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-rw-r--r--Documentation/dev-tools/autofdo.rst168
-rw-r--r--Documentation/dev-tools/index.rst1
-rw-r--r--MAINTAINERS7
-rw-r--r--Makefile1
-rw-r--r--arch/Kconfig20
-rw-r--r--arch/x86/Kconfig1
-rw-r--r--scripts/Makefile.autofdo22
-rw-r--r--scripts/Makefile.lib10
-rw-r--r--tools/objtool/check.c1
9 files changed, 231 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/dev-tools/autofdo.rst b/Documentation/dev-tools/autofdo.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..1f0a451e9ccd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/dev-tools/autofdo.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,168 @@
+.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
+
+===================================
+Using AutoFDO with the Linux kernel
+===================================
+
+This enables AutoFDO build support for the kernel when using
+the Clang compiler. AutoFDO (Auto-Feedback-Directed Optimization)
+is a type of profile-guided optimization (PGO) used to enhance the
+performance of binary executables. It gathers information about the
+frequency of execution of various code paths within a binary using
+hardware sampling. This data is then used to guide the compiler's
+optimization decisions, resulting in a more efficient binary. AutoFDO
+is a powerful optimization technique, and data indicates that it can
+significantly improve kernel performance. It's especially beneficial
+for workloads affected by front-end stalls.
+
+For AutoFDO builds, unlike non-FDO builds, the user must supply a
+profile. Acquiring an AutoFDO profile can be done in several ways.
+AutoFDO profiles are created by converting hardware sampling using
+the "perf" tool. It is crucial that the workload used to create these
+perf files is representative; they must exhibit runtime
+characteristics similar to the workloads that are intended to be
+optimized. Failure to do so will result in the compiler optimizing
+for the wrong objective.
+
+The AutoFDO profile often encapsulates the program's behavior. If the
+performance-critical codes are architecture-independent, the profile
+can be applied across platforms to achieve performance gains. For
+instance, using the profile generated on Intel architecture to build
+a kernel for AMD architecture can also yield performance improvements.
+
+There are two methods for acquiring a representative profile:
+(1) Sample real workloads using a production environment.
+(2) Generate the profile using a representative load test.
+When enabling the AutoFDO build configuration without providing an
+AutoFDO profile, the compiler only modifies the dwarf information in
+the kernel without impacting runtime performance. It's advisable to
+use a kernel binary built with the same AutoFDO configuration to
+collect the perf profile. While it's possible to use a kernel built
+with different options, it may result in inferior performance.
+
+One can collect profiles using AutoFDO build for the previous kernel.
+AutoFDO employs relative line numbers to match the profiles, offering
+some tolerance for source changes. This mode is commonly used in a
+production environment for profile collection.
+
+In a profile collection based on a load test, the AutoFDO collection
+process consists of the following steps:
+
+#. Initial build: The kernel is built with AutoFDO options
+ without a profile.
+
+#. Profiling: The above kernel is then run with a representative
+ workload to gather execution frequency data. This data is
+ collected using hardware sampling, via perf. AutoFDO is most
+ effective on platforms supporting advanced PMU features like
+ LBR on Intel machines.
+
+#. AutoFDO profile generation: Perf output file is converted to
+ the AutoFDO profile via offline tools.
+
+The support requires a Clang compiler LLVM 17 or later.
+
+Preparation
+===========
+
+Configure the kernel with::
+
+ CONFIG_AUTOFDO_CLANG=y
+
+Customization
+=============
+
+The default CONFIG_AUTOFDO_CLANG setting covers kernel space objects for
+AutoFDO builds. One can, however, enable or disable AutoFDO build for
+individual files and directories by adding a line similar to the following
+to the respective kernel Makefile:
+
+- For enabling a single file (e.g. foo.o) ::
+
+ AUTOFDO_PROFILE_foo.o := y
+
+- For enabling all files in one directory ::
+
+ AUTOFDO_PROFILE := y
+
+- For disabling one file ::
+
+ AUTOFDO_PROFILE_foo.o := n
+
+- For disabling all files in one directory ::
+
+ AUTOFDO_PROFILE := n
+
+Workflow
+========
+
+Here is an example workflow for AutoFDO kernel:
+
+1) Build the kernel on the host machine with LLVM enabled,
+ for example, ::
+
+ $ make menuconfig LLVM=1
+
+ Turn on AutoFDO build config::
+
+ CONFIG_AUTOFDO_CLANG=y
+
+ With a configuration that with LLVM enabled, use the following command::
+
+ $ scripts/config -e AUTOFDO_CLANG
+
+ After getting the config, build with ::
+
+ $ make LLVM=1
+
+2) Install the kernel on the test machine.
+
+3) Run the load tests. The '-c' option in perf specifies the sample
+ event period. We suggest using a suitable prime number, like 500009,
+ for this purpose.
+
+ - For Intel platforms::
+
+ $ perf record -e BR_INST_RETIRED.NEAR_TAKEN:k -a -N -b -c <count> -o <perf_file> -- <loadtest>
+
+ - For AMD platforms:
+
+ The supported systems are: Zen3 with BRS, or Zen4 with amd_lbr_v2. To check,
+
+ For Zen3::
+
+ $ cat proc/cpuinfo | grep " brs"
+
+ For Zen4::
+
+ $ cat proc/cpuinfo | grep amd_lbr_v2
+
+ The following command generated the perf data file::
+
+ $ perf record --pfm-events RETIRED_TAKEN_BRANCH_INSTRUCTIONS:k -a -N -b -c <count> -o <perf_file> -- <loadtest>
+
+4) (Optional) Download the raw perf file to the host machine.
+
+5) To generate an AutoFDO profile, two offline tools are available:
+ create_llvm_prof and llvm_profgen. The create_llvm_prof tool is part
+ of the AutoFDO project and can be found on GitHub
+ (https://github.com/google/autofdo), version v0.30.1 or later.
+ The llvm_profgen tool is included in the LLVM compiler itself. It's
+ important to note that the version of llvm_profgen doesn't need to match
+ the version of Clang. It needs to be the LLVM 19 release of Clang
+ or later, or just from the LLVM trunk. ::
+
+ $ llvm-profgen --kernel --binary=<vmlinux> --perfdata=<perf_file> -o <profile_file>
+
+ or ::
+
+ $ create_llvm_prof --binary=<vmlinux> --profile=<perf_file> --format=extbinary --out=<profile_file>
+
+ Note that multiple AutoFDO profile files can be merged into one via::
+
+ $ llvm-profdata merge -o <profile_file> <profile_1> <profile_2> ... <profile_n>
+
+6) Rebuild the kernel using the AutoFDO profile file with the same config as step 1,
+ (Note CONFIG_AUTOFDO_CLANG needs to be enabled)::
+
+ $ make LLVM=1 CLANG_AUTOFDO_PROFILE=<profile_file>
diff --git a/Documentation/dev-tools/index.rst b/Documentation/dev-tools/index.rst
index 53d4d124f9c5..6945644f7008 100644
--- a/Documentation/dev-tools/index.rst
+++ b/Documentation/dev-tools/index.rst
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ Documentation/dev-tools/testing-overview.rst
ktap
checkuapi
gpio-sloppy-logic-analyzer
+ autofdo
.. only:: subproject and html
diff --git a/MAINTAINERS b/MAINTAINERS
index bdae0faf000c..1eba172ed532 100644
--- a/MAINTAINERS
+++ b/MAINTAINERS
@@ -3665,6 +3665,13 @@ F: kernel/audit*
F: lib/*audit.c
K: \baudit_[a-z_0-9]\+\b
+AUTOFDO BUILD
+M: Rong Xu <xur@google.com>
+M: Han Shen <shenhan@google.com>
+S: Supported
+F: Documentation/dev-tools/autofdo.rst
+F: scripts/Makefile.autofdo
+
AUXILIARY BUS DRIVER
M: Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org>
R: Dave Ertman <david.m.ertman@intel.com>
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 266376f7f164..1f31c633a41d 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1023,6 +1023,7 @@ include-$(CONFIG_KMSAN) += scripts/Makefile.kmsan
include-$(CONFIG_UBSAN) += scripts/Makefile.ubsan
include-$(CONFIG_KCOV) += scripts/Makefile.kcov
include-$(CONFIG_RANDSTRUCT) += scripts/Makefile.randstruct
+include-$(CONFIG_AUTOFDO_CLANG) += scripts/Makefile.autofdo
include-$(CONFIG_GCC_PLUGINS) += scripts/Makefile.gcc-plugins
include $(addprefix $(srctree)/, $(include-y))
diff --git a/arch/Kconfig b/arch/Kconfig
index bd9f095d69fa..8dca3b5e6ef5 100644
--- a/arch/Kconfig
+++ b/arch/Kconfig
@@ -811,6 +811,26 @@ config LTO_CLANG_THIN
If unsure, say Y.
endchoice
+config ARCH_SUPPORTS_AUTOFDO_CLANG
+ bool
+
+config AUTOFDO_CLANG
+ bool "Enable Clang's AutoFDO build (EXPERIMENTAL)"
+ depends on ARCH_SUPPORTS_AUTOFDO_CLANG
+ depends on CC_IS_CLANG && CLANG_VERSION >= 170000
+ help
+ This option enables Clang’s AutoFDO build. When
+ an AutoFDO profile is specified in variable
+ CLANG_AUTOFDO_PROFILE during the build process,
+ Clang uses the profile to optimize the kernel.
+
+ If no profile is specified, AutoFDO options are
+ still passed to Clang to facilitate the collection
+ of perf data for creating an AutoFDO profile in
+ subsequent builds.
+
+ If unsure, say N.
+
config ARCH_SUPPORTS_CFI_CLANG
bool
help
diff --git a/arch/x86/Kconfig b/arch/x86/Kconfig
index 16354dfa6d96..9dc87661fb37 100644
--- a/arch/x86/Kconfig
+++ b/arch/x86/Kconfig
@@ -126,6 +126,7 @@ config X86
select ARCH_SUPPORTS_LTO_CLANG
select ARCH_SUPPORTS_LTO_CLANG_THIN
select ARCH_SUPPORTS_RT
+ select ARCH_SUPPORTS_AUTOFDO_CLANG
select ARCH_USE_BUILTIN_BSWAP
select ARCH_USE_CMPXCHG_LOCKREF if X86_CMPXCHG64
select ARCH_USE_MEMTEST
diff --git a/scripts/Makefile.autofdo b/scripts/Makefile.autofdo
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..ff96a63fea7c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/Makefile.autofdo
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
+
+# Enable available and selected Clang AutoFDO features.
+
+CFLAGS_AUTOFDO_CLANG := -fdebug-info-for-profiling -mllvm -enable-fs-discriminator=true -mllvm -improved-fs-discriminator=true
+
+ifndef CONFIG_DEBUG_INFO
+ CFLAGS_AUTOFDO_CLANG += -gmlt
+endif
+
+ifdef CLANG_AUTOFDO_PROFILE
+ CFLAGS_AUTOFDO_CLANG += -fprofile-sample-use=$(CLANG_AUTOFDO_PROFILE)
+endif
+
+ifdef CONFIG_LTO_CLANG_THIN
+ ifdef CLANG_AUTOFDO_PROFILE
+ KBUILD_LDFLAGS += --lto-sample-profile=$(CLANG_AUTOFDO_PROFILE)
+ endif
+ KBUILD_LDFLAGS += --mllvm=-enable-fs-discriminator=true --mllvm=-improved-fs-discriminator=true -plugin-opt=thinlto
+endif
+
+export CFLAGS_AUTOFDO_CLANG
diff --git a/scripts/Makefile.lib b/scripts/Makefile.lib
index 01a9f567d5af..2d0942c1a027 100644
--- a/scripts/Makefile.lib
+++ b/scripts/Makefile.lib
@@ -191,6 +191,16 @@ _c_flags += $(if $(patsubst n%,, \
-D__KCSAN_INSTRUMENT_BARRIERS__)
endif
+#
+# Enable AutoFDO build flags except some files or directories we don't want to
+# enable (depends on variables AUTOFDO_PROFILE_obj.o and AUTOFDO_PROFILE).
+#
+ifeq ($(CONFIG_AUTOFDO_CLANG),y)
+_c_flags += $(if $(patsubst n%,, \
+ $(AUTOFDO_PROFILE_$(target-stem).o)$(AUTOFDO_PROFILE)$(is-kernel-object)), \
+ $(CFLAGS_AUTOFDO_CLANG))
+endif
+
# $(src) for including checkin headers from generated source files
# $(obj) for including generated headers from checkin source files
ifeq ($(KBUILD_EXTMOD),)
diff --git a/tools/objtool/check.c b/tools/objtool/check.c
index 6604f5d038aa..4c5229991e1e 100644
--- a/tools/objtool/check.c
+++ b/tools/objtool/check.c
@@ -4557,6 +4557,7 @@ static int validate_ibt(struct objtool_file *file)
!strcmp(sec->name, "__jump_table") ||
!strcmp(sec->name, "__mcount_loc") ||
!strcmp(sec->name, ".kcfi_traps") ||
+ !strcmp(sec->name, ".llvm.call-graph-profile") ||
strstr(sec->name, "__patchable_function_entries"))
continue;