Profiling Memory Usage with Heaptrack

Heaptrack is a memory profiler used to track allocation patterns, locate memory leaks, and analyze consumption spikes in MariaDB ColumnStore subprocesses, specifically PrimProc. The outputs help generate performance flame graphs for deep-dive engineering diagnostics.

Installation

1. Clone the directory:

   git clone https://github.com/KDE/heaptrack.git

2. Install the development tools group:

   dnf group install "Development Tools" -y

3. Create the build folder layout:

   cd heaptrack
   mkdir build
   cd build

4. Install prerequisite library dependencies:

   yum install cmake libunwind libunwind-devel boost boost-devel -y

5. Configure the build files for a Release target:

   cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release .. # look for messages about missing dependencies!

6. Compile the tracking application:

   make -j$(nproc)

7. Verify the compiled tracking binary target path:

   ls -la /home/rocky/heaptrack/build/bin/heaptrack

Running a Memory Profile

1. Stop the active process service:

   systemctl stop mcs-primproc

2. Relaunch the process in the foreground under Heaptrack:

   /home/rocky/heaptrack/build/bin/heaptrack /usr/bin/PrimProc -f

Capturing and Sharing Results

1. Check system logs for process behaviors:

   journalctl -ru mcs-primproc

2. Stop the process service wrapper instance:

   systemctl stop mcs-primproc

3. Halt the tracing session: Press Ctrl + C in the active heaptrack window.

4. Share the compressed data profile with engineering: Locate and transfer the resulting archive artifact:

   /home/rocky/heaptrack/build/heaptrack.PrimProc.37747.zst

Historical Engineering References

The following benchmarking and signal commands are preserved from internal engineering logs as testing options and should be adapted carefully based on your specific verification context:

# Simulating database workloads via sysbench:
# time sysbench /mnt/data/perf/s21.lua --mysql-db=tpc_h --mysql-user=root --skip_trx --events=8 --threads=5 --time=3600 run --histogram --report-interval=1

# Triggering a manual process crash context:
# kill -SIGHUP $(pidof PrimProc);