Getting Started with Tracealyzer for Linux tracing

Add Tracing Support

1. Install LTTng on your target device. The steps will vary depending on your target system.  As a first test, and to familiarize yourself with LTTng, you may try installing it on your host computer. On Ubuntu this is easily achieved through apt.

Configure the system

1. Make sure the user running the tracing is part of the tracing group, unless you are tracing as root.
2. In some cases you need to start lttng-sessiond as root before recording a trace.

Start tracing

1. Start tracing by:
   lttng create

   # Add any desired trace configuration, see "Configure Tracing" for further details. Event sched_* enabling example below

   lttng enable-event -k sched_*

   lttng start

2. Stop tracing by:
   lttng stop

   lttng destroy

For complete LTTng Integration details and advanced configuration, see the detailed LTTng documentation.

By file copy

Transfer the trace file (located in ~/lttng-traces) to you host by any connection means available.

By Tracealyzer Target Library Tool

A more convenient way to record traces is using the Tracealyzer Target Library Tool, found in the Trace menu. This lets you control the tracing and download traces directly from Tracealyzer application, using an SSH connection.

Using the Target Library you can setup target profiles for easy access. Use the New button to create a new profile. From there you can setup the address, username and password or private key file. Once a profile has been created, the Connect button will allow you to connect to your target.

A tab will open to the right with three main parts. A trace session control panel, a command log and a command details box. Click the Start New Session button to start a new session. By default, a TzTrace session has been defined which is preconfigured to include scheduling, syscalls, signals and UST events. You can create your own setup using the Sessions And Channels Editor.

Start by looking at:

• Task scheduling — See when tasks execute, block and resume.

• CPU usage — Identify tasks consuming significant CPU time.

• Timing — Find long execution times and unexpected delays.

• User events — Correlate trace data with application-specific behavior and custom events/logs. All synchronized into one execution timeline.

To learn more about using Tracealyzer, see Tracealyzer Features and Capabilities.

Resolve common setup and capture issues when using Tracealyzer.

Start with a Linux system that runs, a working target connection, and Tracealyzer installed on your host. Then follow the checks below for the symptom you see.