How do I install the perf monitoring tool?

3

12 Answers

On Ubuntu I had to install three packages:

apt-get install linux-tools-common linux-tools-generic linux-tools-`uname -r`

5

The perf utility can be found in the linux-tools package.

3

Make sure you are installing this tool for the right Kernel release. If you just type:

sudo apt-get install linux-tools

It will install it for the latest Linux release in your machine and in case you are booting a previous version (say for stability reason), it will err. In my case it installed for .45 instead of .43 and I had to use the following command to install it:

sudo apt-get install linux-tools-3.2.0.43

You can find your Kernel release by typing :uname -r

To make sure it's working right you can try this:perf record /bin/ls

Just in case you are going to install Zoom tool, you need to have Perf installed for being able to use all its utilities.

To get the latest version of perf irrespective of the kernel version (perf version is independent of the kernel version):

git clone --depth 1
cd linux/tools/perf
make
cp perf /usr/bin

perf --version to check the current version

2

In 14.04, the linux-tools package does not exist unqualified:

$ sudo apt-get install linux-tools
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Package linux-tools is a virtual package provided by: linux-tools-virtual 3.13.0.36.43 linux-tools-lowlatency 3.13.0.36.43 linux-tools-generic-lts-trusty 3.13.0.36.43 linux-tools-generic-lts-saucy 3.13.0.36.43 linux-tools-generic 3.13.0.36.43
You should explicitly select one to install.
E: Package 'linux-tools' has no installation candidate

Instead, you can install one of the packages listed, depending upon the kernel you have installed. Most users will want linux-tools-generic.

Ubuntu:

sudo apt install linux-tools-common

Debian:

sudo apt install linux-perf

I installed Linux 3.17.2 on my machine and tried

sudo apt-get install linux-tools-3.17.2

it showed that linux-tools is not present. In this case, download the required linux kernel version, go to linux->tools->perf :

cd linux/tools/perf

and then run make command :

make

and then run make install command:

make install

and then reboot. You just installed perf manually.

1

Running the following two commands will do it!

sudo apt-get install linux-tools-common
sudo apt-get install linux-tools

2

Here's how it worked for me On Ubuntu 18.04:

After Command 'perf' not found, it suggested to install with sudo apt install linux-tools-common. Doing so and trying to run perf afterward still resulted in:

WARNING: perf not found for kernel 4.15.0-39 You may need to install the following packages for this specific kernel: linux-tools-4.15.0-39-generic linux-cloud-tools-4.15.0-39-generic You may also want to install one of the following packages to keep up to date: linux-tools-generic linux-cloud-tools-generic

I decided for sudo apt-get install linux-tools-generic and this was enough.

In case you run into permission-error when trying to use perf as non-root, look here:

Run perf without root-rights

4

On ubuntu "perf" is a shell script that calls a kernel specific perf binary.

But that's not actually needed, perf is compatible. Just remove the wrapper from /usr/bin and copy any of the perf binaries from ./lib/linux-tools* to it.

For debian 9.11 (Stretch)

sudo apt-get install linux-perf-4.9

You might need to do an

apt-get update

before.

sudo apt-get install linux-tools-virtual

1

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Sign up using Google Sign up using Facebook Sign up using Email and Password Submit

Post as a guest

Post Your Answer Discard

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy