Provided by: blktrace_1.2.0-5_amd64 
NAME
btt - analyse block i/o traces produces by blktrace
SYNOPSIS
btt
[ -a | --seek-absolute ]
[ -A | --all-data ]
[ -B <output name> | --dump-blocknos=<output name> ]
[ -d <seconds> | --range-delta=<seconds> ]
[ -D <dev;...> | --devices=<dev;...> ]
[ -e <exe,...> | --exes=<exe,...> ]
[ -h | --help ]
[ -i <input name> | --input-file=<input name> ]
[ -I <output name> | --iostat=<output name> ]
[ -l <output name> | --d2c-latencies=<output name> ]
[ -L <freq> | --periodic-latencies=<freq> ]
[ -m <output name> | --seeks-per-second=<output name> ]
[ -M <dev map> | --dev-maps=<dev map>
[ -o <output name> | --output-file=<output name> ]
[ -p <output name> | --per-io-dump=<output name> ]
[ -P <output name> | --per-io-trees=<output name> ]
[ -q <output name> | --q2c-latencies=<output name> ]
[ -Q <output name> | --active-queue-depth=<output name> ]
[ -r | --no-remaps ]
[ -s <output name> | --seeks=<output name> ]
[ -S <interval> | --iostat-interval=<interval> ]
[ -t <sec> | --time-start=<sec> ]
[ -T <sec> | --time-end=<sec> ]
[ -u <output name> | --unplug-hist=<output name> ]
[ -v | --verbose ]
[ -V | --version ]
[ -X | --easy-parse-avgs ]
[ -z <output name> | --q2d-latencies=<output name> ]
[ -Z | --do-active ]
DESCRIPTION
btt is a post-processing tool for the block layer IO tracing tool called blktrace(8). As noted in its
documentation, blktrace is a block layer IO tracing mechanism which provides detailed information about
request queue operations up to user space.
btt will take in binary dump data from blkparse, and analyse the events, producing a series of output
from the analysis. It will also build .dat files containing "range data" -- showing things like Q
activity (periods of time while Q events are being produced), C activity (likewise for command
completions), and etc.
Included with the distribution is a simple 3D plotting utility, bno_plot, which can plot the block
numbers btt outputs if the -B option is specified. The display will display each IO generated, with the
time (seconds) along the X-axis, the block number (start) along the Y-axis and the number of blocks
transferred in the IO represented along the Z-axis.
OPTIONS
-a
--seek-absolute
When specified on the command line, this directs btt to calculate seek distances based solely upon
the ending block address of one IO, and the start of the next. By default btt uses the concept of
the closeness to either the beginning or end of the previous IO. See the Users Manual for more
details about seek distances.
-A
--all-data
Normally btt will not print out verbose information concerning per-process and per-device data. If
you desire that level of detail you can specify this option.
-B <output name>
--dump-blocknos=<output name>
This option will output absolute block numbers to three files prefixed by the specified output name:
prefix_device_r.dat
All read block numbers are output, first column is time (seconds), second is the block number,
and the third column is the ending block number.
prefix_device_w.dat
All write block numbers are output, first column is time (seconds), second is the block
number, and the third column is the ending block number.
prefix_device_c.dat
All block numbers (read and write) are output, first column is time (seconds), second is the
block number, and the third column is the ending block number.
-d <seconds>
--range-delta=<seconds>
btt outputs a file containing Q and C activity, the notion of active traces simply means that there
are Q or C traces occurring within a certain period of each other. The default values is 0.1 seconds;
with this option allowing one to change that granularity. The smaller the value, the more data points
provided.
-D <dev;...>
--devices=<dev;...>
Normally, btt will produce data for all devices detected in the traces parsed. With this option, one
can reduce the analysis to one or more devices provided in the string passed to this option. The
device identifiers are the major and minor number of each device, and each device identifier is
separated by a colon (:). A valid specifier for devices 8,0 and 8,8 would then be: 8,0:8,8.
-e <exe,...>
--exes=<exe,...>
The -e option supplies the list of executables that will have I/Os analysed.
-h
--help
Shows a short summary of possible command line option
-i <input name>
--input-file <input file>
Specifies the input file to analyse. This should be a trace file produced by blktrace (8).
-I <output name>
--iostat=<output name>
The -I option directs btt to output iostat-like data to the specified file. Refer to the iostat
(sysstat) documentation for details on the data columns.
-l <output name>
--d2c-latencies=<output name>
The -l option allows one to output per-IO D2C latencies respectively. The supplied argument provides
the basis for the output name for each device.
-L <freq>
--periodic-latencies=<freq>
The -L option allows one to output periodic latency information for both Q2C and D2C latencies. The
frequency specified will regulate how often an average latency is output -- a floating point value
expressing seconds.
-m <output name>
--seeks-per-second=<output name>
Trigger btt to output seeks-per-second information. The first column will contain a time value
(seconds), and the second column will indicate the number of seeks per second at that point.
-M <dev map>
--dev-maps=<dev map>
The -M option takes in a file generated by the provided script (gen_disk_info.py), and allows for
better output of device names.
-o <output name>
--output-file=<output name>
Specifies the output file name.
-p <output name>
--per-io-dump=<output name>
The -p option will generate a file that contains a list of all IO "sequences" - showing the parts of
each IO (Q, A, I/M, D, & C).
-P <output name>
--per-io-trees=<output name>
The -P option will generate a file that contains a list of all IO "sequences" - showing only the Q, D
& C operation times. The D & C time values are separated from the Q time values with a vertical bar.
-q <output name>
--q2c-latencies=<output name>
The -q option allows one to output per-IO Q2C latencies respectively. The supplied argument provides
the basis for the output name for each device.
-Q <output name>
--active-queue-depth=<output name>
The -Q option allows one to output data files showing the time stamp and the depth of active commands
(those issued but not completed).
-r
--no-remaps
Ignore remap traces; older kernels did not implement the full remap PDU.
-s <output name>
--seeks=<output name>
The -s option instructs btt to output seek data, the argument provided is the basis for file names
output. There are two files per device, read seeks and write seeks.
-S <interval>
--iostat-interval=<interval>
The -S option specifies the interval to use between data output, it defaults to once per second.
-t <sec>
--time-start=<sec>
-T <sec>
--time-end=<sec>
The -t/-T options allow one to set a start and/or end time for analysing - analysing will only be
done for traces after -t's argument and before -T's argument. (-t and -T are optional, so if you
specify just -t, analysis will occur for all traces after the time specified. Similarly, if only -T
is specified, analysis stops after -T's seconds.)
-u <output name>
--unplug-hist=<output name>
This option instructs btt to generate a data file containing histogram information for unplug traces
on a per device basis. It shows how many times an unplug was hit with a specified number of IOs
released. There are 21 output values into the file, as follows:
a value of 0 represents 0..4 counts
a value of 1 represents 5..9 counts
a value of 2 represents 10..14 counts
etc, until
a value of 20 represents 100+ counts
The file name(s) generated use the text string passed as an argument for the prefix, followed by the
device identifier in major,minor form, with a .dat extension. For example, with -u up_hist specified
on the command line: up_hist_008,032.dat.
-V
--version
Shows the version of btt.
-v
--verbose
Requests a more verbose output.
-X
--easy-parse-avgs
Provide data in an easy-to-parse form and write it to a file with .avg exentsion
-z <output name>
--q2d-latencies=<output name>
The -z option allows one to output per-IO Q2D latencies respectively. The supplied argument provides
the basis for the output name for each device.
-Z
--do-active
The -Z will output files containing data which can be plotted showing per-device (and total system)
I/O activity.
AUTHORS
btt was written by Alan D. Brunelle. This man page was created from the blktrace documentation by Bas
Zoetekouw.
REPORTING BUGS
Report bugs to <linux-btrace@vger.kernel.org>
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2006 Jens Axboe, Alan D. Brunelle and Nathan Scott.
This is free software. You may redistribute copies of it under the terms of the GNU General Public
License <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
This manual page was created for Debian by Bas Zoetekouw. It was derived from the documentation provided
by the authors and it may be used, distributed and modified under the terms of the GNU General Public
License, version 2.
On Debian systems, the text of the GNU General Public License can be found in
/usr/share/common-licenses/GPL-2.
SEE ALSO
The btt Users Guide, which can be found in /usr/share/doc/blktrace/btt.pdf
bno_plot (1), blktrace (8), blkparse (1), verify_blkparse (1), blkrawverify (1), btt (1)