Linux Command Guide: perf

perf is the Linux performance analysis framework for profiling CPU usage, hardware counters, call graphs, and kernel events. It is extremely powerful for low-level performance tuning and investigation.

What perf is good for

Profiling CPU hotspots
Analyzing hardware performance counters
Investigating kernel and userspace interactions
Tracing performance regressions
Generating call graphs

Install

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt install linux-tools-common linux-tools-$(uname -r)

# RHEL/CentOS/Fedora
sudo dnf install perf

# Arch
sudo pacman -S perf

10 Practical Examples

perf stat ls

sudo perf top -p 1234

sudo perf record -p 1234

sudo perf report

sudo perf record -a sleep 10

perf stat -e cache-misses ls

sudo perf record -g ./your_program
sudo perf report

sudo perf trace -e syscalls:sys_enter_open

perf stat -e cycles ./your_program

perf list