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[linux-2.6/next.git] / Documentation / lockstat.txt
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2 LOCK STATISTICS
4 - WHAT
6 As the name suggests, it provides statistics on locks.
8 - WHY
10 Because things like lock contention can severely impact performance.
12 - HOW
14 Lockdep already has hooks in the lock functions and maps lock instances to
15 lock classes. We build on that. The graph below shows the relation between
16 the lock functions and the various hooks therein.
18         __acquire
19             |
20            lock _____
21             |        \
22             |    __contended
23             |         |
24             |       <wait>
25             | _______/
26             |/
27             |
28        __acquired
29             |
30             .
31           <hold>
32             .
33             |
34        __release
35             |
36          unlock
38 lock, unlock    - the regular lock functions
39 __*             - the hooks
40 <>              - states
42 With these hooks we provide the following statistics:
44  con-bounces       - number of lock contention that involved x-cpu data
45  contentions       - number of lock acquisitions that had to wait
46  wait time min     - shortest (non-0) time we ever had to wait for a lock
47            max     - longest time we ever had to wait for a lock
48            total   - total time we spend waiting on this lock
49  acq-bounces       - number of lock acquisitions that involved x-cpu data
50  acquisitions      - number of times we took the lock
51  hold time min     - shortest (non-0) time we ever held the lock
52            max     - longest time we ever held the lock
53            total   - total time this lock was held
55 From these number various other statistics can be derived, such as:
57  hold time average = hold time total / acquisitions
59 These numbers are gathered per lock class, per read/write state (when
60 applicable).
62 It also tracks 4 contention points per class. A contention point is a call site
63 that had to wait on lock acquisition.
65  - CONFIGURATION
67 Lock statistics are enabled via CONFIG_LOCK_STATS.
69  - USAGE
71 Enable collection of statistics:
73 # echo 1 >/proc/sys/kernel/lock_stat
75 Disable collection of statistics:
77 # echo 0 >/proc/sys/kernel/lock_stat
79 Look at the current lock statistics:
81 ( line numbers not part of actual output, done for clarity in the explanation
82   below )
84 # less /proc/lock_stat
86 01 lock_stat version 0.3
87 02 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
88 03                               class name    con-bounces    contentions   waittime-min   waittime-max waittime-total    acq-bounces   acquisitions   holdtime-min   holdtime-max holdtime-total
89 04 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
91 06                          &mm->mmap_sem-W:           233            538 18446744073708       22924.27      607243.51           1342          45806           1.71        8595.89     1180582.34
92 07                          &mm->mmap_sem-R:           205            587 18446744073708       28403.36      731975.00           1940         412426           0.58      187825.45     6307502.88
93 08                          ---------------
94 09                            &mm->mmap_sem            487          [<ffffffff8053491f>] do_page_fault+0x466/0x928
95 10                            &mm->mmap_sem            179          [<ffffffff802a6200>] sys_mprotect+0xcd/0x21d
96 11                            &mm->mmap_sem            279          [<ffffffff80210a57>] sys_mmap+0x75/0xce
97 12                            &mm->mmap_sem             76          [<ffffffff802a490b>] sys_munmap+0x32/0x59
98 13                          ---------------
99 14                            &mm->mmap_sem            270          [<ffffffff80210a57>] sys_mmap+0x75/0xce
100 15                            &mm->mmap_sem            431          [<ffffffff8053491f>] do_page_fault+0x466/0x928
101 16                            &mm->mmap_sem            138          [<ffffffff802a490b>] sys_munmap+0x32/0x59
102 17                            &mm->mmap_sem            145          [<ffffffff802a6200>] sys_mprotect+0xcd/0x21d
104 19 ...............................................................................................................................................................................................
106 21                              dcache_lock:           621            623           0.52         118.26        1053.02           6745          91930           0.29         316.29      118423.41
107 22                              -----------
108 23                              dcache_lock            179          [<ffffffff80378274>] _atomic_dec_and_lock+0x34/0x54
109 24                              dcache_lock            113          [<ffffffff802cc17b>] d_alloc+0x19a/0x1eb
110 25                              dcache_lock             99          [<ffffffff802ca0dc>] d_rehash+0x1b/0x44
111 26                              dcache_lock            104          [<ffffffff802cbca0>] d_instantiate+0x36/0x8a
112 27                              -----------
113 28                              dcache_lock            192          [<ffffffff80378274>] _atomic_dec_and_lock+0x34/0x54
114 29                              dcache_lock             98          [<ffffffff802ca0dc>] d_rehash+0x1b/0x44
115 30                              dcache_lock             72          [<ffffffff802cc17b>] d_alloc+0x19a/0x1eb
116 31                              dcache_lock            112          [<ffffffff802cbca0>] d_instantiate+0x36/0x8a
118 This excerpt shows the first two lock class statistics. Line 01 shows the
119 output version - each time the format changes this will be updated. Line 02-04
120 show the header with column descriptions. Lines 05-18 and 20-31 show the actual
121 statistics. These statistics come in two parts; the actual stats separated by a
122 short separator (line 08, 13) from the contention points.
124 The first lock (05-18) is a read/write lock, and shows two lines above the
125 short separator. The contention points don't match the column descriptors,
126 they have two: contentions and [<IP>] symbol. The second set of contention
127 points are the points we're contending with.
129 The integer part of the time values is in us.
131 View the top contending locks:
133 # grep : /proc/lock_stat | head
134               &inode->i_data.tree_lock-W:            15          21657           0.18     1093295.30 11547131054.85             58          10415           0.16          87.51        6387.60
135               &inode->i_data.tree_lock-R:             0              0           0.00           0.00           0.00          23302         231198           0.25           8.45       98023.38
136                              dcache_lock:          1037           1161           0.38          45.32         774.51           6611         243371           0.15         306.48       77387.24
137                          &inode->i_mutex:           161            286 18446744073709       62882.54     1244614.55           3653          20598 18446744073709       62318.60     1693822.74
138                          &zone->lru_lock:            94             94           0.53           7.33          92.10           4366          32690           0.29          59.81       16350.06
139               &inode->i_data.i_mmap_lock:            79             79           0.40           3.77          53.03          11779          87755           0.28         116.93       29898.44
140                         &q->__queue_lock:            48             50           0.52          31.62          86.31            774          13131           0.17         113.08       12277.52
141                         &rq->rq_lock_key:            43             47           0.74          68.50         170.63           3706          33929           0.22         107.99       17460.62
142                       &rq->rq_lock_key#2:            39             46           0.75           6.68          49.03           2979          32292           0.17         125.17       17137.63
143                          tasklist_lock-W:            15             15           1.45          10.87          32.70           1201           7390           0.58          62.55       13648.47
145 Clear the statistics:
147 # echo 0 > /proc/lock_stat