[PATCH V9 11/13] perf intel-pt: Improve man page format

Adrian Hunter
2024-07-15T16:08:27Z

Improve format of config terms and section references.

Signed-off-by: Adrian Hunter <adrian.hunter@intel.com>
Acked-by: Ian Rogers <irogers@google.com>
Reviewed-by: Andi Kleen <ak@linux.intel.com>
---
tools/perf/Documentation/perf-intel-pt.txt | 486 +++++++++++----------
1 file changed, 267 insertions(+), 219 deletions(-)

diff --git a/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-intel-pt.txt b/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-intel-pt.txt
index 59ab1ff9d75f..ad39bf20f862 100644
--- a/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-intel-pt.txt
+++ b/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-intel-pt.txt
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ displayed as follows:
There are two ways that instructions-per-cycle (IPC) can be calculated depending
on the recording.

-If the 'cyc' config term (see config terms section below) was used, then IPC
+If the 'cyc' config term (see <<_config_terms,config terms>> section below) was used, then IPC
and cycle events are calculated using the cycle count from CYC packets, otherwise
MTC packets are used - refer to the 'mtc' config term. When MTC is used, however,
the values are less accurate because the timing is less accurate.
@@ -239,7 +239,7 @@ which is the same as

-e intel_pt/tsc=1,noretcomp=0/

-Note there are now new config terms - see section 'config terms' further below.
+Note there are other config terms - see section <<_config_terms,config terms>> further below.

The config terms are listed in /sys/devices/intel_pt/format. They are bit
fields within the config member of the struct perf_event_attr which is
@@ -311,217 +311,264 @@ perf_event_attr is displayed if the -vv option is used e.g.
config terms
~~~~~~~~~~~~

-The June 2015 version of Intel 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developer
-Manuals, Chapter 36 Intel Processor Trace, defined new Intel PT features.
-Some of the features are reflect in new config terms. All the config terms are
-described below.
-
-tsc Always supported. Produces TSC timestamp packets to provide
- timing information. In some cases it is possible to decode
- without timing information, for example a per-thread context
- that does not overlap executable memory maps.
-
- The default config selects tsc (i.e. tsc=1).
-
-noretcomp Always supported. Disables "return compression" so a TIP packet
- is produced when a function returns. Causes more packets to be
- produced but might make decoding more reliable.
-
- The default config does not select noretcomp (i.e. noretcomp=0).
-
-psb_period Allows the frequency of PSB packets to be specified.
-
- The PSB packet is a synchronization packet that provides a
- starting point for decoding or recovery from errors.
-
- Support for psb_period is indicated by:
-
- /sys/bus/event_source/devices/intel_pt/caps/psb_cyc
-
- which contains "1" if the feature is supported and "0"
- otherwise.
-
- Valid values are given by:
-
- /sys/bus/event_source/devices/intel_pt/caps/psb_periods
-
- which contains a hexadecimal value, the bits of which represent
- valid values e.g. bit 2 set means value 2 is valid.
-
- The psb_period value is converted to the approximate number of
- trace bytes between PSB packets as:
-
- 2 ^ (value + 11)
-
- e.g. value 3 means 16KiB bytes between PSBs
-
- If an invalid value is entered, the error message
- will give a list of valid values e.g.
-
- $ perf record -e intel_pt/psb_period=15/u uname
- Invalid psb_period for intel_pt. Valid values are: 0-5
-
- If MTC packets are selected, the default config selects a value
- of 3 (i.e. psb_period=3) or the nearest lower value that is
- supported (0 is always supported). Otherwise the default is 0.
-
- If decoding is expected to be reliable and the buffer is large
- then a large PSB period can be used.
-
- Because a TSC packet is produced with PSB, the PSB period can
- also affect the granularity to timing information in the absence
- of MTC or CYC.
-
-mtc Produces MTC timing packets.
-
- MTC packets provide finer grain timestamp information than TSC
- packets. MTC packets record time using the hardware crystal
- clock (CTC) which is related to TSC packets using a TMA packet.
-
- Support for this feature is indicated by:
-
- /sys/bus/event_source/devices/intel_pt/caps/mtc
-
- which contains "1" if the feature is supported and
- "0" otherwise.
-
- The frequency of MTC packets can also be specified - see
- mtc_period below.
-
-mtc_period Specifies how frequently MTC packets are produced - see mtc
- above for how to determine if MTC packets are supported.
-
- Valid values are given by:
-
- /sys/bus/event_source/devices/intel_pt/caps/mtc_periods
-
- which contains a hexadecimal value, the bits of which represent
- valid values e.g. bit 2 set means value 2 is valid.
-
- The mtc_period value is converted to the MTC frequency as:
-
- CTC-frequency / (2 ^ value)
-
- e.g. value 3 means one eighth of CTC-frequency
-
- Where CTC is the hardware crystal clock, the frequency of which
- can be related to TSC via values provided in cpuid leaf 0x15.
-
- If an invalid value is entered, the error message
- will give a list of valid values e.g.
-
- $ perf record -e intel_pt/mtc_period=15/u uname
- Invalid mtc_period for intel_pt. Valid values are: 0,3,6,9
-
- The default value is 3 or the nearest lower value
- that is supported (0 is always supported).
-
-cyc Produces CYC timing packets.
-
- CYC packets provide even finer grain timestamp information than
- MTC and TSC packets. A CYC packet contains the number of CPU
- cycles since the last CYC packet. Unlike MTC and TSC packets,
- CYC packets are only sent when another packet is also sent.
-
- Support for this feature is indicated by:
-
- /sys/bus/event_source/devices/intel_pt/caps/psb_cyc
-
- which contains "1" if the feature is supported and
- "0" otherwise.
-
- The number of CYC packets produced can be reduced by specifying
- a threshold - see cyc_thresh below.
-
-cyc_thresh Specifies how frequently CYC packets are produced - see cyc
- above for how to determine if CYC packets are supported.
-
- Valid cyc_thresh values are given by:
-
- /sys/bus/event_source/devices/intel_pt/caps/cycle_thresholds
-
- which contains a hexadecimal value, the bits of which represent
- valid values e.g. bit 2 set means value 2 is valid.
-
- The cyc_thresh value represents the minimum number of CPU cycles
- that must have passed before a CYC packet can be sent. The
- number of CPU cycles is:
-
- 2 ^ (value - 1)
-
- e.g. value 4 means 8 CPU cycles must pass before a CYC packet
- can be sent. Note a CYC packet is still only sent when another
- packet is sent, not at, e.g. every 8 CPU cycles.
-
- If an invalid value is entered, the error message
- will give a list of valid values e.g.
-
- $ perf record -e intel_pt/cyc,cyc_thresh=15/u uname
- Invalid cyc_thresh for intel_pt. Valid values are: 0-12
-
- CYC packets are not requested by default.
-
-pt Specifies pass-through which enables the 'branch' config term.
-
- The default config selects 'pt' if it is available, so a user will
- never need to specify this term.
-
-branch Enable branch tracing. Branch tracing is enabled by default so to
- disable branch tracing use 'branch=0'.
-
- The default config selects 'branch' if it is available.
-
-ptw Enable PTWRITE packets which are produced when a ptwrite instruction
- is executed.
-
- Support for this feature is indicated by:
-
- /sys/bus/event_source/devices/intel_pt/caps/ptwrite
-
- which contains "1" if the feature is supported and
- "0" otherwise.
-
- As an alternative, refer to "Emulated PTWRITE" further below.
-
-fup_on_ptw Enable a FUP packet to follow the PTWRITE packet. The FUP packet
- provides the address of the ptwrite instruction. In the absence of
- fup_on_ptw, the decoder will use the address of the previous branch
- if branch tracing is enabled, otherwise the address will be zero.
- Note that fup_on_ptw will work even when branch tracing is disabled.
-
-pwr_evt Enable power events. The power events provide information about
- changes to the CPU C-state.
-
- Support for this feature is indicated by:
-
- /sys/bus/event_source/devices/intel_pt/caps/power_event_trace
-
- which contains "1" if the feature is supported and
- "0" otherwise.
-
-event Enable Event Trace. The events provide information about asynchronous
- events.
-
- Support for this feature is indicated by:
-
- /sys/bus/event_source/devices/intel_pt/caps/event_trace
-
- which contains "1" if the feature is supported and
- "0" otherwise.
-
-notnt Disable TNT packets. Without TNT packets, it is not possible to walk
- executable code to reconstruct control flow, however FUP, TIP, TIP.PGE
- and TIP.PGD packets still indicate asynchronous control flow, and (if
- return compression is disabled - see noretcomp) return statements.
- The advantage of eliminating TNT packets is reducing the size of the
- trace and corresponding tracing overhead.
-
- Support for this feature is indicated by:
-
- /sys/bus/event_source/devices/intel_pt/caps/tnt_disable
-
- which contains "1" if the feature is supported and
- "0" otherwise.
+Config terms are parameters specified with the -e intel_pt// event option,
+for example:
+
+ -e intel_pt/cyc/
+
+which selects cycle accurate mode. Each config term can have a value which
+defaults to 1, so the above is the same as:
+
+ -e intel_pt/cyc=1/
+
+Some terms are set by default, so must be set to 0 to turn them off. For
+example, to turn off branch tracing:
+
+ -e intel_pt/branch=0/
+
+Multiple config terms are separated by commas, for example:
+
+ -e intel_pt/cyc,mtc_period=9/
+
+There are also common config terms, see linkperf:perf-record[1] documentation.
+
+Intel PT config terms are described below.
+
+*tsc*::
+Always supported. Produces TSC timestamp packets to provide
+timing information. In some cases it is possible to decode
+without timing information, for example a per-thread context
+that does not overlap executable memory maps.
++
+The default config selects tsc (i.e. tsc=1).
+
+*noretcomp*::
+Always supported. Disables "return compression" so a TIP packet
+is produced when a function returns. Causes more packets to be
+produced but might make decoding more reliable.
++
+The default config does not select noretcomp (i.e. noretcomp=0).
+
+*psb_period*::
+Allows the frequency of PSB packets to be specified.
++
+The PSB packet is a synchronization packet that provides a
+starting point for decoding or recovery from errors.
++
+Support for psb_period is indicated by:
++
+ /sys/bus/event_source/devices/intel_pt/caps/psb_cyc
++
+which contains "1" if the feature is supported and "0"
+otherwise.
++
+Valid values are given by:
++
+ /sys/bus/event_source/devices/intel_pt/caps/psb_periods
++
+which contains a hexadecimal value, the bits of which represent
+valid values e.g. bit 2 set means value 2 is valid.
++
+The psb_period value is converted to the approximate number of
+trace bytes between PSB packets as:
++
+ 2 ^ (value + 11)
++
+e.g. value 3 means 16KiB bytes between PSBs
++
+If an invalid value is entered, the error message
+will give a list of valid values e.g.
++
+ $ perf record -e intel_pt/psb_period=15/u uname
+ Invalid psb_period for intel_pt. Valid values are: 0-5
++
+If MTC packets are selected, the default config selects a value
+of 3 (i.e. psb_period=3) or the nearest lower value that is
+supported (0 is always supported). Otherwise the default is 0.
++
+If decoding is expected to be reliable and the buffer is large
+then a large PSB period can be used.
++
+Because a TSC packet is produced with PSB, the PSB period can
+also affect the granularity to timing information in the absence
+of MTC or CYC.
+
+*mtc*::
+Produces MTC timing packets.
++
+MTC packets provide finer grain timestamp information than TSC
+packets. MTC packets record time using the hardware crystal
+clock (CTC) which is related to TSC packets using a TMA packet.
++
+Support for this feature is indicated by:
++
+ /sys/bus/event_source/devices/intel_pt/caps/mtc
++
+which contains "1" if the feature is supported and
+"0" otherwise.
++
+The frequency of MTC packets can also be specified - see
+mtc_period below.
+
+*mtc_period*::
+Specifies how frequently MTC packets are produced - see mtc
+above for how to determine if MTC packets are supported.
++
+Valid values are given by:
++
+ /sys/bus/event_source/devices/intel_pt/caps/mtc_periods
++
+which contains a hexadecimal value, the bits of which represent
+valid values e.g. bit 2 set means value 2 is valid.
++
+The mtc_period value is converted to the MTC frequency as:
+
+ CTC-frequency / (2 ^ value)
++
+e.g. value 3 means one eighth of CTC-frequency
++
+Where CTC is the hardware crystal clock, the frequency of which
+can be related to TSC via values provided in cpuid leaf 0x15.
++
+If an invalid value is entered, the error message
+will give a list of valid values e.g.
++
+ $ perf record -e intel_pt/mtc_period=15/u uname
+ Invalid mtc_period for intel_pt. Valid values are: 0,3,6,9
++
+The default value is 3 or the nearest lower value
+that is supported (0 is always supported).
+
+*cyc*::
+Produces CYC timing packets.
++
+CYC packets provide even finer grain timestamp information than
+MTC and TSC packets. A CYC packet contains the number of CPU
+cycles since the last CYC packet. Unlike MTC and TSC packets,
+CYC packets are only sent when another packet is also sent.
++
+Support for this feature is indicated by:
++
+ /sys/bus/event_source/devices/intel_pt/caps/psb_cyc
++
+which contains "1" if the feature is supported and
+"0" otherwise.
++
+The number of CYC packets produced can be reduced by specifying
+a threshold - see cyc_thresh below.
+
+*cyc_thresh*::
+Specifies how frequently CYC packets are produced - see cyc
+above for how to determine if CYC packets are supported.
++
+Valid cyc_thresh values are given by:
++
+ /sys/bus/event_source/devices/intel_pt/caps/cycle_thresholds
++
+which contains a hexadecimal value, the bits of which represent
+valid values e.g. bit 2 set means value 2 is valid.
++
+The cyc_thresh value represents the minimum number of CPU cycles
+that must have passed before a CYC packet can be sent. The
+number of CPU cycles is:
++
+ 2 ^ (value - 1)
++
+e.g. value 4 means 8 CPU cycles must pass before a CYC packet
+can be sent. Note a CYC packet is still only sent when another
+packet is sent, not at, e.g. every 8 CPU cycles.
++
+If an invalid value is entered, the error message
+will give a list of valid values e.g.
++
+ $ perf record -e intel_pt/cyc,cyc_thresh=15/u uname
+ Invalid cyc_thresh for intel_pt. Valid values are: 0-12
++
+CYC packets are not requested by default.
+
+*pt*::
+Specifies pass-through which enables the 'branch' config term.
++
+The default config selects 'pt' if it is available, so a user will
+never need to specify this term.
+
+*branch*::
+Enable branch tracing. Branch tracing is enabled by default so to
+disable branch tracing use 'branch=0'.
++
+The default config selects 'branch' if it is available.
+
+*ptw*::
+Enable PTWRITE packets which are produced when a ptwrite instruction
+is executed.
++
+Support for this feature is indicated by:
++
+ /sys/bus/event_source/devices/intel_pt/caps/ptwrite
++
+which contains "1" if the feature is supported and
+"0" otherwise.
++
+As an alternative, refer to "Emulated PTWRITE" further below.
+
+*fup_on_ptw*::
+Enable a FUP packet to follow the PTWRITE packet. The FUP packet
+provides the address of the ptwrite instruction. In the absence of
+fup_on_ptw, the decoder will use the address of the previous branch
+if branch tracing is enabled, otherwise the address will be zero.
+Note that fup_on_ptw will work even when branch tracing is disabled.
+
+*pwr_evt*::
+Enable power events. The power events provide information about
+changes to the CPU C-state.
++
+Support for this feature is indicated by:
++
+ /sys/bus/event_source/devices/intel_pt/caps/power_event_trace
++
+which contains "1" if the feature is supported and
+"0" otherwise.
+
+*event*::
+Enable Event Trace. The events provide information about asynchronous
+events.
++
+Support for this feature is indicated by:
++
+ /sys/bus/event_source/devices/intel_pt/caps/event_trace
++
+which contains "1" if the feature is supported and
+"0" otherwise.
+
+*notnt*::
+Disable TNT packets. Without TNT packets, it is not possible to walk
+executable code to reconstruct control flow, however FUP, TIP, TIP.PGE
+and TIP.PGD packets still indicate asynchronous control flow, and (if
+return compression is disabled - see noretcomp) return statements.
+The advantage of eliminating TNT packets is reducing the size of the
+trace and corresponding tracing overhead.
++
+Support for this feature is indicated by:
++
+ /sys/bus/event_source/devices/intel_pt/caps/tnt_disable
++
+which contains "1" if the feature is supported and
+"0" otherwise.
+
+
+config terms on other events
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Some Intel PT features work with other events, features such as AUX area sampling
+and PEBS-via-PT. In those cases, the other events can have config terms below:
+
+*aux-sample-size*::
+ Used to set the AUX area sample size, refer to the section
+ <<_aux_area_sampling_option,AUX area sampling option>>
+
+*aux-output*::
+ Used to select PEBS-via-PT, refer to the
+ section <<_pebs_via_intel_pt,PEBS via Intel PT>>

AUX area sampling option
@@ -596,7 +643,8 @@ The default snapshot size is the auxtrace mmap size. If neither auxtrace mmap s
nor snapshot size is specified, then the default is 4MiB for privileged users
(or if /proc/sys/kernel/perf_event_paranoid < 0), 128KiB for unprivileged users.
If an unprivileged user does not specify mmap pages, the mmap pages will be
-reduced as described in the 'new auxtrace mmap size option' section below.
+reduced as described in the <<_new_auxtrace_mmap_size_option,new auxtrace mmap size option>>
+section below.

The snapshot size is displayed if the option -vv is used e.g.

@@ -952,11 +1000,11 @@ transaction start, commit or abort.

Note that "instructions", "cycles", "branches" and "transactions" events
depend on code flow packets which can be disabled by using the config term
-"branch=0". Refer to the config terms section above.
+"branch=0". Refer to the <<_config_terms,config terms>> section above.

"ptwrite" events record the payload of the ptwrite instruction and whether
"fup_on_ptw" was used. "ptwrite" events depend on PTWRITE packets which are
-recorded only if the "ptw" config term was used. Refer to the config terms
+recorded only if the "ptw" config term was used. Refer to the <<_config_terms,config terms>>
section above. perf script "synth" field displays "ptwrite" information like
this: "ip: 0 payload: 0x123456789abcdef0" where "ip" is 1 if "fup_on_ptw" was
used.
@@ -964,7 +1012,7 @@ used.
"Power" events correspond to power event packets and CBR (core-to-bus ratio)
packets. While CBR packets are always recorded when tracing is enabled, power
event packets are recorded only if the "pwr_evt" config term was used. Refer to
-the config terms section above. The power events record information about
+the <<_config_terms,config terms>> section above. The power events record information about
C-state changes, whereas CBR is indicative of CPU frequency. perf script
"event,synth" fields display information like this:

@@ -1120,7 +1168,7 @@ What *will* be decoded with the (single) q option:
- asynchronous branches such as interrupts
- indirect branches
- function return target address *if* the noretcomp config term (refer
- config terms section) was used
+ <<_config_terms,config terms>> section) was used
- start of (control-flow) tracing
- end of (control-flow) tracing, if it is not out of context
- power events, ptwrite, transaction start and abort
@@ -1133,7 +1181,7 @@ Repeating the q option (double-q i.e. qq) results in even faster decoding and ev
less detail. The decoder decodes only extended PSB (PSB+) packets, getting the
instruction pointer if there is a FUP packet within PSB+ (i.e. between PSB and
PSBEND). Note PSB packets occur regularly in the trace based on the psb_period
-config term (refer config terms section). There will be a FUP packet if the
+config term (refer <<_config_terms,config terms>> section). There will be a FUP packet if the
PSB+ occurs while control flow is being traced.

What will *not* be decoded with the qq option:
--
2.34.1