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| author | Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> | 2026-08-23 13:28:57 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> | 2026-08-23 13:28:57 -0700 |
| commit | 4352b8aee98005853aa63f57d6377282de17a33f (patch) | |
| tree | 27614d7a9ef05c32d089004e104364ce42324837 /Documentation/dev-tools/gcov.rst | |
| download | linux-stable-4352b8aee98005853aa63f57d6377282de17a33f.tar.gz linux-stable-4352b8aee98005853aa63f57d6377282de17a33f.zip | |
Merge tag 'i3c/for-7.3' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/i3c/linuxgrafted
Pull I3C updates from Alexandre Belloni:
"A new driver this cycle, for the AMD AXI I3C controller.
There are also new features such as IBI wakeup support, SETAASA device
discovery and ACPI support for the the DAA methods, meaning we can now
communicate with the SPD devices on DDR5 modules.
New driver:
- AMD AXI I3C master controller
Subsystem:
- I3C Common Command Code (CCC) handling improvements, especially
around GET CCCs
- SETAASA device discovery support
- ACPI support for all existing DAA methods like SETDASA, SETNEWDA as
well as I2C devices on I3C bus
- IBI-based wakeup support
Drivers:
- dw: SETAASA support
- mipi-i3c-hci: advertise IBI wakeup capability, AMD_PT I3C
controller support, PIO queue management support for HCI v1.2
- renesas: improve suspend to RAM support, add runtime PM support"
* tag 'i3c/for-7.3' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/i3c/linux: (70 commits)
i3c: dw: reduce do_daa time if there's no client
i3c: mipi-i3c-hci: Add support for AMD_PT I3C controller
i3c: mipi-i3c-hci: Add PIO queue management support for HCI v1.2
i3c: mipi-i3c-hci: Fix missing STAT_IBI_STATUS_THLD in PIO mode
i3c: dw: rename "pclk" to "apb" to match dt-binding
i3c: dw: make struct dw_i3c_cmd smaller
i3c: dw: use COMMAND_PORT_TRANSFER_ARG instead of hardcoding
i3c: renesas: Don't register devices when ENTDAA times out
i3c: master: dw-i3c-master: fix OD timing for first broadcast
i3c: mipi-i3c-hci: Advertise IBI wakeup capability
i3c: mipi-i3c-hci: Factor out i3c_hci_sysdev()
i3c: mipi-i3c-hci-pci: Propagate I3C wakeup requirements to PCI
i3c: master: Reject IBI requests from non-IBI-capable devices
i3c: master: Add helper to query bus wakeup requirements
i3c: master: Report wakeup events for IBIs
i3c: master: Support IBI-based wakeup capability
i3c: master: Fix potential UAF in i3c_device_match()
i3c: master: Fix potential UAF in i3c_device_uevent()
i3c: Make dev->desc locking assumptions explicit
i3c: master: Fix use-after-free of master->this
...
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/dev-tools/gcov.rst')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/dev-tools/gcov.rst | 285 |
1 files changed, 285 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/dev-tools/gcov.rst b/Documentation/dev-tools/gcov.rst new file mode 100644 index 000000000..075df6a45 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/dev-tools/gcov.rst @@ -0,0 +1,285 @@ +Using gcov with the Linux kernel +================================ + +gcov profiling kernel support enables the use of GCC's coverage testing +tool gcov_ with the Linux kernel. Coverage data of a running kernel +is exported in gcov-compatible format via the "gcov" debugfs directory. +To get coverage data for a specific file, change to the kernel build +directory and use gcov with the ``-o`` option as follows (requires root):: + + # cd /tmp/linux-out + # gcov -o /sys/kernel/debug/gcov/tmp/linux-out/kernel spinlock.c + +This will create source code files annotated with execution counts +in the current directory. In addition, graphical gcov front-ends such +as lcov_ can be used to automate the process of collecting data +for the entire kernel and provide coverage overviews in HTML format. + +Possible uses: + +* debugging (has this line been reached at all?) +* test improvement (how do I change my test to cover these lines?) +* minimizing kernel configurations (do I need this option if the + associated code is never run?) + +.. _gcov: https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Gcov.html +.. _lcov: https://github.com/linux-test-project/lcov + + +Preparation +----------- + +Configure the kernel with:: + + CONFIG_DEBUG_FS=y + CONFIG_GCOV_KERNEL=y + +and to get coverage data for the entire kernel:: + + CONFIG_GCOV_PROFILE_ALL=y + +Note that kernels compiled with profiling flags will be significantly +larger and run slower. Also CONFIG_GCOV_PROFILE_ALL may not be supported +on all architectures. + +Profiling data will only become accessible once debugfs has been +mounted:: + + mount -t debugfs none /sys/kernel/debug + + +Customization +------------- + +To enable profiling for specific files or directories, add a line +similar to the following to the respective kernel Makefile: + +- For a single file (e.g. main.o):: + + GCOV_PROFILE_main.o := y + +- For all files in one directory:: + + GCOV_PROFILE := y + +To exclude files from being profiled even when CONFIG_GCOV_PROFILE_ALL +is specified, use:: + + GCOV_PROFILE_main.o := n + +and:: + + GCOV_PROFILE := n + +Only files which are linked to the main kernel image or are compiled as +kernel modules are supported by this mechanism. + + +Module specific configs +----------------------- + +Gcov kernel configs for specific modules are described below: + +CONFIG_GCOV_PROFILE_RDS: + Enables GCOV profiling on RDS for checking which functions or + lines are executed. This config is used by the rds selftest to + generate coverage reports. If left unset the report is omitted. + + +Files +----- + +The gcov kernel support creates the following files in debugfs: + +``/sys/kernel/debug/gcov`` + Parent directory for all gcov-related files. + +``/sys/kernel/debug/gcov/reset`` + Global reset file: resets all coverage data to zero when + written to. + +``/sys/kernel/debug/gcov/path/to/compile/dir/file.gcda`` + The actual gcov data file as understood by the gcov + tool. Resets file coverage data to zero when written to. + +``/sys/kernel/debug/gcov/path/to/compile/dir/file.gcno`` + Symbolic link to a static data file required by the gcov + tool. This file is generated by gcc when compiling with + option ``-ftest-coverage``. + + +Modules +------- + +Kernel modules may contain cleanup code which is only run during +module unload time. The gcov mechanism provides a means to collect +coverage data for such code by keeping a copy of the data associated +with the unloaded module. This data remains available through debugfs. +Once the module is loaded again, the associated coverage counters are +initialized with the data from its previous instantiation. + +This behavior can be deactivated by specifying the gcov_persist kernel +parameter:: + + gcov_persist=0 + +At run-time, a user can also choose to discard data for an unloaded +module by writing to its data file or the global reset file. + + +Separated build and test machines +--------------------------------- + +The gcov kernel profiling infrastructure is designed to work out-of-the +box for setups where kernels are built and run on the same machine. In +cases where the kernel runs on a separate machine, special preparations +must be made, depending on where the gcov tool is used: + +.. _gcov-test: + +a) gcov is run on the TEST machine + + The gcov tool version on the test machine must be compatible with the + gcc version used for kernel build. Also the following files need to be + copied from build to test machine: + + from the source tree: + - all C source files + headers + + from the build tree: + - all C source files + headers + - all .gcda and .gcno files + - all links to directories + + It is important to note that these files need to be placed into the + exact same file system location on the test machine as on the build + machine. If any of the path components is symbolic link, the actual + directory needs to be used instead (due to make's CURDIR handling). + +.. _gcov-build: + +b) gcov is run on the BUILD machine + + The following files need to be copied after each test case from test + to build machine: + + from the gcov directory in sysfs: + - all .gcda files + - all links to .gcno files + + These files can be copied to any location on the build machine. gcov + must then be called with the -o option pointing to that directory. + + Example directory setup on the build machine:: + + /tmp/linux: kernel source tree + /tmp/out: kernel build directory as specified by make O= + /tmp/coverage: location of the files copied from the test machine + + [user@build] cd /tmp/out + [user@build] gcov -o /tmp/coverage/tmp/out/init main.c + + +Note on compilers +----------------- + +GCC and LLVM gcov tools are not necessarily compatible. Use gcov_ to work with +GCC-generated .gcno and .gcda files, and use llvm-cov_ for Clang. + +.. _gcov: https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Gcov.html +.. _llvm-cov: https://llvm.org/docs/CommandGuide/llvm-cov.html + +Build differences between GCC and Clang gcov are handled by Kconfig. It +automatically selects the appropriate gcov format depending on the detected +toolchain. + + +Troubleshooting +--------------- + +Problem + Compilation aborts during linker step. + +Cause + Profiling flags are specified for source files which are not + linked to the main kernel or which are linked by a custom + linker procedure. + +Solution + Exclude affected source files from profiling by specifying + ``GCOV_PROFILE := n`` or ``GCOV_PROFILE_basename.o := n`` in the + corresponding Makefile. + +Problem + Files copied from sysfs appear empty or incomplete. + +Cause + Due to the way seq_file works, some tools such as cp or tar + may not correctly copy files from sysfs. + +Solution + Use ``cat`` to read ``.gcda`` files and ``cp -d`` to copy links. + Alternatively use the mechanism shown in Appendix B. + + +Appendix A: gather_on_build.sh +------------------------------ + +Sample script to gather coverage meta files on the build machine +(see :ref:`Separated build and test machines a. <gcov-test>`): + +.. code-block:: sh + + #!/bin/bash + + KSRC=$1 + KOBJ=$2 + DEST=$3 + + if [ -z "$KSRC" ] || [ -z "$KOBJ" ] || [ -z "$DEST" ]; then + echo "Usage: $0 <ksrc directory> <kobj directory> <output.tar.gz>" >&2 + exit 1 + fi + + KSRC=$(cd $KSRC; printf "all:\n\t@echo \${CURDIR}\n" | make -f -) + KOBJ=$(cd $KOBJ; printf "all:\n\t@echo \${CURDIR}\n" | make -f -) + + find $KSRC $KOBJ \( -name '*.gcno' -o -name '*.[ch]' -o -type l \) -a \ + -perm /u+r,g+r | tar cfz $DEST -P -T - + + if [ $? -eq 0 ] ; then + echo "$DEST successfully created, copy to test system and unpack with:" + echo " tar xfz $DEST -P" + else + echo "Could not create file $DEST" + fi + + +Appendix B: gather_on_test.sh +----------------------------- + +Sample script to gather coverage data files on the test machine +(see :ref:`Separated build and test machines b. <gcov-build>`): + +.. code-block:: sh + + #!/bin/bash -e + + DEST=$1 + GCDA=/sys/kernel/debug/gcov + + if [ -z "$DEST" ] ; then + echo "Usage: $0 <output.tar.gz>" >&2 + exit 1 + fi + + TEMPDIR=$(mktemp -d) + echo Collecting data.. + find $GCDA -type d -exec mkdir -p $TEMPDIR/\{\} \; + find $GCDA -name '*.gcda' -exec sh -c 'cat < $0 > '$TEMPDIR'/$0' {} \; + find $GCDA -name '*.gcno' -exec sh -c 'cp -d $0 '$TEMPDIR'/$0' {} \; + tar czf $DEST -C $TEMPDIR sys + rm -rf $TEMPDIR + + echo "$DEST successfully created, copy to build system and unpack with:" + echo " tar xfz $DEST" |
