Provided by: systemtap_4.8-2_amd64 bug

NAME

       stap - systemtap script translator/driver

SYNOPSIS

       stap [ OPTIONS ] FILENAME [ ARGUMENTS ]
       stap [ OPTIONS ] - [ ARGUMENTS ]
       stap [ OPTIONS ] -e SCRIPT [ ARGUMENTS ]
       stap [ OPTIONS ] -l PROBE [ ARGUMENTS ]
       stap [ OPTIONS ] -L PROBE [ ARGUMENTS ]
       stap [ OPTIONS ] --dump-probe-types
       stap [ OPTIONS ] --dump-probe-aliases
       stap [ OPTIONS ] --dump-functions

DESCRIPTION

       The  stap program is the front-end to the Systemtap tool.  It accepts probing instructions
       written in a simple domain-specific language, translates those instructions into  C  code,
       compiles  this  C  code,  and  loads the resulting module into a running Linux kernel or a
       Dyninst user-space mutator, to perform the requested system  trace/probe  functions.   You
       can  supply  the  script in a named file (FILENAME), from standard input (use - instead of
       FILENAME), or from the command line (using -e SCRIPT).   The  program  runs  until  it  is
       interrupted  by  the user, or if the script voluntarily invokes the exit() function, or by
       sufficient number of soft errors.

       The language, which is described the SCRIPT LANGUAGE section  below,  is  strictly  typed,
       expressive, declaration free, procedural, prototyping-friendly, and inspired by awk and C.
       It allows source code points or events in the system to be associated with handlers, which
       are  subroutines  that are executed synchronously.  It is somewhat similar conceptually to
       "breakpoint command lists" in the gdb debugger.

DOCUMENTATION OVERVIEW

       systemtap comes with a variety of  educational,  documentation  and  reference  resources.
       They come online and/or packaged for offline use.  Some systemtap diagnostic warning/error
       messages  specially  suggest  reading  a   man   page   by   including   a   string   like
       [man error::pass5].     For    online   documentation,   see   the   project   web   site,
       https://sourceware.org/systemtap/

       ┌──────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
       │man pages                 │                                                      │
       ├──────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
       │stap (this page)          │ language syntax, concepts, operation, options        │
       ├──────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
       │error::*                  │ further explanation of error conditions              │
       ├──────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
       │warning::*                │ further explanation of warning conditions            │
       ├──────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
       │stapprobes                │ probe points and their $context variables            │
       ├──────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
       │stapref                   │ quick reference to language syntax                   │
       ├──────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
       │stappaths                 │ list of directories, including books & references    │
       ├──────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
       │stap-prep                 │ program  to  install  auxiliary  dependencies   like │
       │                          │ kernel debuginfo                                     │
       ├──────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
       │tapset::*                 │ generated list of tapsets                            │
       ├──────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
       │probe::*                  │ generated list of tapset probe aliases               │
       ├──────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
       │function::*               │ generated list of tapset functions                   │
       ├──────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
       │macro::*                  │ generated list of tapset macros                      │
       ├──────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
       │stapvars                  │ some of the tapset global variables                  │
       ├──────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
       │staprun, stapdyn, stapbpf │ programs for executing compiled systemtap scripts    │
       ├──────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
       │systemtap                 │ initscript, boot-time probing                        │
       ├──────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
       │stap-server               │ compilation server                                   │
       ├──────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
       │stapex                    │ a few very basic script examples                     │
       ├──────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
       │books                     │                                                      │
       ├──────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
       │Beginner's Guide          │ tutorial book, language essentials, examples         │
       ├──────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
       │Tutorial                  │ shorter tutorial, exercises                          │
       ├──────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
       │Language Reference        │ detailed language manual, covers statistics/analysis │
       ├──────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
       │Tapset Reference          │ the tapset man pages, reformatted into a book        │
       ├──────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
       │references                │                                                      │
       ├──────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
       │example scripts           │ over a hundred directly usable sysadmin tools, toys, │
       │                          │ hacks to learn from                                  │
       └──────────────────────────┴──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

OPTIONS

       The systemtap translator supports the following options.  Any other option prints  a  list
       of  supported  options.   Options may be given on the command line, as usual.  If the file
       $SYSTEMTAP_DIR/rc exist, options  are  also  loaded  from  there  and  interpreted  first.
       ($SYSTEMTAP_DIR defaults to $HOME/.systemtap if unset.)

       In  some  cases, the default value of an option depends on particular system configuration
       and thus can't be mentioned here directly.  In some of those cases running  "stap  --help"
       might display the default.

       -      Use  standard  input instead of a given FILENAME as probe language input, unless -e
              SCRIPT is given.

       -h --help
              Show help message.

       -V --version
              Show version message.

       -p NUM Stop after pass NUM.  The passes are numbered  1-5:  parse,  elaborate,  translate,
              compile, run.  See the PROCESSING section for details.

       -v     Increase  verbosity  for  all  passes.   Produce a larger volume of informative (?)
              output each time option repeated.

       --vp ABCDE
              Increase verbosity on a per-pass basis.  For example, "--vp 002" adds  2  units  of
              verbosity to pass 3 only.  The combination "-v --vp 00004" adds 1 unit of verbosity
              for all passes, and 4 more for pass 5.

       -k     Keep the temporary directory after all processing.  This may be useful in order  to
              examine the generated C code, or to reuse the compiled kernel object.

       -g     Guru mode.  Enable parsing of unsafe expert-level constructs like embedded C.

       -P     Prologue-searching   mode.   This  is  equivalent  to  --prologue-searching=always.
              Activate heuristics to work around incorrect  debugging  information  for  function
              parameter $context variables.

       -u     Unoptimized  mode.  Disable unused code elision and many other optimizations during
              elaboration / translation.

       -w     Suppressed warnings mode.  Disables all warning messages.

       -W     Treat all warnings as errors.

       -b     Use bulk mode (percpu files) for kernel-to-user data transfer.  Use the  stap-merge
              program to multiplex them back together later.

       -i --interactive
              Interactive  mode.  Enable an interface to build the systemtap script incrementally
              and interactively.

       -t     Collect timing information on the number of times probe executes and average amount
              of time spent in each probe-point. Also shows the derivation for each probe-point.

       -s NUM Use  NUM  megabyte  buffers  for  kernel-to-user  data transfer per processor.  The
              default is 16MB, or less on smaller memory machines.

       -I DIR Add the given directory to the tapset search directory.   See  the  description  of
              pass 2 for details.

       -D NAME=VALUE
              Add  the  given C preprocessor directive to the module Makefile.  These can be used
              to override limit parameters described below.

       -B NAME=VALUE
              In kernel-runtime mode, add the given make directive to the kernel  module  build's
              make  invocation.   These  can  be  used  to  add or override kconfig options.  For
              example, use

              -B CONFIG_DEBUG_INFO=y

              to add debugging information.

       -B FLAG
              In dyninst-runtime mode, add the given parameter to the compiler  CFLAGS  used  for
              building the dyninst shared library.  For example, use

              -B -g

              to add debugging information.

       -a ARCH
              Use  a  cross-compilation  mode  for  the given target architecture.  This requires
              access to the cross-compiler and the kernel build tree, and goes along with the

              -B CROSS_COMPILE=arch-tool-prefix-
              and
              -r /build/tree

              options.

       --modinfo NAME=VALUE
              Add the name/value pair as a MODULE_INFO macro call to the generated module.   This
              may be useful to inform or override various module-related checks in the kernel.

       -G NAME=VALUE
              Sets  the  value  of  global  variable NAME to VALUE when staprun is invoked.  This
              applies to scalar variables declared global in the script/tapset.

       -R DIR Look for the systemtap runtime sources in the given directory.   Your  DIR  default
              can be seen using "stap --help".

       -r /DIR
              Build  for  kernel  in given build tree. Can also be set with the SYSTEMTAP_RELEASE
              environment variable.

       -r RELEASE
              Build for kernel in build tree /lib/modules/RELEASE/build.  Can also  be  set  with
              the SYSTEMTAP_RELEASE environment variable.

       -m MODULE
              Use  the  given  name  for  the generated kernel object module, instead of a unique
              randomized name.  The generated kernel object  module  is  copied  to  the  current
              directory.

       -d MODULE
              Add  symbol/unwind  information for the given module into the kernel object module.
              This may enable symbolic tracebacks from those modules/programs, even  if  they  do
              not have an explicit probe placed into them.

       --ldd  Add  symbol/unwind information for all user-space shared libraries suspected by ldd
              to be necessary for user-space binaries being probed or listed with the -d  option.
              Caution:  this  can  make  the  probe  modules considerably larger.  Note that this
              option does not deal with kernel-space modules: see instead --all-modules below.

       --all-modules
              Equivalent to specifying "-dkernel" and a "-d"  for  each  kernel  module  that  is
              currently loaded.  Caution: this can make the probe modules considerably larger.

       -o FILE
              Send  standard  output  to  named  file. In bulk mode, percpu files will start with
              FILE_ (FILE_cpu with -F) followed by the cpu  number.   This  supports  strftime(3)
              formats for FILE.

       -c CMD Start the probes, run CMD, and exit when CMD finishes.  This also has the effect of
              setting target() to the pid of that process.  Note that many  probe  types  trigger
              independently  of  this  setting.   Consider including something like this to focus
              your script.

                 probe FOO { if (pid() != target()) next; .... }

       -x PID Sets target() to PID.  The script runs independently of the PID's lifespan.

       -e SCRIPT
              Run the given SCRIPT specified on the command line.

       -E SCRIPT
              Run the given SCRIPT specified. This SCRIPT is run in addition to the  main  script
              specified,  through  -e,  or  as  a script file. This option can be repeated to run
              multiple scripts, and can be used in listing mode (-l/-L).

       -l PROBE
              Instead of running a probe script, just list all available  probe  points  matching
              the  given  single probe point.  The pattern may include wildcards and aliases, but
              not comma-separated multiple probe points.  The process result code  will  indicate
              failure if there are no matches.

              % stap -e 'probe syscall.* { }'
              [...]
              % stap -l 'syscall.*'
              syscall.accept
              [...]
              syscall.writev

       -L PROBE
              Similar  to  "-l",  but  list  matching  probe  points plus their available context
              variables.  When -v is set with -L, the  output  includes  duplicate  probe  points
              which are distinguished by their PC address.

              % stap -L 'process("/lib64/libpython*.so.*").mark("*")'
              process("/usr/lib64/libpython2.7.so.1.0").mark("function__entry") $arg1:long $arg2:long $arg3:long
              process("/usr/lib64/libpython2.7.so.1.0").mark("function__return") $arg1:long $arg2:long $arg3:long
              process("/usr/lib64/libpython3.6m.so.1.0").mark("function__entry") $arg1:long $arg2:long $arg3:long
              process("/usr/lib64/libpython3.6m.so.1.0").mark("function__return") $arg1:long $arg2:long $arg3:long
              process("/usr/lib64/libpython3.6m.so.1.0").mark("gc__done") $arg1:long
              process("/usr/lib64/libpython3.6m.so.1.0").mark("gc__start") $arg1:long
              process("/usr/lib64/libpython3.6m.so.1.0").mark("line") $arg1:long $arg2:long $arg3:long

       -F     Without  -o  option,  load  module  and  start  probes, then detach from the module
              leaving the probes running.  With -o option, run staprun in background as a  daemon
              and show its pid.

       -S size[,N]
              Sets  the  maximum  size of output file and the maximum number of output files.  If
              the size of output file will exceed size , systemtap switches output  file  to  the
              next  file.  And  if  the  number  of output files exceed N , systemtap removes the
              oldest output file. You can omit the second argument.

       -T TIMEOUT
              Exit the script after TIMEOUT seconds.

       --skip-badvars
              Ignore unresolvable or run-time-inaccessible context variables and substitute  with
              0, without errors.

       --prologue-searching[=WHEN]
              Prologue-searching  mode.  Activate  heuristics  to work around incorrect debugging
              information  for  function   parameter  $context  variables.  WHEN  can  be  either
              "never",  "always", or "auto" (i.e. enabled by heuristic). If WHEN is missing, then
              "always" is assumed. If the option is missing, then "auto" is assumed.

       --suppress-handler-errors
              Wrap all probe handlers into something like this

              try { ... } catch { next }

              block, which causes any runtime errors to be quietly suppressed.  Suppressed errors
              do  not  count  against  MAXERRORS limits.  In this mode, the MAXSKIPPED limits are
              also suppressed, so that many errors and skipped probes may be accumulated during a
              script's runtime.  Any overall counts will still be reported at shutdown.

       --compatible VERSION
              Suppress recent script language or tapset changes which are incompatible with given
              older version of systemtap.  This may be useful if a much  older  systemtap  script
              fails to run.  See the DEPRECATION section for more details.

       --check-version
              This  option  is  used to check if the active script has any constructs that may be
              systemtap version specific.  See the DEPRECATION section for more details.

       --clean-cache
              This option prunes stale entries from the cache directory.  This is  normally  done
              automatically  after  successful  runs,  but  this  option will trigger the cleanup
              manually and then exit.  See the CACHING  section  for  more  details  about  cache
              limits.

       --color[=WHEN], --colour[=WHEN]
              This  option  controls  coloring  of  error  messages.  WHEN can be either "never",
              "always", or "auto" (i.e. enable only if at a terminal). If WHEN is  missing,  then
              "always" is assumed. If the option is missing, then "auto" is assumed.

              Colors  can be modified using the SYSTEMTAP_COLORS environment variable. The format
              must be of the form key1=val1:key2=val2:key3=val3 ...etc.  Valid keys are  "error",
              "warning",  "source",  "caret",  and  "token".   Values  constitute  Select Graphic
              Rendition (SGR) parameter(s). Consult the documentation of your  terminal  for  the
              SGRs  it  supports.  As  an  example,  the  default  colors  would  be expressed as
              error=01;31:warning=00;33:source=00;34:caret=01:token=01.  If  SYSTEMTAP_COLORS  is
              absent,  the  default  colors  will be used. If it is empty or invalid, coloring is
              turned off.

       --disable-cache
              This option disables all use of the cache directory.  No files will be either  read
              from or written to the cache.

       --poison-cache
              This  option treats files in the cache directory as invalid.  No files will be read
              from the cache, but resulting files from this run will  still  be  written  to  the
              cache.  This is meant as a troubleshooting aid when stap's cached behavior seems to
              be misbehaving.  If it helped, there is a probably a  bug  in  systemtap  that  the
              developers would like you to report.

       --privilege[=stapusr | =stapsys | =stapdev]
              This  option  instructs stap to examine the script looking for constructs which are
              not  allowed  for  the  specified  privilege  level   (see   UNPRIVILEGED   USERS).
              Compilation  fails  if  any  such  constructs  are used.  If stapusr or stapsys are
              specified when using a compile server (see --use-server), the server  will  examine
              the script and, if compilation succeeds, the server will cryptographically sign the
              resulting kernel module, certifying that is  it  safe  for  use  by  users  at  the
              specified privilege level.

              If  --privilege  has not been specified, -pN has not been specified with N < 5, and
              the invoking user is not root, and is not a member of the group stapdev, then  stap
              will  automatically  add  the appropriate --privilege option to the options already
              specified.

       --unprivileged
              This option is equivalent to --privilege=stapusr.

       --use-server[=HOSTNAME[:PORT] | =IP_ADDRESS[:PORT] | =CERT_SERIAL]
              Specify compile-server(s) to be used for compilation  and/or  in  conjunction  with
              --list-servers  and  --trust-servers  (see  below)  for  listing. If no argument is
              supplied, then the default in unprivileged mode  (see  --privilege)  is  to  select
              compatible  servers  which  are  trusted  as  SSL  peers  and as module signers and
              currently online. Otherwise the default is to select compatible servers  which  are
              trusted as SSL peers and currently online.  --use-server may be specified more than
              once, in which case a list of  servers  is  accumulated  in  the  order  specified.
              Servers  may be specified by host name, ip address, or by certificate serial number
              (obtained using --list-servers).  The latter is most commonly used when  adding  or
              revoking trust in a server (see --trust-servers below). If a server is specified by
              host name or ip address, then an optional port number may  be  specified.  This  is
              useful  for  accessing  servers  which are not on the local network or to specify a
              particular server.

              IP addresses may be IPv4 or IPv6 addresses.

              If a particular IPv6 address is link local and exists on more than  one  interface,
              the  intended  interface  may  be specified by appending the address with a percent
              sign   (%)   followed   by   the   intended   interface    name.    For    example,
              "fe80::5eff:35ff:fe07:55ca%eth0".

              In  order to specify a port number with an IPv6 address, it is necessary to enclose
              the IPv6 address in square brackets ([]) in order to separate the port number  from
              the  rest  of  the  address.  For  example,  "[fe80::5eff:35ff:fe07:55ca]:5000"  or
              "[fe80::5eff:35ff:fe07:55ca%eth0]:5000".

              If --use-server has not been specified, -pN has not been specified with N < 5,  and
              the  invoking  user not root, is not a member of the group stapdev, but is a member
              of the group stapusr, then stap will automatically add --use-server to the  options
              already specified.

       --use-server-on-error[=yes|=no]
              Instructs  stap  to  retry  compilation  of  a  script  using  a  compile server if
              compilation on the local host fails in  a  manner  which  suggests  that  it  might
              succeed using a server.  If this option is not specified, the default is no.  If no
              argument is provided, then the default is yes.  Compilation  will  be  retried  for
              certain  types  of errors (e.g. insufficient data or resources) which may not occur
              during re-compilation by  a  compile  server.  Compile  servers  will  be  selected
              automatically  for the re-compilation attempt as if --use-server was specified with
              no arguments.

       --list-servers[=SERVERS]
              Display the status of the requested SERVERS, where  SERVERS  is  a  comma-separated
              list of server attributes. The list of attributes is combined to filter the list of
              servers displayed. Supported attributes are:

              all    specifies all known servers (trusted  SSL  peers,  trusted  module  signers,
                     online servers).

              specified
                     specifies servers specified using --use-server.

              online filters  the  output  by  retaining  information  about  servers  which  are
                     currently online.

              trusted
                     filters the output by retaining information about servers which are  trusted
                     as SSL peers.

              signer filters  the output by retaining information about servers which are trusted
                     as module signers (see --privilege).

              compatible
                     filters  the  output  by  retaining  information  about  servers  which  are
                     compatible with the current kernel release and architecture.

              If  no  argument  is  provided,  then the default is specified.  If no servers were
              specified using --use-server, then the default servers for --use-server are listed.

              Note that --list-servers uses the avahi-daemon service to detect online servers. If
              this  service  is not available, then --list-servers will fail to detect any online
              servers. In order for --list-servers to detect servers listening on IPv6 addresses,
              the  avahi-daemon  configuration  file /etc/avahi/avahi-daemon.conf must contain an
              active "use-ipv6=yes" line. The service must be restarted after adding this line in
              order for IPv6 to be enabled.

       --trust-servers[=TRUST_SPEC]
              Grant or revoke trust in compile-servers, specified using --use-server as specified
              by TRUST_SPEC, where TRUST_SPEC is a  comma-separated  list  specifying  the  trust
              which is to be granted or revoked. Supported elements are:

              ssl    trust the specified servers as SSL peers.

              signer trust  the specified servers as module signers (see --privilege).  Only root
                     can specify signer.

              all-users
                     grant trust as an ssl peer for all users on the local host. The  default  is
                     to  grant  trust as an ssl peer for the current user only. Trust as a module
                     signer is always granted for all users. Only root can specify all-users.

              revoke revoke the specified trust. The default is to grant it.

              no-prompt
                     do not prompt the user for confirmation before carrying  out  the  requested
                     action. The default is to prompt the user for confirmation.

              If  no argument is provided, then the default is ssl.  If no servers were specified
              using --use-server, then no trust will be granted or revoked.

              Unless no-prompt has been specified, the user will be prompted to confirm the trust
              to be granted or revoked before the operation is performed.

       --sign-module
              Sign the module with a MOK (Machine Owner Key) on UEFI/SecureBoot systems.  See the
              SECUREBOOT section for more details.

       --dump-probe-types
              Dumps a list of supported probe types and exits.  If  --privilege=stapusr  is  also
              specified, the list will be limited to probe types available to unprivileged users.

       --dump-probe-aliases
              Dumps a list of all probe aliases found in library files and exits.

       --dump-functions
              Dumps  a  list  of  all the public functions found in library files and exits. Also
              includes their parameters and types. A  function  of  type  'unknown'  indicates  a
              function  that  does not return a value. Note that not all function/parameter types
              may be resolved (these are also shown by 'unknown'). This features is very  memory-
              intensive  and  thus  may  not work properly with --use-server if the target server
              imposes an rlimit on process memory (i.e.  through  the  ~stap-server/.systemtap/rc
              configuration file, see stap-server(8)).

       --remote URL
              Set  the execution target to the given host.  This option may be repeated to target
              multiple execution targets.  Passes 1-4 are completed locally as  normal  to  build
              the  script,  and  then  pass  5  will  copy  the  module to the target and run it.
              Acceptable URL forms include:

              [USER@]HOSTNAME, ssh://[USER@]HOSTNAME
                     This mode uses ssh, optionally using a username not matching your own. If  a
                     custom   ssh_config   file   is   in   use,   add  SendEnv  LANG  to  retain
                     internationalization functionality.

              libvirt://DOMAIN, libvirt://DOMAIN/LIBVIRT_URI
                     This mode uses stapvirt to  execute  the  script  on  a  domain  managed  by
                     libvirt.  Optionally,  LIBVIRT_URI may be specified to connect to a specific
                     driver and/or a remote host. For example, to connect to the local privileged
                     QEMU driver, use:

                     --remote libvirt://MyDomain/qemu:///system

                     See  the  page at <http://libvirt.org/uri.html> for supported URIs. Also see
                     stapvirt(1) for more information on how  to  prepare  the  domain  for  stap
                     probing.

              unix:PATH
                     This  mode  connects  to a UNIX socket. This can be used with a QEMU virtio-
                     serial port for executing scripts inside a running virtual machine.

              direct://
                     Special loopback mode to run on the local host.

       --remote-prefix
              Prefix each line of remote output with "N: ", where N is the index  of  the  remote
              execution target from which the given line originated.

       --download-debuginfo[=OPTION]
              Enable,  disable  or  set a timeout for the automatic debuginfo downloading feature
              offered by abrt as specified by OPTION, where OPTION is one of the following:

              yes    enable automatic downloading of debuginfo with no timeout. This is the  same
                     as not providing an OPTION value to --download-debuginfo

              no     explicitly  disable  automatic downloading of debuginfo. This is the same as
                     not using the option at all.

              ask    show abrt output, and ask before continuing download.  No  timeout  will  be
                     set.

              <timeout>
                     specify  a timeout as a positive number to stop the download if it is taking
                     longer than <timeout> seconds.

       --rlimit-as=NUM
              Specify the maximum size of the process's virtual memory (address space), in bytes.

       --rlimit-cpu=NUM
              Specify the CPU time limit, in seconds.

       --rlimit-nproc=NUM
              Specify the maximum number of processes that can be created.

       --rlimit-stack=NUM
              Specify the maximum size of the process stack, in bytes.

       --rlimit-fsize=NUM
              Specify the maximum size of files that the process may create, in bytes.

       --sysroot=DIR
              Specify sysroot directory where target files (executables,  libraries,  etc.)   are
              located.   With -r RELEASE, the sysroot will be searched for the appropriate kernel
              build directory.  With -r /DIR, however, the sysroot will not be used to  find  the
              kernel build.

       --sysenv=VAR=VALUE
              Provide  an alternate value for an environment variable where the value on a remote
              system differs.  Path variables (e.g. PATH,  LD_LIBRARY_PATH)  are  assumed  to  be
              relative to the directory provided by --sysroot, if provided.

       --suppress-time-limits
              Disable  -DSTP_OVERLOAD  related  options  as well as -DMAXACTION and -DMAXTRYLOCK.
              This option requires guru mode.

       --runtime=MODE
              Set the pass-5 runtime mode.  Valid options are kernel (default), dyninst and  bpf.
              See ALTERNATE RUNTIMES below for more information.

       --dyninst
              Shorthand for --runtime=dyninst.

       --bpf  Shorthand for --runtime=bpf.

       --save-uprobes
              On  machines  that require SystemTap to build its own uprobes module (kernels prior
              to version 3.5), this option instructs SystemTap to also save a copy of the  module
              in the current directory (creating a new "uprobes" directory first).

       --target-namespaces=PID
              Allow  for  a  set of target namespaces to be set based on the namespaces the given
              PID is in. This is for namespace-aware tapset functions. If the  target  namespaces
              was not set, the target defaults to the stap process' namespaces.

       --monitor=INTERVAL
              Enables  an interface to display status information about the module(uptime, module
              name, invoker uid, memory sizes,  global  variables,  list  of  probes  with  their
              statistics).  An optional argument INTERVAL can be supplied to set the refresh rate
              in seconds of the status window. The module can also be controlled  by  a  list  of
              commands using the following keys:

              c      Resets  all  global variables to their initial values or zeroes them if they
                     did not have an initial value.

              s      Rotates the attribute used to sort the list of probes.

              t      Brings up a prompt to allow  toggling(on/off)  of  probes  by  index.  Probe
                     points are still affected by their conditions.

              r      Resumes the script by toggling on all probes.

              p      Pauses the script by toggling off all probes.

              x      Hides/shows the status window. This allows for more output to be seen.

              navigation-keys
                     The navigation keys can be used to scroll up and down the windows.

              Tab    Toggle scrolling between status and output windows.

       --example
              This  option is used to run example scripts without having to enter the entire path
              to the script. Example scripts can be found  in  the  directory  specified  in  the
              stappaths(7) manual page.

       --no-global-var-display
              This  option is used to disable the automatic logging of unused global variables at
              the end of a stap session.

ARGUMENTS

       Any additional arguments on  the  command  line  are  passed  to  the  script  parser  for
       substitution.  See below.

SCRIPT LANGUAGE

       The  systemtap  script  language  resembles  awk  and  C.   There  are  two main outermost
       constructs: probes and functions.  Within these, statements  and  expressions  use  C-like
       operator syntax and precedence.

   GENERAL SYNTAX
       Whitespace is ignored.  Three forms of comments are supported:
              # ... shell style, to the end of line, except for $# and @#
              // ... C++ style, to the end of line
              /* ... C style ... */
       Literals  are either strings enclosed in double-quotes (passing through the usual C escape
       codes with backslashes, and with adjacent string literals glued together, also as  in  C),
       or  integers  (in  decimal,  hexadecimal, or octal, using the same notation as in C).  All
       strings are limited in length to some reasonable value (a few  hundred  bytes).   Integers
       are  64-bit  signed quantities, although the parser also accepts (and wraps around) values
       above positive 2**63.

       In addition, script arguments given at the end of the command line may be  inserted.   Use
       $1  ... $<NN> for insertion unquoted, @1 ... @<NN> for insertion as a string literal.  The
       number of arguments may be accessed through $# (as an unquoted number) or through @# (as a
       quoted  number).   These  may be used at any place a token may begin, including within the
       preprocessing stage.  Reference to an argument number beyond what was actually given is an
       error.

   PREPROCESSING
       A simple conditional preprocessing stage is run as a part of parsing.  The general form is
       similar to the cond ? exp1 : exp2 ternary operator:

              %( CONDITION %? TRUE-TOKENS %)
              %( CONDITION %? TRUE-TOKENS %: FALSE-TOKENS %)

       The CONDITION is either an expression whose format is determined by its first keyword,  or
       a string literals comparison or a numeric literals comparison.  It can be also composed of
       many alternatives and conjunctions of CONDITIONs (meant as in previous sentence) using  ||
       and  &&  respectively.   However,  parentheses  are not supported yet, so remembering that
       conjunction takes precedence over alternative is important.

       If the first part is the identifier kernel_vr or kernel_v to refer to the  kernel  version
       number,  with  ("2.6.13-1.322FC3smp")  or without ("2.6.13") the release code suffix, then
       the second part is one of the six standard numeric comparison operators <, <=, ==, !=,  >,
       and  >=, and the third part is a string literal that contains an RPM-style version-release
       value.  The condition is deemed  satisfied  if  the  version  of  the  target  kernel  (as
       optionally  overridden  by  the  -r  option)  compares  to  the given version string.  The
       comparison is performed by the glibc function strverscmp.   As  a  special  case,  if  the
       operator  is for simple equality (==), or inequality (!=), and the third part contains any
       wildcard characters (* or ? or [), then the expression is treated as a wildcard (mis)match
       as evaluated by fnmatch.

       If,  on  the  other  hand, the first part is the identifier arch to refer to the processor
       architecture (as named by the kernel build system ARCH/SUBARCH), then the second  part  is
       one  of  the  two  string  comparison  operators  == or !=, and the third part is a string
       literal for matching it.  This comparison is a wildcard (mis)match.

       Similarly, if the first part is an identifier like CONFIG_something to refer to  a  kernel
       configuration  option,  then  the  second part is == or !=, and the third part is a string
       literal for matching the value  (commonly  "y"  or  "m").   Nonexistent  or  unset  kernel
       configuration  options  are  represented  by  the empty string.  This comparison is also a
       wildcard (mis)match.

       If the first part is  the  identifier  systemtap_v,  the  test  refers  to  the  systemtap
       compatibility version, which may be overridden for old scripts with the --compatible flag.
       The comparison operator is as is for kernel_v and the right operand is a  version  string.
       See also the DEPRECATION section below.

       If  the first part is the identifier systemtap_privilege, the test refers to the privilege
       level that the systemtap script is compiled with. Here the second part is ==  or  !=,  and
       the third part is a string literal, either "stapusr" or "stapsys" or "stapdev".

       If  the first part is the identifier guru_mode, the test refers to if the systemtap script
       is compiled with guru_mode. Here the second part is == or !=, and  the  third  part  is  a
       number, either 1 or 0.

       If  the  first  part  is  the identifier runtime, the test refers to the systemtap runtime
       mode. See ALTERNATE RUNTIMES below for more information on runtimes.  The second  part  is
       one  of  the  two  string  comparison  operators  == or !=, and the third part is a string
       literal for matching it.  This comparison is a wildcard (mis)match.

       Otherwise, the CONDITION is expected to be a comparison between two string literals or two
       numeric literals.  In this case, the arguments are the only variables usable.

       The  TRUE-TOKENS  and  FALSE-TOKENS  are  zero  or  more  general  parser tokens (possibly
       including nested preprocessor conditionals), and are passed into the input stream  if  the
       condition  is true or false.  For example, the following code induces a parse error unless
       the target kernel version is newer than 2.6.5:

              %( kernel_v <= "2.6.5" %? **ERROR** %) # invalid token sequence

       The following code might adapt to hypothetical kernel version drift:

              probe kernel.function (
                %( kernel_v <= "2.6.12" %? "__mm_do_fault" %:
                   %( kernel_vr == "2.6.13*smp" %? "do_page_fault" %:
                      UNSUPPORTED %) %)
              ) { /* ... */ }

              %( arch == "ia64" %?
                 probe syscall.vliw = kernel.function("vliw_widget") {}
              %)

   PREPROCESSOR MACROS
       The preprocessor also supports a simple macro facility, run  as  a  separate  pass  before
       conditional preprocessing.

       Macros are defined using the following construct:

              @define NAME %( BODY %)
              @define NAME(PARAM_1, PARAM_2, ...) %( BODY %)

       Macros,  and  parameters inside a macro body, are both invoked by prefixing the macro name
       with an @ symbol:

              @define foo %( x %)
              @define add(a,b) %( ((@a)+(@b)) %)

                 @foo = @add(2,2)

       Macro expansion is currently performed in a separate pass before conditional  compilation.
       Therefore,  both  TRUE-  and FALSE-tokens in conditional expressions will be macroexpanded
       regardless of how the condition is evaluated. This can sometimes lead to errors:

              // The following results in a conflict:
              %( CONFIG_UTRACE == "y" %?
                  @define foo %( process.syscall %)
              %:
                  @define foo %( **ERROR** %)
              %)

              // The following works properly as expected:
              @define foo %(
                %( CONFIG_UTRACE == "y" %? process.syscall %: **ERROR** %)
              %)

       The first example is incorrect because both @defines are evaluated in a pass prior to  the
       conditional being evaluated.

       Normally,  a macro definition is local to the file it occurs in. Thus, defining a macro in
       a tapset does not make it available to  the  user  of  the  tapset.  Publically  available
       library  macros  can  be defined by including .stpm files on the tapset search path. These
       files may only contain @define constructs, which become visible  across  all  tapsets  and
       user  scripts.  Optionally,  within  the  .stpm  files,  a  public macro definition can be
       surrounded by a preprocessor conditional as described above.

   CONSTANTS
       Tapsets or guru-mode user scripts  can  access  header  file  constant  tokens,  typically
       macros,  using  built-in  @const()  operator.   The  respective  header  file inclusion is
       possible either via the  tapset  library,  or  using  a  top-level  guru  mode  embedded-C
       construct.  This results in appropriate embedded C pragma comments setting.

              @const("STP_SKIP_BADVARS")

   VARIABLES
       Identifiers  for  variables  and functions are an alphanumeric sequence, and may include _
       and $ characters.  They may not start with a plain digit, as in C.  Each  variable  is  by
       default  local  to the probe or function statement block within which it is mentioned, and
       therefore its scope and lifetime is limited to a particular probe or function invocation.

       Scalar variables are implicitly typed as either string  or  integer.   Associative  arrays
       also  have  a string or integer value, and a tuple of strings and/or integers serving as a
       key.  Here are a few basic expressions.

              var1 = 5
              var2 = "bar"
              array1 [pid()] = "name"     # single numeric key
              array2 ["foo",4,i++] += 5   # vector of string/num/num keys
              if (["hello",5,4] in array2) println ("yes")  # membership test

       The translator performs type inference on all identifiers,  including  array  indexes  and
       function parameters.  Inconsistent type-related use of identifiers signals an error.

       Variables may be declared global, so that they are shared amongst all probes and functions
       and live as long as the entire systemtap session.  There is one namespace for  all  global
       variables,  regardless  of  which script file they are found within.  Concurrent access to
       global variables is automatically protected  with  locks,  see  the  SAFETY  AND  SECURITY
       section  for  more  details.   A  global declaration may be written at the outermost level
       anywhere, not within a block of code.  Global variables which are written but  never  read
       will  be  displayed automatically at session shutdown.  The translator will infer for each
       its value type, and if it is used as an array, its key types.  Optionally, scalar  globals
       may  be  initialized  with  a  string  or number literal.  The following declaration marks
       variables as global.

              global var1, var2, var3=4

       Global variables can also be set as module options. One can do this by either using the -G
       option, or the module must first be compiled using stap -p4.  Global variables can then be
       set on the command line when calling staprun on the module  generated  by  stap  -p4.  See
       staprun(8) for more information.

       The  scope  of  a  global  variable  may  be limited to a tapset or user script file using
       private keyword. The global keyword is optional when defining a private  global  variable.
       Following declaration marks var1 and var2 private globals.

              private global var1=2
              private var2

       Arrays  are  limited  in size by the MAXMAPENTRIES variable -- see the SAFETY AND SECURITY
       section for details.  Optionally, global arrays may be declared with  a  maximum  size  in
       brackets,  overriding  MAXMAPENTRIES for that array only.  Note that this doesn't indicate
       the type of keys for the array, just the size.

              global tiny_array[10], normal_array, big_array[50000]

       Arrays may be configured for wrapping using the '%' suffix.  This causes older elements to
       be  overwritten if more elements are inserted than the array can hold. This works for both
       associative and statistics typed arrays.

              global wrapped_array1%[10], wrapped_array2%

       Many types of probe points provide context variables, which are  run-time  values,  safely
       extracted  from the kernel or userspace program being probed.  These are prefixed with the
       $ character.  The CONTEXT VARIABLES section in stapprobes(3stap) lists what  is  available
       for  each  type  of  probe point.  These context variables become normal string or numeric
       scalars once they are stored in normal script  variables.   See  the  TYPECASTING  section
       below  on  how  to to turn them back into typed pointers for further processing as context
       variables.  There is some automation to help!

   STATEMENTS
       Statements enable procedural control flow.  They may  occur  within  functions  and  probe
       handlers.   The  total number of statements executed in response to any single probe event
       is limited to some number defined by the MAXACTION macro in the translated C code, and  is
       in the neighbourhood of 1000.

       EXP    Execute the string- or integer-valued expression and throw away the value.

       { STMT1 STMT2 ... }
              Execute  each  statement  in  sequence  in  this  block.   Note  that separators or
              terminators are generally not necessary between statements.

       ;      Null statement, do  nothing.   It  is  useful  as  an  optional  separator  between
              statements  to  improve  syntax-error  detection  and  to  handle  certain  grammar
              ambiguities.

       if (EXP) STMT1 [ else STMT2 ]
              Compare integer-valued EXP to zero.  Execute the first (non-zero)  or  second  STMT
              (zero).

       while (EXP) STMT
              While integer-valued EXP evaluates to non-zero, execute STMT.

       for (EXP1; EXP2; EXP3) STMT
              Execute  EXP1  as  initialization.   While EXP2 is non-zero, execute STMT, then the
              iteration expression EXP3.

       foreach (VAR in ARRAY [ limit EXP ]) STMT
              Loop over each element of the named global array, assigning  current  key  to  VAR.
              The  array  may  not  be  modified within the statement.  By adding a single + or -
              operator after the VAR or the ARRAY identifier, the iteration  will  proceed  in  a
              sorted  order,  by  ascending  or descending index or value.  If the array contains
              statistics aggregates, adding the desired @operator between  the  ARRAY  identifier
              and  the  +  or  - will specify the sorting aggregate function.  See the STATISTICS
              section below for the ones available.  Default is @count.  Using the optional limit
              keyword  limits  the number of loop iterations to EXP times.  EXP is evaluated once
              at the beginning of the loop.

       foreach ([VAR1, VAR2, ...] in ARRAY [ limit EXP ]) STMT
              Same as above, used when the array is indexed with a  tuple  of  keys.   A  sorting
              suffix may be used on at most one VAR or ARRAY identifier.

       foreach ([VAR1, VAR2, ...] in ARRAY [INDEX1, INDEX2, ...] [ limit EXP ]) STMT
              Same as above, where iterations are limited to elements in the array where the keys
              match the index values specified. The symbol * can be used to specify an index  and
              will be treated as a wildcard.

       foreach (VAR0 = VAR in ARRAY [ limit EXP ]) STMT
              This  variant  of foreach saves current value into VAR0 on each iteration, so it is
              the same as ARRAY[VAR].  This also works with a tuple of keys.  Sorting suffixes on
              VAR0 have the same effect as on ARRAY.

       foreach (VAR0 = VAR in ARRAY [INDEX1, INDEX2, ...] [ limit EXP ]) STMT
              Same as above, where iterations are limited to elements in the array where the keys
              match the index values specified. The symbol * can be used to specify an index  and
              will be treated as a wildcard.

       break, continue
              Exit or iterate the innermost nesting loop (while or for or foreach) statement.

       return EXP
              Return  EXP  value  from  enclosing function.  If the function's value is not taken
              anywhere, then a return statement is not needed,  and  the  function  will  have  a
              special "unknown" type with no return value.

       next   Return  now  from  enclosing  probe  handler.   This  is especially useful in probe
              aliases that  apply  event  filtering  predicates.  When  used  in  functions,  the
              execution will be immediately transferred to the next overloaded function.

       try { STMT1 } catch { STMT2 }
              Run  the  statements in the first block.  Upon any run-time errors, abort STMT1 and
              start executing STMT2.  Any errors in  STMT2  will  propagate  to  outer  try/catch
              blocks, if any.

       try { STMT1 } catch(VAR) { STMT2 }
              Same as above, plus assign the error message to the string scalar variable VAR.

       delete ARRAY[INDEX1, INDEX2, ...]
              Remove  from  ARRAY  the  element specified by the index tuple.  If the index tuple
              contains a * in place of an index, the * is treated as a wildcard and all  elements
              with keys that match the index tuple will be removed from ARRAY.  The value will no
              longer be available, and subsequent iterations will not report the element.  It  is
              not an error to delete an element that does not exist.

       delete ARRAY
              Remove all elements from ARRAY.

       delete SCALAR
              Removes  the  value  of  SCALAR.   Integers  and  strings  are  cleared to 0 and ""
              respectively, while statistics are reset to the initial empty state.

   EXPRESSIONS
       Systemtap supports a number of operators that have the same general syntax, semantics, and
       precedence  as  in  C  and awk.  Arithmetic is performed as per typical C rules for signed
       integers.  Division by zero or overflow is detected and results in an error.

       binary numeric operators
              * / % + - >> << & ^ | && ||

       binary string operators
              .  (string concatenation)

       numeric assignment operators
              = *= /= %= += -= >>= <<= &= ^= |=

       string assignment operators
              = .=

       unary numeric operators
              + - ! ~ ++ --

       binary numeric, string comparison or regex matching operators
              < > <= >= == != =~ !~

       ternary operator
              cond ? exp1 : exp2

       grouping operator
              ( exp )

       function call
              fn ([ arg1, arg2, ... ])

       array membership check
              exp in array
              [exp1, exp2, ... ] in array
              [*, *, ... ] in array

   REGULAR EXPRESSION MATCHING
       The scripting language supports regular expression  matching.   The  basic  syntax  is  as
       follows:

              exp =~ regex
              exp !~ regex

       (The  first  operand must be an expression evaluating to a string; the second operand must
       be a string literal containing a syntactically valid regular expression.)

       The regular expression syntax supports  POSIX  Extended  Regular  Expression  features  as
       documented in egrep(1) except for subexpression reuse ("\1") functionality.

       After  a  successful  match,  the contents of the matched string and subexpressions can be
       extracted using the matched() and ngroups() tapset functions as follows:

              if ("an example string" =~ "str(ing)") {
                matched(0) // -> returns "string", the matched substring
                matched(1) // -> returns "ing", the 1st matched subexpression
                ngroups()  // -> returns 2, the number of matched groups
              }

   PROBES
       The main construct in the scripting language identifies probes.  Probes associate abstract
       events  with  a statement block ("probe handler") that is to be executed when any of those
       events occur.  The general syntax is as follows:

              probe PROBEPOINT [, PROBEPOINT] { [STMT ...] }
              probe PROBEPOINT [, PROBEPOINT] if (CONDITION) { [STMT ...] }

       Events are specified in a  special  syntax  called  "probe  points".   There  are  several
       varieties of probe points defined by the translator, and tapset scripts may define further
       ones using aliases.  Probe points may be wildcarded,  grouped,  or  listed  in  preference
       sequences,  or  declared  optional.   More details on probe point syntax and semantics are
       listed on the stapprobes(3stap) manual page.

       The probe handler is interpreted relative to  the  context  of  each  event.   For  events
       associated with kernel code, this context may include variables defined in the source code
       at that spot.  These "context variables" are presented to the script  as  variables  whose
       names are prefixed with "$".  They may be accessed only if the kernel's compiler preserved
       them despite optimization.  This is the same constraint that a debugger  user  faces  when
       working  with  optimized  code.  In addition, the objects must exist in paged-in memory at
       the moment of the systemtap probe handler's execution, because systemtap  must  not  cause
       (suppresses)  any  additional paging.  Some probe types have very little context.  See the
       stapprobes(3stap) man pages to see the kinds of context variables available at  each  kind
       of  probe  point.  As of systemtap version 4.3, functions called from the handlers of some
       probe point types may also refer to context variables.  These are treated as if a clone of
       that  function  was inlined into the calling probe handler and $variables evaluated in its
       context.

       Probes may be  decorated  with  an  arming  condition,  consisting  of  a  simple  boolean
       expression  on  read-only  global  script  variables.  While disarmed (inactive, condition
       evaluates to false), some probe types reduce or eliminate their run-time overheads.   When
       an  arming  condition  evaluates  to  true,  probes will be soon re-armed, and their probe
       handlers will start getting called as the events fire.  (Some events may  be  lost  during
       the  arming  interval.   If  this  is unacceptable, do not use arming conditions for those
       probes.)  Example of the syntax:

              probe timer.us(TIMER) if (enabled) {
              }

       New probe points may be defined using "aliases".  Probe  point  aliases  look  similar  to
       probe definitions, but instead of activating a probe at the given point, it just defines a
       new probe point name as an alias to an existing one. There are two types  of  alias,  i.e.
       the  prologue  style  and  the  epilogue  style  which  are  identified  by  "="  and "+="
       respectively.

       For prologue style alias,  the  statement  block  that  follows  an  alias  definition  is
       implicitly  added  as  a  prologue  to  any  probe that refers to the alias. While for the
       epilogue style alias, the statement block that follows an alias definition  is  implicitly
       added as an epilogue to any probe that refers to the alias.  For example:

              probe syscall.read = kernel.function("sys_read") {
                fildes = $fd
                if (execname() == "init") next  # skip rest of probe
              }

       defines a new probe point syscall.read, which expands to kernel.function("sys_read"), with
       the given statement as a prologue, which is useful to predefine  some  variables  for  the
       alias user and/or to skip probe processing entirely based on some conditions.  And

              probe syscall.read += kernel.function("sys_read") {
                if (tracethis) println ($fd)
              }

       defines a new probe point with the given statement as an epilogue, which is useful to take
       actions based upon variables set or left over by the the alias user.  Please note that  in
       each  case,  the  statements  in  the  alias handler block are treated ordinarily, so that
       variables assigned there constitute mere initialization, not a macro substitution.

       Aliases can also be defined to include both a prologue and an epilogue.

              probe syscall.read = kernel.function("sys_read") {
                fildes = $fd
                if (execname() == "init") next
              },{
                if (tracethis) println ($fd)
              }

       An alias is used just like a built-in probe type.

              probe syscall.read {
                printf("reading fd=%d\n", fildes)
                if (fildes > 10) tracethis = 1
              }

       Probes with an alias can make use of the @probewrite predicate.  This  check  is  used  to
       detect  whether  a  script  variable  or  target variable has been written to in the probe
       handler body.

       @probewrite(var)
              expands to 1 iff var has been written to in the probe handler  body,  otherwise  it
              expands to 0.

       In the following example, @probewrite(var) expands to 1 because var has been written to in
       the probe handler body and consequently, the conditional statement will run.

              probe foo = begin { var = 0 }, { if (@probewrite(var)) println(var) }

              probe foo {
                var = 1
              }

   FUNCTIONS
       Systemtap scripts may define subroutines to factor out common work.   Functions  take  any
       number  of  scalar (integer or string) arguments, and must return a single scalar (integer
       or string).  An example function declaration looks like this:

              function thisfn (arg1, arg2) {
                 return arg1 + arg2
              }

       Note the general  absence  of  type  declarations,  which  are  instead  inferred  by  the
       translator.   However,  if  desired,  a  function  definition  may  include  explicit type
       declarations for its return value and/or its arguments.  This is  especially  helpful  for
       embedded-C functions.  In the following example, the type inference engine need only infer
       type type of arg2 (a string).

              function thatfn:string (arg1:long, arg2) {
                 return sprint(arg1) . arg2
              }

       Functions may call others or themselves recursively, up to a fixed  nesting  limit.   This
       limit  is  defined  by  the  MAXNESTING  macro  in  the  translated  C  code and is in the
       neighbourhood of 10.

       Functions may be marked private using the private keyword to  limit  their  scope  to  the
       tapset  or  user  script  file  they  are  defined  in. An example definition of a private
       function follows:

              private function three:long () { return 3 }

       Functions terminating without  reaching  an  explicit  return  statement  will  return  an
       implicit 0 or "", determined by type inference.

       Functions may be overloaded during both runtime and compile time.

       Runtime  overloading  allows  the  executed  function  to  be selected while the module is
       running based on runtime conditions and is achieved using the "next" statement  in  script
       functions and STAP_NEXT macro for embedded-C functions. For example,

              function f() { if (condition) next; print("first function") }
              function f() %{ STAP_NEXT; print("second function") %}
              function f() { print("third function") }

       During  a functioncall f(), the execution will transfer to the third function if condition
       evaluates  to  true  and  print  "third  function".  Note  that  the  second  function  is
       unconditionally nexted.

       Parameter  overloading  allows  the function to be executed to be selected at compile time
       based on the number of arguments provided to the functioncall. For example,

              function g() { print("first function") }
              function g(x) { print("second function") }
              g() -> "first function"
              g(1) -> "second function"

       Note that runtime overloading does not occur in the above example, as exactly one function
       will be resolved for the functioncall. The use of a next statement inside a function while
       no more overloads remain will trigger a runtime exception Runtime  overloading  will  only
       occur  if  the  functions  have the same arity, functions with the same name but different
       number of parameters are completely unrelated.

       Execution order is determined by a priority value which may be specified.  If no  explicit
       priority  is  specified,  user  script  functions are given a higher priority than library
       functions. User script functions and library functions are  assigned  a  default  priority
       value  of  0  and  1  respectively.   Functions  with  the  same  priority are executed in
       declaration order. For example,

              function f():3 { if (condition) next; print("first function") }
              function f():1 { if (condition) next; print("second function") }
              function f():2 { print("third function") }

       Since the second function has highest priority, it is executed first.  The first  function
       is  never  executed  as  there  no  "next"  statements  in  the third function to transfer
       execution.

   PRINTING
       There are a set of function names that are specially  treated  by  the  translator.   They
       format  values  for  printing to the standard systemtap output stream in a more convenient
       way (note that data generated in the kernel module need to get transferred  to  user-space
       in order to get printed).

         The sprint* variants return the formatted string instead of printing it.

       print, sprint
              Print one or more values of any type, concatenated directly together.

       println, sprintln
              Print values like print and sprint, but also append a newline.

       printd, sprintd
              Take  a  string  delimiter and two or more values of any type, and print the values
              with the delimiter interposed.  The delimiter must be a literal string constant.

       printdln, sprintdln
              Print values with a delimiter like printd and sprintd, but also append a newline.

       printf, sprintf
              Take a formatting string and a number of values of corresponding types,  and  print
              them all.  The format must be a literal string constant.

       The  printf  formatting directives similar to those of C, except that they are fully type-
       checked by the translator:

              %b     Writes a binary blob of the value given, instead of ASCII text.   The  width
                     specifier  determines  the number of bytes to write; valid specifiers are %b
                     %1b %2b %4b %8b.  Default (%b) is 8 bytes.

              %c     Character.

              %d,%i  Signed decimal.

              %m     Safely reads kernel (without #)  or  user  (with  #)  memory  at  the  given
                     address,  outputs  its content.  The optional precision specifier (not field
                     width) determines the number of bytes to read - default is 1  byte.   %10.4m
                     prints  4  bytes  of the memory in a 10-character-wide field.  Note, on some
                     architectures user memory can still be read without #.

              %M     Same as %m, but outputs in hexadecimal.   The  minimal  size  of  output  is
                     double  the  optional precision specifier - default is 1 byte (2 hex chars).
                     %10.4M prints 4 bytes of  the  memory  as  8  hexadecimal  characters  in  a
                     10-character-wide  field.    %.*M  hex-dumps  a given number of bytes from a
                     given buffer.

              %o     Unsigned octal.

              %p     Unsigned pointer address.

              %s     String.

              %u     Unsigned decimal.

              %x     Unsigned hex value, in all lower-case.

              %X     Unsigned hex value, in all upper-case.

              %%     Writes a %.

       The # flag selects the alternate forms.  For octal, this prefixes  a  0.   For  hex,  this
       prefixes  0x  or  0X, depending on case.  For characters, this escapes non-printing values
       with either C-like escapes or raw octal.  In the case of  %#m/%#M,  this  safely  accesses
       user space memory rather than kernel space memory.

       Examples:

              a = "alice", b = "bob", p = 0x1234abcd, i = 123, j = -1, id[a] = 1234, id[b] = 4567
              print("hello")
                                        Prints: hello
              println(b)
                                        Prints: bob\n
              println(a . " is " . sprint(16))
                                        Prints: alice is 16
              foreach (name in id)  printdln("|", strlen(name), name, id[name])
                                        Prints: 5|alice|1234\n3|bob|4567
              printf("%c is %s; %x or %X or %p; %d or %u\n",97,a,p,p,p,j,j)
                                        Prints: a is alice; 1234abcd or 1234ABCD or 0x1234abcd; -1 or 18446744073709551615\n
              printf("2 bytes of kernel buffer at address %p: %2m", p, p)
                                        Prints: 2 byte of kernel buffer at address 0x1234abcd: <binary data>
              printf("%4b", p)
                                        Prints (these values as binary data): 0x1234abcd
              printf("%#o %#x %#X\n", 1, 2, 3)
                                        Prints: 01 0x2 0X3
              printf("%#c %#c %#c\n", 0, 9, 42)
                                        Prints: \000 \t *

   STATISTICS
       It  is  often  desirable  to  collect  statistics  in  a  way that avoids the penalties of
       repeatedly exclusive locking the global  variables  those  numbers  are  being  put  into.
       Systemtap  provides  a solution using a special operator to accumulate values, and several
       pseudo-functions to extract the statistical aggregates.

       The aggregation operator is <<<, and resembles an assignment, or  a  C++  output-streaming
       operation.   The  left  operand  specifies  a  scalar or array-index lvalue, which must be
       declared global.  The right operand is a numeric expression.  The  meaning  is  intuitive:
       add  the given number to the pile of numbers to compute statistics of.  (The specific list
       of statistics to gather is given separately, by the extraction functions.)

              foo <<< 1
              stats[pid()] <<< memsize

       The extraction functions are also special.  For each appearance of a  distinct  extraction
       function  operating  on  a  given  identifier, the translator arranges to compute a set of
       statistics that satisfy it.  The statistics system is thereby "on-demand".  Each execution
       of an extraction function causes the aggregation to be computed for that moment across all
       processors.

       Here is the set of extractor functions.  The first argument of each is the same  style  of
       lvalue  used  on  the left hand side of the accumulate operation.  The @count(v), @sum(v),
       @min(v),  @max(v),  @avg(v),   @variance(v[,   b])   extractor   functions   compute   the
       number/total/minimum/maximum/average/variance  of  all  accumulated values.  The resulting
       values are all simple integers.  Arrays containing aggregates may be sorted and  iterated.
       See the foreach construct above.

       Variance  uses  Welford's  online  algorithm.   The  calculations  are  based  on  integer
       arithmetic, and so  may  suffer  from  low  precision  and  overflow.   To  improve  this,
       @variance(v[, b]) accepts an optional parameter b, the bit-shift, ranging from 0 (default)
       to 62, for internal scaling.  Only one value of bit-shift may be used  with  given  global
       variable.   A  larger  bitshift value increases precision, but increases the likelihood of
       overflow.

              $ stap -e \
              > 'global x probe oneshot { for(i=1;i<=5;i++) x<<<i println(@variance(x)) }'
              12
              $ stap -e \
              > 'global x probe oneshot { for(i=1;i<=5;i++) x<<<i println(@variance(x,1)) }'
              2
              $ python3 -c 'import statistics; print(statistics.variance([1, 2, 3, 4, 5]))'
              2.5
              $

       Overflow (from internal multiplication of  large  numbers)  may  occur  and  may  cause  a
       negative  variance result.  Consider normalizing your input data.  Adding or subtracting a
       fixed value from all variance  inputs  preserves  the  original  variance.   Dividing  the
       variance inputs by a fixed value shrinks the original variance by that value squared.

       Histograms  are also available, but are more complicated because they have a vector rather
       than scalar value.  @hist_linear(v,start,stop,interval) represents a linear histogram from
       "start" to "stop" (inclusive) by increments of "interval".  The interval must be positive.
       Similarly, @hist_log(v) represents a base-2 logarithmic histogram.  Printing  a  histogram
       with the print family of functions renders a histogram object as a tabular "ASCII art" bar
       chart.

              probe timer.profile {
                x[1] <<< pid()
                x[2] <<< uid()
                y <<< tid()
              }
              global x // an array containing aggregates
              global y // a scalar
              probe end {
                foreach ([i] in x @count+) {
                   printf ("x[%d]: avg %d = sum %d / count %d\n",
                           i, @avg(x[i]), @sum(x[i]), @count(x[i]))
                   println (@hist_log(x[i]))
                }
                println ("y:")
                println (@hist_log(y))
              }

       The counts of each histogram bucket may be individually accessed via the [index] operator.
       Each  bucket  is addressed from 1 through N (for each natural bucket).  In addition bucket
       #0 counts all the samples beneath the start value, and bucket #N+1 counts all the  samples
       above the stop value.  Histogram buckets (including the two out-of-range buckets) may also
       be iterated with foreach.

              global x
              probe oneshot {
                x <<< -100
                x <<< 1
                x <<< 2
                x <<< 3
                x <<< 100
                foreach (bucket in @hist_linear(x,1,3,1))
                  // expecting   1 out-of-range-low bucket
                  //             3 payload buckets
                  //             1 out-of-range-high bucket
                  printf("bucket %d count %d\n",
                         bucket, @hist_linear(x,1,3,1)[bucket])
              }

   TYPECASTING
       Once a pointer (see the CONTEXT VARIABLES section of  stapprobes(3stap))  has  been  saved
       into  a  script  integer  variable,  the  translator attempts to keep the type information
       necessary to access members from that pointer.

       The translator attempts to track DWARF typing associated with  script  variables  assigned
       from  addresses  of  context  $variables,  @cast  or  @var  operators.   Depending  on the
       complexity of the script code, this association may pass to related variables, so that  ->
       and  []  operators  may  be  used  on them, just as on the original context variable.  For
       example:

              foo = $param->foo; printf("x:%d y:%d\n", foo->x, foo->y)
              printf("my value is %d\n", ($type == 42 ? $foo : $bar)->value)
              printf("my parent pid is %d\n", task_parent(task_current())->tgid)

       However, if this association heuristic doesn't  work  for  a  script,  using  the  @cast()
       operator tells the translator how to interpret the number as a typed pointer.

              @cast(p, "type_name"[, "module"])->member

       This  will  interpret p as a pointer to a struct/union named type_name and dereference the
       member value.  Further ->subfield expressions may be appended to dereference more  levels.
       Note that for direct dereferencing of a pointer {kernel,user}_{char,int,...}($p) should be
       used.  (Refer to stapfuncs(5) for more details.)   NOTE: the same  dereferencing  operator
       ->  is  used  to  refer  to  both  direct  containment  or pointer indirection.  Systemtap
       automatically determines which.  The optional module tells the translator  where  to  look
       for  information  about  that  type.   Multiple  modules may be specified as a list with :
       separators.  If the module is not specified, it will default either to  the  probe  module
       for dwarf probes, or to "kernel" for functions and all other probes types.

       Previously  up  to  systemtap  version  4.2,  "kernel"  was  inferred if unspecified.  Use
       --compatible=4.2 to activate this default.

       The translator can create its own module with type information from a header surrounded by
       angle  brackets, in case normal debuginfo is not available.  For kernel headers, prefix it
       with "kernel" to use the appropriate build system.   All  other  headers  are  built  with
       default  GCC parameters into a user module.  Multiple headers may be specified in sequence
       to resolve a codependency.

              @cast(tv, "timeval", "<sys/time.h>")->tv_sec
              @cast(task, "task_struct", "kernel<linux/sched.h>")->tgid
              @cast(task, "task_struct",
                    "kernel<linux/sched.h><linux/fs_struct.h>")->fs->umask

       Values acquired by @cast may be pretty-printed by the $ and $$ suffix operators, the  same
       way as described in the CONTEXT VARIABLES section of the stapprobes(3stap) manual page.

       When  in guru mode, the translator will also allow scripts to assign new values to members
       of typecasted pointers.

       Typecasting is also useful in the case of void* members whose type may be determinable  at
       runtime.

              probe foo {
                if ($var->type == 1) {
                  value = @cast($var->data, "type1")->bar
                } else {
                  value = @cast($var->data, "type2")->baz
                }
                print(value)
              }

   EMBEDDED C
       When  in guru mode, the translator accepts embedded C code in the top level of the script.
       Such code is enclosed between %{ and %} markers,  and  is  transcribed  verbatim,  without
       analysis,  in some sequence, into the top level of the generated C code.  At the outermost
       level, this may be useful to add #include instructions, and any auxiliary definitions  for
       use by other embedded code.

       Another  place  where embedded code is permitted is as a function body.  In this case, the
       script language body is replaced entirely by a piece of C code enclosed again  between  %{
       and  %}  markers.  This C code may do anything reasonable and safe.  There are a number of
       undocumented  but  complex  safety  constraints  on   atomicity,   concurrency,   resource
       consumption, and run time limits, so this is an advanced technique.

       The  memory locations set aside for input and output values are made available to it using
       macros STAP_ARG_* and STAP_RETVALUE.  Errors may be signalled with STAP_ERROR. Output  may
       be  written  with  STAP_PRINTF.  The function may return early with STAP_RETURN.  Here are
       some examples:

              function integer_ops (val) %{
                STAP_PRINTF("%d\n", STAP_ARG_val);
                STAP_RETVALUE = STAP_ARG_val + 1;
                if (STAP_RETVALUE == 4)
                    STAP_ERROR("wrong guess: %d", (int) STAP_RETVALUE);
                if (STAP_RETVALUE == 3)
                    STAP_RETURN(0);
                STAP_RETVALUE ++;
              %}
              function string_ops (val) %{
                strlcpy (STAP_RETVALUE, STAP_ARG_val, MAXSTRINGLEN);
                strlcat (STAP_RETVALUE, "one", MAXSTRINGLEN);
                if (strcmp (STAP_RETVALUE, "three-two-one"))
                    STAP_RETURN("parameter should be three-two-");
              %}
              function no_ops () %{
                  STAP_RETURN(); /* function inferred with no return value */
              %}

       The function argument and return value types have to be inferred by  the  translator  from
       the  call  sites  in  order for this to work. The user should examine C code generated for
       ordinary script-language functions in order to write compatible embedded-C ones.

       The last place where embedded code is permitted is as an expression rvalue.  In this case,
       the  C  code  enclosed  between %{ and %} markers is interpreted as an ordinary expression
       value.  It is assumed to be a normal 64-bit signed number, unless the marker /* string  */
       is included, in which case it's treated as a string.

              function add_one (val) {
                return val + %{ 1 %}
              }
              function add_string_two (val) {
                return val . %{ /* string */ "two" %}
              }
              @define SOME_STAP_MACRO %( %{ SOME_C_MACRO %} %)
              probe begin {
                    printf("SOME_C_MACRO has value: %d\n", @SOME_STAP_MACRO);
              }

       The embedded-C code may contain markers to assert optimization and safety properties.

       /* pure */
              means  that  the C code has no side effects and may be elided entirely if its value
              is not used by script code.

       /* stable */
              means that the C code always has  the  same  value  (in  any  given  probe  handler
              invocation),  so  repeated  calls may be automatically replaced by memoized values.
              Such functions must take no parameters, and also be pure.

       /* unprivileged */
              means that the C code is so safe that even unprivileged users are permitted to  use
              it.

       /* myproc-unprivileged */
              means  that the C code is so safe that even unprivileged users are permitted to use
              it, provided that the target of the current probe is within the user's own process.

       /* guru */
              means that the C code is so unsafe that a systemtap  user  must  specify  -g  (guru
              mode) to use this.  (Tapsets are permitted and presumed to call them safely.)

       /* unmangled */
              in  an  embedded-C function, means that the legacy (pre-1.8) argument access syntax
              should be made available inside the function. Hence, in  addition  to  STAP_ARG_foo
              and  STAP_RETVALUE  one  can use THIS->foo and THIS->__retvalue respectively inside
              the function. This is useful for  quickly  migrating  code  written  for  SystemTap
              version 1.7 and earlier.

       /* unmodified-fnargs */
              in  an  embedded-C  function,  means  that  the function arguments are not modified
              inside the function body.

       /* string */
              in embedded-C expressions only, means that the expression has const char * type and
              should be treated as a string value, instead of the default long numeric.

       Script  level global variables may be accessed in embedded-C functions and blocks. To read
       or write the global variable var , the /* pragma:read:var */  or  /*  pragma:write:var  */
       marker  must be first placed in the embedded-C function or block. This provides the macros
       STAP_GLOBAL_GET_* and STAP_GLOBAL_SET_* macros to allow reading and writing, respectively.
       For example:

              global var
              global var2[100]
              function increment() %{
                  /* pragma:read:var */ /* pragma:write:var */
                  /* pragma:read:var2 */ /* pragma:write:var2 */
                  STAP_GLOBAL_SET_var(STAP_GLOBAL_GET_var()+1); //var++
                  STAP_GLOBAL_SET_var2(1, 1, STAP_GLOBAL_GET_var2(1, 1)+1); //var2[1,1]++
              %}

       Variables  may  be  read  and  set  in both embedded-C functions and expressions.  Strings
       returned from embedded-C code are decayed to pointers. Variables must also be assigned  at
       script  level  to  allow  for  type  inference.  Map  assignment does not return the value
       written, so chaining does not work.

   BUILT-INS
       A set of builtin probe point  aliases  are  provided  by  the  scripts  installed  in  the
       directory  specified  in the stappaths(7) manual page.  The functions are described in the
       stapprobes(3stap) manual page.

   DEREFERENCING
       Integers can be dereferenced from pointers saved as a script integer variables  using  the
       @kderef()  or  @uderef()  operators.   @kderef()  is  used  for kernel space addresses and
       @uderef() is used for user space addresses.

              @kderef(SIZE, addr)
              @uderef(SIZE, addr)

       This will interpret addr as a kernel/user address and read SIZE  bytes  starting  at  that
       address.  SIZE should be either 1, 2, 4 or 8 bytes.

   REGISTERS
       The  value stored within a register can be accessed using the @kregister() or @uregister()
       operators.  @kregister() is used for kernel space registers and @uregister() is  used  for
       user space registers. The register of interest is specified using its DWARF number.

              @kregister(0)
              @uregister(5)

PROCESSING

       The  translator  begins  pass  1 by parsing the given input script, and all scripts (files
       named *.stp) found in a tapset directory.  The directories listed with -I are processed in
       sequence,  each  processed in "guru mode".  For each directory, a number of subdirectories
       are also searched.  These subdirectories are derived from the selected kernel version (the
       -R  option),  in  order  to  allow  more  kernel-version-specific scripts to override less
       specific ones.  For example, for a kernel version  2.6.12-23.FC3  the  following  patterns
       would  be searched, in sequence: 2.6.12-23.FC3/*.stp, 2.6.12/*.stp, 2.6/*.stp, and finally
       *.stp.  Stopping the translator after pass 1 causes it to print the parse trees.

       In pass 2, the translator  analyzes  the  input  script  to  resolve  symbols  and  types.
       References  to  variables, functions, and probe aliases that are unresolved internally are
       satisfied by searching through the parsed tapset script files.  If any tapset script  file
       is  selected  because  it  defines an unresolved symbol, then the entirety of that file is
       added to the translator's resolution queue.  This process iterates until all  symbols  are
       resolved and a subset of tapset script files is selected.

       Next, all probe point descriptions are validated against the wide variety supported by the
       translator.  Probe points that  refer  to  code  locations  ("synchronous  probe  points")
       require  the  appropriate kernel debugging information to be installed.  In the associated
       probe handlers, target-side variables (whose names begin with  "$")  are  found  and  have
       their run-time locations decoded.

       Next,  all  probes  and functions are analyzed for optimization opportunities, in order to
       remove variables, expressions, and functions that have no useful value and no side-effect.
       Embedded-C functions are assumed to have side-effects unless they include the magic string
       /* pure */.  Since this optimization can hide latent code errors such as  type  mismatches
       or  invalid  $context  variables,  it sometimes may be useful to disable the optimizations
       with the -u option.

       Finally, all variable, function, parameter, array,  and  index  types  are  inferred  from
       context  (literals and operators).  Stopping the translator after pass 2 causes it to list
       all the probes, functions, and variables, along with all inferred types.  Any inconsistent
       or unresolved types cause an error.

       In pass 3, the translator writes C code that represents the actions of all selected script
       files, and creates a Makefile to build that into a kernel object.  These files are  placed
       into  a temporary directory.  Stopping the translator at this point causes it to print the
       contents of the C file.

       In pass 4, the translator invokes the Linux kernel  build  system  to  create  the  actual
       kernel object file.  This involves running make in the temporary directory, and requires a
       kernel module build system (headers, config and Makefiles) to be installed  in  the  usual
       spot  /lib/modules/VERSION/build.  Stopping the translator after pass 4 is the last chance
       before running the kernel object.  This may be useful if you want to archive the file.

       In pass 5, the translator invokes the systemtap auxiliary program staprun program for  the
       given  kernel object.  This program arranges to load the module then communicates with it,
       copying trace data from the kernel into temporary files, until the user sends an interrupt
       signal.   Any  run-time  error  encountered  by the probe handlers, such as running out of
       memory, division by zero, exceeding nesting or runtime limits, results  in  a  soft  error
       indication.   Soft  errors  in  excess of MAXERRORS block of all subsequent probes (except
       error-handling probes), and terminate the session.  Finally, staprun unloads  the  module,
       and cleans up.

   ABNORMAL TERMINATION
       One  should avoid killing the stap process forcibly, for example with SIGKILL, because the
       stapio process (a child process of the stap process) and the loaded  module  may  be  left
       running  on  the  system.  If this happens, send SIGTERM or SIGINT to any remaining stapio
       processes, then use rmmod to unload the systemtap module.

EXAMPLES

       See the stapex(3stap) manual page for a brief collection of samples, or  a  large  set  of
       installed   samples   under   the   systemtap  documentation/testsuite  directories.   See
       stappaths(7stap) for the likely location of these on the system.

CACHING

       The systemtap translator caches the pass 3 output (the generated C code) and  the  pass  4
       output  (the compiled kernel module) if pass 4 completes successfully.  This cached output
       is reused if the same script is translated again assuming the same conditions exist  (same
       kernel   version,  same  systemtap  version,  etc.).   Cached  files  are  stored  in  the
       $SYSTEMTAP_DIR/cache directory. The cache can be limited by having the file cache_mb_limit
       placed  in the cache directory (shown above) containing only an ASCII integer representing
       how many MiB the cache should not exceed. In the absence of this file, a default  will  be
       created  with  the  limit set to 256MiB.  This is a 'soft' limit in that the cache will be
       cleaned after a new entry is added if the cache clean interval is exceeded, so  the  total
       cache size may temporarily exceed this limit. This interval can be specified by having the
       file cache_clean_interval_s placed in the cache directory (shown above) containing only an
       ASCII integer representing the interval in seconds. In the absence of this file, a default
       will be created with the interval set to 300 s.

SAFETY AND SECURITY

       Systemtap may be used as a powerful administrative tool.  It can  expose  kernel  internal
       data  structures and potentially private user information.  (In dyninst runtime mode, this
       is not the case, see the ALTERNATE RUNTIMES section below.)

       The translator asserts many safety constraints during compilation  and  more  during  run-
       time.  It aims to ensure that no handler routine can run for very long, allocate boundless
       memory, perform unsafe operations, or in unintentionally interfere with the system.   Uses
       of  script global variables are automatically read/write locked as appropriate, to protect
       against manipulation by concurrent probe handlers.  Locks are  taken  so  as  to  run  the
       global-variable manipulation portion of probe handlers atomically (locks are taken all-or-
       none).  Deadlocks are detected with timeouts.  Use the  -t  flag  to  receive  reports  of
       excessive  lock  contention.  Experimenting with scripts is therefore generally safe.  The
       guru-mode -g option allows administrators to bypass most safety  measures,  which  permits
       invasive  or  state-changing operations, embedded-C code, and increases the risk of upset.
       By default, overload prevention is turned on for  all  modules.   If  you  would  like  to
       disable overload processing, use the --suppress-time-limits option.

       Errors that are caught at run time normally result in a clean script shutdown and a pass-5
       error message.  The --suppress-handler-errors option lets  scripts  tolerate  soft  errors
       without shutting down.

   PERMISSIONS
       For  the normal linux-kernel-module runtime, to run the kernel objects systemtap builds, a
       user must be one of the following:

       •   the root user;

       •   a member of the stapdev and stapusr groups;

       •   a member of the stapsys and stapusr groups; or

       •   a member of the stapusr group.

       The root user or a user who is a member of both the stapdev and stapusr groups  can  build
       and run any systemtap script.

       A  user  who  is  a  member  of both the stapsys and stapusr groups can only use pre-built
       modules under the following conditions:

       •   The module has been signed by a trusted signer. Trusted signers are normally systemtap
           compile-servers  which  sign  modules  when the --privilege option is specified by the
           client. See the stap-server(8) manual page for more information.

       •   The module was built using the --privilege=stapsys or the --privilege=stapusr options.

       Members of only the stapusr group can only  use  pre-built  modules  under  the  following
       conditions:

       •   The module is located in the /lib/modules/VERSION/systemtap directory.  This directory
           must be owned by root and not be world writable.

       or

       •   The module has been signed by a trusted signer. Trusted signers are normally systemtap
           compile-servers  which  sign  modules  when the --privilege option is specified by the
           client. See the stap-server(8) manual page for more information.

       •   The module was built using the --privilege=stapusr option.

       The kernel modules generated by stap program are run by the staprun program.   The  latter
       is a part of the Systemtap package, dedicated to module loading and unloading (but only in
       the white zone), and kernel-to-user data transfer.  Since staprun  does  not  perform  any
       additional  security  checks  on  the kernel objects it is given, it would be unwise for a
       system administrator to add untrusted users to the stapdev or stapusr groups.

   SECUREBOOT
       If the current system has SecureBoot turned on in the UEFI firmware,  all  kernel  modules
       must  be  signed.   (Some kernels may allow disabling SecureBoot long after booting with a
       key sequence such as SysRq-X, making it unnecessary to sign modules.)  There are two  ways
       to  sign  a  systemtap  module.   The systemtap compile server can sign modules with a MOK
       (Machine Owner Key) that it has in common with a client system.  For example:

              stap --use-server=HOSTNAME:PORT -e 'SCRIPT'
              # If there is no mok key in common with the server's systemtap mok key
              # list and the client's mok database then the user is directed by stap
              # to invoke:
              sudo mokutil --import signing_key.x509
              # then after rebooting the system:
              stap --use-server=HOSTNAME:PORT -e 'SCRIPT'
              # will use the server to build and sign the module and the module will run
              # on the client

       Another way to sign modules is to use the stap --sign-module option, which uses a  MOK  on
       the client system without using a server.  For example:

              stap --sign-module -e 'SCRIPT'
              # If there is no systemtap mok key in the system mok database
              # then the user is directed by stap to invoke:
              sudo mokutil --import /home/USER/.systemtap/ssl/server/moks/FINGERPRINT/signing_key.x509
              # then after rebooting the system:
              stap --sign-module -e 'SCRIPT'
              # will sign and run the module

       See the following wiki page for more details:

              https://sourceware.org/systemtap/wiki/SecureBoot

       Some  kernels  do  not let systemtap guess whether module module signing is in effect.  On
       such machines, set the SYSTEMTAP_SIGN environment variable  to  any  value  while  running
       stap.

   RESOURCE LIMITS
       Many  resource  use  limits  are  set  by  macros  in  the generated C code.  These may be
       overridden with -D flags.  A selection of these is as follows:

       MAXNESTING
              Maximum number of nested function calls.  Default determined  by  script  analysis,
              with a bonus 10 slots added for recursive scripts.

       MAXSTRINGLEN
              Maximum length of strings, default 128.

       MAXTRYLOCK
              Maximum number of iterations to wait for locks on global variables before declaring
              possible deadlock and skipping the probe, default 1000.

       MAXACTION
              Maximum number  of  statements  to  execute  during  any  single  probe  hit  (with
              interrupts  disabled), default 1000.  Note that for straight-through probe handlers
              lacking loops or recursion, due to optimization, this parameter may be  interpreted
              too conservatively.

       MAXACTION_INTERRUPTIBLE
              Maximum  number  of  statements  to  execute  during  any single probe hit which is
              executed with interrupts enabled (such as begin/end probes), default  (MAXACTION  *
              10).

       MAXBACKTRACE
              Maximum  number  of  stack  frames  that  will  be be processed by the stap runtime
              unwinder as produced  by  the  backtrace  functions  in  the  [u]context-unwind.stp
              tapsets, default 20.

       MAXMAPENTRIES
              Maximum number of rows in any single global array, default 2048.  Individual arrays
              may be declared with a larger or smaller limit instead:

              global big[10000],little[5]

              or denoted with % to make them wrap-around (replace old entries) automatically,  as
              in

              global big%

              or both.

       MAPHASHBIAS
              The  number  of  powers-of-two to add or subtract from the natural size of the hash
              table backing each global associative array.  Default is  0.   Try  small  positive
              numbers  to  get  extra performance at the cost of more memory consumption, because
              that should reduce hash table collisions.   Try  small  negative  numbers  for  the
              opposite tradeoff.

       MAXERRORS
              Maximum  number  of soft errors before an exit is triggered, default 0, which means
              that  the   first   error   will   exit   the   script.    Note   that   with   the
              --suppress-handler-errors option, this limit is not enforced.

       MAXSKIPPED
              Maximum number of skipped probes before an exit is triggered, default 100.  Running
              systemtap with -t (timing) mode gives more details about skipped probes.  With  the
              default  -DINTERRUPTIBLE=1  setting,  probes  skipped  due  to  reentrancy  are not
              accumulated against this  limit.   Note  that  with  the  --suppress-handler-errors
              option, this limit is not enforced.

       MINSTACKSPACE
              Minimum number of free kernel stack bytes required in order to run a probe handler,
              default 1024.  This number should be large  enough  for  the  probe  handler's  own
              needs, plus a safety margin.

       MAXUPROBES
              Maximum  number of concurrently armed user-space probes (uprobes), default somewhat
              larger than the number of user-space probe points named in the script.   This  pool
              needs  to  be  potentially  large because individual uprobe objects (about 64 bytes
              each) are allocated for each process for each matching script-level probe.

       STP_MAXMEMORY
              Maximum amount of memory (in kilobytes)  that  the  systemtap  module  should  use,
              default  unlimited.   The  memory size includes the size of the module itself, plus
              any additional allocations.  This only tracks direct allocations by  the  systemtap
              runtime.  This does not track indirect allocations (as done by kprobes/uprobes/etc.
              internals).

       STP_OVERLOAD_THRESHOLD, STP_OVERLOAD_INTERVAL
              Maximum number of machine cycles spent in probes on any  cpu  per  given  interval,
              before  an  overload  condition is declared and the script shut down.  The defaults
              are 500 million and 1 billion, so as to limit stap script cpu consumption at around
              50%.

       STP_PROCFS_BUFSIZE
              Size  of  procfs  probe  read  buffers (in bytes).  Defaults to MAXSTRINGLEN.  This
              value can be overridden on a per-procfs file basis  using  the  procfs  read  probe
              .maxsize(MAXSIZE) parameter.

       With  scripts  that  contain  probes  on  any  interrupt  path,  it is possible that those
       interrupts may occur in the middle of another probe handler.  The probe in  the  interrupt
       handler  would  be  skipped  in this case to avoid reentrance.  To work around this issue,
       execute stap with the option -DINTERRUPTIBLE=0 to mask  interrupts  throughout  the  probe
       handler.   This  does add some extra overhead to the probes, but it may prevent reentrance
       for common problem cases.  However, probes in NMI handlers and in the callpath of the stap
       runtime may still be skipped due to reentrance.

       In  case  something  goes  wrong  with  stap  or staprun after a probe has already started
       running, one may safely kill both user processes,  and  remove  the  active  probe  kernel
       module with rmmod.  Any pending trace messages may be lost.

UNPRIVILEGED USERS

       Systemtap   exposes   kernel   internal  data  structures  and  potentially  private  user
       information. Because of this, use of systemtap's full capabilities are restricted to  root
       and to users who are members of the groups stapdev and stapusr.

       However,  a  restricted  set  of  systemtap's  features  can be made available to trusted,
       unprivileged users. These users are members of the group stapusr only, or members  of  the
       groups  stapusr  and  stapsys.   These  users  can  load systemtap modules which have been
       compiled and certified by a trusted systemtap compile-server. See the descriptions of  the
       options --privilege and --use-server. See README.unprivileged in the systemtap source code
       for information about setting up a trusted compile server.

       The restrictions enforced when --privilege=stapsys is specified are  designed  to  prevent
       unprivileged users from:

              •   harming the system maliciously.

       The  restrictions  enforced  when --privilege=stapusr is specified are designed to prevent
       unprivileged users from:

              •   harming the system maliciously.

              •   gaining access to information which would  not  normally  be  available  to  an
                  unprivileged user.

              •   disrupting  the  performance  of  processes owned by other users of the system.
                  Some overhead to the system in general is unavoidable  since  the  unprivileged
                  user's probes will be triggered at the appropriate times. What we would like to
                  avoid is targeted interruption of another  user's  processes  which  would  not
                  normally be possible by an unprivileged user.

   PROBE RESTRICTIONS
       A member of the groups stapusr and stapsys may use all probe points.

       A member of only the group stapusr may use only the following probes:

              •   begin, begin(n)

              •   end, end(n)

              •   error(n)

              •   never

              •   process.*, where the target process is owned by the user.

              •   timer.{jiffies,s,sec,ms,msec,us,usec,ns,nsec}(n)*

              •   timer.hz(n)

   SCRIPT LANGUAGE RESTRICTIONS
       The following scripting language features are unavailable to all unprivileged users:

              •   any feature enabled by the Guru Mode (-g) option.

              •   embedded C code.

   RUNTIME RESTRICTIONS
       The following runtime restrictions are placed upon all unprivileged users:

              •   Only the default runtime code (see -R) may be used.

       Additional restrictions are placed on members of only the group stapusr:

              •   Probing of processes owned by other users is not permitted.

              •   Access of kernel memory (read and write) is not permitted.

   COMMAND LINE OPTION RESTRICTIONS
       Some  command  line  options provide access to features which must not be available to all
       unprivileged users:

              •   -g may not be specified.

              •   The following options may not be used by the compile-server client:

                      -a, -B, -D, -I, -r, -R

   ENVIRONMENT RESTRICTIONS
       The following environment variables must not be set for all unprivileged users:

              SYSTEMTAP_RUNTIME
              SYSTEMTAP_TAPSET
              SYSTEMTAP_DEBUGINFO_PATH

   TAPSET RESTRICTIONS
       In general, tapset functions are only available for members of the group stapusr when they
       do  not  gather  information  that an ordinary program running with that user's privileges
       would be denied access to.

       There are two categories of unprivileged tapset functions. The first category consists  of
       utility  functions  that  are  unconditionally  available to all users; these include such
       things as:

              cpu:long ()
              exit ()
              str_replace:string (prnt_str:string, srch_str:string, rplc_str:string)

       The second category consists of so-called  myproc-unprivileged  functions  that  can  only
       gather  information  within  their own processes. Scripts that wish to use these functions
       must test the result of the tapset function is_myproc and only call these functions if the
       result  is  1. The script will exit immediately if any of these functions are called by an
       unprivileged user within a probe within a  process  which  is  not  owned  by  that  user.
       Examples of myproc-unprivileged functions include:

              print_usyms (stk:string)
              user_int:long (addr:long)
              usymname:string (addr:long)

       A  compile  error  is triggered when any function not in either of the above categories is
       used by members of only the group stapusr.

       No other built-in tapset functions may be used by members of only the group stapusr.

ALTERNATE RUNTIMES

       As described above, systemtap's default runtime mode involves building and loading  kernel
       modules,  with  various  security  tradeoffs  presented.   Systemtap  now includes two new
       prototype backends: --runtime=dyninst and --runtime=bpf.

       --runtime=dyninst uses Dyninst to instrument a  user's  own  processes  at  runtime.  This
       backend  does  not  use  kernel  modules,  and  does  not  require root privileges, but is
       restricted with respect to the kinds of probes and other constructs that a script may use.
       dyninst  runtime operates in target-attach mode, so it does require a -c COMMAND or -x PID
       process.  For example:

              stap --runtime=dyninst -c 'stap -V' \
                   -e 'probe process.function("main")
                       { println("hi from dyninst!") }'

       It may be necessary to disable a conflicting selinux check with

              # setsebool allow_execstack 1

       --runtime=bpf compiles the  user  script  into  extended  Berkeley  Packet  Filter  (eBPF)
       programs  instead  of a kernel module. eBPF programs are verified by the kernel for safety
       and are executed by an in-kernel virtual machine.  This runtime is in an  early  stage  of
       development  and currently lacks support for a number of features available in the default
       runtime. Please see the stapbpf(8) man page for more information.

EXIT STATUS

       The systemtap translator generally returns with a success  code  of  0  if  the  requested
       script  was  processed  and  executed successfully through the requested pass.  Otherwise,
       errors may be printed to stderr and a failure code is  returned.   Use  -v  or  -vp  N  to
       increase (global or per-pass) verbosity to identify the source of the trouble.

       In listings mode (-l and -L), error messages are normally suppressed.  A success code of 0
       is returned if at least one matching probe was found.

       A script executing in pass 5 that is interrupted with ^C /  SIGINT  is  considered  to  be
       successful.

DEPRECATION

       Over  time,  some  features  of  the  script  language  and the tapset library may undergo
       incompatible changes, so that a script written against an old version of systemtap may  no
       longer  run.   In  these cases, it may help to run systemtap with the --compatible VERSION
       flag,  specifying  the  last  known  working  version.    Running   systemtap   with   the
       --check-version flag will output a warning if any possible incompatible elements have been
       parsed.  Deprecation historical details may be found in the NEWS file.

       The purpose of deprecation facility is to improve the experience of  scripts  written  for
       newer  versions  of  systemtap  (by adding better alternatives and removing conflicting or
       messy older alternatives), while at the same time permitting  scripts  written  for  older
       versions  of  systemtap  to  continue  running.  Deprecation is thus intended a service to
       users (and an inconvenience to systemtap's developers), rather than the other way around.

       Please note that underscore-prefixed identifiers in  the  tapset  sometimes  undergo  such
       changes  that  are  difficult  to  preserve  compatibility  for, even with the deprecation
       mechanisms.  Avoid relying on these in your scripts; instead propose them for promotion to
       non-underscored status.

FILES

       Important files and their corresponding paths can be located in the
              stappaths (7) manual page.

SEE ALSO

       stapprobes(3stap),
       function::*(3stap),
       probe::*(3stap),
       tapset::*(3stap),
       stappaths(7),
       staprun(8),
       stapdyn(8),
       systemtap(8),
       stapvars(3stap),
       stapex(3stap),
       stap-server(8),
       stap-prep(1),
       stapref(1),
       awk(1),
       gdb(1)

BUGS

       Use   the   Bugzilla   link   of   the   project   web   page   or   our   mailing   list.
       http://sourceware.org/systemtap/, <systemtap@sourceware.org>.

       error::reporting(7stap), https://sourceware.org/systemtap/wiki/HowToReportBugs

                                                                                          STAP(1)