Provided by: bpfcc-tools_0.26.0+ds-1ubuntu2_all bug

NAME

       argdist  -  Trace  a  function and display a histogram or frequency count of its parameter
       values. Uses Linux eBPF/bcc.

SYNOPSIS

       argdist [-h] [-p PID] [-z STRING_SIZE] [-i INTERVAL] [-d DURATION]  [-n  COUNT]  [-v]  [-T
       TOP] [-H specifier] [-C specifier] [-I header] [-t TID]

DESCRIPTION

       argdist  attaches  to function entry and exit points, collects specified parameter values,
       and stores them in a histogram or a frequency collection that counts the number of times a
       parameter  value  occurred.  It  can  also filter parameter values and instrument multiple
       entry points at once.

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

REQUIREMENTS

       CONFIG_BPF and bcc.

OPTIONS

       -h     Print usage message.

       -p PID Trace only functions in the process PID.

       -t TID Trace only functions in the thread TID.

       -z STRING_SIZE
              When collecting string  arguments  (of  type  char*),  collect  up  to  STRING_SIZE
              characters. Longer strings will be truncated.

       -i INTERVAL
              Print the collected data every INTERVAL seconds. The default is 1 second.

       -d DURATION
              Total duration of trace in seconds.

       -n NUMBER
              Print the collected data COUNT times and then exit.

       -v     Display the generated BPF program, for debugging purposes.

       -T TOP When collecting frequency counts, display only the top TOP entries.

       -H specifiers, -C specifiers
              One  or  more  probe specifications that instruct argdist which functions to probe,
              which parameters to collect, how to aggregate them,  and  whether  to  perform  any
              filtering. See SPECIFIER SYNTAX below.

       -I header
              One  or  more header files that should be included in the BPF program. This enables
              the use of structure definitions, enumerations, and constants that are available in
              these  headers.  You  should  provide  the  same  path you would include in the BPF
              program, e.g. 'linux/blkdev.h' or 'linux/time.h'. Note: in many cases, argdist will
              deduce the necessary header files automatically.

SPECIFIER SYNTAX

       The general specifier syntax is as follows:

       {p,r,t,u}:{[library],category}:function(signature):type[,type...]:expr[,expr...][:filter]][#label]

       {p,r,t,u}
              Probe type - "p" for function entry,  "r"  for  function  return,  "t"  for  kernel
              tracepoint,  "u"  for  USDT  probe;  -H  for histogram collection, -C for frequency
              count.  Indicates where to place the probe and whether  the  probe  should  collect
              frequency  count  information,  or aggregate the collected values into a histogram.
              Counting probes will  collect  the  number  of  times  every  parameter  value  was
              observed,  whereas  histogram  probes  will  collect  the  parameter  values into a
              histogram.  Only integral types can be used with histogram probes; there is no such
              limitation for counting probes.

       [library]
              Library  containing the probe.  Specify the full path to the .so or executable file
              where the function to probe resides. Alternatively, you can specify  just  the  lib
              name:  for example, "c" refers to libc. If no library name is specified, the kernel
              is assumed.

       category
              The category of the kernel tracepoint. For example: net, sched, block.

       function(signature)
              The function to probe, and its signature.  The function name must match exactly for
              the  probe  to be placed. The signature, on the other hand, is only required if you
              plan to collect parameter values based on that signature. For example, if you  only
              want  to  collect  the  first  parameter, you don't have to specify the rest of the
              parameters in the signature.  When capturing kernel tracepoints, this should be the
              name  of  the event, e.g.  net_dev_start_xmit. The signature for kernel tracepoints
              should be empty. When capturing USDT probes, this should be the name of the  probe,
              e.g. reloc_complete.  The signature for USDT probes should be empty.

       [type[,type...]]
              The  type(s)  of the expression(s) to capture.  This is the type of the keys in the
              histogram or raw event collection that are collected by the probes.

       [expr[,expr...]]
              The expression(s) to capture.  These are  the  values  that  are  assigned  to  the
              histogram or raw event collection.  You may use the parameters directly, or valid C
              expressions that involve the parameters, such as  "size  %  10".   Tracepoints  may
              access  a  special  structure  called  "args"  that  is  formatted according to the
              tracepoint  format  (which  you  can  obtain  using  tplist).   For  example,   the
              block:block_rq_complete  tracepoint  can  access  args->nr_sector.  USDT probes may
              access the arguments defined by the tracing program in the special arg1, arg2,  ...
              variables.  To  obtain their types, use the tplist tool.  Return probes can use the
              argument values  received  by  the  function  when  it  was  entered,  through  the
              $entry(paramname)  special  variable.  Return probes can also access the function's
              return value in $retval, and  the  function's  execution  time  in  nanoseconds  in
              $latency.  Note  that  adding  the  $latency  or $entry(paramname) variables to the
              expression will introduce an additional probe at the function's  entry  to  collect
              this data, and therefore introduce additional overhead.

       [filter]
              The  filter  applied  to  the  captured  data.  Only parameter values that pass the
              filter will be collected. This is  any  valid  C  expression  that  refers  to  the
              parameter  values,  such  as  "fd  ==  1 && length > 16".  The $entry, $retval, and
              $latency variables can be  used  here  as  well,  in  return  probes.   The  filter
              expression  may  also use the STRCMP pseudo-function to compare a predefined string
              to a  string  argument.  For  example:  STRCMP("test.txt",  file).   The  order  of
              arguments is important: the first argument MUST be a quoted literal string, and the
              second argument can be a runtime string.

       [label]
              The label that will be displayed when printing the probed values. By default,  this
              is the probe specifier.

EXAMPLES

       Print a histogram of allocation sizes passed to kmalloc:
              # argdist -H 'p::__kmalloc(u64 size):u64:size'

       Print  a  count of how many times process 1005 called malloc with an allocation size of 16
       bytes:
              # argdist -p 1005 -C 'p:c:malloc(size_t size):size_t:size:size==16'

       Snoop on all strings returned by gets():
              # argdist -C 'r:c:gets():char*:$retval'

       Print a histogram of read sizes that were longer than 1ms:
              #    argdist    -H     'r::__vfs_read(void     *file,     void     *buf,     size_t
              count):size_t:$entry(count):$latency > 1000000'

       Print  frequency  counts  of  how  many  times  writes  were  issued  to a particular file
       descriptor number, in process 1005:
              # argdist -p 1005 -C 'p:c:write(int fd):int:fd'

       Print a histogram of error codes returned by read() in process 1005:
              # argdist -p 1005 -H 'r:c:read()'

       Print a histogram of buffer sizes passed to write() across all processes, where  the  file
       descriptor was 1 (STDOUT):
              # argdist -H 'p:c:write(int fd, const void *buf, size_t count):size_t:count:fd==1'

       Count fork() calls in libc across all processes, grouped by pid:
              # argdist -C 'p:c:fork():int:$PID;fork per process'

       Print histogram of number of sectors in completing block I/O requests:
              # argdist -H 't:block:block_rq_complete():u32:nr_sector'

       Aggregate interrupts by interrupt request (IRQ):
              # argdist -C 't:irq:irq_handler_entry():int:irq'

       Print the functions used as thread entry points and how common they are:
              # argdist -C 'u:pthread:pthread_start():u64:arg2' -p 1337

       Print histograms of sleep() and nanosleep() parameter values:
              # argdist -H 'p:c:sleep(u32 seconds):u32:seconds' -H 'p:c:nanosleep(struct timespec
              *req):long:req->tv_nsec'

       Spy on writes to STDOUT performed by process 2780, up to a string size of 120 characters:
              #  argdist  -p  2780   -z   120   -C   'p:c:write(int   fd,   char*   buf,   size_t
              len):char*:buf:fd==1'

       Group files being read from and the read sizes from __vfs_read:
              #    argdist    -C    'p::__vfs_read(struct   file   *file,   void   *buf,   size_t
              count):char*,size_t:file->f_path.dentry->d_iname,count:file->f_path.dentry->d_iname[0]!=0'

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

       Sasha Goldshtein