[PATCH 0/3] Fix out-of-tree build of some tools

[PATCH 0/3] Fix out-of-tree build of some tools

[Ben Hutchings]

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perf and rtla currently don't fully support out-of-tree builds, as
they may still create files in their source directory.  This series
fixes all the instances of this problem that I have found.

Ben.

Ben Hutchings (3):
  rtla: Fix output files in source tree
  perf tools: Put Python egg info in output directory
  perf tools: Put Python bytecode in output directory

 tools/perf/Makefile.perf            |  9 ++++++++-
 tools/tracing/rtla/Makefile         | 31 ++++++++++++++++++-----------
 tools/tracing/rtla/tests/timerlat.t |  4 ++--
 3 files changed, 29 insertions(+), 15 deletions(-)


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[PATCH 1/3] rtla: Fix output files in source tree

[Ben Hutchings]

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Some output files (src/timerlat.bpf.o, src/timerlat.skel.h,
example/timerlat_bpf_action.o, tests/bpf/bpf_action_map.o) are
currently generated in the source tree, preventing a fully out-of-tree
build.  To fix this:

- Add $(OUTPUT) to their filenames in the relevant Makefile rules, and
  create subdirectories as needed
- Add $(OUTPUT)src to the include path
- Add ${OUTPUT} to the BPF object filename in tests/timerlat.t

Fixes: e34293ddcebd ("rtla/timerlat: Add BPF skeleton to collect samples")
Fixes: 0304a3b7ec9a ("rtla/timerlat: Add example for BPF action program")
Fixes: 5525aebd4e0c ("rtla/tests: Test BPF action program")
Signed-off-by: Ben Hutchings <benh@debian.org>
---
 tools/tracing/rtla/Makefile         | 31 ++++++++++++++++++-----------
 tools/tracing/rtla/tests/timerlat.t |  4 ++--
 2 files changed, 21 insertions(+), 14 deletions(-)

diff --git a/tools/tracing/rtla/Makefile b/tools/tracing/rtla/Makefile
index 45690ee14544..f54da7be735d 100644
--- a/tools/tracing/rtla/Makefile
+++ b/tools/tracing/rtla/Makefile
@@ -66,30 +66,37 @@ ifeq ($(config),1)
   include Makefile.config
 endif
 
+INCLUDES	= -I$(OUTPUT)src
+
 CFLAGS		+= $(INCLUDES) $(LIB_INCLUDES)
 
 export CFLAGS OUTPUT srctree
 
 ifeq ($(BUILD_BPF_SKEL),1)
-src/timerlat.bpf.o: src/timerlat.bpf.c
+$(OUTPUT)src/timerlat.bpf.o: src/timerlat.bpf.c
+	mkdir -p $(@D)
 	$(QUIET_CLANG)$(CLANG) -g -O2 -target bpf -c $(filter %.c,$^) -o $@
 
-src/timerlat.skel.h: src/timerlat.bpf.o
+$(OUTPUT)src/timerlat.skel.h: $(OUTPUT)src/timerlat.bpf.o
+	mkdir -p $(@D)
 	$(QUIET_GENSKEL)$(SYSTEM_BPFTOOL) gen skeleton $< > $@
 
-example/timerlat_bpf_action.o: example/timerlat_bpf_action.c
+$(OUTPUT)example/timerlat_bpf_action.o: example/timerlat_bpf_action.c
+	mkdir -p $(@D)
 	$(QUIET_CLANG)$(CLANG) -g -O2 -target bpf -c $(filter %.c,$^) -o $@
 
-tests/bpf/bpf_action_map.o: tests/bpf/bpf_action_map.c
+$(OUTPUT)tests/bpf/bpf_action_map.o: tests/bpf/bpf_action_map.c
+	mkdir -p $(@D)
 	$(QUIET_CLANG)$(CLANG) -g -O2 -target bpf -c $(filter %.c,$^) -o $@
 else
-src/timerlat.skel.h:
-	$(Q)echo '/* BPF skeleton is disabled */' > src/timerlat.skel.h
+$(OUTPUT)src/timerlat.skel.h:
+	mkdir -p $(@D)
+	$(Q)echo '/* BPF skeleton is disabled */' > $@
 
-example/timerlat_bpf_action.o: example/timerlat_bpf_action.c
+$(OUTPUT)example/timerlat_bpf_action.o: example/timerlat_bpf_action.c
 	$(Q)echo "BPF skeleton support is disabled, skipping example/timerlat_bpf_action.o"
 
-tests/bpf/bpf_action_map.o: tests/bpf/bpf_action_map.c
+$(OUTPUT)tests/bpf/bpf_action_map.o: tests/bpf/bpf_action_map.c
 	$(Q)echo "BPF skeleton support is disabled, skipping tests/bpf/bpf_action_map.o"
 endif
 
@@ -103,7 +110,7 @@ static: $(RTLA_IN)
 rtla.%: fixdep FORCE
 	make -f $(srctree)/tools/build/Makefile.build dir=. $@
 
-$(RTLA_IN): fixdep FORCE src/timerlat.skel.h
+$(RTLA_IN): fixdep FORCE $(OUTPUT)src/timerlat.skel.h
 	make $(build)=rtla
 
 clean: doc_clean fixdep-clean
@@ -111,10 +118,10 @@ clean: doc_clean fixdep-clean
 	$(Q)find . -name '*.o' -delete -o -name '\.*.cmd' -delete -o -name '\.*.d' -delete
 	$(Q)rm -f rtla rtla-static fixdep FEATURE-DUMP rtla-*
 	$(Q)rm -rf feature
-	$(Q)rm -f src/timerlat.bpf.o src/timerlat.skel.h example/timerlat_bpf_action.o
+	$(Q)rm -f $(OUTPUT)src/timerlat.bpf.o $(OUTPUT)src/timerlat.skel.h $(OUTPUT)example/timerlat_bpf_action.o
 	$(Q)rm -f $(UNIT_TESTS)
 
-check: $(RTLA) tests/bpf/bpf_action_map.o
+check: $(RTLA) $(OUTPUT)tests/bpf/bpf_action_map.o
 	RTLA=$(RTLA) BPFTOOL=$(SYSTEM_BPFTOOL) prove -o -f -v tests/
-examples: example/timerlat_bpf_action.o
+examples: $(OUTPUT)example/timerlat_bpf_action.o
 .PHONY: FORCE clean check
diff --git a/tools/tracing/rtla/tests/timerlat.t b/tools/tracing/rtla/tests/timerlat.t
index fd4935fd7b49..e0f3fc4df655 100644
--- a/tools/tracing/rtla/tests/timerlat.t
+++ b/tools/tracing/rtla/tests/timerlat.t
@@ -74,12 +74,12 @@ then
 	# Test BPF action program properly in BPF mode
 	[ -z "$BPFTOOL" ] && BPFTOOL=bpftool
 	check "hist with BPF action program (BPF mode)" \
-		"timerlat hist -T 2 --bpf-action tests/bpf/bpf_action_map.o --on-threshold shell,command='$BPFTOOL map dump name rtla_test_map'" \
+		"timerlat hist -T 2 --bpf-action ${OUTPUT}tests/bpf/bpf_action_map.o --on-threshold shell,command='$BPFTOOL map dump name rtla_test_map'" \
 		2 '"value": 42'
 else
 	# Test BPF action program failure in non-BPF mode
 	check "hist with BPF action program (non-BPF mode)" \
-		"timerlat hist -T 2 --bpf-action tests/bpf/bpf_action_map.o" \
+		"timerlat hist -T 2 --bpf-action ${OUTPUT}tests/bpf/bpf_action_map.o" \
 		1 "BPF actions are not supported in tracefs-only mode"
 fi
 done


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[PATCH 2/3] perf tools: Put Python egg info in output directory

[Ben Hutchings]

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Installing the Python extension currently creates an egg-info
directory in the source tree, preventing a fully out-of-tree build.

Add the necessary runes to the setup.py comamnd line to relocate the
egg-info directory in an out-of-tree build.

Signed-off-by: Ben Hutchings <benh@debian.org>
---
 tools/perf/Makefile.perf | 4 +++-
 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/tools/perf/Makefile.perf b/tools/perf/Makefile.perf
index cee19c923c06..899a4249a42f 100644
--- a/tools/perf/Makefile.perf
+++ b/tools/perf/Makefile.perf
@@ -1152,7 +1152,9 @@ install-bin: install-tools install-tests
 install: install-bin try-install-man
 
 install-python_ext:
-	$(PYTHON_WORD) util/setup.py --quiet install --root='/$(DESTDIR_SQ)'
+	$(PYTHON_WORD) util/setup.py --quiet \
+		$(if $(OUTPUT),egg_info --egg-base $(OUTPUT)) \
+		install --root='/$(DESTDIR_SQ)'
 
 # 'make install-doc' should call 'make -C Documentation install'
 $(INSTALL_DOC_TARGETS):


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[PATCH 3/3] perf tools: Put Python bytecode in output directory

[Ben Hutchings]

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The PMU events are processed into C sources by Python scripts, which
normally results in writing bytecode for each module into the source
tree.  This prevents a fully out-of-tree build.

To fix this, set $PYTHONPYCACHEPREFIX to relocate the bytecode cache
directory in an out-of-tree build.

Signed-off-by: Ben Hutchings <benh@debian.org>
---
 tools/perf/Makefile.perf | 5 +++++
 1 file changed, 5 insertions(+)

diff --git a/tools/perf/Makefile.perf b/tools/perf/Makefile.perf
index 899a4249a42f..c35b65f9fdda 100644
--- a/tools/perf/Makefile.perf
+++ b/tools/perf/Makefile.perf
@@ -400,6 +400,11 @@ PYTHON_EXTBUILD_LIB := $(PYTHON_EXTBUILD)lib/
 PYTHON_EXTBUILD_TMP := $(PYTHON_EXTBUILD)tmp/
 export PYTHON_EXTBUILD_LIB PYTHON_EXTBUILD_TMP
 
+# Put Python bytecode in output directory
+ifdef OUTPUT
+export PYTHONPYCACHEPREFIX := $(OUTPUT)/__pycache__
+endif
+
 python-clean := $(call QUIET_CLEAN, python) $(RM) -r $(PYTHON_EXTBUILD) $(OUTPUT)python/perf*.so
 
 # Use the detected configuration

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Re: [PATCH 1/3] rtla: Fix output files in source tree

[Steven Rostedt]

On Thu, 21 May 2026 16:35:25 +0200
Ben Hutchings <benh@debian.org> wrote:

> Some output files (src/timerlat.bpf.o, src/timerlat.skel.h,
> example/timerlat_bpf_action.o, tests/bpf/bpf_action_map.o) are
> currently generated in the source tree, preventing a fully out-of-tree
> build.  To fix this:
> 
> - Add $(OUTPUT) to their filenames in the relevant Makefile rules, and
>   create subdirectories as needed
> - Add $(OUTPUT)src to the include path
> - Add ${OUTPUT} to the BPF object filename in tests/timerlat.t
> 
> Fixes: e34293ddcebd ("rtla/timerlat: Add BPF skeleton to collect samples")
> Fixes: 0304a3b7ec9a ("rtla/timerlat: Add example for BPF action program")
> Fixes: 5525aebd4e0c ("rtla/tests: Test BPF action program")
> Signed-off-by: Ben Hutchings <benh@debian.org>

Hi Ben,

Can you send this as a separate patch. The rtla code is handled via a
different tree than the perf code. So these patches will not be going
together.

Thanks,

-- Steve

Re: [PATCH 0/3] Fix out-of-tree build of some tools

[Ian Rogers]

On Thu, May 21, 2026 at 7:57 AM Ben Hutchings <benh@debian.org> wrote:
>
> perf and rtla currently don't fully support out-of-tree builds, as
> they may still create files in their source directory.  This series
> fixes all the instances of this problem that I have found.
>
> Ben.

Thanks for the cleanup! I ran Sashiko locally and it noted that we
should also fix the clean steps to remove these files (I'll copy the
full text below).
Reviewed-by: Ian Rogers <irogers@google.com>

```
commit cf212be834ce6b0df5cccdbc4ad977a917ff8e48
   Author: Ben Hutchings <benh@debian.org>

   perf tools: Put Python egg info in output directory

   Installing the Python extension currently creates an egg-info
   directory in the source tree, preventing a fully out-of-tree build.

   Add the necessary runes to the setup.py comamnd line to relocate the
   egg-info directory in an out-of-tree build.

   > diff --git a/tools/perf/Makefile.perf b/tools/perf/Makefile.perf
   > index fc92d6ceac5b..b9a9bdddb89a 100644
   > --- a/tools/perf/Makefile.perf
   > +++ b/tools/perf/Makefile.perf
   > @@ -905,7 +910,9 @@ install-bin: install-tools install-tests
   >  install: install-bin try-install-man
   >
   >  install-python_ext:
   > -       $(PYTHON_WORD) util/setup.py --quiet install
--root='/$(DESTDIR_SQ)'
   > +       $(PYTHON_WORD) util/setup.py --quiet \
   > +               $(if $(OUTPUT),egg_info --egg-base $(OUTPUT)) \
   > +               install --root='/$(DESTDIR_SQ)'

   This relocates the egg-info directory to the output directory, which
   helps keep the source tree clean. However, does the `python-clean`
   target need to be updated to clean up this directory?

   Currently, `python-clean` is defined as:

   python-clean := $(call QUIET_CLEAN, python) $(RM) -r
$(PYTHON_EXTBUILD) $(OUTPUT)python/perf*.so

   Should we also clean `$(OUTPUT)/perf.egg-info` (or `perf.egg-info` for
   in-tree builds) to ensure `make clean` removes all generated python
   metadata? For example:

   python-clean := $(call QUIET_CLEAN, python) \
                   $(RM) -r $(PYTHON_EXTBUILD) $(OUTPUT)python/perf*.so \
                   $(OUTPUT)perf.egg-info perf.egg-info

   commit dd754ea75966ec7ade41500afeb32d944f20a8f9
   Author: Ben Hutchings <benh@debian.org>

   perf tools: Put Python bytecode in output directory

   The PMU events are processed into C sources by Python scripts,
which
   normally results in writing bytecode for each module into the
source
   tree.  This prevents a fully out-of-tree build.

   To fix this, set $PYTHONPYCACHEPREFIX to relocate the bytecode cache
   directory in an out-of-tree build.

   > diff --git a/tools/perf/Makefile.perf b/tools/perf/Makefile.perf
   > index fc92d6ceac5b..b9a9bdddb89a 100644
   > --- a/tools/perf/Makefile.perf
   > +++ b/tools/perf/Makefile.perf
   > @@ -400,6 +400,11 @@ PYTHON_EXTBUILD_LIB :=
$(PYTHON_EXTBUILD)lib/
   >  PYTHON_EXTBUILD_TMP := $(PYTHON_EXTBUILD)tmp/
   >  export PYTHON_EXTBUILD_LIB PYTHON_EXTBUILD_TMP
   >
   > +# Put Python bytecode in output directory
   > +ifdef OUTPUT
   > +export PYTHONPYCACHEPREFIX := $(OUTPUT)/__pycache__
   > +endif
   > +
   >  python-clean := $(call QUIET_CLEAN, python) $(RM) -r
$(PYTHON_EXTBUILD) $(OUTPUT)python/perf*.so

   Similar to the egg-info relocation, does `python-clean` need to
clean up
   the relocated `__pycache__` directory under `$(OUTPUT)`?

   If `PYTHONPYCACHEPREFIX` is exported to `$(OUTPUT)/__pycache__`, running
   `make clean` currently leaves this directory behind. Should we add it to
   the `RM` list in `python-clean`? For example:

   python-clean := $(call QUIET_CLEAN, python) \
                   $(RM) -r $(PYTHON_EXTBUILD)
$(OUTPUT)python/perf*.so \
                   $(if $(OUTPUT),$(OUTPUT)/__pycache__)
```

Thanks,
Ian

> Ben Hutchings (3):
>   rtla: Fix output files in source tree
>   perf tools: Put Python egg info in output directory
>   perf tools: Put Python bytecode in output directory
>
>  tools/perf/Makefile.perf            |  9 ++++++++-
>  tools/tracing/rtla/Makefile         | 31 ++++++++++++++++++-----------
>  tools/tracing/rtla/tests/timerlat.t |  4 ++--
>  3 files changed, 29 insertions(+), 15 deletions(-)
>