View Source recon (recon v2.5.3)
Recon, as a module, provides access to the high-level functionality contained in the Recon application.
It has functions in five main categories:
- 1. State information
- Process information is everything that has to do with the general state of the node. Functions such as
info/1
andinfo/3
are wrappers to provide more details thanerlang:process_info/1
, while providing it in a production-safe manner. They have equivalents toerlang:process_info/2
in the functionsinfo/2
andinfo/4
, respectively. proc_count/2
andproc_window/3
are to be used when you require information about processes in a larger sense: biggest consumers of given process information (say memory or reductions), either absolutely or over a sliding time window, respectively.bin_leak/1
is a function that can be used to try and see if your Erlang node is leaking refc binaries. See the function itself for more details.- Functions to access node statistics, in a manner somewhat similar to what vmstats provides as a library. There are 3 of them:
node_stats_print/2
, which displays them,node_stats_list/2
, which returns them in a list, andnode_stats/4
, which provides a fold-like interface for stats gathering. For CPU usage specifically, seescheduler_usage/1
. - 2. OTP tools
- This category provides tools to interact with pieces of OTP more easily. At this point, the only function included is
get_state/1
, which works as a wrapper aroundget_state/2
, which works as a wrapper aroundsys:get_state/1
in R16B01, and provides the required functionality for older versions of Erlang. - 3. Code Handling
- Specific functions are in
recon
for the sole purpose of interacting with source and compiled code.remote_load/1
andremote_load/2
will allow to take a local module, and load it remotely (in a diskless manner) on another Erlang node you're connected to. source/1
allows to print the source of a loaded module, in case it's not available in the currently running node.- 4. Ports and Sockets
- To make it simpler to debug some network-related issues, recon contains functions to deal with Erlang ports (raw, file handles, or inet). Functions
tcp/0
,udp/0
,sctp/0
,files/0
, andport_types/0
will list all the Erlang ports of a given type. The latter function prints counts of all individual types. - Port state information can be useful to figure out why certain parts of the system misbehave. Functions such as
port_info/1
andport_info/2
are wrappers to provide more similar or more details thanerlang:port_info/1-2
, and, for inet ports, statistics and options for each socket. - Finally, the functions
inet_count/2
andinet_window/3
provide the absolute or sliding window functionality ofproc_count/2
andproc_window/3
to inet ports and connections currently on the node. - 5. RPC
- These are wrappers to make RPC work simpler with clusters of Erlang nodes. Default RPC mechanisms (from the
rpc
module) make it somewhat painful to call shell-defined funs over node boundaries. The functionsrpc/1
,rpc/2
, andrpc/3
will do it with a simpler interface. - Additionally, when you're running diagnostic code on remote nodes and want to know which node evaluated what result, using
named_rpc/1
,named_rpc/2
, andnamed_rpc/3
will wrap the results in a tuple that tells you which node it's coming from, making it easier to identify bad nodes.
Link to this section Summary
Functions
Refc binaries can be leaking when barely-busy processes route them around and do little else, or when extremely busy processes reach a stable amount of memory allocated and do the vast majority of their work with refc binaries. When this happens, it may take a very long while before references get deallocated and refc binaries get to be garbage collected, leading to Out Of Memory crashes. This function fetches the number of refc binary references in each process of the node, garbage collects them, and compares the resulting number of references in each of them. The function then returns the N
processes that freed the biggest amount of binaries, potentially highlighting leaks.
recon:get_state(PidTerm, 5000)
sys:get_state/2
directly in R16B01+, and fetches it dynamically on older versions of OTP.Fetches a given attribute from all inet ports (TCP, UDP, SCTP) and returns the biggest Num
consumers.
Fetches a given attribute from all inet ports (TCP, UDP, SCTP) and returns the biggest entries, over a sliding time window.
Allows to be similar to erlang:process_info/1
, but excludes fields such as the mailbox, which have a tendency to grow and be unsafe when called in production systems. Also includes a few more fields than what is usually given (monitors
, monitored_by
, etc.), and separates the fields in a more readable format based on the type of information contained.
Allows to be similar to erlang:process_info/2
, but allows to sort fields by safe categories and pre-selections, avoiding items such as the mailbox, which may have a tendency to grow and be unsafe when called in production systems.
info(<A.B.C>)
where A
, B
, and C
are integers part of a pidinfo(<A.B.C>, Key)
where A
, B
, and C
are integers part of a pidnamed_rpc([node()|nodes()], Fun)
.named_rpc(Nodes, Fun, infinity)
.Gathers statistics N
time, waiting Interval
milliseconds between each run, and accumulates results using a folding function FoldFun
. The function will gather statistics in two forms: Absolutes and Increments.
node_stats(N, Interval, fun(X,Acc) -> [X|Acc] end, [])
with the results reversed to be in the right temporal order.node_stats(N, Interval, fun(X,_) -> io:format("~p~n",[X]) end, nostate)
.Allows to be similar to erlang:port_info/1
, but allows more flexible port usage: usual ports, ports that were registered locally (an atom), ports represented as strings ("#Port<0.2013>"
), or through an index lookup (2013
, for the same result as "#Port<0.2013>"
).
Allows to be similar to erlang:port_info/2
, but allows more flexible port usage: usual ports, ports that were registered locally (an atom), ports represented as strings ("#Port<0.2013>"
), or through an index lookup (2013
, for the same result as "#Port<0.2013>"
).
Num
consumers.Fetches a given attribute from all processes (except the caller) and returns the biggest entries, over a sliding time window.
Equivalent to remote_load(nodes(), Mod).
rpc([node()|nodes()], Fun)
.rpc(Nodes, Fun, infinity)
.Because Erlang CPU usage as reported from top
isn't the most reliable value (due to schedulers doing idle spinning to avoid going to sleep and impacting latency), a metric exists that is based on scheduler wall time.
debug_info
. The returned list sadly does not allow to format the types and typed records the way they look in the original module, but instead goes to an intermediary form used in the AST. They will still be placed in the right module attributes, however.Link to this section Types
-type inet_attrs() :: {port(), Attr :: _, [{atom(), term()}]}.
-type info_key() :: info_meta_key() | info_signals_key() | info_location_key() | info_memory_key() | info_work_key().
-type info_location_key() :: initial_call | current_stacktrace.
-type info_memory_key() :: memory | message_queue_len | heap_size | total_heap_size | garbage_collection.
-type info_meta_key() :: registered_name | dictionary | group_leader | status.
-type info_signals_key() :: links | monitors | monitored_by | trap_exit.
-type info_type() :: meta | signals | location | memory_used | work.
-type info_work_key() :: reductions.
-type pid_term() ::
pid() |
atom() |
string() |
{global, term()} |
{via, module(), term()} |
{non_neg_integer(), non_neg_integer(), non_neg_integer()}.
-type port_info_io_key() :: input | output.
-type port_info_key() :: port_info_meta_key() | port_info_signals_key() | port_info_io_key() | port_info_memory_key() | port_info_specific_key().
-type port_info_memory_key() :: memory | queue_size.
-type port_info_meta_key() :: registered_name | id | name | os_pid.
-type port_info_signals_key() :: connected | links | monitors.
-type port_info_specific_key() :: atom().
-type port_info_type() :: meta | signals | io | memory_used | specific.
-type port_term() :: port() | string() | atom() | pos_integer().
-type proc_attrs() ::
{pid(), Attr :: _, [Name :: atom() | {current_function, mfa()} | {initial_call, mfa()}, ...]}.
Link to this section Functions
-spec bin_leak(pos_integer()) -> [proc_attrs()].
Refc binaries can be leaking when barely-busy processes route them around and do little else, or when extremely busy processes reach a stable amount of memory allocated and do the vast majority of their work with refc binaries. When this happens, it may take a very long while before references get deallocated and refc binaries get to be garbage collected, leading to Out Of Memory crashes. This function fetches the number of refc binary references in each process of the node, garbage collects them, and compares the resulting number of references in each of them. The function then returns the N
processes that freed the biggest amount of binaries, potentially highlighting leaks.
-spec files() -> [port()].
-spec get_state(pid_term()) -> term().
recon:get_state(PidTerm, 5000)
-spec get_state(pid_term(), Ms :: non_neg_integer() | infinity) -> term().
sys:get_state/2
directly in R16B01+, and fetches it dynamically on older versions of OTP.
-spec inet_count(AttributeName, Num) -> [inet_attrs()] when AttributeName :: recv_cnt | recv_oct | send_cnt | send_oct | cnt | oct, Num :: non_neg_integer().
Fetches a given attribute from all inet ports (TCP, UDP, SCTP) and returns the biggest Num
consumers.
send_oct
, recv_oct
, oct
, respectively), or the number of packets sent, received, or both (send_cnt
, recv_cnt
, cnt
, respectively). Individual absolute values for each metric will be returned in the 3rd position of the resulting tuple.
-spec inet_window(AttributeName, Num, Milliseconds) -> [inet_attrs()] when AttributeName :: recv_cnt | recv_oct | send_cnt | send_oct | cnt | oct, Num :: non_neg_integer(), Milliseconds :: pos_integer().
Fetches a given attribute from all inet ports (TCP, UDP, SCTP) and returns the biggest entries, over a sliding time window.
Warning: this function depends on data gathered at two snapshots, and then building a dictionary with entries to differentiate them. This can take a heavy toll on memory when you have many dozens of thousands of ports open.
The values to be used can be the number of octets (bytes) sent, received, or both (send_oct
, recv_oct
, oct
, respectively), or the number of packets sent, received, or both (send_cnt
, recv_cnt
, cnt
, respectively). Individual absolute values for each metric will be returned in the 3rd position of the resulting tuple.
Allows to be similar to erlang:process_info/1
, but excludes fields such as the mailbox, which have a tendency to grow and be unsafe when called in production systems. Also includes a few more fields than what is usually given (monitors
, monitored_by
, etc.), and separates the fields in a more readable format based on the type of information contained.
{global, Name}
), or through another registry supported in the {via, Module, Name}
syntax (must have a Module:whereis_name/1
function). Pids can also be passed in as a string ("<0.39.0>"
) or a triple ({0,39,0}
) and will be converted to be used. Returns undefined
as a value when a process died.
-spec info(pid_term(), info_type()) -> {info_type(), [{info_key(), term()}] | undefined}; (pid_term(), [atom()]) -> [{atom(), term()}] | undefined; (pid_term(), atom()) -> {atom(), term()} | undefined.
Allows to be similar to erlang:process_info/2
, but allows to sort fields by safe categories and pre-selections, avoiding items such as the mailbox, which may have a tendency to grow and be unsafe when called in production systems.
Moreover, it will fetch and read information on local processes that were registered locally (an atom), globally ({global, Name}
), or through another registry supported in the {via, Module, Name}
syntax (must have a Module:whereis_name/1
function). Pids can also be passed in as a string ("<0.39.0>"
) or a triple ({0,39,0}
) and will be converted to be used.
Although the type signature doesn't show it in generated documentation, a list of arguments or individual arguments accepted by erlang:process_info/2
and return them as that function would.
binary_memory
is also available to return the amount of memory used by refc binaries for a process.
info(<A.B.C>)
where A
, B
, and C
are integers part of a pid
-spec info(N, N, N, Key) -> term() when N :: non_neg_integer(), Key :: info_type() | [atom()] | atom().
info(<A.B.C>, Key)
where A
, B
, and C
are integers part of a pid
-spec named_rpc(fun(() -> term())) -> {[Success :: _], [Fail :: _]}.
named_rpc([node()|nodes()], Fun)
.
-spec named_rpc(node() | [node(), ...], fun(() -> term())) -> {[Success :: _], [Fail :: _]}.
named_rpc(Nodes, Fun, infinity)
.
-spec named_rpc(node() | [node(), ...], fun(() -> term()), timeout()) -> {[Success :: _], [Fail :: _]}.
-spec node_stats(N, Interval, FoldFun, Acc) -> Acc
when
N :: non_neg_integer(),
Interval :: pos_integer(),
FoldFun :: fun((Stats, Acc) -> Acc),
Acc :: term(),
Stats :: {[Absolutes :: {atom(), term()}], [Increments :: {atom(), term()}]}.
Gathers statistics N
time, waiting Interval
milliseconds between each run, and accumulates results using a folding function FoldFun
. The function will gather statistics in two forms: Absolutes and Increments.
Absolutes are values that keep changing with time, and are useful to know about as a datapoint: process count, size of the run queue, error_logger queue length in versions before OTP-21 or those thar run it explicitly, and the memory of the node (total, processes, atoms, binaries, and ets tables).
Increments are values that are mostly useful when compared to a previous one to have an idea what they're doing, because otherwise they'd never stop increasing: bytes in and out of the node, number of garbage collector runs, words of memory that were garbage collected, and the global reductions count for the node.-spec node_stats_list(Repeat, Interval) -> [Stats]
when
Repeat :: non_neg_integer(),
Interval :: pos_integer(),
Stats ::
{[Absolutes :: {atom(), term()}], [Increments :: {atom(), term()}]}.
node_stats(N, Interval, fun(X,Acc) -> [X|Acc] end, [])
with the results reversed to be in the right temporal order.
-spec node_stats_print(Repeat, Interval) -> term()
when Repeat :: non_neg_integer(), Interval :: pos_integer().
node_stats(N, Interval, fun(X,_) -> io:format("~p~n",[X]) end, nostate)
.
-spec port_info(port_term()) -> [{port_info_type(), [{port_info_key(), term()}]}, ...].
Allows to be similar to erlang:port_info/1
, but allows more flexible port usage: usual ports, ports that were registered locally (an atom), ports represented as strings ("#Port<0.2013>"
), or through an index lookup (2013
, for the same result as "#Port<0.2013>"
).
Moreover, the function will try to fetch implementation-specific details based on the port type (only inet ports have this feature so far). For example, TCP ports will include information about the remote peer, transfer statistics, and socket options being used.
The information-specific and the basic port info are sorted and categorized in broader categories (port_info_type()
).
-spec port_info(port_term(), port_info_type()) -> {port_info_type(), [{port_info_key(), _}]}; (port_term(), [atom()]) -> [{atom(), term()}]; (port_term(), atom()) -> {atom(), term()}.
Allows to be similar to erlang:port_info/2
, but allows more flexible port usage: usual ports, ports that were registered locally (an atom), ports represented as strings ("#Port<0.2013>"
), or through an index lookup (2013
, for the same result as "#Port<0.2013>"
).
port_info_type()
, and although the type signature doesn't show it in the generated documentation, individual items accepted by erlang:port_info/2
are accepted, and lists of them too.
-spec port_types() -> [{Type :: string(), Count :: pos_integer()}].
-spec proc_count(AttributeName, Num) -> [proc_attrs()] when AttributeName :: atom(), Num :: non_neg_integer().
Num
consumers.
-spec proc_window(AttributeName, Num, Milliseconds) -> [proc_attrs()] when AttributeName :: atom(), Num :: non_neg_integer(), Milliseconds :: pos_integer().
Fetches a given attribute from all processes (except the caller) and returns the biggest entries, over a sliding time window.
This function is particularly useful when processes on the node are mostly short-lived, usually too short to inspect through other tools, in order to figure out what kind of processes are eating through a lot resources on a given node.
It is important to see this function as a snapshot over a sliding window. A program's timeline during sampling might look like this:
--w---- [Sample1] ---x-------------y----- [Sample2] ---z--->
Some processes will live between w
and die at x
, some between y
and z
, and some between x
and y
. These samples will not be too significant as they're incomplete. If the majority of your processes run between a time interval x
...y
(in absolute terms), you should make sure that your sampling time is smaller than this so that for many processes, their lifetime spans the equivalent of w
and z
. Not doing this can skew the results: long-lived processes, that have 10 times the time to accumulate data (say reductions) will look like bottlenecks when they're not one.
-spec remote_load(module()) -> term().
Equivalent to remote_load(nodes(), Mod).
-spec remote_load(Nodes, module()) -> term() when Nodes :: [node(), ...] | node().
-spec rpc(fun(() -> term())) -> {[Success :: _], [Fail :: _]}.
rpc([node()|nodes()], Fun)
.
-spec rpc(node() | [node(), ...], fun(() -> term())) -> {[Success :: _], [Fail :: _]}.
rpc(Nodes, Fun, infinity)
.
-spec rpc(node() | [node(), ...], fun(() -> term()), timeout()) -> {[Success :: _], [Fail :: _]}.
-spec scheduler_usage(Millisecs) -> undefined | [{SchedulerId, Usage}]
when
Millisecs :: non_neg_integer(),
SchedulerId :: pos_integer(),
Usage :: number().
Because Erlang CPU usage as reported from top
isn't the most reliable value (due to schedulers doing idle spinning to avoid going to sleep and impacting latency), a metric exists that is based on scheduler wall time.
For any time interval, Scheduler wall time can be used as a measure of how 'busy' a scheduler is. A scheduler is busy when:
- executing process code
- executing driver code
- executing NIF code
- executing BIFs
- garbage collecting
- doing memory management
-spec sctp() -> [port()].
-spec source(module()) -> iolist().
debug_info
. The returned list sadly does not allow to format the types and typed records the way they look in the original module, but instead goes to an intermediary form used in the AST. They will still be placed in the right module attributes, however.
-spec tcp() -> [port()].
-spec udp() -> [port()].