This patch tries to solve the following specific use case.
Currently, bpf program can already collect stack traces
through kernel function get_perf_callchain()
when certain events happens (e.g., cache miss counter or
cpu clock counter overflows). But such stack traces are
not enough for jitted programs, e.g., hhvm (jited php).
To get real stack trace, jit engine internal data structures
need to be traversed in order to get the real user functions.
bpf program itself may not be the best place to traverse
the jit engine as the traversing logic could be complex and
it is not a stable interface either.
Instead, hhvm implements a signal handler,
e.g. for SIGALARM, and a set of program locations which
it can dump stack traces. When it receives a signal, it will
dump the stack in next such program location.
This patch implements bpf_send_signal() helper to send
a signal to hhvm in real time, resulting in intended stack traces.
Patch #1 implemented the bpf_send_helper() in the kernel,
Patch #2 synced uapi header bpf.h to tools directory.
Patch #3 added a self test which covers tracepoint
and perf_event bpf programs.
Changelogs:
RFC v1 => v2:
. previous version allows to send signal to an arbitrary
pid. This version just sends the signal to current
task to avoid unstable pid and potential races between
sending signals and task state changes for the pid.
Yonghong Song (3):
bpf: implement bpf_send_signal() helper
tools/bpf: sync bpf uapi header bpf.h to tools directory
tools/bpf: add a selftest for bpf_send_signal() helper
include/uapi/linux/bpf.h | 17 +-
kernel/trace/bpf_trace.c | 67 ++++++
tools/include/uapi/linux/bpf.h | 17 +-
tools/testing/selftests/bpf/Makefile | 3 +-
tools/testing/selftests/bpf/bpf_helpers.h | 1 +
.../bpf/progs/test_send_signal_kern.c | 51 +++++
.../selftests/bpf/test_send_signal_user.c | 212 ++++++++++++++++++
7 files changed, 365 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)
create mode 100644 tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/test_send_signal_kern.c
create mode 100644 tools/testing/selftests/bpf/test_send_signal_user.c
--
2.17.1
