Performance analysis tools for Linux .
Syntax
perf [--version] [--help] COMMAND [ARGS] accountname
All perf subcommands need to run as root (sudo)
# show programs that are using the most CPU:
$ sudo perf top
# Sample CPUs at 49% show top symbols:
$ sudo perf top -F 49
# Start COMMAND and profile it:
$ sudo perf record COMMAND
# Profile PID until Ctrl-C is pressed:
$ sudo perf record PID
# Profile every process until Ctrl-C is pressed:
$ sudo perf record -a
# CPU counter statistics for COMMAND
$ sudo perf stat COMMAND
# Detailed CPU counter statistics for COMMAND
$ sudo perf stat -ddd COMMAND
# Various basic CPU statistics system wide:
$ sudo perf stat -e cycles,instructions,cache-misses -a
# Show perf.data in an ncurses browser:
$ sudo perf report
# Trace syscalls system wide:
$ sudo perf trace
# Trace syscalls for PID:
$ sudo perf trace -p PID
# Sample CPU functions for COMMAND at 99 Hzertz:
$ sudo perf record -F 99 COMMAND
# Sample CPU functions for PID until Ctrl-C is pressed:
$ sudo perf record -p PID
# Sample CPU functions for PID for 10 seconds:
$ sudo perf record -p PID sleep 10
# Sample CPU stack traces for PID for 10 seconds:
$ sudo perf record -p PID -g -- sleep 10
# Trace new processes until Ctrl-C is pressed:
$ sudo perf record -e sched:sched_process_exec -a
perf can trace system calls faster than strace.
perf record saves to the perf.data file.
"When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time ~ Maya Angelou
htop - Interactive process viewer.
strace - Trace system calls and signals.
Julia Evans Perf-Zine - Profiling and Tracing (pdf)
Equivalent Windows command: perfmon.