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| 1 | +.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 |
| 2 | +
|
| 3 | +=================================== |
| 4 | +Using AutoFDO with the Linux kernel |
| 5 | +=================================== |
| 6 | + |
| 7 | +This enables AutoFDO build support for the kernel when using |
| 8 | +the Clang compiler. AutoFDO (Auto-Feedback-Directed Optimization) |
| 9 | +is a type of profile-guided optimization (PGO) used to enhance the |
| 10 | +performance of binary executables. It gathers information about the |
| 11 | +frequency of execution of various code paths within a binary using |
| 12 | +hardware sampling. This data is then used to guide the compiler's |
| 13 | +optimization decisions, resulting in a more efficient binary. AutoFDO |
| 14 | +is a powerful optimization technique, and data indicates that it can |
| 15 | +significantly improve kernel performance. It's especially beneficial |
| 16 | +for workloads affected by front-end stalls. |
| 17 | + |
| 18 | +For AutoFDO builds, unlike non-FDO builds, the user must supply a |
| 19 | +profile. Acquiring an AutoFDO profile can be done in several ways. |
| 20 | +AutoFDO profiles are created by converting hardware sampling using |
| 21 | +the "perf" tool. It is crucial that the workload used to create these |
| 22 | +perf files is representative; they must exhibit runtime |
| 23 | +characteristics similar to the workloads that are intended to be |
| 24 | +optimized. Failure to do so will result in the compiler optimizing |
| 25 | +for the wrong objective. |
| 26 | + |
| 27 | +The AutoFDO profile often encapsulates the program's behavior. If the |
| 28 | +performance-critical codes are architecture-independent, the profile |
| 29 | +can be applied across platforms to achieve performance gains. For |
| 30 | +instance, using the profile generated on Intel architecture to build |
| 31 | +a kernel for AMD architecture can also yield performance improvements. |
| 32 | + |
| 33 | +There are two methods for acquiring a representative profile: |
| 34 | +(1) Sample real workloads using a production environment. |
| 35 | +(2) Generate the profile using a representative load test. |
| 36 | +When enabling the AutoFDO build configuration without providing an |
| 37 | +AutoFDO profile, the compiler only modifies the dwarf information in |
| 38 | +the kernel without impacting runtime performance. It's advisable to |
| 39 | +use a kernel binary built with the same AutoFDO configuration to |
| 40 | +collect the perf profile. While it's possible to use a kernel built |
| 41 | +with different options, it may result in inferior performance. |
| 42 | + |
| 43 | +One can collect profiles using AutoFDO build for the previous kernel. |
| 44 | +AutoFDO employs relative line numbers to match the profiles, offering |
| 45 | +some tolerance for source changes. This mode is commonly used in a |
| 46 | +production environment for profile collection. |
| 47 | + |
| 48 | +In a profile collection based on a load test, the AutoFDO collection |
| 49 | +process consists of the following steps: |
| 50 | + |
| 51 | +#. Initial build: The kernel is built with AutoFDO options |
| 52 | + without a profile. |
| 53 | + |
| 54 | +#. Profiling: The above kernel is then run with a representative |
| 55 | + workload to gather execution frequency data. This data is |
| 56 | + collected using hardware sampling, via perf. AutoFDO is most |
| 57 | + effective on platforms supporting advanced PMU features like |
| 58 | + LBR on Intel machines. |
| 59 | + |
| 60 | +#. AutoFDO profile generation: Perf output file is converted to |
| 61 | + the AutoFDO profile via offline tools. |
| 62 | + |
| 63 | +The support requires a Clang compiler LLVM 17 or later. |
| 64 | + |
| 65 | +Preparation |
| 66 | +=========== |
| 67 | + |
| 68 | +Configure the kernel with:: |
| 69 | + |
| 70 | + CONFIG_AUTOFDO_CLANG=y |
| 71 | + |
| 72 | +Customization |
| 73 | +============= |
| 74 | + |
| 75 | +The default CONFIG_AUTOFDO_CLANG setting covers kernel space objects for |
| 76 | +AutoFDO builds. One can, however, enable or disable AutoFDO build for |
| 77 | +individual files and directories by adding a line similar to the following |
| 78 | +to the respective kernel Makefile: |
| 79 | + |
| 80 | +- For enabling a single file (e.g. foo.o) :: |
| 81 | + |
| 82 | + AUTOFDO_PROFILE_foo.o := y |
| 83 | + |
| 84 | +- For enabling all files in one directory :: |
| 85 | + |
| 86 | + AUTOFDO_PROFILE := y |
| 87 | + |
| 88 | +- For disabling one file :: |
| 89 | + |
| 90 | + AUTOFDO_PROFILE_foo.o := n |
| 91 | + |
| 92 | +- For disabling all files in one directory :: |
| 93 | + |
| 94 | + AUTOFDO_PROFILE := n |
| 95 | + |
| 96 | +Workflow |
| 97 | +======== |
| 98 | + |
| 99 | +Here is an example workflow for AutoFDO kernel: |
| 100 | + |
| 101 | +1) Build the kernel on the host machine with LLVM enabled, |
| 102 | + for example, :: |
| 103 | + |
| 104 | + $ make menuconfig LLVM=1 |
| 105 | + |
| 106 | + Turn on AutoFDO build config:: |
| 107 | + |
| 108 | + CONFIG_AUTOFDO_CLANG=y |
| 109 | + |
| 110 | + With a configuration that with LLVM enabled, use the following command:: |
| 111 | + |
| 112 | + $ scripts/config -e AUTOFDO_CLANG |
| 113 | + |
| 114 | + After getting the config, build with :: |
| 115 | + |
| 116 | + $ make LLVM=1 |
| 117 | + |
| 118 | +2) Install the kernel on the test machine. |
| 119 | + |
| 120 | +3) Run the load tests. The '-c' option in perf specifies the sample |
| 121 | + event period. We suggest using a suitable prime number, like 500009, |
| 122 | + for this purpose. |
| 123 | + |
| 124 | + - For Intel platforms:: |
| 125 | + |
| 126 | + $ perf record -e BR_INST_RETIRED.NEAR_TAKEN:k -a -N -b -c <count> -o <perf_file> -- <loadtest> |
| 127 | + |
| 128 | + - For AMD platforms: |
| 129 | + |
| 130 | + The supported systems are: Zen3 with BRS, or Zen4 with amd_lbr_v2. To check, |
| 131 | + |
| 132 | + For Zen3:: |
| 133 | + |
| 134 | + $ cat proc/cpuinfo | grep " brs" |
| 135 | + |
| 136 | + For Zen4:: |
| 137 | + |
| 138 | + $ cat proc/cpuinfo | grep amd_lbr_v2 |
| 139 | + |
| 140 | + The following command generated the perf data file:: |
| 141 | + |
| 142 | + $ perf record --pfm-events RETIRED_TAKEN_BRANCH_INSTRUCTIONS:k -a -N -b -c <count> -o <perf_file> -- <loadtest> |
| 143 | + |
| 144 | +4) (Optional) Download the raw perf file to the host machine. |
| 145 | + |
| 146 | +5) To generate an AutoFDO profile, two offline tools are available: |
| 147 | + create_llvm_prof and llvm_profgen. The create_llvm_prof tool is part |
| 148 | + of the AutoFDO project and can be found on GitHub |
| 149 | + (https://github.com/google/autofdo), version v0.30.1 or later. |
| 150 | + The llvm_profgen tool is included in the LLVM compiler itself. It's |
| 151 | + important to note that the version of llvm_profgen doesn't need to match |
| 152 | + the version of Clang. It needs to be the LLVM 19 release of Clang |
| 153 | + or later, or just from the LLVM trunk. :: |
| 154 | + |
| 155 | + $ llvm-profgen --kernel --binary=<vmlinux> --perfdata=<perf_file> -o <profile_file> |
| 156 | + |
| 157 | + or :: |
| 158 | + |
| 159 | + $ create_llvm_prof --binary=<vmlinux> --profile=<perf_file> --format=extbinary --out=<profile_file> |
| 160 | + |
| 161 | + Note that multiple AutoFDO profile files can be merged into one via:: |
| 162 | + |
| 163 | + $ llvm-profdata merge -o <profile_file> <profile_1> <profile_2> ... <profile_n> |
| 164 | + |
| 165 | +6) Rebuild the kernel using the AutoFDO profile file with the same config as step 1, |
| 166 | + (Note CONFIG_AUTOFDO_CLANG needs to be enabled):: |
| 167 | + |
| 168 | + $ make LLVM=1 CLANG_AUTOFDO_PROFILE=<profile_file> |
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