1.186. oprofile

1.186.1. RHBA-2011:0566: bug fix and enhancement update

An updated oprofile package that fixes one bug and adds two enhancements is now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.

OProfile is a system-wide profiler for Linux systems. The profiling runs transparently in the background and profile data can be collected at any time. OProfile uses the hardware performance counters provided on many processors, and can use the Real Time Clock (RTC) for profiling on processors without counters.

This update fixes the following bug:

Previously, non-numeric arguments for the opcontrol options which needed numerical arguments (--buffer-size, --buffer-watershed,--cpu-buffer-size, and --callgraph) were written to /dev/oprofile files without any check. Due to this issue, the OProfile profiler accepted negative and non-numeric values. This update adds numeric argument checks for all arguments to opcontrol. Now, OProfile reports illegal non-numeric arguments. (BZ#589638)

This update also adds the following enhancements:

Previously, the OProfile profiler did not provide the performance monitoring events for the Intel Westmere processor. This update provides the files for the Intel Westmere processor specific performance events and adds code to identify Intel Westmere processors. Now, OProfile provides Intel Westmere specific events. (BZ#643478)
Previously, the OProfile profiler did not have events mapping and unit_mask files to describe processor performance events for the new AMD Family 12h, 14h, 15h processors. This update identifies these new processors and provides lists of the available events. Now, OProfile provides support for AMD Family 12h, 14h, 15h processors. (BZ#650126)

All OProfile users are advised to upgrade to this updated package which fixes this bug and adds these enhancements.