funcinterval(8)

NAME
funcinterval - Time interval between the same function, tracepoint as a histogram.

SYNOPSIS
funcinterval [-h] [-p PID] [-i INTERVAL] [-d DURATION] [-T] [-u] [-m] [-v] pattern

DESCRIPTION
This tool times interval between the same function as a histogram.

eBPF/bcc is very suitable for platform performance tuning. By funclatency, we can profile specific functions to know how latency this function costs. However, sometimes performance drop is not about the latency of function but the interval between function calls. funcinterval is born for this purpose.

This tool uses in-kernel eBPF maps for storing timestamps and the histogram, for efficiency.

WARNING: This uses dynamic tracing of (what can be many) functions, an activity that has had issues on some kernel versions (risk of panics or freezes). Test, and know what you are doing, before use.

Since this uses BPF, only the root user can use this tool.

REQUIREMENTS
CONFIG_BPF and bcc.

OPTIONS
pattern Function name. -h Print usage message.

-p PID
    Trace this process ID only.

-i INTERVAL
    Print output every interval seconds.

-d DURATION
    Total duration of trace, in seconds.

-T  Include timestamps on output.

-u  Output histogram in microseconds.

-m  Output histogram in milliseconds.

-v  Print the BPF program (for debugging purposes).

EXAMPLES

Time the interval of do_sys_open() kernel function as a histogram:
    # funcinterval do_sys_open

Time the interval of xhci_ring_ep_doorbell(), in microseconds:
    # funcinterval -u xhci_ring_ep_doorbell

Time the interval of do_nanosleep(), in milliseconds
    # funcinterval -m do_nanosleep

Output every 5 seconds, with timestamps:
    # funcinterval -mTi 5 vfs_read

Time process 181 only:
    # funcinterval -p 181 vfs_read

Time the interval of mm_vmscan_direct_reclaim_begin tracepoint:
    # funcinterval t:vmscan:mm_vmscan_direct_reclaim_begin

Time the interval of c:malloc used by top every 3 seconds:
    # funcinterval -p `pidof -s top` -i 3 c:malloc

Time /usr/local/bin/python main function:
    # funcinterval /usr/local/bin/python:main

FIELDS

necs
    Nanosecond range

usecs
    Microsecond range

msecs
    Millisecond range

count
    How many calls fell into this range

distribution
    An ASCII bar chart to visualize the distribution (count column)

OVERHEAD
This traces kernel functions and maintains in-kernel timestamps and a histogram, which are asynchronously copied to user-space. While this method is very efficient, the rate of kernel functions can also be very high (>1M/sec), at which point the overhead is expected to be measurable. Measure in a test environment and understand overheads before use. You can also use funccount to measure the rate of kernel functions over a short duration, to set some expectations before use.

SOURCE
This is from bcc.

    https://github.com/iovisor/bcc

Also look in the bcc distribution for a companion _examples.txt file containing example usage, output, and commentary for this tool.

OS
Linux

STABILITY
Unstable - in development.

AUTHOR
Edward Wu

SEE ALSO
funclatency(8) funccount(8)