stap

STAP(1)								       STAP(1)



NAME
       stap - systemtap script translator/driver



SYNOPSIS
       stap [ OPTIONS ] FILENAME [ ARGUMENTS ]
       stap [ OPTIONS ] - [ ARGUMENTS ]
       stap [ OPTIONS ] -e SCRIPT [ ARGUMENTS ]


DESCRIPTION
       The  stap  program  is the front-end to the Systemtap tool.  It accepts
       probing instructions (written in a simple scripting  language),	trans-
       lates  those  instructions into C code, compiles this C code, and loads
       the resulting kernel module into a running Linux kernel to perform  the
       requested system trace/probe functions.	You can supply the script in a
       named file, from standard input, or from the command line.  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 in a later section, is strictly typed,
       declaration  free,  procedural,	and inspired by awk.  It allows source
       code points or events in the kernel 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.

       This manual corresponds to version 0.6.2.


OPTIONS
       The  systemtap  translator  supports  the following options.  Any other
       option prints a list of supported options.

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

       -h     Show help message.

       -V     Show version message.

       -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.	Activate  heuristics  to  work	around
	      incorrect debbugging information for $target variables.

       -u     Unoptimized  mode.   Disable unused code elision during elabora-
	      tion.

       -w     Suppressed warnings mode.	 Disable warning messages  for	elided
	      code in user script.

       -b     Use bulk mode (percpu files) for kernel-to-user data transfer.

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

       -sNUM  Use NUM megabyte buffers for kernel-to-user data transfer.  On a
	      multiprocessor in bulk mode, this is a per-processor amount.

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

       -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.

       -R DIR Look for the systemtap runtime sources in the given directory.

       -r RELEASE
	      Build for given kernel release instead of currently running one.

       -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.

       -o FILE
	      Send  standard  output to named file. In bulk mode, percpu files
	      will start with FILE_ followed by the cpu number.

       -c CMD Start the probes, run CMD, and exit when CMD finishes.

       -x PID Sets target() to PID. This allows scripts	 to  be	 written  that
	      filter on a specific process.


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.  There are two main outer-
       most  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), 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.

       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,  then the second part 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.

       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 pasted
       into the input stream if the condition is true or false.	 For  example,
       the  following code induces a parse error unless the target kernel ver-
       sion 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") {}
	      %)


   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 in-
       vocation.

       Scalar variables are implicitly typed as either string or integer.  As-
       sociative arrays also have a string or integer value, and a a tuple  of
       strings and/or integers serving as a key.  Here are a few basic expres-
       sions.
	      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 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.  A global declaration may be written at the out-
       ermost level anywhere, not within a block of code.  The following  dec-
       laration	 marks	a  few variables as global.  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.
	      global var1, var2, var3=4

       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]


   STATEMENTS
       Statements enable procedural control flow.  They may occur within func-
       tions  and  probe handlers.  The total number of statements executed in
       response to any single probe event is limited to some number defined by
       a  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 separa-
	      tor 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-ze-
	      ro) 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 cur-
	      rent 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 or-
	      der,  by	ascending or descending index or value.	 Using the op-
	      tional limit keyword limits the number of loop iterations to EXP
	      times.  EXP is evaluted 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.

       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.

       delete ARRAY[INDEX1, INDEX2, ...]
	      Remove from ARRAY the element specified by the index tuple.  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 ini-
	      tial 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 per-
       formed 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 or string comparison operators
	      < > <= >= == !=

       ternary operator
	      cond ? exp1 : exp2

       grouping operator
	      ( exp )

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

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


   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 ...] }

       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.  These are listed
       in the stapprobes(5) manual pages.

       The probe handler is interpreted relative to the context of each event.
       For events associated with kernel code, this context may include	 vari-
       ables  defined  in  the	source code at that spot.  These "target vari-
       ables" are presented to the script as variables whose  names  are  pre-
       fixed  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.  Some other
       events have very little context.

       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 "+=" respective-
       ly.

       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
	      }
       defines	 a   new   probe   point   syscall.read,   which   expands  to
       kernel.function("sys_read"), with the given statement  as  a  prologue.
       And
	      probe syscall.read += kernel.function("sys_read") {
		fildes = $fd
	      }
       defines a new probe point with the given statement as an epilogue.

       Another probe definition may use the alias like this:
	      probe syscall.read {
		printf("reading fd=%d0, fildes)
	      }


   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  in-
       ferred  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 a macro in  the	 translated  C
       code and is in the neighbourhood of 10.


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

       print, sprint
	      Print one or more values of any type, concatenated directly  to-
	      gether.

       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.
		   x = sprintf("take %d steps forward, %d steps back\n", 3, 2)
		   printf("take %d steps forward, %d steps back\n", 3+1, 2*2)
		   bob = "bob"
		   alice = "alice"
		   print(bob)
		   print("hello")
		   print(10)
		   printf("%s phoned %s %.4x times\n", bob, alice . bob, 3456)
		   printf("%s except after %s\n",
			sprintf("%s before %s",
			     sprint(1), sprint(3)),
			sprint("C"))
		   id[bob] = 1234
		   id[alice] = 5678
		   foreach (name in id)
			printdln("|", strlen(name), name, id[name])


   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 spe-
       cial operator to accumulate values, and several pseudo-functions to ex-
       tract the statistical aggregates.

       The  aggregation operator is <<<, and resembles an assignment, or a C++
       output-streaming operation.  The left operand specifies a scalar or ar-
       ray-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 ex-
       traction 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) extractor
       functions compute the number/total/minimum/maximum/average of all accu-
       mulated values.	The resulting values are all simple integers.

       Histograms are also available, but are more  complicated	 because  they
       have  a vector rather than scalar value.	 @hist_linear(v,start,stop,in-
       terval) represents a linear histogram from "start" to "stop" by	incre-
       ments  of  "interval".	The  interval  must  be	 positive.  Similarly,
       @hist_log(v) represents a base-2 logarithmic histogram. Printing a his-
       togram with the print family of functions renders a histogram object as
       a tabular "ASCII art" bar chart.
	      probe foo {
		x <<< $value
	      }
	      probe end {
		printf ("avg %d = sum %d / count %d\n",
			@avg(x), @sum(x), @count(x))
		print (@hist_log(v))
	      }


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

       The other 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 consump-
       tion, 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 a macro THIS.  Here are some examples:
	      function add_one (val) %{
		THIS->__retvalue = THIS->val + 1;
	      %}
	      function add_one_str (val) %{
		strlcpy (THIS->__retvalue, THIS->val, MAXSTRINGLEN);
		strlcat (THIS->__retvalue, "one", MAXSTRINGLEN);
	      %}
       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.


   BUILT-INS
       A set of builtin functions and probe point aliases are provided by  the
       scripts	installed  under  the  /usr/share/systemtap/tapset  directory.
       These are described in the stapfuncs(5) and stapprobes(5) manual pages.


PROCESSING
       The translator begins pass 1 by parsing the given input script, and all
       scripts (files named *.stp) found in a tapset directory.	 The  directo-
       ries  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 ver-
       sion 2.6.12-23.FC3 the following patterns would	be  searched,  in  se-
       quence: 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 scripts.	If any tapset script is selected because it defines an
       unresolved  symbol,  then  the  entirety of that script is added to the
       translator’s resolution queue.  This process iterates until all symbols
       are resolved and a subset of tapset scripts is selected.

       Next, all probe point descriptions are validated against the wide vari-
       ety supported by the translator.	 Probe points that refer to code loca-
       tions  ("synchronous  probe points") require the appropriate kernel de-
       bugging 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 opportuni-
       ties,  in  order	 to  remove variables, expressions, and functions that
       have no useful value and no side-effect.	 Embedded-C functions are  as-
       sumed  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 $target 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 transla-
       tor after pass 2 causes it to list all the probes, functions, and vari-
       ables,  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 cre-
       ate  the	 actual kernel object file.  This involves running make in the
       temporary directory, and requires a kernel module build	system	(head-
       ers,  config and Makefiles) to be installed in the usual spot /lib/mod-
       ules/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, and terminate the session.  Finally,
       staprun unloads the module, and cleans up.


EXAMPLES
       See the stapex(5) manual page for a collection of samples.


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 com-
       pletes 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,    which    may    be	  periodically
       cleaned/erased by the user.


SAFETY AND SECURITY
       Systemtap is an administrative tool.  It exposes kernel	internal  data
       structures  and	potentially private user information.  It acquires ei-
       ther root privileges

       To actually run the kernel objects it builds, a user must be one of the
       following:

       ·   the root user;

       ·   a member of the stapdev group; or

       ·   a  member  of  the stapusr group.  Members of the stapusr group can
	   only use modules located in the /lib/modules/VERSION/systemtap  di-
	   rectory.   This  directory  must  be owned by root and not be world
	   writable.

       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.

       The translator asserts certain safety constraints.  It aims  to	ensure
       that no handler routine can run for very long, allocate memory, perform
       unsafe operations, or in unintentionally	 interfere  with  the  kernel.
       Use  of	script	global variables is suitably locked to protect against
       manipulation by concurrent probe handlers.  Use of guru mode constructs
       such  as	 embedded  C  can violate these constraints, leading to kernel
       crash or data corruption.

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

       MAXNESTING
	      Maximum number of recursive function call levels, default 10.

       MAXSTRINGLEN
	      Maximum length of strings, default 128.

       MAXTRYLOCK
	      Maximum number of iterations to wait for locks on	 global	 vari-
	      ables 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.

       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).

       MAXMAPENTRIES
	      Maximum number of rows in any single global array, default 2048.

       MAXERRORS
	      Maximum number of soft errors before an exit is  triggered,  de-
	      fault  0, which means that the first error will exit the script.

       MAXSKIPPED
	      Maximum number of skipped reentrant probes  before  an  exit  is
	      triggered, default 100.

       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.


       Multipule scripts can write data into a relay  buffer  concurrently.  A
       host  script  provides  an  interface for accessing its relay buffer to
       guest scripts.  Then, the output of the guests are merged into the out-
       put of the host.	 To run a script as a host, execute stap with -DRELAY-
       HOST[=name] option. The name identifies your host script among  several
       hosts.	While  running the host, execute stap with -DRELAYGUEST[=name]
       to add a guest script to the host.  Note that you  must	unload	guests
       before  unloading  a  host.  If	there are some guests connected to the
       host, unloading the host will be failed.


       In case something goes wrong with stap or staprun after a probe has al-
       ready started running, one may safely kill both user processes, and re-
       move the active probe kernel module with rmmod.	Any pending trace mes-
       sages may be lost.


       In  addition to the methods outlined above, the generated kernel module
       also uses overload processing to make sure that probes  can’t  run  for
       too   long.    If  more	than  STP_OVERLOAD_THRESHOLD  cycles  (default
       500000000) have been spent in all the probes on a single cpu during the
       last STP_OVERLOAD_INTERVAL cycles (default 1000000000), the probes have
       overloaded the system and an exit is triggered.

       By default, overload processing is turned on for all modules.   If  you
       would like to disable overload processing, define STP_NO_OVERLOAD.


FILES
       ~/.systemtap
	      Systemtap	 data  directory  for  cached  systemtap files, unless
	      overridden by the SYSTEMTAP_DIR environment variable.

       /tmp/stapXXXXXX
	      Temporary directory for systemtap files, including translated  C
	      code and kernel object.

       /usr/share/systemtap/tapset
	      The  automatic tapset search directory, unless overridden by the
	      SYSTEMTAP_TAPSET environment variable.

       /usr/share/systemtap/runtime
	      The runtime sources, unless overridden by the  SYSTEMTAP_RUNTIME
	      environment variable.

       /lib/modules/VERSION/build
	      The location of kernel module building infrastructure.

       /usr/lib/debug/lib/modules/VERSION
	      The  location of kernel debugging information when packaged into
	      the kernel-debuginfo RPM, unless overridden by the SYSTEMTAP_DE-
	      BUGINFO_PATH  environment	 variable.  The default value for this
	      variable is -:.debug:/usr/lib/debug.  This path  is  interpreted
	      by  elfutils as a list of base directories of which various sub-
	      directories will be searched.  The - at the front means to  skip
	      CRC  matching for separated debug objects and is a small perfor-
	      mance win if no possible corruption is suspected.

       /usr/bin/staprun
	      The auxiliary program supervising module	loading,  interaction,
	      and unloading.


SEE ALSO
       stapprobes(5), stapfuncs(5), stapex(5), awk(1), gdb(1)


BUGS
       Use  the Bugzilla link off of the project web page or our mailing list.
       http://sources.redhat.com/systemtap/,<systemtap@sources.redhat.com>.



Red Hat				  2008-11-04			       STAP(1)

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