src/collectors/perf.plugin/integrations/cpu_performance.md
Plugin: perf.plugin Module: perf.plugin
This collector monitors CPU performance metrics about cycles, instructions, migrations, cache operations and more.
It uses syscall (2) to open a file descriptor to monitor the perf events.
This collector is only supported on the following platforms:
This collector supports collecting metrics from multiple instances of this integration, including remote instances.
It needs setuid to use the necessary syscall to collect perf events. Netdata sets the permission during installation time.
This integration doesn't support auto-detection.
The default configuration for this integration does not impose any limits on data collection.
The default configuration for this integration is not expected to impose a significant performance impact on the system.
If you are using our official native DEB/RPM packages, make sure the netdata-plugin-perf package is installed.
The plugin is disabled by default because the number of PMUs is usually quite limited and it is not desired to allow Netdata to struggle silently for PMUs, interfering with other performance monitoring software.
To enable it, use edit-config from the Netdata config directory, which is typically at /etc/netdata, to edit the netdata.conf file.
cd /etc/netdata # Replace this path with your Netdata config directory, if different
sudo ./edit-config netdata.conf
Change the value of the perf setting to yes in the [plugins] section. Save the file and restart the Netdata Agent with sudo systemctl restart netdata, or the appropriate method for your system.
You can get the available options running:
/usr/libexec/netdata/plugins.d/perf.plugin --help
| Option | Description | Default | Required |
|---|---|---|---|
| update every | Data collection frequency. | 1 | no |
| command options | Command options that specify charts shown by the plugin. cycles, instructions, branch, cache, bus, stalled, migrations, alignment, emulation, L1D, L1D-prefetch, L1I, LL, DTLB, ITLB, PBU. | 1 | yes |
The configuration file name for this integration is netdata.conf.
Configuration for this specific integration is located in the [plugin:perf] section within that file.
The file format is a modified INI syntax. The general structure is:
[section1]
option1 = some value
option2 = some other value
[section2]
option3 = some third value
You can edit the configuration file using the edit-config script from the
Netdata config directory.
cd /etc/netdata 2>/dev/null || cd /opt/netdata/etc/netdata
sudo ./edit-config netdata.conf
Monitor all metrics available.
[plugin:perf]
command options = all
Monitor CPU cycles.
<details open><summary>Config</summary>[plugin:perf]
command options = cycles
There are no alerts configured by default for this integration.
Metrics grouped by scope.
The scope defines the instance that the metric belongs to. An instance is uniquely identified by a set of labels.
These metrics refer to the entire monitored application.
This scope has no labels.
Metrics:
| Metric | Dimensions | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| perf.cpu_cycles | cpu, ref_cpu | cycles/s |
| perf.instructions | instructions | instructions/s |
| perf.instructions_per_cycle | ipc | instructions/cycle |
| perf.branch_instructions | instructions, misses | instructions/s |
| perf.cache | references, misses | operations/s |
| perf.bus_cycles | bus | cycles/s |
| perf.stalled_cycles | frontend, backend | cycles/s |
| perf.migrations | migrations | migrations |
| perf.alignment_faults | faults | faults |
| perf.emulation_faults | faults | faults |
| perf.l1d_cache | read_access, read_misses, write_access, write_misses | events/s |
| perf.l1d_cache_prefetch | prefetches | prefetches/s |
| perf.l1i_cache | read_access, read_misses | events/s |
| perf.ll_cache | read_access, read_misses, write_access, write_misses | events/s |
| perf.dtlb_cache | read_access, read_misses, write_access, write_misses | events/s |
| perf.itlb_cache | read_access, read_misses | events/s |
| perf.pbu_cache | read_access | events/s |
You can run perf.plugin with the debug option enabled to troubleshoot issues with it. The output should give you clues as to why the collector isn't working.
Navigate to the plugins.d directory, usually at /usr/libexec/netdata/plugins.d/. If that's not the case on your system, open netdata.conf and look for the plugins setting under [directories].
cd /usr/libexec/netdata/plugins.d/
Switch to the netdata user.
sudo -u netdata -s
Run the perf.plugin in debug mode:
./perf.plugin 1 all debug