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Profiling and Performance Monitoring

This document describes how to set up and use the profiling tools available in the suckless-ogl project.

Profiling with perf

The make perf target uses the Linux perf tool to record and report performance data. Since the build environment often runs inside a container (like Distrobox), certain kernel security settings on the host must be adjusted.

Resolving Access Permissions

If you encounter an error like Access to performance monitoring and observability operations is limited, you need to adjust the perf_event_paranoid setting.

1. Temporary Fix (Immediate)

Run this command on your host machine: 

sudo sysctl -w kernel.perf_event_paranoid=1

2. Permanent Fix (Survives Reboot)

Add the setting to a sysctl configuration file: 

echo "kernel.perf_event_paranoid = 1" | sudo tee /etc/sysctl.d/99-perf.conf
sudo sysctl --system

Advanced Profiling Settings

Kernel Pointer Access

To see kernel symbols in your profiles (useful for identifying overhead in drivers or syscalls): 

sudo sysctl -w kernel.kptr_restrict=0

Usage

  1. Build and Record: 

    make perf
    This will build the project with profiling symbols (RelWithDebInfo), run perf record, and then automatically open perf report.

  2. View Report Manually: If you want to view an existing perf.data file: 

    distrobox enter <box-name> -- perf report

Other Tools

  • Apitrace: Use make apitrace to capture OpenGL calls and make qapitrace to inspect them.
  • Valgrind (Primary): Use make memcheck to run a deep analysis for leaks and uninitialized memory. Recommended for thorough verification.
  • AddressSanitizer (ASan): Use make asan to build with memory instrumentation and make memcheck-asan to run. Much faster, ideal for runtime error hunting.