Re: [PATCH][RFC] tracing: Enable tracepoints via module parameters

[Mathieu Desnoyers <mathieu.desnoyers@efficios.com>]

* Steven Rostedt (rostedt@goodmis.org) wrote:
> On Tue, 2011-03-08 at 18:22 -0500, Mathieu Desnoyers wrote:
> > * Steven Rostedt (rostedt@goodmis.org) wrote:
> > > A few months ago it was suggested to have a way to enable tracepoints in
> > > a module when it is loaded. I tried various methods, but this one seems
> > > to be the least intrusive. In fact, it requires no modification to the
> > > module code.
> > > 
> > > The trace event now adds its own MODULE_INFO() and kernel_param_ops that
> > > and links the information about a tracepoint into the module's __param
> > > section. A module can be loaded with a tracepoint active by adding
> > > trace_<tracepoint>=1 as one of the parameters.
> > 
> > Hi Steven,
> > 
> > Can you walk me through the expected sequence someone wanting to enable a few
> > specific module tracepoints would have to go through ? I'm thinking here about
> > the context of a distro which has on-demand module loading. The scenario I am
> > thinking about is a distro specifying a basic set of tracepoints to enable in a
> > "standard catch-all tracing configuration", which includes some tracepoints in
> > yet-unloaded modules. I'm trying to figure out what the end user experience will
> > look like if we go for the solution you propose here.
> > 
> 
> You would add it like any other module parameter.
> 
> Just update it in your /etc/modprobe.d/ directory.

So what you are saying here is that modifying /etc/modprobe.d/ is the actual
interface you propose presenting to the end-users to control their tracepoints ?

Maybe I am missing something, but this interface seems to lack the layer of
finish we might want to put into a user-visible API. I don't really see how
distributions can hope to automate any of this for their end-user without making
a mess of the /etc/modprobe.d/ they ship with.

Thanks,

Mathieu

-- 
Mathieu Desnoyers
Operating System Efficiency R&D Consultant
EfficiOS Inc.
http://www.efficios.com