Linux Tracing Workshops Materials

This repository contains examples and hands-on labs for various Linux tracing workshops, focusing on modern tracing tools. To perform these labs, you will need a Linux box that meets several prerequisites. You can also use an EC2 instance supplied by the instructor.

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Prerequisites

1. Linux 4.6+ (the distribution doesn't matter; tested on Ubuntu and Fedora Core)
2. perf
3. perf-map-agent
4. FlameGraph
5. perf-tools
6. bcc
7. OpenJDK
8. The systemtap-sdt-dev package on Ubuntu or the systemtap-sdt-devel package on Fedora/RHEL
9. Node.js built from source with configure --with-dtrace
10. MySQL or MariaDB built from source with -DENABLE_DTRACE=1
11. PostgreSQL built from source with configure --enable-dtrace
12. MySQL Python Connector

If you're using Fedora 24+, try the experimental setup script, which can fetch you a recent kernel from mainline and install all the packages and tools you need for this workshop. Use at your own risk!

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Strigo Virtual Environment

When this workshop is delivered as instructor-led training, the instructor will provision a Strigo virtual classroom (EC2 instances) for each student. To use the Strigo virtual environment:

1. Log in to Strigo using the link provided by the instructor (you can log in with Google or create a new account, no verification required)
2. Enter the classroom token (four characters) provided by the instructor to join the classroom
3. Navigate to the Lab tab (fourth from the top, the icon that looks like a test tube) to get your EC2 instance started

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Labs

1. Probing Tracepoints with ftrace
2. CPU Sampling with perf and Flame Graphs
3. Using BPF Tools: Broken File Opens
4. Using BPF Tools: Slow File I/O
5. Using BPF Tools: Chasing a Memory Leak
6. Using BPF Tools: Database and Disk Stats and Stacks
7. Using BPF Tools: Node and JVM USDT Probes
8. Writing BPF Tools: setuidsnoop
9. Writing BPF Tools: dbslower
10. Writing BPF Tools: Contention Stats and Stacks
11. Writing BPF Tools: From BCC GitHub Issues
12. Using perf Tools: Broken File Opens
13. Using BPF Tools: trace and argdist One-Liners
14. Using BPF Tools: CPU and Off-CPU Investigation
15. Using perf Tools: Slow File I/O

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(C) Sasha Goldshtein, 2015-2017. All rights reserved.