Intel® VTune™ Profiler User Guide

User Guide

Contents

Import Results and Traces into
VTune
Profiler
 GUI

If you collect performance data either remotely with the
Intel® VTune™
Profiler
 command line interface or with standalone collectors (such as SEP collector, Intel SoC Watch collector, or Linux* Perf* collector), import this data (result or trace) to the
VTune
Profiler
 project to analyze it in the graphical interface.
To get ready for the import:
  1. Create a
    VTune
    Profiler
     project for the data to be imported.
  2. In the
    Configure Analysis
     window, click the
    Search Sources/Binaries
     button at the bottom to specify search directories for the data to be imported. When you open the Source/Assembly view for the collected data, the
    VTune
    Profiler
     automatically applies binary/source search paths for proper symbol resolution.
    Make sure the search directories are accessible to the
    VTune
    Profiler
    . For example, if you are to import the data collected remotely, you need to copy the sources and binaries to the host system where the
    VTune
    Profiler
     is installed or make them available via a shared drive.
  3. Select the
    Import
     option using any of the following options:
    • From Microsoft Visual Studio* IDE: Open a project where you want to locate the imported result and go to
      Tools
       >
      Intel® VTune™
      Profiler
      version
       > Import Result...
       .
    • From standalone
      VTune
      Profiler
       interface: Open a project where you want to locate the imported result, click the menu button and select
      Import Result...
      , or click the
      Import Result
       button on the toolbar.
    The
    Import
     window opens.
  4. Choose between two options:

Import Results

You can perform multiple collections on a remote system (with or without result finalization) with a full-fledged
VTune
Profiler
 command line interface, copy the result directories to the host, and import the result(s) into a
VTune
Profiler
 project.
To import result directories into a
VTune
Profiler
 project:
  1. In the
    Import
     window, select the
    Import a result into the current project
     option.
  2. Click the browse button to navigate to the required directory.
  3. If required, click the
    Search Sources/Binaries
     button on the right to view/modify the search directories.
  4. Click the
    Import
     button on the right.
    VTune
    Profiler
     copies the result directory to the current project folder and result name appears in the Project Navigator as a node of the current project.
If you do not need to copy a result, select the
Import via a link instead of a result copy
 option.
VTune
Profiler
 will import the result via this link.

Import Raw Trace Data

You can also import performance trace files collected using:
  • SEP Collector
  • SoC Watch Collector
  • Perf Collector
View the collected data in the
VTune
Profiler
 GUI.
You can import these data formats:
  • *.tb6/*.tb7
     (sampling raw data files collected with the low-level SEP collector)
  • *.perf
     (Linux* Perf data files)
  • *.csv
     (external data collection files in the predefined format)
  • *.pwr
     (processed Intel SoC Watch files with energy analysis data)
  • *.json
     (FPGA performance data collected with the Profiler Runtime Wrapper)
    For FPGA data collected with the Profiler Runtime Wrapper, you must import a folder with the
    profile.json
     file. Use the
    Import multiple trace files from a directory
     option in the
    Import
     window. See the section below on importing trace files into a
    VTune
    Profiler
     project.
Prerequisites for importing a
*.perf
 file with event-based sampling data:
Run the Perf collection with the predefined command line options:
  • For application analysis:
    perf record -o <
    trace_file_name
    >.perf --call-graph dwarf -e cpu-cycles,instructions <
    application_to_launch
    >
  • For process analysis:
    perf record -o <
    trace_file_name
    >.perf --call-graph dwarf -e cpu-cycles,instructions <
    application_to_launch
    > -p <
    PID
    > sleep 15
where the
-e
 option is used to specify a list of events to collect as
-e <
list of events
>
;
--call-graph
 option (optional) configures samples to be collected together with the thread call stack at the moment a sample is taken. See Linux Perf documentation on possible call stack collection options (for example,
dwarf
) and its availability in different OS kernel versions.
The Linux kernel exposes Perf API to the Perf tool starting from version 2.6.31. Any attempts to run the Perf tool on kernels prior to this version lead to undefined results or even crashes. See Linux Perf documentation for more details.
To import trace files into a
VTune
Profiler
 project:
  1. In the
    Import
     window, select the
    Import raw trace data
    option.
  2. Click the browse button to navigate to the required file.
    To import multiple files, select the
    Import multiple trace files from a directory
     option.
    For FPGA data collected with the Profiler Runtime Wrapper, you need to use this option to import a
    folder
     with the
    profile.json
     file. See the FPGA Optimization Guide for Intel® oneAPI Toolkits for details on generating the profiling data.
  3. If required, click the
    Search Sources/Binaries
     button on the right to view/modify the search directories.
  4. Click the
    Import
     button on the right.
    VTune
    Profiler
     copies the trace file (or a directory with multiple traces) to the project directory, creates an
    *.
    vtune
     result directory, finalizes the trace(s) in the directory, and imports it to the current project. When you open the result in the
    VTune
    Profiler
    , it uses all applicable viewpoints to represent the data.
  • To reduce the size of the imported data, consider removing the copy of the trace file in the project directory using the
    Remove raw collector data after resolving the result
     option available from
    Options... >
    Intel VTune
    Profiler
    version
     > General
     tab in the standalone interface menu or from
    Tools > Options... >
    Intel VTune
    Profiler
    version
     > General
    tab in Microsoft Visual Studio* IDE. This option makes the result smaller but prevents future re-finalization.
  • You can run a custom data collection (with a third-party collector or your own collection utility) in parallel with the
    VTune
    Profiler
     analysis run, convert the collected data to a
    *.csv
     file and import the this file to the
    VTune
    Profiler
     project using the Import from CSV GUI option or
    -import
     CLI option. You may also choose to use the Custom collector option of the
    VTune
    Profiler
     to run your custom collection directly from the
    VTune
    Profiler
    .

Product and Performance Information

1

Performance varies by use, configuration and other factors. Learn more at www.Intel.com/PerformanceIndex.