Chapter 14
Ftrace
Ftrace is the official Linux tracer, a multi-tool composed of different tracing utilities. Ftrace was created by Steven Rostedt and first added to Linux 2.6.27 (2008). It can be used without any additional user-level front end, making it especially suited for embedded Linux environments where storage space is at a premium. It is also useful for server environments.
This chapter, along with Chapter 13, perf, and Chapter 15, BPF, are optional reading for those wishing to learn one or more system tracers in more detail.
Ftrace can be used to answer questions such as:
How often are certain kernel functions called?
What code path led to calling this function?
What child functions does this kernel function call?
What is the highest ...
Get Systems Performance, 2nd Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
