGS=-L/usr/lib32
make
sudo make install
sudo ldconfig
----

`-L/usr/lib32` is required for the build to find the 32-bit versions
of Userspace RCU and other dependencies.

[NOTE]
====
Depending on your Linux distribution,
32-bit libraries could be installed at a different location than
dir:{/usr/lib32}. For example, Debian is known to install
some 32-bit libraries in dir:{/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu}.

In this case, make sure to set `LDFLAGS` to all the
relevant 32-bit library paths, e.g.,
`LDFLAGS="-L/usr/lib32 -L/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu"`.
====

NOTE: You may add options to path:{./configure} if you need them, e.g., for
Java and SystemTap support. Look at `./configure --help` for more
information.


[[building-32-bit-lttng-tools]]
===== Building 32-bit LTTng-tools

Since the host is a 64-bit system, most 32-bit binaries and libraries of
LTTng-tools are not needed; the host will use their 64-bit counterparts.
The required step here is building and installing a 32-bit consumer
daemon.

Follow this:

[role="term"]
----
git clone http://git.lttng.org/lttng-tools.git
cd lttng-ust
./bootstrap
./configure --prefix=/usr \
            --libdir=/usr/lib32 CFLAGS=-m32 CXXFLAGS=-m32 \
            LDFLAGS=-L/usr/lib32
make
cd src/bin/lttng-consumerd
sudo make install
sudo ldconfig
----

The above commands build all the LTTng-tools project as 32-bit
applications, but only installs the 32-bit consumer daemon.


[[building-64-bit-lttng-tools]]
===== Building 64-bit LTTng-tools

Finally, you need to build a 64-bit version of LTTng-tools which is
aware of the 32-bit consumer daemon previously built and installed:

[role="term"]
----
make clean
./bootstrap
./configure --prefix=/usr \
            --with-consumerd32-libdir=/usr/lib32 \
            --with-consumerd32-bin=/usr/lib32/lttng/libexec/lttng-consumerd
make
sudo make install
sudo ldconfig
----

Henceforth, the 64-bit session daemon will automatically find the
32-bit consumer daemon if required.


[[building-instrumented-32-bit-c-application]]
===== Building an instrumented 32-bit C application

Let us reuse the _Hello world_ example of
<<tracing-your-own-user-application,Tracing your own user application>>
(<<getting-started,Getting started>> chapter).

The instrumentation process is unaltered.

First, a typical 64-bit build (assuming you're running a 64-bit system):

[role="term"]
----
gcc -o hello64 -I. hello.c hello-tp.c -ldl -llttng-ust
----

Now, a 32-bit build:

[role="term"]
----
gcc -o hello32 -I. -m32 hello.c hello-tp.c -L/usr/lib32 \
    -ldl -llttng-ust -Wl,-rpath,/usr/lib32
----

The `-rpath` option, passed to the linker, will make the dynamic loader
check for libraries in dir:{/usr/lib32} before looking in its default paths,
where it should find the 32-bit version of `liblttng-ust`.


[[running-32-bit-and-64-bit-c-applications]]
===== Running 32-bit and 64-bit versions of an instrumented C application

Now, both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the _Hello world_ example above
can be traced in the same tracing session. Use the `lttng` tool as usual
to create a tracing session and start tracing:

[role="term"]
----
lttng create session-3264
lttng enable-event -u -a
./hello32
./hello64
lttng stop
----

Use `lttng view` to verify both processes were
successfully traced.


[[controlling-tracing]]
=== Controlling tracing

Once you're in possession of a software that is properly
<<instrumenting,instrumented>> for LTTng tracing, be it thanks to
the built-in LTTng probes for the Linux kernel, a custom user
application or a custom Linux kernel, all that is left is actually
tracing it. As a user, you control LTTng tracing using a single command
line interface: the `lttng` tool. This tool uses `liblttng-ctl` behind
the scene to connect to and communicate with session daemons. LTTng
session daemons may either be started manually (`lttng-sessiond`) or
automatically by the `lttng` command when needed. Trace data may
be forwarded to the network and used elsewhere using an LTTng relay
daemon (`lttng-relayd`).

The manpages of `lttng`, `lttng-sessiond` and `lttng-relayd` are pretty
complete, thus this section is not an online copy of the latter (we
leave this contents for the
<<online-lttng-manpages,Online LTTng manpages>> section).
This section is rather a tour of LTTng
features through practical examples and tips.

If not already done, make sure you understand the core concepts
and how LTTng components connect together by reading the
<<understanding-lttng,Understanding LTTng>> chapter; this section
assumes you are familiar with them.


[[creating-destroying-tracing-sessions]]
==== Creating and destroying tracing sessions

Whatever you want to do with `lttng`, it has to happen inside a
**tracing session**, created beforehand. A session, in general, is a
per-user container of state. A tracing session is no different; it
keeps a specific state of stuff like:

* session name
* enabled/disabled channels with associated parameters
* enabled/disabled events with associated log levels and filters
* context information added to channels
* tracing activity (started or stopped)

and more.

A single user may have many active tracing sessions. LTTng session
daemons are the ultimate owners and managers of tracing sessions. For
user space tracing, each user has its own session daemon. Since Linux
kernel tracing requires root privileges, only `root`'s session daemon
may enable and trace  kernel events. However, `lttng` has a `--group`
option (which is passed to `lttng-sessiond` when starting it) to
specify the name of a _tracing group_ which selected users may be part
of to be allowed to communicate with `root`'s session daemon. By
default, the tracing group name is `tracing`.

To create a tracing session, do:

[role="term"]
----
lttng create my-session
----

This will create a new tracing session named `my-session` and make it
the current one. If you don't specify any name (calling only
`lttng create`), your tracing session will be named `auto`. Traces
are written in +\~/lttng-traces/__session__-+ followed
by the tracing session's creation date/time by default, where
+__session__+ is the tracing session name. To save them
at a different location, use the `--output` option:

[role="term"]
----
lttng create --output /tmp/some-directory my-session
----

You may create as many tracing sessions as you wish:

[role="term"]
----
lttng create other-session
lttng create yet-another-session
----

You may view all existing tracing sessions using the `list` command:

[role="term"]
----
lttng list
----

The state of a _current tracing session_ is kept in path:{~/.lttngrc}. Each
invocation of `lttng` reads this file to set its current tracing
session name so that you don't have to specify a session name for each
command. You could edit this file manually, but the preferred way to
set the current tracing session is to use the `set-session` command:

[role="term"]
----
lttng set-session other-session
----

Most `lttng` commands accept a `--session` option to specify the name
of the target tracing session.

Any existing tracing session may be destroyed using the `destroy`
command:

[role="term"]
----
lttng destroy my-session
----

Providing no argument to `lttng destroy` will destroy the current
tracing session. Destroying a tracing session will stop any tracing
running within the latter. Destroying a tracing session frees resources
acquired by the session daemon and tracer side, making sure to flush
all trace data.

You can't do much with LTTng using only the `create`, `set-session`
and `destroy` commands of `lttng`, but it is essential to know them in
order to control LTTng tracing, which always happen within the scope of
a tracing session.


[[enabling-disabling-events]]
==== Enabling and disabling events

Inside a tracing session, individual events may be enabled or disabled
so that tracing them may or may not generate trace data.

We sometimes use the term _event_ metonymically throughout this text to
refer to a specific condition, or _rule_, that could lead, when
satisfied, to an actual occurring event (a point at a specific position
in source code/binary program, logical processor and time capturing
some payload) being recorded as trace data. This specific condition is
composed of:

. A **domain** (kernel, user space or `java.util.logging`) (required).
. One or many **instrumentation points** in source code or binary
  program (tracepoint name, address, symbol name, function name,
  logger name, etc.) to be executed (required).
. A **log level** (each instrumentation point declares its own log
  level) or log level range to match (optional; only valid for user
  space domain).
. A **custom user expression**, or **filter**, that must evaluate to
  _true_ when a tracepoint is executed (optional; only valid for user
  space domain).

All conditions are specified using arguments passed to the
`enable-event` command of the `lttng` tool.

Condition 1 is specified using either `--kernel/-k` (kernel),
`--userspace/-u` (user space) or `--jul/-j`
(JUL). Exactly one of those
three arguments must be specified.

Condition 2 is specified using one of:

`--tracepoint`::
  Tracepoint.

`--probe`::
  Dynamic probe (address, symbol name  or combination
  of both in binary program; only valid for kernel domain).

`--function`::
  function entry/exit (address, symbol name or
  combination of both in binary program; only valid for kernel domain).

`--syscall`::
  System call entry/exit (only valid for kernel domain).

When none of the above is specified, `enable-event` defaults to
using `--tracepoint`.

Condition 3 is specified using one of:

`--loglevel`::
  Log level range from the specified level to the most severe
  level.

`--loglevel-only`::
  Specific log level.

See `lttng enable-event --help` for the complete list of log level
names.

Condition 4 is specified using the `--filter` option. This filter is
a C-like expression, potentially reading real-time values of event
fields, that has to evaluate to _true_ for the condition to be satisfied.
Event fields are read using plain identifiers while context fields
must be prefixed with `$ctx.`. See `lttng enable-event --help` for
all usage details.

The aforementioned arguments are combined to create and enable events.
Each unique combination of arguments leads to a different
_enabled event_. The log level and filter arguments are optional, their
default values being respectively all log levels and a filter which
always returns _true_.

Here are a few examples (you must
<<creating-destroying-tracing-sessions,create a tracing session>>
first):

[role="term"]
----
lttng enable-event -u --tracepoint my_app:hello_world
lttng enable-event -u --tracepoint my_app:hello_you --loglevel TRACE_WARNING
lttng enable-event -u --tracepoint 'my_other_app:*'
lttng enable-event -u --tracepoint my_app:foo_bar \
                   --filter 'some_field <= 23 && !other_field'
lttng enable-event -k --tracepoint sched_switch
lttng enable-event -k --tracepoint gpio_value
lttng enable-event -k --function usb_probe_device usb_probe_device
lttng enable-event -k --syscall --all
----

The wildcard symbol, `*`, matches _anything_ and may only be used at
the end of the string when specifying a _tracepoint_. Make sure to
use it between single quotes in your favorite shell to avoid
undesired shell expansion.

You can see a list of events (enabled or disabled) using

[role="term"]
----
lttng list some-session
----

where `some-session` is the name of the desired tracing session.

What you're actually doing when enabling events with specific conditions
is creating a **whitelist** of traceable events for a given channel.
Thus, the following case presents redundancy:

[role="term"]
----
lttng enable-event -u --tracepoint my_app:hello_you
lttng enable-event -u --tracepoint my_app:hello_you --loglevel TRACE_DEBUG
----

The second command, matching a log level range, is useless since the first
command enables all tracepoints matching the same name,
`my_app:hello_you`.

Disabling an event is simpler: you only need to provide the event
name to the `disable-event` command:

[role="term"]
----
lttng disable-event --userspace my_app:hello_you
----

This name has to match a name previously given to `enable-event` (it
has to be listed in the output of `lttng list some-session`).
The `*` wildcard is supported, as long as you also used it in a
previous `enable-event` invocation.

Disabling an event does not add it to some blacklist: it simply removes
it from its channel's whitelist. This is why you cannot disable an event
which wasn't previously enabled.

A disabled event will not generate any trace data, even if all its
specified conditions are met.

Events may be enabled and disabled at will, either when LTTng tracers
are active or not. Events may be enabled before a user space application
is even started.


[[basic-tracing-session-control]]
==== Basic tracing session control

Once you have
<<creating-destroying-tracing-sessions,created a tracing session>>
and <<enabling-disabling-events,enabled one or more events>>,
you may activate the LTTng tracers for the current tracing session at
any time:

[role="term"]
----
lttng start
----

Subsequently, you may stop the tracers:

[role="term"]
----
lttng stop
----

LTTng is very flexible: user space applications may be launched before
or after the tracers are started. Events will only be recorded if they
are properly enabled and if they occur while tracers are started.

A tracing session name may be passed to both the `start` and `stop`
commands to start/stop tracing a session other than the current one.


[[enabling-disabling-channels]]
==== Enabling and disabling channels

<<event,As mentioned>> in the
<<understanding-lttng,Understanding LTTng>> chapter, enabled
events are contained in a specific channel, itself contained in a
specific tracing session. A channel is a group of events with
tunable parameters (event loss mode, sub-buffer size, number of
sub-buffers, trace file sizes and count, etc.). A given channel may
only be responsible for enabled events belonging to one domain: either
kernel or user space.

If you only used the `create`, `enable-event` and `start`/`stop`
commands of the `lttng` tool so far, one or two channels were
automatically created for you (one for the kernel domain and/or one
for the user space domain). The default channels are both named
`channel0`; channels from different domains may have the same name.

The current channels of a given tracing session can be viewed with

[role="term"]
----
lttng list some-session
----

where `some-session` is the name of the desired tracing session.

To create and enable a channel, use the `enable-channel` command:

[role="term"]
----
lttng enable-channel --kernel my-channel
----

This will create a kernel domain channel named `my-channel` with
default parameters in the current tracing session.

[NOTE]
====
Because of a current limitation, all
channels must be _created_ prior to beginning tracing in a
given tracing session, i.e. before the first time you do
`lttng start`.

Since a channel is automatically created by
`enable-event` only for the specified domain, you cannot,
for example, enable a kernel domain event, start tracing and then
enable a user space domain event because no user space channel
exists yet and it's too late to create one.

For this reason, make sure to configure your channels properly
before starting the tracers for the first time!
====

Here's another example:

[role="term"]
----
lttng enable-channel --userspace --session other-session --overwrite \
                     --tracefile-size 1048576 1mib-channel
----

This will create a user space domain channel named `1mib-channel` in
the tracing session named `other-session` that loses new events by
overwriting previously recorded events (instead of the default mode of
discarding newer ones) and saves trace files with a maximum size of
1{nbsp}MiB each.

Note that channels may also be created using the `--channel` option of
the `enable-event` command when the provided channel name doesn't exist
for the specified domain:

[role="term"]
----
lttng enable-event --kernel --channel some-channel sched_switch
----

If no kernel domain channel named `some-channel` existed before calling
the above command, it would be created with default parameters.

You may enable the same event in two different channels:

[role="term"]
----
lttng enable-event --userspace --channel my-channel app:tp
lttng enable-event --userspace --channel other-channel app:tp
----

If both channels are enabled, the occurring `app:tp` event will
generate two recorded events, one for each channel.

Disabling a channel is done with the `disable-event` command:

[role="term"]
----
lttng disable-event --kernel some-channel
----

The state of a channel precedes the individual states of events within
it: events belonging to a disabled channel, even if they are
enabled, won't be recorded.



[[fine-tuning-channels]]
===== Fine-tuning channels

There are various parameters that may be fine-tuned with the
`enable-channel` command. The latter are well documented in
man:lttng(1) and in the <<channel,Channel>> section of the
<<understanding-lttng,Understanding LTTng>> chapter. For basic
tracing needs, their default values should be just fine, but here are a
few examples to break the ice.

As the frequency of recorded events increases--either because the
event throughput is actually higher or because you enabled more events
than usual&#8212;__event loss__ might be experienced. Since LTTng never
waits, by design, for sub-buffer space availability (non-blocking
tracer), when a sub-buffer is full and no empty sub-buffers are left,
there are two possible outcomes: either the new events that do not fit
are rejected, or they start replacing the oldest recorded events.
The choice of which algorithm to use is a per-channel parameter, the
default being discarding the newest events until there is some space
left. If your situation always needs the latest events at the expense
of writing over the oldest ones, create a channel with the `--overwrite`
option:

[role="term"]
----
lttng enable-channel --kernel --overwrite my-channel
----

When an event is lost, it means no space was available in any
sub-buffer to accommodate it. Thus, if you want to cope with sporadic
high event throughput situations and avoid losing events, you need to
allocate more room for storing them in memory. This can be done by
either increasing the size of sub-buffers or by adding sub-buffers.
The following example creates a user space domain channel with
16{nbsp}sub-buffers of 512{nbsp}kiB each:

[role="term"]
----
lttng enable-channel --userspace --num-subbuf 16 --subbuf-size 512k big-channel
----

Both values need to be powers of two, otherwise they are rounded up
to the next one.

Two other interesting available parameters of `enable-channel` are
`--tracefile-size` and `--tracefile-count`, which respectively limit
the size of each trace file and the their count for a given channel.
When the number of written trace files reaches its limit for a given
channel-CPU pair, the next trace file will overwrite the very first
one. The following example creates a kernel domain channel with a
maximum of three trace files of 1{nbsp}MiB each:

[role="term"]
----
lttng enable-channel --kernel --tracefile-size 1M --tracefile-count 3 my-channel
----

An efficient way to make sure lots of events are generated is enabling
all kernel events in this channel and starting the tracer:

[role="term"]
----
lttng enable-event --kernel --all --channel my-channel
lttng start
----

After a few seconds, look at trace files in your tracing session
output directory. For two CPUs, it should look like:

----
my-channel_0_0    my-channel_1_0
my-channel_0_1    my-channel_1_1
my-channel_0_2    my-channel_1_2
----

Amongst the files above, you might see one in each group with a size
lower than 1{nbsp}MiB: they are the files currently being written.

Since all those small files are valid LTTng trace files, LTTng trace
viewers may read them. It is the viewer's responsibility to properly
merge the streams so as to present an ordered list to the user.
http://diamon.org/babeltrace[Babeltrace]
merges LTTng trace files correctly and is fast at doing it.


[[adding-context]]
==== Adding some context to channels

If you read all the sections of
<<controlling-tracing,Controlling tracing>> so far, you should be
able to create tracing sessions, create and enable channels and events
within them and start/stop the LTTng tracers. Event fields recorded in
trace files provide important information about occurring events, but
sometimes external context may help you solve a problem faster. This
section discusses how to add context information to events of a
specific channel using the `lttng` tool.

There are various available context values which can accompany events
recorded by LTTng, for example:

* **process information**:
** identifier (PID)
** name
** priority
** scheduling priority (niceness)
** thread identifier (TID)
* the **hostname** of the system on which the event occurred
* plenty of **performance counters** using perf:
** CPU cycles, stalled cycles, idle cycles, etc.
** cache misses
** branch instructions, misses, loads, etc.
** CPU faults
** etc.

The full list is available in the output of `lttng add-context --help`.
Some of them are reserved for a specific domain (kernel or
user space) while others are available for both.

To add context information to one or all channels of a given tracing
session, use the `add-context` command:

[role="term"]
----
lttng add-context --userspace --type vpid --type perf:thread:cpu-cycles
----

The above example adds the virtual process identifier and per-thread
CPU cycles count values to all recorded user space domain events of the
current tracing session. Use the `--channel` option to select a specific
channel:

[role="term"]
----
lttng add-context --kernel --channel my-channel --type tid
----

adds the thread identifier value to all recorded kernel domain events
in the channel `my-channel` of the current tracing session.

Beware that context information cannot be removed from channels once
it's added for a given tracing session.


[[saving-loading-tracing-session]]
==== Saving and loading tracing session configurations

Configuring a tracing session may be long: creating and enabling
channels with specific parameters, enabling kernel and user space
domain events with specific log levels and filters, adding context
to some channels, etc. If you're going to use LTTng to solve real
world problems, chances are you're going to have to record events using
the same tracing session setup over and over, modifying a few variables
each time in your instrumented program or environment. To avoid
constant tracing session reconfiguration, the `lttng` tool is able to
save and load tracing session configurations to/from XML files.

To save a given tracing session configuration, do:

[role="term"]
----
lttng save my-session
----

where `my-session` is the name of the tracing session to save. Tracing
session configurations are saved to dir:{~/.lttng/sessions} by default;
use the `--output-path` option to change this destination directory.

All configuration parameters are saved:

* tracing session name
* trace data output path
* channels with their state and all their parameters
* context information added to channels
* events with their state, log level and filter
* tracing activity (started or stopped)

To load a tracing session, simply do:

[role="term"]
----
lttng load my-session
----

or, if you used a custom path:

[role="term"]
----
lttng load --input-path /path/to/my-session.lttng
----

Your saved tracing session will be restored as if you just configured
it manually.


[[sending-trace-data-over-the-network]]
==== Sending trace data over the network

The possibility of sending trace data over the network comes as a
built-in feature of LTTng-tools. For this to be possible, an LTTng
_relay daemon_ must be executed and listening on the machine where
trace data is to be received, and the user must create a tracing
session using appropriate options to forward trace data to the remote
relay daemon.

The relay daemon listens on two different TCP ports: one for control
information and the other for actual trace data.

Starting the relay daemon on the remote machine is as easy as:

[role="term"]
----
lttng-relayd
----

This will make it listen to its default ports: 5342 for control and
5343 for trace data. The `--control-port` and `--data-port` options may
be used to specify different ports.

Traces written by `lttng-relayd` are written to
+\~/lttng-traces/__hostname__/__session__+ by
default, where +__hostname__+ is the host name of the
traced (monitored) system and +__session__+ is the
tracing session name. Use the `--output` option to write trace data
outside dir:{~/lttng-traces}.

On the sending side, a tracing session must be created using the
`lttng` tool with the `--set-url` option to connect to the distant
relay daemon:

[role="term"]
----
lttng create my-session --set-url net://distant-host
----

The URL format is described in the output of `lttng create --help`.
The above example will use the default ports; the `--ctrl-url` and
`--data-url` options may be used to set the control and data URLs
individually.

Once this basic setup is completed and the connection is established,
you may use the `lttng` tool on the target machine as usual; everything
you do will be transparently forwarded to the remote machine if needed.
For example, a parameter changing the maximum size of trace files will
have an effect on the distant relay daemon actually writing the trace.


[[lttng-live]]
==== Viewing events as they arrive

We have seen how trace files may be produced by LTTng out of generated
application and Linux kernel events. We have seen that those trace files
may be either recorded locally by consumer daemons or remotely using
a relay daemon. And we have seen that the maximum size and count of
trace files is configurable for each channel. With all those features,
it's still not possible to read a trace file as it is being written
because it could be incomplete and appear corrupted to the viewer.
There is a way to view events as they arrive, however: using
_LTTng live_.

LTTng live is implemented, in LTTng, solely on the relay daemon side.
As trace data is sent over the network to a relay daemon by a (possibly
remote) consumer daemon, a _tee_ may be created: trace data will be
recorded to trace files _as well as_ being transmitted to a
connected live viewer:

[role="img-90"]
.LTTng live and the relay daemon.
image::lttng-live-relayd.png[]

In order to use this feature, a tracing session must created in live
mode on the target system:

[role="term"]
----
lttng create --live
----

An optional parameter may be passed to `--live` to set the interval
of time (in microseconds) between flushes to the network
(1{nbsp}second is the default):

[role="term"]
----
lttng create --live 100000
----

will flush every 100{nbsp}ms.

If no network output is specified to the `create` command, a local
relay daemon will be spawned. In this very common case, viewing a live
trace is easy: enable events and start tracing as usual, then use
`lttng view` to start the default live viewer:

[role="term"]
----
lttng view
----

The correct arguments will be passed to the live viewer so that it
may connect to the local relay daemon and start reading live events.

You may also wish to use a live viewer not running on the target
system. In this case, you should specify a network output when using
the `create` command (`--set-url` or `--ctrl-url`/`--data-url` options).
A distant LTTng relay daemon should also be started to receive control
and trace data. By default, `lttng-relayd` listens on 127.0.0.1:5344
for an LTTng live connection. Otherwise, the desired URL may be
specified using its `--live-port` option.

The
http://diamon.org/babeltrace[`babeltrace`]
viewer supports LTTng live as one of its input formats. `babeltrace` is
the default viewer when using `lttng view`. To use it manually, first
list active tracing sessions by doing the following (assuming the relay
daemon to connect to runs on the same host):

[role="term"]
----
babeltrace --input-format lttng-live net://localhost
----

Then, choose a tracing session and start viewing events as they arrive
using LTTng live, e.g.:

[role="term"]
----
babeltrace --input-format lttng-live net://localhost/host/hostname/my-session
----


[[taking-a-snapshot]]
==== Taking a snapshot

The normal behavior of LTTng is to record trace data as trace files.
This is ideal for keeping a long history of events that occurred on
the target system and applications, but may be too much data in some
situations. For example, you may wish to trace your application
continuously until some critical situation happens, in which case you
would only need the latest few recorded events to perform the desired
analysis, not multi-gigabyte trace files.

LTTng has an interesting feature called _snapshots_. When creating
a tracing session in snapshot mode, no trace files are written; the
tracers' sub-buffers are constantly overwriting the oldest recorded
events with the newest. At any time, either when the tracers are started
or stopped, you may take a snapshot of those sub-buffers.

There is no difference between the format of a normal trace file and the
format of a snapshot: viewers of LTTng traces will also support LTTng
snapshots. By default, snapshots are written to disk, but they may also
be sent over the network.

To create a tracing session in snapshot mode, do:

[role="term"]
----
lttng create --snapshot my-snapshot-session
----

Next, enable channels, events and add context to channels as usual.
Once a tracing session is created in snapshot mode, channels will be
forced to use the
<<channel-overwrite-mode-vs-discard-mode,overwrite>> mode
(`--overwrite` option of the `enable-channel` command; also called
_flight recorder mode_) and have an `mmap()` channel type
(`--output mmap`).

Start tracing. When you're ready to take a snapshot, do:

[role="term"]
----
lttng snapshot record --name my-snapshot
----

This will record a snapshot named `my-snapshot` of all channels of
all domains of the current tracing session. By default, snapshots files
are recorded in the path returned by `lttng snapshot list-output`. You
may change this path or decide to send snapshots over the network
using either:

. an output path/URL specified when creating the tracing session
  (`lttng create`)
. an added snapshot output path/URL using
  `lttng snapshot add-output`
. an output path/URL provided directly to the
  `lttng snapshot record` command

Method 3 overrides method 2 which overrides method 1. When specifying
a URL, a relay daemon must be listening on some machine (see
<<sending-trace-data-over-the-network,Sending trace data over the network>>).

If you need to make absolutely sure that the output file won't be
larger than a certain limit, you can set a maximum snapshot size when
taking it with the `--max-size` option:

[role="term"]
----
lttng snapshot record --name my-snapshot --max-size 2M
----

Older recorded events will be discarded in order to respect this
maximum size.


[[reference]]
== Reference

This chapter presents various references for LTTng packages such as links
to online manpages, tables needed by the rest of the text, descriptions
of library functions, etc.


[[online-lttng-manpages]]
=== Online LTTng manpages

LTTng packages currently install the following manpages, available
online using the links below:

* **LTTng-tools**
** man:lttng(1)
** man:lttng-sessiond(8)
** man:lttng-relayd(8)
* **LTTng-UST**
** man:lttng-gen-tp(1)
** man:lttng-ust(3)
** man:lttng-ust-cyg-profile(3)
** man:lttng-ust-dl(3)


[[lttng-ust-ref]]
=== LTTng-UST

This section presents references of the LTTng-UST package.


[[liblttng-ust]]
==== LTTng-UST library (+liblttng&#8209;ust+)

The LTTng-UST library, or `liblttng-ust`, is the main shared object
against which user applications are linked to make LTTng user space
tracing possible.

The <<c-application,C application>> guide shows the complete
process to instrument, build and run a C/$$C++$$ application using
LTTng-UST, while this section contains a few important tables.


[[liblttng-ust-tp-fields]]
===== Tracepoint fields macros (for `TP_FIELDS()`)

The available macros to define tracepoint fields, which should be listed
within `TP_FIELDS()` in `TRACEPOINT_EVENT()`, are:

[role="growable func-desc",cols="asciidoc,asciidoc"]
.Available macros to define LTTng-UST tracepoint fields
|====
|Macro |Description and parameters

|
+ctf_integer(__t__, __n__, __e__)+

+ctf_integer_nowrite(__t__, __n__, __e__)+
|
Standard integer, displayed in base 10.

+__t__+::
  Integer C type (`int`, `long`, `size_t`, etc.).

+__n__+::
  Field name.

+__e__+::
  Argument expression.

|+ctf_integer_hex(__t__, __n__, __e__)+
|
Standard integer, displayed in base 16.

+__t__+::
  Integer C type.

+__n__+::
  Field name.

+__e__+::
  Argument expression.

|+ctf_integer_network(__t__, __n__, __e__)+
|
Integer in network byte order (big endian), displayed in base 10.

+__t__+::
  Integer C type.

+__n__+::
  Field name.

+__e__+::
  Argument expression.

|+ctf_integer_network_hex(__t__, __n__, __e__)+
|
Integer in network byte order, displayed in base 16.

+__t__+::
  Integer C type.

+__n__+::
  Field name.

+__e__+::
  Argument expression.

|
+ctf_float(__t__, __n__, __e__)+

+ctf_float_nowrite(__t__, __n__, __e__)+
|
Floating point number.

+__t__+::
  Floating point number C type (`float` or `double`).

+__n__+::
  Field name.

+__e__+::
  Argument expression.

|
+ctf_string(__n__, __e__)+

+ctf_string_nowrite(__n__, __e__)+
|
Null-terminated string; undefined behavior if +__e__+ is `NULL`.

+__n__+::
  Field name.

+__e__+::
  Argument expression.

|
+ctf_array(__t__, __n__, __e__, __s__)+

+ctf_array_nowrite(__t__, __n__, __e__, __s__)+
|
Statically-sized array of integers

+__t__+::
  Array element C type.

+__n__+::
  Field name.

+__e__+::
  Argument expression.

+__s__+::
  Number of elements.

|
+ctf_array_text(__t__, __n__, __e__, __s__)+

+ctf_array_text_nowrite(__t__, __n__, __e__, __s__)+
|
Statically-sized array, printed as text.

The string does not need to be null-terminated.

+__t__+::
  Array element C type (always `char`).

+__n__+::
  Field name.

+__e__+::
  Argument expression.

+__s__+::
  Number of elements.

|
+ctf_sequence(__t__, __n__, __e__, __T__, __E__)+

+ctf_sequence_nowrite(__t__, __n__, __e__, __T__, __E__)+
|
Dynamically-sized array of integers.

The type of +__E__+ needs to be unsigned.

+__t__+::
  Array element C type.

+__n__+::
  Field name.

+__e__+::
  Argument expression.

+__T__+::
  Length expression C type.

+__E__+::
  Length expression.

|
+ctf_sequence_text(__t__, __n__, __e__, __T__, __E__)+

+ctf_sequence_text_nowrite(__t__, __n__, __e__, __T__, __E__)+
|
Dynamically-sized array, displayed as text.

The string does not need to be null-terminated.

The type of +__E__+ needs to be unsigned.

The behaviour is undefined if +__e__+ is `NULL`.

+__t__+::
  Sequence element C type (always `char`).

+__n__+::
  Field name.

+__e__+::
  Argument expression.

+__T__+::
  Length expression C type.

+__E__+::
  Length expression.
|====

The `_nowrite` versions omit themselves from the session trace, but are
otherwise identical. This means the `_nowrite` fields won't be written
in the recorded trace. Their primary purpose is to make some
of the event context available to the
<<enabling-disabling-events,event filters>> without having to
commit the data to sub-buffers.


[[liblttng-ust-tracepoint-loglevel]]
===== Tracepoint log levels (for `TRACEPOINT_LOGLEVEL()`)

The following table shows the available log level values for the
`TRACEPOINT_LOGLEVEL()` macro:

`TRACE_EMERG`::
  System is unusable.

`TRACE_ALERT`::
  Action must be taken immediately.

`TRACE_CRIT`::
  Critical conditions.

`TRACE_ERR`::
  Error conditions.

`TRACE_WARNING`::
  Warning conditions.

`TRACE_NOTICE`::
  Normal, but significant, condition.

`TRACE_INFO`::
  Informational message.

`TRACE_DEBUG_SYSTEM`::
  Debug information with system-level scope (set of programs).

`TRACE_DEBUG_PROGRAM`::
  Debug information with program-level scope (set of processes).

`TRACE_DEBUG_PROCESS`::
  Debug information with process-level scope (set of modules).

`TRACE_DEBUG_MODULE`::
   Debug information with module (executable/library) scope (set of units).

`TRACE_DEBUG_UNIT`::
   Debug information with compilation unit scope (set of functions).

`TRACE_DEBUG_FUNCTION`::
   Debug information with function-level scope.

`TRACE_DEBUG_LINE`::
   Debug information with line-level scope (TRACEPOINT_EVENT default).

`TRACE_DEBUG`::
   Debug-level message.

Log levels `TRACE_EMERG` through `TRACE_INFO` and `TRACE_DEBUG` match
http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man3/syslog.3.html[syslog]
level semantics. Log levels `TRACE_DEBUG_SYSTEM` through `TRACE_DEBUG`
offer more fine-grained selection of debug information.


[[lttng-modules-ref]]
=== LTTng-modules

This section presents references of the LTTng-modules package.


[[lttng-modules-tp-struct-entry]]
==== Tracepoint fields macros (for `TP_STRUCT__entry()`)

This table describes possible entries for the `TP_STRUCT__entry()` part
of `LTTNG_TRACEPOINT_EVENT()`:

[role="growable func-desc",cols="asciidoc,asciidoc"]
.Available entries for `TP_STRUCT__entry()` (in `LTTNG_TRACEPOINT_EVENT()`)
|====
|Macro |Description and parameters

|+\__field(__t__, __n__)+
|
Standard integer, displayed in base 10.

+__t__+::
  Integer C type (`int`, `unsigned char`, `size_t`, etc.).

+__n__+::
  Field name.

|+\__field_hex(__t__, __n__)+
|
Standard integer, displayed in base 16.

+__t__+::
  Integer C type.

+__n__+::
  Field name.

|+\__field_oct(__t__, __n__)+
|
Standard integer, displayed in base 8.

+__t__+::
  Integer C type.

+__n__+::
  Field name.

|+\__field_network(__t__, __n__)+
|
Integer in network byte order (big endian), displayed in base 10.

+__t__+::
  Integer C type.

+__n__+::
  Field name.

|+\__field_network_hex(__t__, __n__)+
|
Integer in network byte order (big endian), displayed in base 16.

+__t__+::
  Integer C type.

+__n__+::
  Field name.

|+\__array(__t__, __n__, __s__)+
|
Statically-sized array, elements displayed in base 10.

+__t__+::
  Array element C type.

+__n__+::
  Field name.

+__s__+::
  Number of elements.

|+\__array_hex(__t__, __n__, __s__)+
|
Statically-sized array, elements displayed in base 16.

+__t__+::
  array element C type.
+__n__+::
  field name.
+__s__+::
  number of elements.

|+\__array_text(__t__, __n__, __s__)+
|
Statically-sized array, displayed as text.

+__t__+::
  Array element C type (always char).

+__n__+::
  Field name.

+__s__+::
  Number of elements.

|+\__dynamic_array(__t__, __n__, __s__)+
|
Dynamically-sized array, displayed in base 10.

+__t__+::
  Array element C type.

+__n__+::
  Field name.

+__s__+::
  Length C expression.

|+\__dynamic_array_hex(__t__, __n__, __s__)+
|
Dynamically-sized array, displayed in base 16.

+__t__+::
  Array element C type.

+__n__+::
  Field name.

+__s__+::
  Length C expression.

|+\__dynamic_array_text(__t__, __n__, __s__)+
|
Dynamically-sized array, displayed as text.

+__t__+::
  Array element C type (always char).

+__n__+::
  Field name.

+__s__+::
  Length C expression.

|+\__string(n, __s__)+
|
Null-terminated string.

The behaviour is undefined behavior if +__s__+ is `NULL`.

+__n__+::
  Field name.

+__s__+::
  String source (pointer).
|====

The above macros should cover the majority of cases. For advanced items,
see path:{probes/lttng-events.h}.


[[lttng-modules-tp-fast-assign]]
==== Tracepoint assignment macros (for `TP_fast_assign()`)

This table describes possible entries for the `TP_fast_assign()` part
of `LTTNG_TRACEPOINT_EVENT()`:

.Available entries for `TP_fast_assign()` (in `LTTNG_TRACEPOINT_EVENT()`)
[role="growable func-desc",cols="asciidoc,asciidoc"]
|====
|Macro |Description and parameters

|+tp_assign(__d__, __s__)+
|
Assignment of C expression +__s__+ to tracepoint field +__d__+.

+__d__+::
  Name of destination tracepoint field.

+__s__+::
  Source C expression (may refer to tracepoint arguments).

|+tp_memcpy(__d__, __s__, __l__)+
|
Memory copy of +__l__+ bytes from +__s__+ to tracepoint field
+__d__+ (use with array fields).

+__d__+::
  Name of destination tracepoint field.

+__s__+::
  Source C expression (may refer to tracepoint arguments).

+__l__+::
  Number of bytes to copy.

|+tp_memcpy_from_user(__d__, __s__, __l__)+
|
Memory copy of +__l__+ bytes from user space +__s__+ to tracepoint
field +__d__+ (use with array fields).

+__d__+::
  Name of destination tracepoint field.

+__s__+::
  Source C expression (may refer to tracepoint arguments).

+__l__+::
  Number of bytes to copy.

|+tp_memcpy_dyn(__d__, __s__)+
|
Memory copy of dynamically-sized array from +__s__+ to tracepoint field
+__d__+.

The number of bytes is known from the field's length expression
(use with dynamically-sized array fields).

+__d__+::
  Name of destination tracepoint field.

+__s__+::
  Source C expression (may refer to tracepoint arguments).

+__l__+::
  Number of bytes to copy.

|+tp_strcpy(__d__, __s__)+
|
String copy of +__s__+ to tracepoint field +__d__+ (use with string
fields).

+__d__+::
  Name of destination tracepoint field.

+__s__+::
  Source C expression (may refer to tracepoint arguments).
|====