tnfxtract(1) [opensolaris man page]
tnfxtract(1) User Commands tnfxtract(1) NAME
tnfxtract - extract kernel probes output into a trace file SYNOPSIS
tnfxtract [-d dumpfile -n namelist] tnf_file DESCRIPTION
The tnfxtract utility collects kernel trace output from an in-core buffer in the Solaris kernel, or from the memory image of a crashed sys- tem, and generates a binary TNF trace file like those produced directly by user programs being traced. Either both or neither of the -d and -n options must be specified. If neither is specified, trace output is extracted from the running ker- nel. If both are specified, the -d argument names the file containing the (crashed) system memory image, and the -n argument names the file containing the symbol table for the system memory image. The TNF trace file tnf_file produced is exactly the same size as the in-core buffer; it is essentially a snapshot of that buffer. It is legal to run tnfxtract while kernel tracing is active, i.e., while the in-core buffer is being written. tnfxtract insures that the output file it generates is low-level consistent, that is, that only whole probes are written out, and that internal data structures in the buffer are not corrupted because the buffer is being concurrently written. The TNF trace file generated is suitable as input to tnfdump(1), which will generate an ASCII file. OPTIONS
The following options are supported: -d dumpfile Uses dumpfile as the system memory image, instead of the running kernel. The dumpfile is normally the path name of a file generated by the savecore utility. -n namelist Uses namelist as the file containing the symbol table information for the given dumpfile. OPERANDS
The following operand is supported: tnf_file Output file generated by tnfxtract based on kernel trace output from an in-core buffer in the Solaris kernel. EXAMPLES
Example 1 Extracting probes from a running kernel Extract probes from the running kernel into ktrace.out: example% tnfxtract ktrace.out Example 2 Extracting probes from a kernel crash dump Extract probes from a kernel crash dump into ktrace.out: example% tnfxtract -d /var/crash/`uname -n`/vmcore.0 -n /var/crash/`uname -n`/unix.0 ktrace.out EXIT STATUS
The following exit values are returned: 0 Successful completion. >0 An error occurred. ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes: +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+ | ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE | +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+ |Availability |SUNWtnfc | +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+ SEE ALSO
prex(1), tnfdump(1), savecore(1M), tnf_kernel_probes(4), attributes(5) SunOS 5.11 19 Aug 2003 tnfxtract(1)
Check Out this Related Man Page
tracing(3TNF) TNF Library Functions tracing(3TNF) NAME
tracing - overview of tnf tracing system DESCRIPTION
tnf tracing is a set of programs and API's that can be used to present a high-level view of the performance of an executable, a library, or part of the kernel. tracing is used to analyze a program's performance and identify the conditions that produced a bug. The core elements of tracing are: TNF_PROBE_*() The TNF_PROBE_*() macros define "probes" to be placed in code which, when enabled and executed, cause information to be added to a trace file. See TNF_PROBE(3TNF). If there are insufficient TNF_PROBE_* macros to store all the data of interest for a probe, data may be grouped into records. See TNF_DECLARE_RECORD(3TNF). prex Displays and controls probes in running software. See prex(1). kernel probes A set of probes built into the Solaris kernel which capture information about system calls, multithreading, page faults, swapping, memory management, and I/O. You can use these probes to obtain detailed traces of kernel activity under your application workloads. See tnf_kernel_probes(4). tnfxtract A program that extracts the trace data from the kernel's in-memory buffer into a file. See tnfxtract(1). tnfdump A program that displays the information from a trace file. See tnfdump(1). libtnfctl A library of interfaces that controls probes in a process. See libtnfctl(3TNF). prex(1) also utilizes this library. Other tools and processes use the libtnfctl interfaces to exercise fine control over their own probes. tnf_process_enable() A routine called by a process to turn on tracing and probe functions for the current process. See tnf_process_enable(3TNF). tnf_process_disable() A routine called by a process to turn off tracing and probe functions for the current process. See tnf_process_disable(3TNF). tnf_thread_enable() A routine called by a process to turn on tracing and probe functions for the currently running thread. See tnf_thread_enable(3TNF). tnf_thread_disable() A routine called by a process to turn off tracing and probe functions for the currently running thread. See tnf_thread_disable(3TNF). EXAMPLES
Example 1: Tracing a Process The following function in some daemon process accepts job requests of various types, queueing them for later execution. There are two "debug probes" and one "production probe." Note that probes which are intended for debugging will not be compiled into the final version of the code; however, production probes are compiled into the final product. /* * To compile in all probes (for development): * cc -DTNF_DEBUG ... * * To compile in only production probes (for release): * cc ... * * To compile in no probes at all: * cc -DNPROBE ... */ #include <tnf/probe.h> void work(long, char *); enum work_request_type { READ, WRITE, ERASE, UPDATE }; static char *work_request_name[] = {"read", "write", "erase", "update"}; main() { long i; for (i = READ; i <= UPDATE; i++) work(i, work_request_name[i]); } void work(long request_type, char *request_name) { static long q_length; TNF_PROBE_2_DEBUG(work_start, "work", "XYZ%debug 'in function work'", tnf_long, request_type_arg, request_type, tnf_string, request_name_arg, request_name); /* assume work request is queued for later processing */ q_length++; TNF_PROBE_1(work_queue, "work queue", "XYZ%work_load heavy", tnf_long, queue_length, q_length); TNF_PROBE_0_DEBUG(work_end, "work", ""); } The production probe "work_queue," which remains compiled in the code, will, when enabled, log the length of the work queue each time a request is received. The debug probes "work_start" and "work_end, " which are compiled only during the development phase, track entry to and exit from the work() function and measure how much time is spent executing it. Additionally, the debug probe "work_start" logs the value of the two incoming arguments request_type and request_name. The runtime overhead for disabled probes is low enough that one can liberally embed them in the code with little impact on performance. For debugging, the developer would compile with -DTNF_DEBUG, run the program under control of prex(1), enable the probes of interest (in this case, all probes), continue the program until exit, and dump the trace file: % cc -DTNF_DEBUG -o daemon daemon.c # compile in all probes % prex daemon # run program under prex control Target process stopped Type "continue" to resume the target, "help" for help ... prex> list probes $all # list all probes in program <probe list output here> prex> enable $all # enable all probes prex> continue # let target process execute <program output here> prex: target process finished % ls /tmp/trace-* # trace output is in trace-<pid> /tmp/trace-4194 % tnfdump /tmp/trace-4194 # get ascii output of trace file <trace records output here> For the production version of the system, the developer simply compiles without -DTNF_DEBUG. Example 2: Tracing the Kernel Kernel tracing is similar to tracing a process; however, there are some differences. For instance, to trace the kernel, you need superuser privileges. The following example uses prex(1) and traces the probes in the kernel that capture system call information. Allocate kernel trace buffer and capture trace data: root# prex -k Type "help" for help ... prex> buffer alloc 2m # allocate kernel trace buffer Buffer of size 2097152 bytes allocated prex> list probes $all # list all kernel probes <probe list output here> prex> list probes syscall # list syscall probes # (keys=syscall) <syscall probes list output here> prex> enable syscall # enable only syscall probes prex> ktrace on # turn on kernel tracing <Run your application in another window at this point> prex> ktrace off # turn off kernel tracing prex> quit # exit prex Extract the kernel's trace buffer into a file: root# tnfxtract /tmp/ktrace # extract kernel trace buffer Reset kernel tracing: root# prex -k prex> disable $all # disable all probes prex> untrace $all # untrace all probes prex> buffer dealloc # deallocate kernel trace buffer prex> quit CAUTION: Do not deallocate the trace buffer until you have extracted it into a trace file. Otherwise, you will lose the trace data that you collected from your experiment! Examine the kernel trace file: root# tnfdump /tmp/ktrace # get ascii dump of trace file <trace records output here> prex can also attach to a running process, list probes, and perform a variety of other tasks. ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes: +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+ | ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE | +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+ |Availability |SUNWtnfd | +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+ |MT Level |MT-Safe | +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+ SEE ALSO
prex(1), tnfdump(1), tnfxtract(1), TNF_DECLARE_RECORD(3TNF), TNF_PROBE(3TNF), libtnfctl(3TNF), tnf_process_disable(3TNF), tnf_ker- nel_probes(4), attributes(5) SunOS 5.10 4 Mar 1997 tracing(3TNF)