doc/man/lttng-ust.3.txt

   1 lttng-ust(3)
   2 ============
   3 :object-type: library
   4
   5
   6 NAME
   7 ----
   8 lttng-ust - LTTng user space tracing
   9
  10
  11 SYNOPSIS
  12 --------
  13 [verse]
  14 *#include <lttng/tracepoint.h>*
  15
  16 [verse]
  17 #define *TRACEPOINT_ENUM*('prov_name', 'enum_name', 'mappings')
  18 #define *TRACEPOINT_EVENT*('prov_name', 't_name', 'args', 'fields')
  19 #define *TRACEPOINT_EVENT_CLASS*('prov_name', 'class_name', 'args', 'fields')
  20 #define *TRACEPOINT_EVENT_INSTANCE*('prov_name', 'class_name', 't_name', 'args')
  21 #define *TRACEPOINT_LOGLEVEL*('prov_name', 't_name', 'level')
  22 #define *ctf_array*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr', 'count')
  23 #define *ctf_array_nowrite*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr', 'count')
  24 #define *ctf_array_hex*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr', 'count')
  25 #define *ctf_array_nowrite_hex*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr', 'count')
  26 #define *ctf_array_network*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr', 'count')
  27 #define *ctf_array_network_nowrite*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr', 'count')
  28 #define *ctf_array_network_hex*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr', 'count')
  29 #define *ctf_array_network_nowrite_hex*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr', 'count')
  30 #define *ctf_array_text*(char, 'field_name', 'expr', 'count')
  31 #define *ctf_array_text_nowrite*(char, 'field_name', 'expr', 'count')
  32 #define *ctf_enum*('prov_name', 'enum_name', 'int_type', 'field_name', 'expr')
  33 #define *ctf_enum_nowrite*('prov_name', 'enum_name', 'int_type', 'field_name',
  34                          'expr')
  35 #define *ctf_enum_value*('label', 'value')
  36 #define *ctf_enum_range*('label', 'start', 'end')
  37 #define *ctf_float*('float_type', 'field_name', 'expr')
  38 #define *ctf_float_nowrite*('float_type', 'field_name', 'expr')
  39 #define *ctf_integer*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr')
  40 #define *ctf_integer_hex*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr')
  41 #define *ctf_integer_network*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr')
  42 #define *ctf_integer_network_hex*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr')
  43 #define *ctf_integer_nowrite*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr')
  44 #define *ctf_sequence*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr', 'len_type', 'len_expr')
  45 #define *ctf_sequence_nowrite*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr', 'len_type',
  46                              'len_expr')
  47 #define *ctf_sequence_hex*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr', 'len_type',
  48                          'len_expr')
  49 #define *ctf_sequence_nowrite_hex*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr', 'len_type',
  50                                  'len_expr')
  51 #define *ctf_sequence_network*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr', 'len_type',
  52                              'len_expr')
  53 #define *ctf_sequence_network_nowrite*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr',
  54                                      'len_type', 'len_expr')
  55 #define *ctf_sequence_network_hex*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr', 'len_type',
  56                                  'len_expr')
  57 #define *ctf_sequence_network_nowrite_hex*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr',
  58                                          'len_type', 'len_expr')
  59 #define *ctf_sequence_text*(char, 'field_name', 'expr', 'len_type', 'len_expr')
  60 #define *ctf_sequence_text_nowrite*(char, 'field_name', 'expr', 'len_type',
  61                                   'len_expr')
  62 #define *ctf_string*('field_name', 'expr')
  63 #define *ctf_string_nowrite*('field_name', 'expr')
  64 #define *do_tracepoint*('prov_name', 't_name', ...)
  65 #define *tracepoint*('prov_name', 't_name', ...)
  66 #define *tracepoint_enabled*('prov_name', 't_name')
  67
  68 Link with `-llttng-ust -ldl`, following this man page.
  69
  70
  71 DESCRIPTION
  72 -----------
  73 The http://lttng.org/[_Linux Trace Toolkit: next generation_] is an open
  74 source software package used for correlated tracing of the Linux kernel,
  75 user applications, and user libraries.
  76
  77 LTTng-UST is the user space tracing component of the LTTng project. It
  78 is a port to user space of the low-overhead tracing capabilities of the
  79 LTTng Linux kernel tracer. The `liblttng-ust` library is used to trace
  80 user applications and libraries.
  81
  82 NOTE: This man page is about the `liblttng-ust` library. The LTTng-UST
  83 project also provides Java and Python packages to trace applications
  84 written in those languages. How to instrument and trace Java and Python
  85 applications is documented in
  86 http://lttng.org/docs/[the online LTTng documentation].
  87
  88 There are three ways to use `liblttng-ust`:
  89
  90   * Using the man:tracef(3) API, which is similar to man:printf(3).
  91   * Using the man:tracelog(3) API, which is man:tracef(3) with
  92     a log level parameter.
  93   * Defining your own tracepoints. See the
  94     <<creating-tp,Creating a tracepoint provider>> section below.
  95
  96
  97 [[creating-tp]]
  98 Creating a tracepoint provider
  99 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 100 Creating a tracepoint provider is the first step of using
 101 `liblttng-ust`. The next steps are:
 102
 103   * <<tracepoint,Instrumenting your application with `tracepoint()` calls>>
 104   * Building your application with LTTng-UST support, either
 105     <<build-static,statically>> or <<build-dynamic,dynamically>>.
 106
 107 A *tracepoint provider* is a compiled object containing the event
 108 probes corresponding to your custom tracepoint definitions. A tracepoint
 109 provider contains the code to get the size of an event and to serialize
 110 it, amongst other things.
 111
 112 To create a tracepoint provider, start with the following
 113 _tracepoint provider header_ template:
 114
 115 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 116 #undef TRACEPOINT_PROVIDER
 117 #define TRACEPOINT_PROVIDER my_provider
 118
 119 #undef TRACEPOINT_INCLUDE
 120 #define TRACEPOINT_INCLUDE "./tp.h"
 121
 122 #if !defined(_TP_H) || defined(TRACEPOINT_HEADER_MULTI_READ)
 123 #define _TP_H
 124
 125 #include <lttng/tracepoint.h>
 126
 127 /*
 128  * TRACEPOINT_EVENT(), TRACEPOINT_EVENT_CLASS(),
 129  * TRACEPOINT_EVENT_INSTANCE(), TRACEPOINT_LOGLEVEL(),
 130  * and `TRACEPOINT_ENUM()` are used here.
 131  */
 132
 133 #endif /* _TP_H */
 134
 135 #include <lttng/tracepoint-event.h>
 136 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 137
 138 In this template, the tracepoint provider is named `my_provider`
 139 (`TRACEPOINT_PROVIDER` definition). The file needs to bear the
 140 name of the `TRACEPOINT_INCLUDE` definition (`tp.h` in this case).
 141 Between `#include <lttng/tracepoint.h>` and `#endif` go
 142 the invocations of the <<tracepoint-event,`TRACEPOINT_EVENT()`>>,
 143 <<tracepoint-event-class,`TRACEPOINT_EVENT_CLASS()`>>,
 144 <<tracepoint-event-class,`TRACEPOINT_EVENT_INSTANCE()`>>,
 145 <<tracepoint-loglevel,`TRACEPOINT_LOGLEVEL()`>>, and
 146 <<tracepoint-enum,`TRACEPOINT_ENUM()`>> macros.
 147
 148 NOTE: You can avoid writing the prologue and epilogue boilerplate in the
 149 template file above by using the man:lttng-gen-tp(1) tool shipped with
 150 LTTng-UST.
 151
 152 The tracepoint provider header file needs to be included in a source
 153 file which looks like this:
 154
 155 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 156 #define TRACEPOINT_CREATE_PROBES
 157
 158 #include "tp.h"
 159 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 160
 161 Together, those two files (let's call them `tp.h` and `tp.c`) form the
 162 tracepoint provider sources, ready to be compiled.
 163
 164 You can create multiple tracepoint providers to be used in a single
 165 application, but each one must have its own header file.
 166
 167 The <<tracepoint-event,`TRACEPOINT_EVENT()` usage>> section below
 168 shows how to use the `TRACEPOINT_EVENT()` macro to define the actual
 169 tracepoints in the tracepoint provider header file.
 170
 171 See the <<example,EXAMPLE>> section below for a complete example.
 172
 173
 174 [[tracepoint-event]]
 175 `TRACEPOINT_EVENT()` usage
 176 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 177 The `TRACEPOINT_EVENT()` macro is used in a template provider
 178 header file (see the <<creating-tp,Creating a tracepoint provider>>
 179 section above) to define LTTng-UST tracepoints.
 180
 181 The `TRACEPOINT_EVENT()` usage template is as follows:
 182
 183 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 184 TRACEPOINT_EVENT(
 185     /* Tracepoint provider name */
 186     my_provider,
 187
 188     /* Tracepoint/event name */
 189     my_tracepoint,
 190
 191     /* List of tracepoint arguments (input) */
 192     TP_ARGS(
 193         ...
 194     ),
 195
 196     /* List of fields of eventual event (output) */
 197     TP_FIELDS(
 198         ...
 199     )
 200 )
 201 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 202
 203 The `TP_ARGS()` macro contains the input arguments of the tracepoint.
 204 Those arguments can be used in the argument expressions of the output
 205 fields defined in `TP_FIELDS()`.
 206
 207 The format of the `TP_ARGS()` parameters is: C type, then argument name;
 208 repeat as needed, up to ten times. For example:
 209
 210 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 211 TP_ARGS(
 212     int, my_int,
 213     const char *, my_string,
 214     FILE *, my_file,
 215     double, my_float,
 216     struct my_data *, my_data
 217 )
 218 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 219
 220 The `TP_FIELDS()` macro contains the output fields of the tracepoint,
 221 that is, the actual data that can be recorded in the payload of an
 222 event emitted by this tracepoint.
 223
 224 The `TP_FIELDS()` macro contains a list of `ctf_*()` macros
 225 :not: separated by commas. The available macros are documented in the
 226 <<ctf-macros,Available `ctf_*()` field type macros>> section below.
 227
 228
 229 [[ctf-macros]]
 230 Available `ctf_*()` field type macros
 231 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 232 This section documents the available `ctf_*()` macros that can be
 233 inserted in the `TP_FIELDS()` macro of the
 234 <<tracepoint-event,`TRACEPOINT_EVENT()` macro>>.
 235
 236 Standard integer, displayed in base 10:
 237
 238 [verse]
 239 *ctf_integer*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr')
 240 *ctf_integer_nowrite*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr')
 241
 242 Standard integer, displayed in base 16:
 243
 244 [verse]
 245 *ctf_integer_hex*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr')
 246
 247 Integer in network byte order (big endian), displayed in base 10:
 248
 249 [verse]
 250 *ctf_integer_network*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr')
 251
 252 Integer in network byte order, displayed in base 16:
 253
 254 [verse]
 255 *ctf_integer_network_hex*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr')
 256
 257 Floating point number:
 258
 259 [verse]
 260 *ctf_float*('float_type', 'field_name', 'expr')
 261 *ctf_float_nowrite*('float_type', 'field_name', 'expr')
 262
 263 Null-terminated string:
 264
 265 [verse]
 266 *ctf_string*('field_name', 'expr')
 267 *ctf_string_nowrite*('field_name', 'expr')
 268
 269 Statically-sized array of integers (`_hex` versions displayed in
 270 hexadecimal, `_network` versions in network byte order):
 271
 272 [verse]
 273 *ctf_array*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr', 'count')
 274 *ctf_array_nowrite*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr', 'count')
 275 *ctf_array_hex*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr', 'count')
 276 *ctf_array_nowrite_hex*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr', 'count')
 277 *ctf_array_network*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr', 'count')
 278 *ctf_array_network_nowrite*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr', 'count')
 279 *ctf_array_network_hex*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr', 'count')
 280 *ctf_array_network_nowrite_hex*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr', 'count')
 281
 282 Statically-sized array, printed as text; no need to be null-terminated:
 283
 284 [verse]
 285 *ctf_array_text*(char, 'field_name', 'expr', 'count')
 286 *ctf_array_text_nowrite*(char, 'field_name', 'expr', 'count')
 287
 288 Dynamically-sized array of integers (`_hex` versions displayed in
 289 hexadecimal, `_network` versions in network byte order):
 290
 291 [verse]
 292 *ctf_sequence*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr', 'len_type', 'len_expr')
 293 *ctf_sequence_nowrite*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr', 'len_type', 'len_expr')
 294 *ctf_sequence_hex*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr', 'len_type', 'len_expr')
 295 *ctf_sequence_nowrite_hex*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr', 'len_type',
 296                          'len_expr')
 297 *ctf_sequence_network*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr', 'len_type', 'len_expr')
 298 *ctf_sequence_network_nowrite*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr', 'len_type',
 299                              'len_expr')
 300 *ctf_sequence_network_hex*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr', 'len_type',
 301                          'len_expr')
 302 *ctf_sequence_network_nowrite_hex*('int_type', 'field_name', 'expr',
 303                                  'len_type', 'len_expr')
 304
 305 Dynamically-sized array, displayed as text; no need to be null-terminated:
 306
 307 [verse]
 308 *ctf_sequence_text*(char, 'field_name', 'expr', 'len_type', 'len_expr')
 309 *ctf_sequence_text_nowrite*(char, 'field_name', 'expr', 'len_type', 'len_expr')
 310
 311 Enumeration. The enumeration field must be defined before using this
 312 macro with the `TRACEPOINT_ENUM()` macro. See the
 313 <<tracepoint-enum,`TRACEPOINT_ENUM()` usage>> section for more
 314 information.
 315
 316 [verse]
 317 *ctf_enum*('prov_name', 'enum_name', 'int_type', 'field_name', 'expr')
 318 *ctf_enum_nowrite*('prov_name', 'enum_name', 'int_type', 'field_name', 'expr')
 319
 320 The parameters are:
 321
 322 'count'::
 323     Number of elements in array/sequence. This must be known at
 324     compile time.
 325
 326 'enum_name'::
 327     Name of an enumeration field previously defined with the
 328     `TRACEPOINT_ENUM()` macro. See the
 329     <<tracepoint-enum,`TRACEPOINT_ENUM()` usage>> section for more
 330     information.
 331
 332 'expr'::
 333     C expression resulting in the field's value. This expression can
 334     use one or more arguments passed to the tracepoint. The arguments
 335     of a given tracepoint are defined in the `TP_ARGS()` macro (see
 336     the <<creating-tp,Creating a tracepoint provider>> section above).
 337
 338 'field_name'::
 339     Event field name (C identifier syntax, :not: a literal string).
 340
 341 'float_type'::
 342     Float C type (`float` or `double`). The size of this type determines
 343     the size of the floating point number field.
 344
 345 'int_type'::
 346     Integer C type. The size of this type determines the size of the
 347     integer/enumeration field.
 348
 349 'len_expr'::
 350     C expression resulting in the sequence's length. This expression
 351     can use one or more arguments passed to the tracepoint.
 352
 353 'len_type'::
 354     Unsigned integer C type of sequence's length.
 355
 356 'prov_name'::
 357     Tracepoint provider name. This must be the same as the tracepoint
 358     provider name used in a previous field definition.
 359
 360 The `_nowrite` versions omit themselves from the recorded trace, but are
 361 otherwise identical. Their primary purpose is to make some of the
 362 event context available to the event filters without having to commit
 363 the data to sub-buffers. See man:lttng-enable-event(1) to learn more
 364 about dynamic event filtering.
 365
 366 See the <<example,EXAMPLE>> section below for a complete example.
 367
 368
 369 [[tracepoint-enum]]
 370 `TRACEPOINT_ENUM()` usage
 371 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 372 An enumeration field is a list of mappings between an integers, or a
 373 range of integers, and strings (sometimes called _labels_ or
 374 _enumerators_). Enumeration fields can be used to have a more compact
 375 trace when the possible values for a field are limited.
 376
 377 An enumeration field is defined with the `TRACEPOINT_ENUM()` macro:
 378
 379 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 380 TRACEPOINT_ENUM(
 381     /* Tracepoint provider name */
 382     my_provider,
 383
 384     /* Enumeration name (unique in the whole tracepoint provider) */
 385     my_enum,
 386
 387     /* Enumeration mappings */
 388     TP_ENUM_VALUES(
 389         ...
 390     )
 391 )
 392 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 393
 394 `TP_ENUM_VALUES()` contains a list of enumeration mappings, :not:
 395 separated by commas. Two macros can be used in the `TP_ENUM_VALUES()`:
 396 `ctf_enum_value()` and `ctf_enum_range()`.
 397
 398 `ctf_enum_value()` is a single value mapping:
 399
 400 [verse]
 401 *ctf_enum_value*('label', 'value')
 402
 403 This macro maps the given 'label' string to the value 'value'.
 404
 405 `ctf_enum_range()` is a range mapping:
 406
 407 [verse]
 408 *ctf_enum_range*('label', 'start', 'end')
 409
 410 This macro maps the given 'label' string to the range of integers from
 411 'start' to 'end', inclusively. Range mappings may overlap, but the
 412 behaviour is implementation-defined: each trace reader handles
 413 overlapping ranges as it wishes.
 414
 415 See the <<example,EXAMPLE>> section below for a complete example.
 416
 417
 418 [[tracepoint-event-class]]
 419 `TRACEPOINT_EVENT_CLASS()` usage
 420 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 421 A *tracepoint class* is a class of tracepoints sharing the
 422 same field types and names. A tracepoint instance is one instance of
 423 such a declared tracepoint class, with its own event name.
 424
 425 LTTng-UST creates one event serialization function per tracepoint
 426 class. Using `TRACEPOINT_EVENT()` creates one tracepoint class per
 427 tracepoint definition, whereas using `TRACEPOINT_EVENT_CLASS()` and
 428 `TRACEPOINT_EVENT_INSTANCE()` creates one tracepoint class, and one or
 429 more tracepoint instances of this class. In other words, many
 430 tracepoints can reuse the same serialization code. Reusing the same
 431 code, when possible, can reduce cache pollution, thus improve
 432 performance.
 433
 434 The `TRACEPOINT_EVENT_CLASS()` macro accepts the same parameters as
 435 the `TRACEPOINT_EVENT()` macro, except that instead of an event name,
 436 its second parameter is the _tracepoint class name_:
 437
 438 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 439 TRACEPOINT_EVENT_CLASS(
 440     /* Tracepoint provider name */
 441     my_provider,
 442
 443     /* Tracepoint class name */
 444     my_tracepoint_class,
 445
 446     /* List of tracepoint arguments (input) */
 447     TP_ARGS(
 448         ...
 449     ),
 450
 451     /* List of fields of eventual event (output) */
 452     TP_FIELDS(
 453         ...
 454     )
 455 )
 456 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 457
 458 Once the tracepoint class is defined, you can create as many tracepoint
 459 instances as needed:
 460
 461 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
 462 TRACEPOINT_EVENT_INSTANCE(
 463     /* Tracepoint provider name */
 464     my_provider,
 465
 466     /* Tracepoint class name */
 467     my_tracepoint_class,
 468
 469     /* Tracepoint/event name */
 470     my_tracepoint,
 471
 472     /* List of tracepoint arguments (input) */
 473     TP_ARGS(
 474         ...
 475     )
 476 )
 477 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 478
 479 As you can see, the `TRACEPOINT_EVENT_INSTANCE()` does not contain
 480 the `TP_FIELDS()` macro, because they are defined at the
 481 `TRACEPOINT_EVENT_CLASS()` level.
 482
 483 See the <<example,EXAMPLE>> section below for a complete example.
 484
 485
 486 [[tracepoint-loglevel]]
 487 `TRACEPOINT_LOGLEVEL()` usage
 488 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 489 Optionally, a *log level* can be assigned to a defined tracepoint.
 490 Assigning different levels of severity to tracepoints can be useful:
 491 when controlling tracing sessions, you can choose to only enable
 492 events falling into a specific log level range using the
 493 nloption:--loglevel and nloption:--loglevel-only options of the
 494 man:lttng-enable-event(1) command.
 495
 496 Log levels are assigned to tracepoints that are already defined using
 497 the `TRACEPOINT_LOGLEVEL()` macro. The latter must be used after having
 498 used `TRACEPOINT_EVENT()` or `TRACEPOINT_EVENT_INSTANCE()` for a given
 499 tracepoint. The `TRACEPOINT_LOGLEVEL()` macro is used as follows:
 500
 501 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 502 TRACEPOINT_LOGLEVEL(
 503     /* Tracepoint provider name */
 504     my_provider,
 505
 506     /* Tracepoint/event name */
 507     my_tracepoint,
 508
 509     /* Log level */
 510     TRACE_INFO
 511 )
 512 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 513
 514 The available log level definitions are:
 515
 516 include::log-levels.txt[]
 517
 518 See the <<example,EXAMPLE>> section below for a complete example.
 519
 520
 521 [[tracepoint]]
 522 Instrumenting your application
 523 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 524 Once the tracepoint provider is created (see the
 525 <<creating-tp,Creating a tracepoint provider>> section above), you can
 526 instrument your application with the defined tracepoints thanks to the
 527 `tracepoint()` macro:
 528
 529 [verse]
 530 #define *tracepoint*('prov_name', 't_name', ...)
 531
 532 With:
 533
 534 'prov_name'::
 535     Tracepoint provider name.
 536
 537 't_name'::
 538     Tracepoint/event name.
 539
 540 `...`::
 541     Tracepoint arguments, if any.
 542
 543 Make sure to include the tracepoint provider header file anywhere you
 544 use `tracepoint()` for this provider.
 545
 546 NOTE: Even though LTTng-UST supports `tracepoint()` call site duplicates
 547 having the same provider and tracepoint names, it is recommended to use
 548 a provider/tracepoint name pair only once within the application source
 549 code to help map events back to their call sites when analyzing the
 550 trace.
 551
 552 Sometimes, arguments to the tracepoint are expensive to compute (take
 553 call stack, for example). To avoid the computation when the tracepoint
 554 is disabled, you can use the `tracepoint_enabled()` and
 555 `do_tracepoint()` macros:
 556
 557 [verse]
 558 #define *tracepoint_enabled*('prov_name', 't_name')
 559 #define *do_tracepoint*('prov_name', 't_name', ...)
 560
 561 `tracepoint_enabled()` returns a non-zero value if the tracepoint
 562 named 't_name' from the provider named 'prov_name' is enabled at
 563 run time.
 564
 565 `do_tracepoint()` is like `tracepoint()`, except that it doesn't check
 566 if the tracepoint is enabled. Using `tracepoint()` with
 567 `tracepoint_enabled()` is dangerous since `tracepoint()` also contains
 568 the `tracepoint_enabled()` check, thus a race condition is possible
 569 in this situation:
 570
 571 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 572 if (tracepoint_enabled(my_provider, my_tracepoint)) {
 573     stuff = prepare_stuff();
 574 }
 575
 576 tracepoint(my_provider, my_tracepoint, stuff);
 577 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 578
 579 If the tracepoint is enabled after the condition, then `stuff` is not
 580 prepared: the emitted event will either contain wrong data, or the
 581 whole application could crash (segmentation fault, for example).
 582
 583 NOTE: Neither `tracepoint_enabled()` nor `do_tracepoint()` have
 584 a `STAP_PROBEV()` call, so if you need it, you should emit this call
 585 yourself.
 586
 587
 588 [[build-static]]
 589 Statically linking the tracepoint provider
 590 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 591 With the static linking method, compiled tracepoint providers are copied
 592 into the target application.
 593
 594 Define `TRACEPOINT_DEFINE` definition below the
 595 `TRACEPOINT_CREATE_PROBES` definition in the tracepoint provider
 596 source:
 597
 598 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 599 #define TRACEPOINT_CREATE_PROBES
 600 #define TRACEPOINT_DEFINE
 601
 602 #include "tp.h"
 603 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 604
 605 Create the tracepoint provider object file:
 606
 607 [role="term"]
 608 --------------
 609 cc -c -I. tp.c
 610 --------------
 611
 612 NOTE: Although an application instrumented with LTTng-UST tracepoints
 613 can be compiled with a C++ compiler, tracepoint probes should be
 614 compiled with a C compiler.
 615
 616 At this point, you _can_ archive this tracepoint provider object file,
 617 possibly with other object files of your application or with other
 618 tracepoint provider object files, as a static library:
 619
 620 [role="term"]
 621 ---------------
 622 ar rc tp.a tp.o
 623 ---------------
 624
 625 Using a static library does have the advantage of centralising the
 626 tracepoint providers objects so they can be shared between multiple
 627 applications. This way, when the tracepoint provider is modified, the
 628 source code changes don't have to be patched into each application's
 629 source code tree. The applications need to be relinked after each
 630 change, but need not to be otherwise recompiled (unless the tracepoint
 631 provider's API changes).
 632
 633 Then, link your application with this object file (or with the static
 634 library containing it) and with `liblttng-ust` and `libdl`
 635 (`libc` on a BSD system):
 636
 637 [role="term"]
 638 -------------------------------------
 639 cc -o app tp.o app.o -llttng-ust -ldl
 640 -------------------------------------
 641
 642
 643 [[build-dynamic]]
 644 Dynamically loading the tracepoint provider
 645 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 646 The second approach to package the tracepoint provider is to use the
 647 dynamic loader: the library and its member functions are explicitly
 648 sought, loaded at run time.
 649
 650 In this scenario, the tracepoint provider is compiled as a shared
 651 object.
 652
 653 The process to create the tracepoint provider shared object is pretty
 654 much the same as the <<build-static,static linking method>>, except
 655 that:
 656
 657   * Since the tracepoint provider is not part of the application,
 658     `TRACEPOINT_DEFINE` must be defined, for each tracepoint
 659     provider, in exactly one source file of the
 660     _application_
 661   * `TRACEPOINT_PROBE_DYNAMIC_LINKAGE` must be defined next
 662     to `TRACEPOINT_DEFINE`
 663
 664 Regarding `TRACEPOINT_DEFINE` and `TRACEPOINT_PROBE_DYNAMIC_LINKAGE`,
 665 the recommended practice is to use a separate C source file in your
 666 application to define them, then include the tracepoint provider header
 667 files afterwards. For example, as `tp-define.c`:
 668
 669 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 670 #define TRACEPOINT_DEFINE
 671 #define TRACEPOINT_PROBE_DYNAMIC_LINKAGE
 672
 673 #include "tp.h"
 674 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 675
 676 The tracepoint provider object file used to create the shared library is
 677 built like it is using the static linking method, but with the
 678 nloption:-fpic option:
 679
 680 [role="term"]
 681 --------------------
 682 cc -c -fpic -I. tp.c
 683 --------------------
 684
 685 It is then linked as a shared library like this:
 686
 687 [role="term"]
 688 -------------------------------------------------------
 689 cc -shared -Wl,--no-as-needed -o tp.so tp.o -llttng-ust
 690 -------------------------------------------------------
 691
 692 This tracepoint provider shared object isn't linked with the user
 693 application: it must be loaded manually. This is why the application is
 694 built with no mention of this tracepoint provider, but still needs
 695 libdl:
 696
 697 [role="term"]
 698 --------------------------------
 699 cc -o app app.o tp-define.o -ldl
 700 --------------------------------
 701
 702 There are two ways to dynamically load the tracepoint provider shared
 703 object:
 704
 705   * Load it manually from the application using man:dlopen(3)
 706   * Make the dynamic loader load it with the `LD_PRELOAD`
 707     environment variable (see man:ld.so(8))
 708
 709 If the application does not dynamically load the tracepoint provider
 710 shared object using one of the methods above, tracing is disabled for
 711 this application, and the events are not listed in the output of
 712 man:lttng-list(1).
 713
 714 Note that it is not safe to use man:dlclose(3) on a tracepoint provider
 715 shared object that is being actively used for tracing, due to a lack of
 716 reference counting from LTTng-UST to the shared object.
 717
 718 For example, statically linking a tracepoint provider to a shared object
 719 which is to be dynamically loaded by an application (a plugin, for
 720 example) is not safe: the shared object, which contains the tracepoint
 721 provider, could be dynamically closed (man:dlclose(3)) at any time by
 722 the application.
 723
 724 To instrument a shared object, either:
 725
 726   * Statically link the tracepoint provider to the application, or
 727   * Build the tracepoint provider as a shared object (following the
 728     procedure shown in this section), and preload it when tracing is
 729     needed using the `LD_PRELOAD` environment variable.
 730
 731
 732 Using LTTng-UST with daemons
 733 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 734 Some extra care is needed when using `liblttng-ust` with daemon
 735 applications that call man:fork(2), man:clone(2), or BSD's man:rfork(2)
 736 without a following man:exec(3) family system call. The library
 737 `liblttng-ust-fork.so` needs to be preloaded before starting the
 738 application with the `LD_PRELOAD` environment variable (see
 739 man:ld.so(8)).
 740
 741
 742 Context information
 743 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 744 Context information can be prepended by the LTTng-UST tracer before
 745 each event, or before specific events.
 746
 747 Context fields can be added to specific channels using
 748 man:lttng-add-context(1).
 749
 750 The following context fields are supported by LTTng-UST:
 751
 752 `cpu_id`::
 753     CPU ID.
 754 +
 755 NOTE: This context field is always enabled, and it cannot be added
 756 with man:lttng-add-context(1). Its main purpose is to be used for
 757 dynamic event filtering. See man:lttng-enable-event(1) for more
 758 information about event filtering.
 759
 760 `ip`::
 761     Instruction pointer: enables recording the exact address from which
 762     an event was emitted. This context field can be used to
 763     reverse-lookup the source location that caused the event
 764     to be emitted.
 765
 766 +perf:thread:COUNTER+::
 767     perf counter named 'COUNTER'. Use `lttng add-context --list` to
 768     list the available perf counters.
 769 +
 770 Only available on IA-32 and x86-64 architectures.
 771
 772 `pthread_id`::
 773     POSIX thread identifier. Can be used on architectures where
 774     `pthread_t` maps nicely to an `unsigned long` type.
 775
 776 `procname`::
 777     Thread name, as set by man:exec(3) or man:prctl(2). It is
 778     recommended that programs set their thread name with man:prctl(2)
 779     before hitting the first tracepoint for that thread.
 780
 781 `vpid`::
 782     Virtual process ID: process ID as seen from the point of view of
 783     the process namespace.
 784
 785 `vtid`::
 786     Virtual thread ID: thread ID as seen from the point of view of
 787     the process namespace.
 788
 789
 790 [[state-dump]]
 791 LTTng-UST state dump
 792 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 793 If an application that uses `liblttng-ust` becomes part of a tracing
 794 session, information about its currently loaded shared objects, their
 795 build IDs, and their debug link information are emitted as events
 796 by the tracer.
 797
 798 The following LTTng-UST state dump events exist and must be enabled
 799 to record application state dumps.
 800
 801 `lttng_ust_statedump:start`::
 802     Emitted when the state dump begins.
 803 +
 804 This event has no fields.
 805
 806 `lttng_ust_statedump:end`::
 807     Emitted when the state dump ends. Once this event is emitted, it
 808     is guaranteed that, for a given process, the state dump is
 809     complete.
 810 +
 811 This event has no fields.
 812
 813 `lttng_ust_statedump:bin_info`::
 814     Emitted when information about a currently loaded executable or
 815     shared object is found.
 816 +
 817 Fields:
 818 +
 819 [options="header"]
 820 |===
 821 |Field name |Description
 822
 823 |`baddr`
 824 |Base address of loaded executable
 825
 826 |`memsz`
 827 |Size of loaded executable in memory
 828
 829 |`path`
 830 |Path to loaded executable file
 831
 832 |`is_pic`
 833 |Whether the executable is position-independent code
 834 |===
 835
 836 `lttng_ust_statedump:build_id`::
 837     Emitted when a build ID is found in a currently loaded shared
 838     library. See
 839     https://sourceware.org/gdb/onlinedocs/gdb/Separate-Debug-Files.html[Debugging Information in Separate Files]
 840     for more information about build IDs.
 841 +
 842 Fields:
 843 +
 844 [options="header"]
 845 |===
 846 |Field name |Description
 847
 848 |`baddr`
 849 |Base address of loaded library
 850
 851 |`build_id`
 852 |Build ID
 853 |===
 854
 855 `lttng_ust_statedump:debug_link`::
 856     Emitted when debug link information is found in a currently loaded
 857     shared library. See
 858     https://sourceware.org/gdb/onlinedocs/gdb/Separate-Debug-Files.html[Debugging Information in Separate Files]
 859     for more information about debug links.
 860 +
 861 Fields:
 862 +
 863 [options="header"]
 864 |===
 865 |Field name |Description
 866
 867 |`baddr`
 868 |Base address of loaded library
 869
 870 |`crc`
 871 |Debug link file's CRC
 872
 873 |`filename`
 874 |Debug link file name
 875 |===
 876
 877
 878 [[example]]
 879 EXAMPLE
 880 -------
 881 NOTE: A few examples are available in the
 882 https://github.com/lttng/lttng-ust/tree/master/doc/examples[`doc/examples`]
 883 directory of LTTng-UST's source tree.
 884
 885 This example shows all the features documented in the previous
 886 sections. The <<build-static,static linking>> method is chosen here
 887 to link the application with the tracepoint provider.
 888
 889 You can compile the source files and link them together statically
 890 like this:
 891
 892 [role="term"]
 893 -------------------------------------
 894 cc -c -I. tp.c
 895 cc -c app.c
 896 cc -o app tp.o app.o -llttng-ust -ldl
 897 -------------------------------------
 898
 899 Using the man:lttng(1) tool, create an LTTng tracing session, enable
 900 all the events of this tracepoint provider, and start tracing:
 901
 902 [role="term"]
 903 ----------------------------------------------
 904 lttng create my-session
 905 lttng enable-event --userspace 'my_provider:*'
 906 lttng start
 907 ----------------------------------------------
 908
 909 You may also enable specific events:
 910
 911 [role="term"]
 912 ----------------------------------------------------------
 913 lttng enable-event --userspace my_provider:big_event
 914 lttng enable-event --userspace my_provider:event_instance2
 915 ----------------------------------------------------------
 916
 917 Run the application:
 918
 919 [role="term"]
 920 --------------------
 921 ./app some arguments
 922 --------------------
 923
 924 Stop the current tracing session and inspect the recorded events:
 925
 926 [role="term"]
 927 ----------
 928 lttng stop
 929 lttng view
 930 ----------
 931
 932
 933 Tracepoint provider header file
 934 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 935 `tp.h`:
 936
 937 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 938 #undef TRACEPOINT_PROVIDER
 939 #define TRACEPOINT_PROVIDER my_provider
 940
 941 #undef TRACEPOINT_INCLUDE
 942 #define TRACEPOINT_INCLUDE "./tp.h"
 943
 944 #if !defined(_TP_H) || defined(TRACEPOINT_HEADER_MULTI_READ)
 945 #define _TP_H
 946
 947 #include <lttng/tracepoint.h>
 948 #include <stdio.h>
 949
 950 #include "app.h"
 951
 952 TRACEPOINT_EVENT(
 953     my_provider,
 954     simple_event,
 955     TP_ARGS(
 956         int, my_integer_arg,
 957         const char *, my_string_arg
 958     ),
 959     TP_FIELDS(
 960         ctf_string(argc, my_string_arg)
 961         ctf_integer(int, argv, my_integer_arg)
 962     )
 963 )
 964
 965 TRACEPOINT_ENUM(
 966     my_provider,
 967     my_enum,
 968     TP_ENUM_VALUES(
 969         ctf_enum_value("ZERO", 0)
 970         ctf_enum_value("ONE", 1)
 971         ctf_enum_value("TWO", 2)
 972         ctf_enum_range("A RANGE", 52, 125)
 973         ctf_enum_value("ONE THOUSAND", 1000)
 974     )
 975 )
 976
 977 TRACEPOINT_EVENT(
 978     my_provider,
 979     big_event,
 980     TP_ARGS(
 981         int, my_integer_arg,
 982         const char *, my_string_arg,
 983         FILE *, stream,
 984         double, flt_arg,
 985         int *, array_arg
 986     ),
 987     TP_FIELDS(
 988         ctf_integer(int, int_field1, my_integer_arg * 2)
 989         ctf_integer_hex(long int, stream_pos, ftell(stream))
 990         ctf_float(double, float_field, flt_arg)
 991         ctf_string(string_field, my_string_arg)
 992         ctf_array(int, array_field, array_arg, 7)
 993         ctf_array_text(char, array_text_field, array_arg, 5)
 994         ctf_sequence(int, seq_field, array_arg, int,
 995                      my_integer_arg / 10)
 996         ctf_sequence_text(char, seq_text_field, array_arg,
 997                           int, my_integer_arg / 5)
 998         ctf_enum(my_provider, my_enum, int,
 999                  enum_field, array_arg[1])
1000     )
1001 )
1002
1003 TRACEPOINT_LOGLEVEL(my_provider, big_event, TRACE_WARNING)
1004
1005 TRACEPOINT_EVENT_CLASS(
1006     my_provider,
1007     my_tracepoint_class,
1008     TP_ARGS(
1009         int, my_integer_arg,
1010         struct app_struct *, app_struct_arg
1011     ),
1012     TP_FIELDS(
1013         ctf_integer(int, a, my_integer_arg)
1014         ctf_integer(unsigned long, b, app_struct_arg->b)
1015         ctf_string(c, app_struct_arg->c)
1016     )
1017 )
1018
1019 TRACEPOINT_EVENT_INSTANCE(
1020     my_provider,
1021     my_tracepoint_class,
1022     event_instance1,
1023     TP_ARGS(
1024         int, my_integer_arg,
1025         struct app_struct *, app_struct_arg
1026     )
1027 )
1028
1029 TRACEPOINT_EVENT_INSTANCE(
1030     my_provider,
1031     my_tracepoint_class,
1032     event_instance2,
1033     TP_ARGS(
1034         int, my_integer_arg,
1035         struct app_struct *, app_struct_arg
1036     )
1037 )
1038
1039 TRACEPOINT_LOGLEVEL(my_provider, event_instance2, TRACE_INFO)
1040
1041 TRACEPOINT_EVENT_INSTANCE(
1042     my_provider,
1043     my_tracepoint_class,
1044     event_instance3,
1045     TP_ARGS(
1046         int, my_integer_arg,
1047         struct app_struct *, app_struct_arg
1048     )
1049 )
1050
1051 #endif /* _TP_H */
1052
1053 #include <lttng/tracepoint-event.h>
1054 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
1055
1056
1057 Tracepoint provider source file
1058 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1059 `tp.c`:
1060
1061 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
1062 #define TRACEPOINT_CREATE_PROBES
1063 #define TRACEPOINT_DEFINE
1064
1065 #include "tp.h"
1066 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
1067
1068
1069 Application header file
1070 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1071 `app.h`:
1072
1073 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
1074 #ifndef _APP_H
1075 #define _APP_H
1076
1077 struct app_struct {
1078     unsigned long b;
1079     const char *c;
1080     double d;
1081 };
1082
1083 #endif /* _APP_H */
1084 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
1085
1086
1087 Application source file
1088 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1089 `app.c`:
1090
1091 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
1092 #include <stdlib.h>
1093 #include <stdio.h>
1094
1095 #include "tp.h"
1096 #include "app.h"
1097
1098 static int array_of_ints[] = {
1099     100, -35, 1, 23, 14, -6, 28, 1001, -3000,
1100 };
1101
1102 int main(int argc, char* argv[])
1103 {
1104     FILE *stream;
1105     struct app_struct app_struct;
1106
1107     tracepoint(my_provider, simple_event, argc, argv[0]);
1108     stream = fopen("/tmp/app.txt", "w");
1109
1110     if (!stream) {
1111         fprintf(stderr,
1112                 "Error: Cannot open /tmp/app.txt for writing\n");
1113         return EXIT_FAILURE;
1114     }
1115
1116     if (fprintf(stream, "0123456789") != 10) {
1117         fclose(stream);
1118         fprintf(stderr, "Error: Cannot write to /tmp/app.txt\n");
1119         return EXIT_FAILURE;
1120     }
1121
1122     tracepoint(my_provider, big_event, 35, "hello tracepoint",
1123                stream, -3.14, array_of_ints);
1124     fclose(stream);
1125     app_struct.b = argc;
1126     app_struct.c = "[the string]";
1127     tracepoint(my_provider, event_instance1, 23, &app_struct);
1128     app_struct.b = argc * 5;
1129     app_struct.c = "[other string]";
1130     tracepoint(my_provider, event_instance2, 17, &app_struct);
1131     app_struct.b = 23;
1132     app_struct.c = "nothing";
1133     tracepoint(my_provider, event_instance3, -52, &app_struct);
1134
1135     return EXIT_SUCCESS;
1136 }
1137 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
1138
1139
1140 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
1141 ---------------------
1142 `LTTNG_HOME`::
1143     Alternative user's home directory. This variable is useful when the
1144     user running the instrumented application has a non-writable home
1145     directory.
1146 +
1147 Unix sockets used for the communication between `liblttng-ust` and the
1148 LTTng session and consumer daemons (part of the LTTng-tools project)
1149 are located in a specific directory under `$LTTNG_HOME` (or `$HOME` if
1150 `$LTTNG_HOME` is not set).
1151
1152 `LTTNG_UST_BLOCKING_RETRY_TIMEOUT`::
1153     Maximum duration (milliseconds) to retry event tracing when
1154     there's no space left for the event record in the sub-buffer.
1155 +
1156 --
1157 `0` (default)::
1158     Never block the application.
1159
1160 Positive value::
1161     Block the application for the specified number of milliseconds. If
1162     there's no space left after this duration, discard the event
1163     record.
1164
1165 Negative value::
1166     Block the application until there's space left for the event record.
1167 --
1168 +
1169 This option can be useful in workloads generating very large trace data
1170 throughput, where blocking the application is an acceptable trade-off to
1171 prevent discarding event records.
1172 +
1173 WARNING: Setting this environment variable to a non-zero value may
1174 significantly affect application timings.
1175
1176 `LTTNG_UST_CLOCK_PLUGIN`::
1177     Path to the shared object which acts as the clock override plugin.
1178     An example of such a plugin can be found in the LTTng-UST
1179     documentation under
1180     https://github.com/lttng/lttng-ust/tree/master/doc/examples/clock-override[`examples/clock-override`].
1181
1182 `LTTNG_UST_DEBUG`::
1183     Activates `liblttng-ust`'s debug and error output if set to `1`.
1184
1185 `LTTNG_UST_GETCPU_PLUGIN`::
1186     Path to the shared object which acts as the `getcpu()` override
1187     plugin. An example of such a plugin can be found in the LTTng-UST
1188     documentation under
1189     https://github.com/lttng/lttng-ust/tree/master/doc/examples/getcpu-override[`examples/getcpu-override`].
1190
1191 `LTTNG_UST_REGISTER_TIMEOUT`::
1192     Waiting time for the _registration done_ session daemon command
1193     before proceeding to execute the main program (milliseconds).
1194 +
1195 The value `0` means _do not wait_. The value `-1` means _wait forever_.
1196 Setting this environment variable to `0` is recommended for applications
1197 with time constraints on the process startup time.
1198 +
1199 Default: {lttng_ust_register_timeout}.
1200
1201 `LTTNG_UST_BLOCKING_RETRY_TIMEOUT`::
1202     Maximum time during which event tracing retry is attempted on buffer
1203     full condition (millliseconds). Setting this environment to non-zero
1204     value effectively blocks the application on buffer full condition.
1205     Setting this environment variable to non-zero values may
1206     significantly affect application timings. Setting this to a negative
1207     value may block the application indefinitely if there is no consumer
1208     emptying the ring buffer. The delay between retry attempts is the
1209     minimum between the specified timeout value and 100ms. This option
1210     can be useful in workloads generating very large trace data
1211     throughput, where blocking the application is an acceptable
1212     trade-off to not discard events. _Use with caution_.
1213 +
1214 The value `0` means _do not retry_. The value `-1` means _retry forever_.
1215 Value > `0` means a maximum timeout of the given value.
1216 +
1217 Default: {lttng_ust_blocking_retry_timeout}.
1218
1219 `LTTNG_UST_WITHOUT_BADDR_STATEDUMP`::
1220     Prevents `liblttng-ust` from performing a base address state dump
1221     (see the <<state-dump,LTTng-UST state dump>> section above) if
1222     set to `1`.
1223
1224
1225 include::common-footer.txt[]
1226
1227 include::common-copyrights.txt[]
1228
1229 include::common-authors.txt[]
1230
1231
1232 SEE ALSO
1233 --------
1234 man:tracef(3),
1235 man:tracelog(3),
1236 man:lttng-gen-tp(1),
1237 man:lttng-ust-dl(3),
1238 man:lttng-ust-cyg-profile(3),
1239 man:lttng(1),
1240 man:lttng-enable-event(1),
1241 man:lttng-list(1),
1242 man:lttng-add-context(1),
1243 man:babeltrace(1),
1244 man:dlopen(3),
1245 man:ld.so(8)