Re: [PATCH v5 0/3] Tracing: Accelerate Kernel Boot by Asynchronizing

[Masami Hiramatsu (Google) <mhiramat@kernel.org>]

On Wed,  4 Feb 2026 09:51:03 +0800
Yaxiong Tian <tianyaxiong@kylinos.cn> wrote:

> On my ARM64 platform, I observed that certain tracing module
> initializations run for up to 200ms—for example, init_kprobe_trace().
> Analysis reveals the root cause: the execution flow eval_map_work_func()
> →trace_event_update_with_eval_map()→trace_event_update_all()
> is highly time-consuming. Although this flow is placed in eval_map_wq
> for asynchronous execution, it holds the trace_event_sem lock, causing
> other modules to be blocked either directly or indirectly. Also in
> init_blk_tracer(), this functions require trace_event_sem device_initcall.
> 
> To resolve this issue, I rename `eval_map_wq` and make it global and moved
> init_blk_tracer that are related to this lock to run asynchronously on this
> workqueue. Also check for kprobe_event= grub parameter; if not provided,
> init_kprobe_trace() returns directly. After optimization, boot time is
> reduced by approximately 200ms.
> 
> 
> Based on my analysis and testing, I've identified that only these two
> locations significantly impact timing. Other initcall_* functions do not
> exhibit relevant lock contention.
> 
> A brief summary of the test results is as follows:
> Before this PATCHS:
> [    0.224933] calling  init_kprobe_trace+0x0/0xe0 @ 1
> [    0.455016] initcall init_kprobe_trace+0x0/0xe0 returned 0 after 230080 usecs
> 
> Only opt setup_boot_kprobe_events() can see:
> [    0.258609] calling  init_blk_tracer+0x0/0x68 @ 1
> [    0.454991] initcall init_blk_tracer+0x0/0x68 returned 0 after 196377 usecs
> 
> After this PATCHS:
> [    0.224940] calling  init_kprobe_trace+0x0/0xe0 @ 1
> [    0.224946] initcall init_kprobe_trace+0x0/0xe0 returned 0 after 3 usecs
> skip --------
> [    0.264835] calling  init_blk_tracer+0x0/0x68 @ 1
> [    0.264841] initcall init_blk_tracer+0x0/0x68 returned 0 after 2 usecs

Looks good to me.

Acked-by: Masami Hiramatsu (Google) <mhiramat@kernel.org>

Thanks!

> 
> ---
> Changes in v2:
> - Rename eval_map_wq to trace_init_wq.
> Changes in v3:
> - Opt PATCH 1/3 commit
> Changes in v4:
> - add trace_async_init boot parameter in patch2
> - add init_kprobe_trace's skip logic in patch3
> - add Suggested-by tag 
> - Other synchronous optimizations related to trace_async_init
> https://lore.kernel.org/all/20260128125117.1704853-1-tianyaxiong@kylinos.cn/
> Changes in v5:
> - remove trace_async_init boot parameter (patch2 v4)
> - remove make  Make setup_boot_kprobe_events() asynchronous (patch4 v4)
> - Adjusted the patch sequence.
> 
> 
> Yaxiong Tian (3):
>   tracing: Rename `eval_map_wq` and allow other parts of tracing use it
>   blktrace: Make init_blk_tracer() asynchronous
>   tracing/kprobes: Skip setup_boot_kprobe_events() when no cmdline event
> 
>  kernel/trace/blktrace.c     | 23 ++++++++++++++++++++++-
>  kernel/trace/trace.c        | 18 +++++++++---------
>  kernel/trace/trace.h        |  1 +
>  kernel/trace/trace_kprobe.c |  4 ++++
>  4 files changed, 36 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-)
> 
> -- 
> 2.25.1
> 
> 


-- 
Masami Hiramatsu (Google) <mhiramat@kernel.org>