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+# Using `simpleperf` to collect CPU profiling on Android
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+
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+This document describes how you can use Android's `simpleperf`
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+command-line tool to get CPU profiling information from Tor via the
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+Orbot application. The tool is particularly useful for Tor development
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+because it is able to profile native applications on the platform
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+whereas a lot of the normal tooling for the Android platform is only
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+able to collect information from Java-based applications.
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+
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+## Prerequisites
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+
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+Before using `simpleperf` there is a couple of steps that must be
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+followed. You should make sure you have both a recent installation of
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+the Android Software Development Kit (SDK) and Native Development Kit
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+(NDK) installed. These can be found on the Android Developers website.
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+
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+1. Follow the build instructions from the `BUILD` file in the Orbot
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+ repository and build an Orbot APK (Android Package) file with
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+ debugging enabled. Make sure that when you build the native content of
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+ the Orbot application that you run the `make -C external` command with
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+ an additional `DEBUG=1` as paramter to ensure that the Orbot build
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+ process does not strip the debug symbols from the Tor binary.
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+
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+2. (Optional) Uninstall and clean-up your old Orbot installation that
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+ is most likely downloaded from Google's Play Store or via fdroid:
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+
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+ $ adb shell pm clear org.torproject.android
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+ $ adb uninstall org.torproject.android
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+
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+3. Install the Android Package you generated in step 1:
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+
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+ $ adb install /path/to/your/app-fullperm-debug.apk
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+
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+4. Check on your device that the newly installed Orbot actually works
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+ and behaves in the way you expect it to.
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+
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+## Profiling using `simpleperf`
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+
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+The `simpleperf` tool can be found in the `simpleperf/` directory in
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+the directory where you installed the Android NDK to. In this
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+directory there is a set of Python files that will help you deploy the
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+tool to a device and collect the measurement data such that you can
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+analyze the results on your computer rather than on your phone.
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+
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+1. Change directory to the location of the `simpleperf` directory.
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+2. Open the `app_profiler.config` file and change
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+ `app_package_name` to `org.torproject.android`, `apk_file_path` to
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+ the path of your Orbot Android Package (APK file).
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+3. Optionally change the duration parameter in the `record_options`
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+ variable in `app_profiler.config` to the duration which you would like
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+ to collect samples in. The value is specified in seconds.
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+4. Run the app profiler using `python app_profiler.py`. This helper
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+ script will push the `simpleperf` tool to your device, start the
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+ profiler, and once it has completed copy the generated `perf.data`
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+ file over to your computer with the results.
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+
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+### Analyzing the results
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+
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+You can inspect your resulting `perf.data` file via a simple GUI
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+program `python report.py` or via the command-line tool `simpleperf
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+report`. I've found the GUI tool to be easier to navigate around with
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+than the command-line tool.
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+
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+The `-g` option can be passed to the command line `simpleperf report`
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+tool allows you to see the call graph of functions and how much time
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+was spend on the call.
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+
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+## Tips & Tricks
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+
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+- When you have installed Orbot the first time, you will notice that
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+ if you get a shell on the Android device that there is no Tor binary
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+ available. This is because Orbot unpacks the Tor binary first time it
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+ is executed and places it under the `app_bin/` directory on the
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+ device.
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+
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+ To access binaries, `torrc` files, and other useful information on
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+ the device do the following:
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+
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+ $ adb shell
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+ (device):/ $ run-as org.torproject.android
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+ (device):/data/data/org.torproject.android $ ls
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+ app_bin app_data cache databases files lib shared_prefs
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+
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+ Descriptors, control authentication cookie, state, and other files can be
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+ found in the `app_data` directory. The `torrc` can be found in the `app_bin/`
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+ directory.
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+
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+- You can enable logging in Tor via the syslog (or android) log
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+ mechanism with:
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+
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+ $ adb shell
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+ (device):/ $ run-as org.torproject.android
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+ (device):/data/data/org.torproject.android $ echo -e "\nLog info syslog" >> app_bin/torrc
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+
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+ Start Tor the normal way via Orbot and collect the logs from your computer using
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+
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+ $ adb logcat
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+
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