[DTrace-devel] [PATCH v3 2/7] libdtrace: share vmlinux BTF/CTF globally to support faster startup

[Kris Van Hees]

On Tue, Jul 21, 2026 at 04:24:46PM +0100, Alan Maguire wrote:
> In a multiple DTrace session per process environment, it makes sense
> to avoid doing expensive operations like reading in vmlinux BTF and
> converting it to CTF more than once. Shared (vmlinux) BTF and CTF
> generated from it are shared and reference-counted globally here
> to cut down on cost.  With this change, we can launch ~1 DTrace
> session per second.

There are a few logic issues here that need to be address I think.  Since we
do support -xbtfpath and DTRACE_OPT_BTFPATH, hardcoding the path to vmlinux
is an issue.

Ideally, this code should allow for both shared and private type data.  I.e.
if a -xbtfpath opion is given or DTRACE_OPT_BTFPATH is set, then the instance
will use a private copy.  Otherwise, it will use a shared one that is sourced
from the system default.

More fancy would be to allow multiple shared ones, keyed by full path (and
considering that it will be very very rare to ever have more than one).

So, I would suggest going with the first option (shared and private), and the
close code can check whether dtp->dt_shared_btf == dt_shared_btf.  If so, it
is a hared one so handle it that way.  If not, clean up as a private copy.

> Signed-off-by: Alan Maguire <alan.maguire at oracle.com>
> ---
>  libdtrace/dt_btf.c  | 61 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++---
>  libdtrace/dt_btf.h  |  1 +
>  libdtrace/dt_open.c |  5 +---
>  3 files changed, 60 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)
> 
> diff --git a/libdtrace/dt_btf.c b/libdtrace/dt_btf.c
> index 1f793397..e46336f9 100644
> --- a/libdtrace/dt_btf.c
> +++ b/libdtrace/dt_btf.c
> @@ -693,6 +693,9 @@ dt_btf_to_ctf(dtrace_hdl_t *dtp, dt_module_t *dmp, dt_btf_t *btf)
>         ctf_dict_t      *ctf;
>         ctf_encoding_t  enc = { CTF_INT_SIGNED, 0, 0 };
> 
> +       if (dmp == NULL && dtp->dt_shared_ctf)
> +               return dtp->dt_shared_ctf;
> +
>         ctf = ctf_create(&dtp->dt_ctferr);
>         if (ctf == NULL)
>                 return NULL;
> @@ -764,6 +767,56 @@ out:
>  }
>  #endif
> 
> +static dt_btf_t *dt_shared_btf = NULL;
> +static ctf_dict_t *dt_shared_ctf = NULL;
> +static pthread_mutex_t dt_shared_mutex = PTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER;
> +static int dt_shared_refcnt = 0;
> +
> +static int
> +dt_shared_get(dtrace_hdl_t *dtp, dt_module_t *dmp)
> +{
> +       pthread_mutex_lock(&dt_shared_mutex);
> +       if (!dt_shared_btf)
> +               dt_shared_btf = dt_btf_load_file(dtp, "/sys/kernel/btf/vmlinux");
> +       if (dt_shared_btf) {
> +               dt_shared_refcnt++;
> +               dtp->dt_shared_btf = dmp->dm_btf = dt_shared_btf;
> +#ifdef HAVE_LIBCTF
> +               if (!dt_shared_ctf) {
> +                       ctf_dict_t *ctf = dt_btf_to_ctf(dtp, NULL, dt_shared_btf);
> +
> +                       if (ctf)
> +                               dtp->dt_shared_ctf = dt_shared_ctf = dmp->dm_ctfp = ctf;
> +               } else {
> +                       dtp->dt_shared_ctf = dmp->dm_ctfp = dt_shared_ctf;
> +               }
> +#endif
> +       }
> +       pthread_mutex_unlock(&dt_shared_mutex);
> +       if (!dt_shared_btf)
> +               return -1;
> +       return 0;
> +}
> +
> +void
> +dt_shared_put(dtrace_hdl_t *dtp)
> +{
> +       pthread_mutex_lock(&dt_shared_mutex);
> +       if (dtp->dt_shared_btf && dtp->dt_shared_btf == dt_shared_btf) {
> +               if (--dt_shared_refcnt == 0) {
> +                       dt_btf_destroy(dtp, dtp->dt_shared_btf);
> +                       dtp->dt_shared_btf = dt_shared_btf = NULL;
> +               }
> +       }
> +#ifdef HAVE_LIBCTF
> +       if (dt_shared_refcnt == 0) {
> +               ctf_close(dtp->dt_shared_ctf);
> +               dtp->dt_shared_ctf = dt_shared_ctf = NULL;
> +       }
> +#endif
> +       pthread_mutex_unlock(&dt_shared_mutex);
> +}
> +
>  dt_btf_t *
>  dt_btf_load_module(dtrace_hdl_t *dtp, dt_module_t *dmp)
>  {
> @@ -774,6 +827,11 @@ dt_btf_load_module(dtrace_hdl_t *dtp, dt_module_t *dmp)
>         if (dmp->dm_btf)
>                 return dmp->dm_btf;
> 
> +       if (strcmp(dmp->dm_name, "vmlinux") == 0) {
> +               if (dt_shared_get(dtp, dmp) == 0)
> +                       return dmp->dm_btf;
> +       }
> +
>         /*
>          * Default: /sys/kernel/btf/<module>
>          * If "none", disable BTF.
> @@ -792,9 +850,6 @@ dt_btf_load_module(dtrace_hdl_t *dtp, dt_module_t *dmp)
>         btf = dt_btf_load_file(dtp, fn);
>         free(fn);
> 
> -       if (btf && !dtp->dt_shared_btf && strcmp(dmp->dm_name, "vmlinux") == 0)
> -               dtp->dt_shared_btf = btf;
> -
>         return dmp->dm_btf = btf;
>  }
> 
> diff --git a/libdtrace/dt_btf.h b/libdtrace/dt_btf.h
> index 2c921a03..b1ed2b65 100644
> --- a/libdtrace/dt_btf.h
> +++ b/libdtrace/dt_btf.h
> @@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ typedef struct dt_btf         dt_btf_t;
>  typedef struct bpf_btf_info    btf_info_t;
> 
>  extern void dt_btf_destroy(dtrace_hdl_t *, dt_btf_t *);
> +extern void dt_shared_put(dtrace_hdl_t *);
>  extern dt_btf_t *dt_btf_load_module(dtrace_hdl_t *, dt_module_t *);
>  extern ctf_dict_t *dt_btf_module_ctf(dtrace_hdl_t *, dt_module_t *);
>  extern const char *dt_btf_get_string(dtrace_hdl_t *, const dt_btf_t *,
> diff --git a/libdtrace/dt_open.c b/libdtrace/dt_open.c
> index 30b8758d..352cec49 100644
> --- a/libdtrace/dt_open.c
> +++ b/libdtrace/dt_open.c
> @@ -1299,10 +1299,7 @@ dtrace_close(dtrace_hdl_t *dtp)
>         dt_htab_destroy(dtp->dt_mods);
>         dt_htab_destroy(dtp->dt_kernpaths);
> 
> -       if (dtp->dt_shared_btf != NULL)
> -               dt_btf_destroy(dtp, dtp->dt_shared_btf);
> -       if (dtp->dt_shared_ctf != NULL)
> -               ctf_close(dtp->dt_shared_ctf);
> +       dt_shared_put(dtp);
>         if (dtp->dt_ctfa != NULL)
>                 ctf_arc_close(dtp->dt_ctfa);
> 
> --
> 2.43.5
> 
> 
>