1.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
2
3===============
4Detailed Usages
5===============
6
7DAMON provides below interfaces for different users.
8
9- *DAMON user space tool.*
10  `This <https://github.com/awslabs/damo>`_ is for privileged people such as
11  system administrators who want a just-working human-friendly interface.
12  Using this, users can use the DAMON’s major features in a human-friendly way.
13  It may not be highly tuned for special cases, though.  For more detail,
14  please refer to its `usage document
15  <https://github.com/awslabs/damo/blob/next/USAGE.md>`_.
16- *sysfs interface.*
17  :ref:`This <sysfs_interface>` is for privileged user space programmers who
18  want more optimized use of DAMON.  Using this, users can use DAMON’s major
19  features by reading from and writing to special sysfs files.  Therefore,
20  you can write and use your personalized DAMON sysfs wrapper programs that
21  reads/writes the sysfs files instead of you.  The `DAMON user space tool
22  <https://github.com/awslabs/damo>`_ is one example of such programs.
23- *debugfs interface. (DEPRECATED!)*
24  :ref:`This <debugfs_interface>` is almost identical to :ref:`sysfs interface
25  <sysfs_interface>`.  This is deprecated, so users should move to the
26  :ref:`sysfs interface <sysfs_interface>`.  If you depend on this and cannot
27  move, please report your usecase to damon@lists.linux.dev and
28  linux-mm@kvack.org.
29- *Kernel Space Programming Interface.*
30  :doc:`This </mm/damon/api>` is for kernel space programmers.  Using this,
31  users can utilize every feature of DAMON most flexibly and efficiently by
32  writing kernel space DAMON application programs for you.  You can even extend
33  DAMON for various address spaces.  For detail, please refer to the interface
34  :doc:`document </mm/damon/api>`.
35
36.. _sysfs_interface:
37
38sysfs Interface
39===============
40
41DAMON sysfs interface is built when ``CONFIG_DAMON_SYSFS`` is defined.  It
42creates multiple directories and files under its sysfs directory,
43``<sysfs>/kernel/mm/damon/``.  You can control DAMON by writing to and reading
44from the files under the directory.
45
46For a short example, users can monitor the virtual address space of a given
47workload as below. ::
48
49    # cd /sys/kernel/mm/damon/admin/
50    # echo 1 > kdamonds/nr_kdamonds && echo 1 > kdamonds/0/contexts/nr_contexts
51    # echo vaddr > kdamonds/0/contexts/0/operations
52    # echo 1 > kdamonds/0/contexts/0/targets/nr_targets
53    # echo $(pidof <workload>) > kdamonds/0/contexts/0/targets/0/pid_target
54    # echo on > kdamonds/0/state
55
56Files Hierarchy
57---------------
58
59The files hierarchy of DAMON sysfs interface is shown below.  In the below
60figure, parents-children relations are represented with indentations, each
61directory is having ``/`` suffix, and files in each directory are separated by
62comma (","). ::
63
64    /sys/kernel/mm/damon/admin
65kdamonds/nr_kdamonds
66    │ │ 0/state,pid
67    │ │ │ contexts/nr_contexts
68    │ │ │ │ 0/avail_operations,operations
69    │ │ │ │ │ monitoring_attrs/
70    │ │ │ │ │ │ intervals/sample_us,aggr_us,update_us
71    │ │ │ │ │ │ nr_regions/min,max
72    │ │ │ │ │ targets/nr_targets
73    │ │ │ │ │ │ 0/pid_target
74    │ │ │ │ │ │ │ regions/nr_regions
75    │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ 0/start,end
76    │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ...
77    │ │ │ │ │ │ ...
78    │ │ │ │ │ schemes/nr_schemes
79    │ │ │ │ │ │ 0/action
80    │ │ │ │ │ │ │ access_pattern/
81    │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ sz/min,max
82    │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ nr_accesses/min,max
83    │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ age/min,max
84    │ │ │ │ │ │ │ quotas/ms,bytes,reset_interval_ms
85    │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ weights/sz_permil,nr_accesses_permil,age_permil
86    │ │ │ │ │ │ │ watermarks/metric,interval_us,high,mid,low
87    │ │ │ │ │ │ │ filters/nr_filters
88    │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ 0/type,matching,memcg_id
89    │ │ │ │ │ │ │ stats/nr_tried,sz_tried,nr_applied,sz_applied,qt_exceeds
90    │ │ │ │ │ │ │ tried_regions/total_bytes
91    │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ 0/start,end,nr_accesses,age
92    │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ...
93    │ │ │ │ │ │ ...
94    │ │ │ │ ...
95    │ │ ...
96
97Root
98----
99
100The root of the DAMON sysfs interface is ``<sysfs>/kernel/mm/damon/``, and it
101has one directory named ``admin``.  The directory contains the files for
102privileged user space programs' control of DAMON.  User space tools or deamons
103having the root permission could use this directory.
104
105kdamonds/
106---------
107
108The monitoring-related information including request specifications and results
109are called DAMON context.  DAMON executes each context with a kernel thread
110called kdamond, and multiple kdamonds could run in parallel.
111
112Under the ``admin`` directory, one directory, ``kdamonds``, which has files for
113controlling the kdamonds exist.  In the beginning, this directory has only one
114file, ``nr_kdamonds``.  Writing a number (``N``) to the file creates the number
115of child directories named ``0`` to ``N-1``.  Each directory represents each
116kdamond.
117
118kdamonds/<N>/
119-------------
120
121In each kdamond directory, two files (``state`` and ``pid``) and one directory
122(``contexts``) exist.
123
124Reading ``state`` returns ``on`` if the kdamond is currently running, or
125``off`` if it is not running.  Writing ``on`` or ``off`` makes the kdamond be
126in the state.  Writing ``commit`` to the ``state`` file makes kdamond reads the
127user inputs in the sysfs files except ``state`` file again.  Writing
128``update_schemes_stats`` to ``state`` file updates the contents of stats files
129for each DAMON-based operation scheme of the kdamond.  For details of the
130stats, please refer to :ref:`stats section <sysfs_schemes_stats>`.
131
132Writing ``update_schemes_tried_regions`` to ``state`` file updates the
133DAMON-based operation scheme action tried regions directory for each
134DAMON-based operation scheme of the kdamond.  Writing
135``update_schemes_tried_bytes`` to ``state`` file updates only
136``.../tried_regions/total_bytes`` files.  Writing
137``clear_schemes_tried_regions`` to ``state`` file clears the DAMON-based
138operating scheme action tried regions directory for each DAMON-based operation
139scheme of the kdamond.  For details of the DAMON-based operation scheme action
140tried regions directory, please refer to :ref:`tried_regions section
141<sysfs_schemes_tried_regions>`.
142
143If the state is ``on``, reading ``pid`` shows the pid of the kdamond thread.
144
145``contexts`` directory contains files for controlling the monitoring contexts
146that this kdamond will execute.
147
148kdamonds/<N>/contexts/
149----------------------
150
151In the beginning, this directory has only one file, ``nr_contexts``.  Writing a
152number (``N``) to the file creates the number of child directories named as
153``0`` to ``N-1``.  Each directory represents each monitoring context.  At the
154moment, only one context per kdamond is supported, so only ``0`` or ``1`` can
155be written to the file.
156
157.. _sysfs_contexts:
158
159contexts/<N>/
160-------------
161
162In each context directory, two files (``avail_operations`` and ``operations``)
163and three directories (``monitoring_attrs``, ``targets``, and ``schemes``)
164exist.
165
166DAMON supports multiple types of monitoring operations, including those for
167virtual address space and the physical address space.  You can get the list of
168available monitoring operations set on the currently running kernel by reading
169``avail_operations`` file.  Based on the kernel configuration, the file will
170list some or all of below keywords.
171
172 - vaddr: Monitor virtual address spaces of specific processes
173 - fvaddr: Monitor fixed virtual address ranges
174 - paddr: Monitor the physical address space of the system
175
176Please refer to :ref:`regions sysfs directory <sysfs_regions>` for detailed
177differences between the operations sets in terms of the monitoring target
178regions.
179
180You can set and get what type of monitoring operations DAMON will use for the
181context by writing one of the keywords listed in ``avail_operations`` file and
182reading from the ``operations`` file.
183
184.. _sysfs_monitoring_attrs:
185
186contexts/<N>/monitoring_attrs/
187------------------------------
188
189Files for specifying attributes of the monitoring including required quality
190and efficiency of the monitoring are in ``monitoring_attrs`` directory.
191Specifically, two directories, ``intervals`` and ``nr_regions`` exist in this
192directory.
193
194Under ``intervals`` directory, three files for DAMON's sampling interval
195(``sample_us``), aggregation interval (``aggr_us``), and update interval
196(``update_us``) exist.  You can set and get the values in micro-seconds by
197writing to and reading from the files.
198
199Under ``nr_regions`` directory, two files for the lower-bound and upper-bound
200of DAMON's monitoring regions (``min`` and ``max``, respectively), which
201controls the monitoring overhead, exist.  You can set and get the values by
202writing to and rading from the files.
203
204For more details about the intervals and monitoring regions range, please refer
205to the Design document (:doc:`/mm/damon/design`).
206
207contexts/<N>/targets/
208---------------------
209
210In the beginning, this directory has only one file, ``nr_targets``.  Writing a
211number (``N``) to the file creates the number of child directories named ``0``
212to ``N-1``.  Each directory represents each monitoring target.
213
214targets/<N>/
215------------
216
217In each target directory, one file (``pid_target``) and one directory
218(``regions``) exist.
219
220If you wrote ``vaddr`` to the ``contexts/<N>/operations``, each target should
221be a process.  You can specify the process to DAMON by writing the pid of the
222process to the ``pid_target`` file.
223
224.. _sysfs_regions:
225
226targets/<N>/regions
227-------------------
228
229When ``vaddr`` monitoring operations set is being used (``vaddr`` is written to
230the ``contexts/<N>/operations`` file), DAMON automatically sets and updates the
231monitoring target regions so that entire memory mappings of target processes
232can be covered.  However, users could want to set the initial monitoring region
233to specific address ranges.
234
235In contrast, DAMON do not automatically sets and updates the monitoring target
236regions when ``fvaddr`` or ``paddr`` monitoring operations sets are being used
237(``fvaddr`` or ``paddr`` have written to the ``contexts/<N>/operations``).
238Therefore, users should set the monitoring target regions by themselves in the
239cases.
240
241For such cases, users can explicitly set the initial monitoring target regions
242as they want, by writing proper values to the files under this directory.
243
244In the beginning, this directory has only one file, ``nr_regions``.  Writing a
245number (``N``) to the file creates the number of child directories named ``0``
246to ``N-1``.  Each directory represents each initial monitoring target region.
247
248regions/<N>/
249------------
250
251In each region directory, you will find two files (``start`` and ``end``).  You
252can set and get the start and end addresses of the initial monitoring target
253region by writing to and reading from the files, respectively.
254
255Each region should not overlap with others.  ``end`` of directory ``N`` should
256be equal or smaller than ``start`` of directory ``N+1``.
257
258contexts/<N>/schemes/
259---------------------
260
261The directory for DAMON-based Operation Schemes (:ref:`DAMOS
262<damon_design_damos>`).  Users can get and set the schemes by reading from and
263writing to files under this directory.
264
265In the beginning, this directory has only one file, ``nr_schemes``.  Writing a
266number (``N``) to the file creates the number of child directories named ``0``
267to ``N-1``.  Each directory represents each DAMON-based operation scheme.
268
269schemes/<N>/
270------------
271
272In each scheme directory, five directories (``access_pattern``, ``quotas``,
273``watermarks``, ``filters``, ``stats``, and ``tried_regions``) and one file
274(``action``) exist.
275
276The ``action`` file is for setting and getting the scheme's :ref:`action
277<damon_design_damos_action>`.  The keywords that can be written to and read
278from the file and their meaning are as below.
279
280Note that support of each action depends on the running DAMON operations set
281:ref:`implementation <sysfs_contexts>`.
282
283 - ``willneed``: Call ``madvise()`` for the region with ``MADV_WILLNEED``.
284   Supported by ``vaddr`` and ``fvaddr`` operations set.
285 - ``cold``: Call ``madvise()`` for the region with ``MADV_COLD``.
286   Supported by ``vaddr`` and ``fvaddr`` operations set.
287 - ``pageout``: Call ``madvise()`` for the region with ``MADV_PAGEOUT``.
288   Supported by ``vaddr``, ``fvaddr`` and ``paddr`` operations set.
289 - ``hugepage``: Call ``madvise()`` for the region with ``MADV_HUGEPAGE``.
290   Supported by ``vaddr`` and ``fvaddr`` operations set.
291 - ``nohugepage``: Call ``madvise()`` for the region with ``MADV_NOHUGEPAGE``.
292   Supported by ``vaddr`` and ``fvaddr`` operations set.
293 - ``lru_prio``: Prioritize the region on its LRU lists.
294   Supported by ``paddr`` operations set.
295 - ``lru_deprio``: Deprioritize the region on its LRU lists.
296   Supported by ``paddr`` operations set.
297 - ``stat``: Do nothing but count the statistics.
298   Supported by all operations sets.
299
300schemes/<N>/access_pattern/
301---------------------------
302
303The directory for the target access :ref:`pattern
304<damon_design_damos_access_pattern>` of the given DAMON-based operation scheme.
305
306Under the ``access_pattern`` directory, three directories (``sz``,
307``nr_accesses``, and ``age``) each having two files (``min`` and ``max``)
308exist.  You can set and get the access pattern for the given scheme by writing
309to and reading from the ``min`` and ``max`` files under ``sz``,
310``nr_accesses``, and ``age`` directories, respectively.  Note that the ``min``
311and the ``max`` form a closed interval.
312
313schemes/<N>/quotas/
314-------------------
315
316The directory for the :ref:`quotas <damon_design_damos_quotas>` of the given
317DAMON-based operation scheme.
318
319Under ``quotas`` directory, three files (``ms``, ``bytes``,
320``reset_interval_ms``) and one directory (``weights``) having three files
321(``sz_permil``, ``nr_accesses_permil``, and ``age_permil``) in it exist.
322
323You can set the ``time quota`` in milliseconds, ``size quota`` in bytes, and
324``reset interval`` in milliseconds by writing the values to the three files,
325respectively.  Then, DAMON tries to use only up to ``time quota`` milliseconds
326for applying the ``action`` to memory regions of the ``access_pattern``, and to
327apply the action to only up to ``bytes`` bytes of memory regions within the
328``reset_interval_ms``.  Setting both ``ms`` and ``bytes`` zero disables the
329quota limits.
330
331You can also set the :ref:`prioritization weights
332<damon_design_damos_quotas_prioritization>` for size, access frequency, and age
333in per-thousand unit by writing the values to the three files under the
334``weights`` directory.
335
336schemes/<N>/watermarks/
337-----------------------
338
339The directory for the :ref:`watermarks <damon_design_damos_watermarks>` of the
340given DAMON-based operation scheme.
341
342Under the watermarks directory, five files (``metric``, ``interval_us``,
343``high``, ``mid``, and ``low``) for setting the metric, the time interval
344between check of the metric, and the three watermarks exist.  You can set and
345get the five values by writing to the files, respectively.
346
347Keywords and meanings of those that can be written to the ``metric`` file are
348as below.
349
350 - none: Ignore the watermarks
351 - free_mem_rate: System's free memory rate (per thousand)
352
353The ``interval`` should written in microseconds unit.
354
355schemes/<N>/filters/
356--------------------
357
358The directory for the :ref:`filters <damon_design_damos_filters>` of the given
359DAMON-based operation scheme.
360
361In the beginning, this directory has only one file, ``nr_filters``.  Writing a
362number (``N``) to the file creates the number of child directories named ``0``
363to ``N-1``.  Each directory represents each filter.  The filters are evaluated
364in the numeric order.
365
366Each filter directory contains three files, namely ``type``, ``matcing``, and
367``memcg_path``.  You can write one of two special keywords, ``anon`` for
368anonymous pages, or ``memcg`` for specific memory cgroup filtering.  In case of
369the memory cgroup filtering, you can specify the memory cgroup of the interest
370by writing the path of the memory cgroup from the cgroups mount point to
371``memcg_path`` file.  You can write ``Y`` or ``N`` to ``matching`` file to
372filter out pages that does or does not match to the type, respectively.  Then,
373the scheme's action will not be applied to the pages that specified to be
374filtered out.
375
376For example, below restricts a DAMOS action to be applied to only non-anonymous
377pages of all memory cgroups except ``/having_care_already``.::
378
379    # echo 2 > nr_filters
380    # # filter out anonymous pages
381    echo anon > 0/type
382    echo Y > 0/matching
383    # # further filter out all cgroups except one at '/having_care_already'
384    echo memcg > 1/type
385    echo /having_care_already > 1/memcg_path
386    echo N > 1/matching
387
388Note that filters are currently supported only when ``paddr``
389`implementation <sysfs_contexts>` is being used.
390
391.. _sysfs_schemes_stats:
392
393schemes/<N>/stats/
394------------------
395
396DAMON counts the total number and bytes of regions that each scheme is tried to
397be applied, the two numbers for the regions that each scheme is successfully
398applied, and the total number of the quota limit exceeds.  This statistics can
399be used for online analysis or tuning of the schemes.
400
401The statistics can be retrieved by reading the files under ``stats`` directory
402(``nr_tried``, ``sz_tried``, ``nr_applied``, ``sz_applied``, and
403``qt_exceeds``), respectively.  The files are not updated in real time, so you
404should ask DAMON sysfs interface to updte the content of the files for the
405stats by writing a special keyword, ``update_schemes_stats`` to the relevant
406``kdamonds/<N>/state`` file.
407
408.. _sysfs_schemes_tried_regions:
409
410schemes/<N>/tried_regions/
411--------------------------
412
413This directory initially has one file, ``total_bytes``.
414
415When a special keyword, ``update_schemes_tried_regions``, is written to the
416relevant ``kdamonds/<N>/state`` file, DAMON updates the ``total_bytes`` file so
417that reading it returns the total size of the scheme tried regions, and creates
418directories named integer starting from ``0`` under this directory.  Each
419directory contains files exposing detailed information about each of the memory
420region that the corresponding scheme's ``action`` has tried to be applied under
421this directory, during next :ref:`aggregation interval
422<sysfs_monitoring_attrs>`.  The information includes address range,
423``nr_accesses``, and ``age`` of the region.
424
425Writing ``update_schemes_tried_bytes`` to the relevant ``kdamonds/<N>/state``
426file will only update the ``total_bytes`` file, and will not create the
427subdirectories.
428
429The directories will be removed when another special keyword,
430``clear_schemes_tried_regions``, is written to the relevant
431``kdamonds/<N>/state`` file.
432
433The expected usage of this directory is investigations of schemes' behaviors,
434and query-like efficient data access monitoring results retrievals.  For the
435latter use case, in particular, users can set the ``action`` as ``stat`` and
436set the ``access pattern`` as their interested pattern that they want to query.
437
438tried_regions/<N>/
439------------------
440
441In each region directory, you will find four files (``start``, ``end``,
442``nr_accesses``, and ``age``).  Reading the files will show the start and end
443addresses, ``nr_accesses``, and ``age`` of the region that corresponding
444DAMON-based operation scheme ``action`` has tried to be applied.
445
446Example
447~~~~~~~
448
449Below commands applies a scheme saying "If a memory region of size in [4KiB,
4508KiB] is showing accesses per aggregate interval in [0, 5] for aggregate
451interval in [10, 20], page out the region.  For the paging out, use only up to
45210ms per second, and also don't page out more than 1GiB per second.  Under the
453limitation, page out memory regions having longer age first.  Also, check the
454free memory rate of the system every 5 seconds, start the monitoring and paging
455out when the free memory rate becomes lower than 50%, but stop it if the free
456memory rate becomes larger than 60%, or lower than 30%". ::
457
458    # cd <sysfs>/kernel/mm/damon/admin
459    # # populate directories
460    # echo 1 > kdamonds/nr_kdamonds; echo 1 > kdamonds/0/contexts/nr_contexts;
461    # echo 1 > kdamonds/0/contexts/0/schemes/nr_schemes
462    # cd kdamonds/0/contexts/0/schemes/0
463    # # set the basic access pattern and the action
464    # echo 4096 > access_pattern/sz/min
465    # echo 8192 > access_pattern/sz/max
466    # echo 0 > access_pattern/nr_accesses/min
467    # echo 5 > access_pattern/nr_accesses/max
468    # echo 10 > access_pattern/age/min
469    # echo 20 > access_pattern/age/max
470    # echo pageout > action
471    # # set quotas
472    # echo 10 > quotas/ms
473    # echo $((1024*1024*1024)) > quotas/bytes
474    # echo 1000 > quotas/reset_interval_ms
475    # # set watermark
476    # echo free_mem_rate > watermarks/metric
477    # echo 5000000 > watermarks/interval_us
478    # echo 600 > watermarks/high
479    # echo 500 > watermarks/mid
480    # echo 300 > watermarks/low
481
482Please note that it's highly recommended to use user space tools like `damo
483<https://github.com/awslabs/damo>`_ rather than manually reading and writing
484the files as above.  Above is only for an example.
485
486.. _debugfs_interface:
487
488debugfs Interface (DEPRECATED!)
489===============================
490
491.. note::
492
493  THIS IS DEPRECATED!
494
495  DAMON debugfs interface is deprecated, so users should move to the
496  :ref:`sysfs interface <sysfs_interface>`.  If you depend on this and cannot
497  move, please report your usecase to damon@lists.linux.dev and
498  linux-mm@kvack.org.
499
500DAMON exports eight files, ``attrs``, ``target_ids``, ``init_regions``,
501``schemes``, ``monitor_on``, ``kdamond_pid``, ``mk_contexts`` and
502``rm_contexts`` under its debugfs directory, ``<debugfs>/damon/``.
503
504
505Attributes
506----------
507
508Users can get and set the ``sampling interval``, ``aggregation interval``,
509``update interval``, and min/max number of monitoring target regions by
510reading from and writing to the ``attrs`` file.  To know about the monitoring
511attributes in detail, please refer to the :doc:`/mm/damon/design`.  For
512example, below commands set those values to 5 ms, 100 ms, 1,000 ms, 10 and
5131000, and then check it again::
514
515    # cd <debugfs>/damon
516    # echo 5000 100000 1000000 10 1000 > attrs
517    # cat attrs
518    5000 100000 1000000 10 1000
519
520
521Target IDs
522----------
523
524Some types of address spaces supports multiple monitoring target.  For example,
525the virtual memory address spaces monitoring can have multiple processes as the
526monitoring targets.  Users can set the targets by writing relevant id values of
527the targets to, and get the ids of the current targets by reading from the
528``target_ids`` file.  In case of the virtual address spaces monitoring, the
529values should be pids of the monitoring target processes.  For example, below
530commands set processes having pids 42 and 4242 as the monitoring targets and
531check it again::
532
533    # cd <debugfs>/damon
534    # echo 42 4242 > target_ids
535    # cat target_ids
536    42 4242
537
538Users can also monitor the physical memory address space of the system by
539writing a special keyword, "``paddr\n``" to the file.  Because physical address
540space monitoring doesn't support multiple targets, reading the file will show a
541fake value, ``42``, as below::
542
543    # cd <debugfs>/damon
544    # echo paddr > target_ids
545    # cat target_ids
546    42
547
548Note that setting the target ids doesn't start the monitoring.
549
550
551Initial Monitoring Target Regions
552---------------------------------
553
554In case of the virtual address space monitoring, DAMON automatically sets and
555updates the monitoring target regions so that entire memory mappings of target
556processes can be covered.  However, users can want to limit the monitoring
557region to specific address ranges, such as the heap, the stack, or specific
558file-mapped area.  Or, some users can know the initial access pattern of their
559workloads and therefore want to set optimal initial regions for the 'adaptive
560regions adjustment'.
561
562In contrast, DAMON do not automatically sets and updates the monitoring target
563regions in case of physical memory monitoring.  Therefore, users should set the
564monitoring target regions by themselves.
565
566In such cases, users can explicitly set the initial monitoring target regions
567as they want, by writing proper values to the ``init_regions`` file.  The input
568should be a sequence of three integers separated by white spaces that represent
569one region in below form.::
570
571    <target idx> <start address> <end address>
572
573The ``target idx`` should be the index of the target in ``target_ids`` file,
574starting from ``0``, and the regions should be passed in address order.  For
575example, below commands will set a couple of address ranges, ``1-100`` and
576``100-200`` as the initial monitoring target region of pid 42, which is the
577first one (index ``0``) in ``target_ids``, and another couple of address
578ranges, ``20-40`` and ``50-100`` as that of pid 4242, which is the second one
579(index ``1``) in ``target_ids``.::
580
581    # cd <debugfs>/damon
582    # cat target_ids
583    42 4242
584    # echo "0   1       100 \
585            0   100     200 \
586            1   20      40  \
587            1   50      100" > init_regions
588
589Note that this sets the initial monitoring target regions only.  In case of
590virtual memory monitoring, DAMON will automatically updates the boundary of the
591regions after one ``update interval``.  Therefore, users should set the
592``update interval`` large enough in this case, if they don't want the
593update.
594
595
596Schemes
597-------
598
599Users can get and set the DAMON-based operation :ref:`schemes
600<damon_design_damos>` by reading from and writing to ``schemes`` debugfs file.
601Reading the file also shows the statistics of each scheme.  To the file, each
602of the schemes should be represented in each line in below form::
603
604    <target access pattern> <action> <quota> <watermarks>
605
606You can disable schemes by simply writing an empty string to the file.
607
608Target Access Pattern
609~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
610
611The target access :ref:`pattern <damon_design_damos_access_pattern>` of the
612scheme.  The ``<target access pattern>`` is constructed with three ranges in
613below form::
614
615    min-size max-size min-acc max-acc min-age max-age
616
617Specifically, bytes for the size of regions (``min-size`` and ``max-size``),
618number of monitored accesses per aggregate interval for access frequency
619(``min-acc`` and ``max-acc``), number of aggregate intervals for the age of
620regions (``min-age`` and ``max-age``) are specified.  Note that the ranges are
621closed interval.
622
623Action
624~~~~~~
625
626The ``<action>`` is a predefined integer for memory management :ref:`actions
627<damon_design_damos_action>`.  The supported numbers and their meanings are as
628below.
629
630 - 0: Call ``madvise()`` for the region with ``MADV_WILLNEED``.  Ignored if
631   ``target`` is ``paddr``.
632 - 1: Call ``madvise()`` for the region with ``MADV_COLD``.  Ignored if
633   ``target`` is ``paddr``.
634 - 2: Call ``madvise()`` for the region with ``MADV_PAGEOUT``.
635 - 3: Call ``madvise()`` for the region with ``MADV_HUGEPAGE``.  Ignored if
636   ``target`` is ``paddr``.
637 - 4: Call ``madvise()`` for the region with ``MADV_NOHUGEPAGE``.  Ignored if
638   ``target`` is ``paddr``.
639 - 5: Do nothing but count the statistics
640
641Quota
642~~~~~
643
644Users can set the :ref:`quotas <damon_design_damos_quotas>` of the given scheme
645via the ``<quota>`` in below form::
646
647    <ms> <sz> <reset interval> <priority weights>
648
649This makes DAMON to try to use only up to ``<ms>`` milliseconds for applying
650the action to memory regions of the ``target access pattern`` within the
651``<reset interval>`` milliseconds, and to apply the action to only up to
652``<sz>`` bytes of memory regions within the ``<reset interval>``.  Setting both
653``<ms>`` and ``<sz>`` zero disables the quota limits.
654
655For the :ref:`prioritization <damon_design_damos_quotas_prioritization>`, users
656can set the weights for the three properties in ``<priority weights>`` in below
657form::
658
659    <size weight> <access frequency weight> <age weight>
660
661Watermarks
662~~~~~~~~~~
663
664Users can specify :ref:`watermarks <damon_design_damos_watermarks>` of the
665given scheme via ``<watermarks>`` in below form::
666
667    <metric> <check interval> <high mark> <middle mark> <low mark>
668
669``<metric>`` is a predefined integer for the metric to be checked.  The
670supported numbers and their meanings are as below.
671
672 - 0: Ignore the watermarks
673 - 1: System's free memory rate (per thousand)
674
675The value of the metric is checked every ``<check interval>`` microseconds.
676
677If the value is higher than ``<high mark>`` or lower than ``<low mark>``, the
678scheme is deactivated.  If the value is lower than ``<mid mark>``, the scheme
679is activated.
680
681.. _damos_stats:
682
683Statistics
684~~~~~~~~~~
685
686It also counts the total number and bytes of regions that each scheme is tried
687to be applied, the two numbers for the regions that each scheme is successfully
688applied, and the total number of the quota limit exceeds.  This statistics can
689be used for online analysis or tuning of the schemes.
690
691The statistics can be shown by reading the ``schemes`` file.  Reading the file
692will show each scheme you entered in each line, and the five numbers for the
693statistics will be added at the end of each line.
694
695Example
696~~~~~~~
697
698Below commands applies a scheme saying "If a memory region of size in [4KiB,
6998KiB] is showing accesses per aggregate interval in [0, 5] for aggregate
700interval in [10, 20], page out the region.  For the paging out, use only up to
70110ms per second, and also don't page out more than 1GiB per second.  Under the
702limitation, page out memory regions having longer age first.  Also, check the
703free memory rate of the system every 5 seconds, start the monitoring and paging
704out when the free memory rate becomes lower than 50%, but stop it if the free
705memory rate becomes larger than 60%, or lower than 30%".::
706
707    # cd <debugfs>/damon
708    # scheme="4096 8192  0 5    10 20    2"  # target access pattern and action
709    # scheme+=" 10 $((1024*1024*1024)) 1000" # quotas
710    # scheme+=" 0 0 100"                     # prioritization weights
711    # scheme+=" 1 5000000 600 500 300"       # watermarks
712    # echo "$scheme" > schemes
713
714
715Turning On/Off
716--------------
717
718Setting the files as described above doesn't incur effect unless you explicitly
719start the monitoring.  You can start, stop, and check the current status of the
720monitoring by writing to and reading from the ``monitor_on`` file.  Writing
721``on`` to the file starts the monitoring of the targets with the attributes.
722Writing ``off`` to the file stops those.  DAMON also stops if every target
723process is terminated.  Below example commands turn on, off, and check the
724status of DAMON::
725
726    # cd <debugfs>/damon
727    # echo on > monitor_on
728    # echo off > monitor_on
729    # cat monitor_on
730    off
731
732Please note that you cannot write to the above-mentioned debugfs files while
733the monitoring is turned on.  If you write to the files while DAMON is running,
734an error code such as ``-EBUSY`` will be returned.
735
736
737Monitoring Thread PID
738---------------------
739
740DAMON does requested monitoring with a kernel thread called ``kdamond``.  You
741can get the pid of the thread by reading the ``kdamond_pid`` file.  When the
742monitoring is turned off, reading the file returns ``none``. ::
743
744    # cd <debugfs>/damon
745    # cat monitor_on
746    off
747    # cat kdamond_pid
748    none
749    # echo on > monitor_on
750    # cat kdamond_pid
751    18594
752
753
754Using Multiple Monitoring Threads
755---------------------------------
756
757One ``kdamond`` thread is created for each monitoring context.  You can create
758and remove monitoring contexts for multiple ``kdamond`` required use case using
759the ``mk_contexts`` and ``rm_contexts`` files.
760
761Writing the name of the new context to the ``mk_contexts`` file creates a
762directory of the name on the DAMON debugfs directory.  The directory will have
763DAMON debugfs files for the context. ::
764
765    # cd <debugfs>/damon
766    # ls foo
767    # ls: cannot access 'foo': No such file or directory
768    # echo foo > mk_contexts
769    # ls foo
770    # attrs  init_regions  kdamond_pid  schemes  target_ids
771
772If the context is not needed anymore, you can remove it and the corresponding
773directory by putting the name of the context to the ``rm_contexts`` file. ::
774
775    # echo foo > rm_contexts
776    # ls foo
777    # ls: cannot access 'foo': No such file or directory
778
779Note that ``mk_contexts``, ``rm_contexts``, and ``monitor_on`` files are in the
780root directory only.
781
782
783.. _tracepoint:
784
785Tracepoint for Monitoring Results
786=================================
787
788Users can get the monitoring results via the :ref:`tried_regions
789<sysfs_schemes_tried_regions>` or a tracepoint, ``damon:damon_aggregated``.
790While the tried regions directory is useful for getting a snapshot, the
791tracepoint is useful for getting a full record of the results.  While the
792monitoring is turned on, you could record the tracepoint events and show
793results using tracepoint supporting tools like ``perf``.  For example::
794
795    # echo on > monitor_on
796    # perf record -e damon:damon_aggregated &
797    # sleep 5
798    # kill 9 $(pidof perf)
799    # echo off > monitor_on
800    # perf script
801