trace-cmd.dat.v7(5) — Linux manual page

NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | INITIAL FORMAT | FORMAT OF THE SECTION HEADER | COMPRESSION FORMAT OF THE FILE SECTIONS | COMPRESSION FORMAT OF THE TRACE DATA | OPTIONS SECTION | HEADER INFO SECTION | FTRACE EVENT FORMATS SECTION | EVENT FORMATS SECTION | KALLSYMS SECTION | TRACE_PRINTK SECTION | SAVED COMMAND LINES SECTION | BUFFER FLYRECORD SECTION | SEE ALSO | AUTHOR | RESOURCES | COPYING | NOTES | COLOPHON

TRACE-CMD.DAT.V(5)          libtracefs Manual         TRACE-CMD.DAT.V(5)

NAME         top

       trace-cmd.dat.v7 - trace-cmd version 7 file format

SYNOPSIS         top

       trace-cmd.dat ignore

DESCRIPTION         top

       The trace-cmd(1) utility produces a "trace.dat" file. The file
       may also be named anything depending if the user specifies a
       different output name, but it must have a certain binary format.
       The file is used by trace-cmd to save kernel traces into it and
       be able to extract the trace from it at a later point (see
       trace-cmd-report(1)).

INITIAL FORMAT         top

           The first three bytes contain the magic value:

           0x17 0x08  0x44

           The next 7 bytes contain the characters:

           "tracing"

           The next set of characters contain a null '\0' terminated string
           that contains the version of the file:

           "7\0"

           The next 1 byte contains the flags for the file endianess:

           0 = little endian
           1 = big endian

           The next byte contains the number of bytes per "long" value:

           4 - 32-bit long values
           8 - 64-bit long values

           Note: This is the long size of the target's user space. Not the
           kernel space size.

           [ Now all numbers are written in file defined endianess. ]

           The next 4 bytes are a 32-bit word that defines what the traced
           host machine page size was.

           The compression algorithm header is written next:
              "name\0version\0"
           where "name" and "version" are strings, name and version of the
           compression algorithm used to compress the trace file. If the name
           is "none", the data in the file is not compressed.

           The next 8 bytes are 64-bit integer, the offset within the file where
           the first OPTIONS section is located.

           The rest of the file consists of different sections. The only mandatory
           is the first OPTIONS section, all others are optional. The location and
           the order of the sections is not strict. Each section starts with a header:

FORMAT OF THE SECTION HEADER         top

           <2 bytes> unsigned short integer, ID of the section.
           <2 bytes> unsigned short integer, section flags:
             1 = the section is compressed.
           <4 bytes> ID of a string, description of the section.
           <8 bytes> long long unsigned integer, size of the section in the file.

           If the section is compressed, the above is the compressed size.
           The section must be uncompressed on reading. The described format of
           the sections refers to the uncompressed data.

COMPRESSION FORMAT OF THE FILE SECTIONS         top

           Some of the sections in the file may be compressed with the compression algorithm,
           specified in the compression algorithm header. Compressed sections have a compression
           header, written after the section header and right before the compressed data:
             <4 bytes> unsigned int, size of compressed data in this section.
             <4 bytes> unsigned int, size of uncompressed data.
             <data> binary compressed data, with the specified size.

COMPRESSION FORMAT OF THE TRACE DATA         top

           There are two special sections, BUFFER FLYRECORD and BUFFER LATENCY, containing
           trace data. These sections may be compressed with the compression algorithm, specified
           in the compression header. Usually the size of these sections is huge, that's why its
           compression format is different from the other sections. The trace data is compressed
           in chunks The size of one chunk is specified in the file creation time. The format
           of compressed trace data is:
              <4 bytes> unsigned int, count of chunks.
              Follows the compressed chunks of given count. For each chunk:
                 <4 bytes> unsigned int, size of compressed data in this chunk.
                 <4 bytes> unsigned int, size of uncompressed data, aligned with the trace page size.
                 <data> binary compressed data, with the specified size.
           These chunks must be uncompressed on reading. The described format of
           trace data refers to the uncompressed data.

OPTIONS SECTION         top

           Section ID: 0

           This is the the only mandatory section in the file. There can be multiple
           options sections, the first one is located at the offset specified right
           after the compression algorithm header. The section consists of multiple
           trace options, each option has the following format:
             <2 bytes> unsigned short integer, ID of the option.
             <4 bytes> unsigned integer, size of the option's data.
             <binary data> bytes of the size specified above, data of the option.

           Options, supported by the trace file version 7:

           DONE: id 0, size 8
             This option indicates the end of the options section, it is written
             always as last option. The DONE option data is:
                <8 bytes> long long unsigned integer, offset in the trace file where
                the next options section is located. If this offset is 0, then there
                are no more options sections.

           DATE: id 1, size vary
             The DATE option data is a null terminated ASCII string, which represents
             the time difference between trace events timestamps and the Generic Time
             of Day of the system.

           CPUSTAT: id 2, size vary
             The CPUSTAT option data is a null terminated ASCII string, the content of the
             "per_cpu/cpu<id>/stats" file from the trace directory. There is a CPUSTAT option
             for each CPU.

           BUFFER: id 3, size vary
             The BUFFER option describes the flyrecord trace data saved in the file, collected
             from one trace instance. There is BUFFER option for each trace instance. The format
             of the BUFFER data is:
               <8 bytes> long long unsigned integer, offset in the trace file where the
               BUFFER FLYRECORD section is located, containing flyrecord trace data.
               <string> a null terminated ASCII string, name of the trace instance. Empty string ""
               is saved as name of the top instance.
               <string> a null terminated ASCII string, trace clock used for events timestamps in
               this trace instance.
               <4 bytes> unsigned integer, size of the trace buffer page.
               <4 bytes> unsigned integer, count of the CPUs with trace data.
               For each CPU of the above count:
                  <4 bytes> unsigned integer, ID of the CPU.
                  <8 bytes> long long unsigned integer, offset in the trace file where the trace data
                  for this CPU is located.
                  <8 bytes> long long unsigned integer, size of the trace data for this CPU.

           TRACECLOCK: id 4, size vary
             The TRACECLOCK option data is a null terminated ASCII string, the content of the
             "trace_clock" file from the trace directory.

           UNAME: id 5, size vary
             The UNAME option data is a null terminated ASCII string, identifying the system where
             the trace data is collected. The string is retrieved by the uname() system call.

           HOOK: id 6, size vary
             The HOOK option data is a null terminated ASCII string, describing event hooks: custom
             event matching to connect any two events together.

           OFFSET: id 7, size vary
             The OFFSET option data is a null terminated ASCII string, representing a fixed time that
             is added to each event timestamp on reading.

           CPUCOUNT: id 8, size 4
             The CPUCOUNT option data is:
               <4 bytes> unsigned integer, number of CPUs in the system.

           VERSION: id 9, size vary
             The VERSION option data is a null terminated ASCII string, representing the version of
             the trace-cmd application, used to collect these trace logs.

           PROCMAPS: id 10, size vary
             The PROCMAPS option data is a null terminated ASCII string, representing the memory map
             of each traced filtered process. The format of the string is, for each filtered process:
               <procss ID> <libraries count> <process command> \n
                 <memory start address> <memory end address> <full path of the mapped library file> \n
                 ...
                  separate line for each library, used by this process
                 ...
               ...

           TRACEID: id 11, size 8
             The TRACEID option data is a unique identifier of this tracing session:
               <8 bytes> long long unsigned integer, trace session identifier.

           TIME_SHIFT: id 12, size vary
             The TIME_SHIFT option stores time synchronization information, collected during host and guest
             tracing session. Usually it is saved in the guest trace file. This information is used to
             synchronize guest with host events timestamps, when displaying all files from this tracing
             session. The format of the TIME_SHIFT option data is:
               <8 bytes> long long unsigned integer, trace identifier of the peer (usually the host).
               <4 bytes> unsigned integer, flags specific to the time synchronization protocol, used in this
               trace session.
               <4 bytes> unsigned integer, number of traced CPUs. For each CPU, timestamps corrections
               are recorded:
                  <4 bytes> unsigned integer, count of the recorded timestamps corrections for this CPU.
                  <array of unsigned long long integers of the above count>, times when the corrections are calculated
                  <array of unsigned long long integers of the above count>, corrections offsets
                  <array of unsigned long long integers of the above count>, corrections scaling ratio

           GUEST: id 13, size vary
             The GUEST option stores information about traced guests in this tracing session. Usually it is
             saved in the host trace file. There is a separate GUEST option for each traced guest.
             The information is used when displaying all files from this tracing session. The format of
             the GUEST option data is:
                <string> a null terminated ASCII string, name of the guest.
                <8 bytes> long long unsigned integer, trace identifier of the guest for this session.
                <4 bytes> unsigned integer, number of guest's CPUs. For each CPU:
                   <4 bytes> unsigned integer, ID of the CPU.
                   <4 bytes> unsigned integer, PID of the host task, emulating this guest CPU.

           TSC2NSEC: id 14, size 16
             The TSC2NSEC option stores information, used to convert TSC events timestamps to nanoseconds.
             The format of the TSC2NSEC option data is:
                <4 bytes> unsigned integer, time multiplier.
                <4 bytes> unsigned integer, time shift.
                <8 bytes> unsigned long long integer, time offset.

           STRINGS: id 15, size vary
             The STRINGS option holds a list of nul terminated strings that holds the names of the
             other sections.

           HEADER_INFO: id 16, size 8
             The HEADER_INFO option data is:
               <8 bytes> long long unsigned integer, offset into the trace file where the HEADER INFO
               section is located

           FTRACE_EVENTS: id 17, size 8
             The FTRACE_EVENTS option data is:
               <8 bytes> long long unsigned integer, offset into the trace file where the
               FTRACE EVENT FORMATS section is located.

           EVENT_FORMATS: id 18, size 8
             The EVENT_FORMATS option data is:
               <8 bytes> long long unsigned integer, offset into the trace file where the EVENT FORMATS
               section is located.

           KALLSYMS: id 19, size 8
             The KALLSYMS option data is:
               <8 bytes> long long unsigned integer, offset into the trace file where the KALLSYMS
               section is located.

           PRINTK: id 20, size 8
             The PRINTK option data is:
               <8 bytes> long long unsigned integer, offset into the trace file where the TRACE_PRINTK
               section is located.

           CMDLINES: id 21, size 8
             The CMDLINES option data is:
               <8 bytes> long long unsigned integer, offset into the trace file where the
               SAVED COMMAND LINES section is located.

           BUFFER_TEXT: id 22, size
             The BUFFER_LAT option describes the latency trace data saved in the file. The format
             of the BUFFER_LAT data is:
               <8 bytes> long long unsigned integer, offset in the trace file where the
               BUFFER LATENCY section is located, containing latency trace data.
               <string> a null terminated ASCII string, name of the trace instance. Empty string ""
               is saved as name of the top instance.
               <string> a null terminated ASCII string, trace clock used for events timestamps in
               this trace instance.

HEADER INFO SECTION         top

           Section ID: 16

           The first 12 bytes of the section, after the section header, contain the string:

           "header_page\0"

           The next 8 bytes are a 64-bit word containing the size of the
           page header information stored next.

           The next set of data is of the size read from the previous 8 bytes,
           and contains the data retrieved from debugfs/tracing/events/header_page.

           Note: The size of the second field \fBcommit\fR contains the target
           kernel long size. For example:

           field: local_t commit;        offset:8;       \fBsize:8;\fR   signed:1;

           shows the kernel has a 64-bit long.

           The next 13 bytes contain the string:

           "header_event\0"

           The next 8 bytes are a 64-bit word containing the size of the
           event header information stored next.

           The next set of data is of the size read from the previous 8 bytes
           and contains the data retrieved from debugfs/tracing/events/header_event.

           This data allows the trace-cmd tool to know if the ring buffer format
           of the kernel made any changes.

FTRACE EVENT FORMATS SECTION         top

           Section ID: 17

           Directly after the section header comes the information about
           the Ftrace specific events. These are the events used by the Ftrace plugins
           and are not enabled by the event tracing.

           The next 4 bytes contain a 32-bit word of the number of Ftrace event
           format files that are stored in the file.

           For the number of times defined by the previous 4 bytes is the
           following:

           8 bytes for the size of the Ftrace event format file.

           The Ftrace event format file copied from the target machine:
           debugfs/tracing/events/ftrace/<event>/format

EVENT FORMATS SECTION         top

           Section ID: 18

           Directly after the section header comes the information about
           the event layout.

           The next 4 bytes are a 32-bit word containing the number of
           event systems that are stored in the file. These are the
           directories in debugfs/tracing/events excluding the \fBftrace\fR
           directory.

           For the number of times defined by the previous 4 bytes is the
           following:

           A null-terminated string containing the system name.

           4 bytes containing a 32-bit word containing the number
           of events within the system.

           For the number of times defined in the previous 4 bytes is the
           following:

           8 bytes for the size of the event format file.

           The event format file copied from the target machine:
           debugfs/tracing/events/<system>/<event>/format

KALLSYMS SECTION         top

           Section ID: 19

           Directly after the section header comes the information of the mapping
           of function addresses to the function names.

           The next 4 bytes are a 32-bit word containing the size of the
           data holding the function mappings.

           The next set of data is of the size defined by the previous 4 bytes
           and contains the information from the target machine's file:
           /proc/kallsyms

TRACE_PRINTK SECTION         top

           Section ID: 20

           If a developer used trace_printk() within the kernel, it may
           store the format string outside the ring buffer.
           This information can be found in:
           debugfs/tracing/printk_formats

           The next 4 bytes are a 32-bit word containing the size of the
           data holding the printk formats.

           The next set of data is of the size defined by the previous 4 bytes
           and contains the information from debugfs/tracing/printk_formats.

SAVED COMMAND LINES SECTION         top

           Section ID: 21

           Directly after the section header comes the information mapping
           a PID to a process name.

           The next 8 bytes contain a 64-bit word that holds the size of the
           data mapping the PID to a process name.

           The next set of data is of the size defined by the previous 8 bytes
           and contains the information from debugfs/tracing/saved_cmdlines.

BUFFER FLYRECORD SECTION         top

           This section contains flyrecord tracing data, collected in one trace instance.
           The data is saved per CPU. Each BUFFER FLYRECORD section has a corresponding BUFFER
           option, containing information about saved CPU's trace data. Padding is placed between
           the section header and the CPU data, placing the CPU data at a page aligned (target page)
           position in the file.

           This data is copied directly from the Ftrace ring buffer and is of the
           same format as the ring buffer specified by the event header files
           loaded in the header format file.

           The trace-cmd tool will try to \fBmmap(2)\fR the data page by page with the
           target's page size if possible. If it fails to mmap, it will just read the
           data instead.

       BUFFER TEXT SECTION

           .ft C
             Section ID: 22

             This section contains latency tracing data, ASCII text taken from the
             target's debugfs/tracing/trace file.

           STRINGS SECTION
           .ft

           Section ID: 15

           All strings of the trace file metadata are stored in a string section within the file. The section
           contains a list of nul terminated ASCII strings. An ID of the string is used in the file
           meta data, which is the offset of the actual string into the string section. Strings can be stored
           into multiple string sections in the file.

SEE ALSO         top

       trace-cmd(1), trace-cmd-record(1), trace-cmd-report(1),
       trace-cmd-start(1), trace-cmd-stop(1), trace-cmd-extract(1),
       trace-cmd-reset(1), trace-cmd-split(1), trace-cmd-list(1),
       trace-cmd-listen(1), trace-cmd.dat(5)

AUTHOR         top

       Written by Steven Rostedt, <[email protected][1]>

RESOURCES         top

       https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/utils/trace-cmd/trace-cmd.git/ 

COPYING         top

       Copyright (C) 2010 Red Hat, Inc. Free use of this software is
       granted under the terms of the GNU Public License (GPL).

NOTES         top

        1. [email protected]
           mailto:[email protected]

COLOPHON         top

       This page is part of the trace-cmd (a front-end for Ftrace)
       project.  Information about the project can be found at 
       ⟨https://www.trace-cmd.org/⟩.  If you have a bug report for this
       manual page, see ⟨https://www.trace-cmd.org/⟩.  This page was
       obtained from the project's upstream Git repository
       ⟨https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/utils/trace-cmd/trace-cmd.git⟩ on
       2024-06-14.  (At that time, the date of the most recent commit
       that was found in the repository was 2024-02-22.)  If you
       discover any rendering problems in this HTML version of the page,
       or you believe there is a better or more up-to-date source for
       the page, or you have corrections or improvements to the
       information in this COLOPHON (which is not part of the original
       manual page), send a mail to [email protected]

libtracefs                     09/24/2023             TRACE-CMD.DAT.V(5)