libperf - Man Page
Linux kernel perf event library
Synopsis
Generic API:
#include <perf/core.h>
enum libperf_print_level {
LIBPERF_ERR,
LIBPERF_WARN,
LIBPERF_INFO,
LIBPERF_DEBUG,
LIBPERF_DEBUG2,
LIBPERF_DEBUG3,
};
typedef int (*libperf_print_fn_t)(enum libperf_print_level level,
const char *, va_list ap);
void libperf_init(libperf_print_fn_t fn);API to handle CPU maps:
#include <perf/cpumap.h>
struct perf_cpu_map;
struct perf_cpu_map *perf_cpu_map__new_any_cpu(void);
struct perf_cpu_map *perf_cpu_map__new(const char *cpu_list);
struct perf_cpu_map *perf_cpu_map__get(struct perf_cpu_map *map);
struct perf_cpu_map *perf_cpu_map__merge(struct perf_cpu_map *orig,
struct perf_cpu_map *other);
void perf_cpu_map__put(struct perf_cpu_map *map);
int perf_cpu_map__cpu(const struct perf_cpu_map *cpus, int idx);
int perf_cpu_map__nr(const struct perf_cpu_map *cpus);
bool perf_cpu_map__has_any_cpu_or_is_empty(const struct perf_cpu_map *map);
int perf_cpu_map__max(struct perf_cpu_map *map);
bool perf_cpu_map__has(const struct perf_cpu_map *map, int cpu);
#define perf_cpu_map__for_each_cpu(cpu, idx, cpus)API to handle thread maps:
#include <perf/threadmap.h> struct perf_thread_map; struct perf_thread_map *perf_thread_map__new_dummy(void); struct perf_thread_map *perf_thread_map__new_array(int nr_threads, pid_t *array); void perf_thread_map__set_pid(struct perf_thread_map *map, int idx, pid_t pid); char *perf_thread_map__comm(struct perf_thread_map *map, int idx); int perf_thread_map__nr(struct perf_thread_map *threads); pid_t perf_thread_map__pid(struct perf_thread_map *map, int idx); struct perf_thread_map *perf_thread_map__get(struct perf_thread_map *map); void perf_thread_map__put(struct perf_thread_map *map);
API to handle event lists:
#include <perf/evlist.h>
struct perf_evlist;
void perf_evlist__add(struct perf_evlist *evlist,
struct perf_evsel *evsel);
void perf_evlist__remove(struct perf_evlist *evlist,
struct perf_evsel *evsel);
struct perf_evlist *perf_evlist__new(void);
void perf_evlist__delete(struct perf_evlist *evlist);
struct perf_evsel* perf_evlist__next(struct perf_evlist *evlist,
struct perf_evsel *evsel);
int perf_evlist__open(struct perf_evlist *evlist);
void perf_evlist__close(struct perf_evlist *evlist);
void perf_evlist__enable(struct perf_evlist *evlist);
void perf_evlist__disable(struct perf_evlist *evlist);
#define perf_evlist__for_each_evsel(evlist, pos)
void perf_evlist__set_maps(struct perf_evlist *evlist,
struct perf_cpu_map *cpus,
struct perf_thread_map *threads);
int perf_evlist__poll(struct perf_evlist *evlist, int timeout);
int perf_evlist__filter_pollfd(struct perf_evlist *evlist,
short revents_and_mask);
int perf_evlist__mmap(struct perf_evlist *evlist, int pages);
void perf_evlist__munmap(struct perf_evlist *evlist);
struct perf_mmap *perf_evlist__next_mmap(struct perf_evlist *evlist,
struct perf_mmap *map,
bool overwrite);
#define perf_evlist__for_each_mmap(evlist, pos, overwrite)API to handle events:
#include <perf/evsel.h>*
struct perf_evsel;
struct perf_counts_values {
union {
struct {
uint64_t val;
uint64_t ena;
uint64_t run;
};
uint64_t values[3];
};
};
struct perf_evsel *perf_evsel__new(struct perf_event_attr *attr);
void perf_evsel__delete(struct perf_evsel *evsel);
int perf_evsel__open(struct perf_evsel *evsel, struct perf_cpu_map *cpus,
struct perf_thread_map *threads);
void perf_evsel__close(struct perf_evsel *evsel);
void perf_evsel__close_cpu(struct perf_evsel *evsel, int cpu_map_idx);
int perf_evsel__mmap(struct perf_evsel *evsel, int pages);
void perf_evsel__munmap(struct perf_evsel *evsel);
void *perf_evsel__mmap_base(struct perf_evsel *evsel, int cpu_map_idx, int thread);
int perf_evsel__read(struct perf_evsel *evsel, int cpu_map_idx, int thread,
struct perf_counts_values *count);
int perf_evsel__enable(struct perf_evsel *evsel);
int perf_evsel__enable_cpu(struct perf_evsel *evsel, int cpu_map_idx);
int perf_evsel__disable(struct perf_evsel *evsel);
int perf_evsel__disable_cpu(struct perf_evsel *evsel, int cpu_map_idx);
struct perf_cpu_map *perf_evsel__cpus(struct perf_evsel *evsel);
struct perf_thread_map *perf_evsel__threads(struct perf_evsel *evsel);
struct perf_event_attr *perf_evsel__attr(struct perf_evsel *evsel);API to handle maps (perf ring buffers):
#include <perf/mmap.h> struct perf_mmap; void perf_mmap__consume(struct perf_mmap *map); int perf_mmap__read_init(struct perf_mmap *map); void perf_mmap__read_done(struct perf_mmap *map); union perf_event *perf_mmap__read_event(struct perf_mmap *map);
Structures to access perf API events:
#include <perf/event.h> struct perf_record_mmap; struct perf_record_mmap2; struct perf_record_comm; struct perf_record_namespaces; struct perf_record_fork; struct perf_record_lost; struct perf_record_lost_samples; struct perf_record_read; struct perf_record_throttle; struct perf_record_ksymbol; struct perf_record_bpf_event; struct perf_record_sample; struct perf_record_switch; struct perf_record_header_attr; struct perf_record_record_cpu_map; struct perf_record_cpu_map_data; struct perf_record_cpu_map; struct perf_record_event_update_cpus; struct perf_record_event_update_scale; struct perf_record_event_update; struct perf_trace_event_type; struct perf_record_header_event_type; struct perf_record_header_tracing_data; struct perf_record_header_build_id; struct perf_record_id_index; struct perf_record_auxtrace_info; struct perf_record_auxtrace; struct perf_record_auxtrace_error; struct perf_record_aux; struct perf_record_itrace_start; struct perf_record_thread_map_entry; struct perf_record_thread_map; struct perf_record_stat_config_entry; struct perf_record_stat_config; struct perf_record_stat; struct perf_record_stat_round; struct perf_record_time_conv; struct perf_record_header_feature; struct perf_record_compressed; struct perf_record_compressed2;
Description
The libperf library provides an API to access the linux kernel perf events subsystem.
Following objects are key to the libperf interface:
| struct perf_cpu_map | Provides a CPU list abstraction. |
| struct perf_thread_map | Provides a thread list abstraction. |
| struct perf_evsel | Provides an abstraction for single a perf event. |
| struct perf_evlist | Gathers several struct perf_evsel object and performs functions on all of them. |
| struct perf_mmap | Provides an abstraction for accessing perf ring buffer. |
The exported API functions bind these objects together.
Reporting Bugs
Report bugs to <linux-perf-users@vger.kernel.org[1]>.
License
libperf is Free Software licensed under the GNU LGPL 2.1
Resources
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git
See Also
Notes
- 1.
linux-perf-users@vger.kernel.org
mailto:linux-perf-users@vger.kernel.org
Referenced By
libperf-counting(7), libperf-sampling(7).
10/21/2025 libperf Manual