Merge #14519: tests: add utility to easily profile node performance with perf

13782b8ba8 docs: add perf section to developer docs (James O'Beirne)
58180b5fd4 tests: add utility to easily profile node performance with perf (James O'Beirne)

Pull request description:

  Adds a context manager to easily (and selectively) profile node performance during functional test execution using `perf`.

  While writing some tests, I encountered some odd bitcoind slowness. I wrote up a utility (`TestNode.profile_with_perf`) that generates performance diagnostics for a node by running `perf` during the execution of a particular region of test code.

  `perf` usage is detailed in the excellent (and sadly unmerged) https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/12649; all due props to @eklitzke.

  ### Example

  ```python
  with node.profile_with_perf("large-msgs"):
      for i in range(200):
          node.p2p.send_message(some_large_msg)
      node.p2p.sync_with_ping()
  ```

  This generates a perf data file in the test node's datadir (`/tmp/testtxmpod0y/node0/node-0-TestName-large-msgs.perf.data`).

  Running `perf report` generates nice output about where the node spent most of its time while running that part of the test:

  ```bash
  $ perf report -i /tmp/testtxmpod0y/node0/node-0-TestName-large-msgs.perf.data --stdio \
    | c++filt \
    | less

  # To display the perf.data header info, please use --header/--header-only options.
  #
  #
  # Total Lost Samples: 0
  #
  # Samples: 135  of event 'cycles:pp'
  # Event count (approx.): 1458205679493582
  #
  # Children      Self  Command          Shared Object        Symbol
  # ........  ........  ...............  ...................  ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
  #
      70.14%     0.00%  bitcoin-net      bitcoind             [.] CNode::ReceiveMsgBytes(char const*, unsigned int, bool&)
                  |
                  ---CNode::ReceiveMsgBytes(char const*, unsigned int, bool&)

      70.14%     0.00%  bitcoin-net      bitcoind             [.] CNetMessage::readData(char const*, unsigned int)
                  |
                  ---CNetMessage::readData(char const*, unsigned int)
                     CNode::ReceiveMsgBytes(char const*, unsigned int, bool&)

      35.52%     0.00%  bitcoin-net      bitcoind             [.] std::vector<char, zero_after_free_allocator<char> >::_M_fill_insert(__gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<char*, std::vector<char, zero_after_free_allocator<char> > >, unsigned long, char const&)
                  |
                  ---std::vector<char, zero_after_free_allocator<char> >::_M_fill_insert(__gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<char*, std::vector<char, zero_after_free_allocator<char> > >, unsigned long, char const&)
                     CNetMessage::readData(char const*, unsigned int)
                     CNode::ReceiveMsgBytes(char const*, unsigned int, bool&)

  ...
  ```

Tree-SHA512: 9ac4ceaa88818d5eca00994e8e3c8ad42ae019550d6583972a0a4f7b0c4f61032e3d0c476b4ae58756bc5eb8f8015a19a7fc26c095bd588f31d49a37ed0c6b3e

1 files changed, 46 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/doc/developer-notes.md b/doc/developer-notes.md
index ec29310ffe..1deb5d791a 100644
--- a/doc/developer-notes.md
+++ b/doc/developer-notes.md
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ Developer Notes
         - [DEBUG_LOCKORDER](#debug_lockorder)
         - [Valgrind suppressions file](#valgrind-suppressions-file)
         - [Compiling for test coverage](#compiling-for-test-coverage)
+        - [Performance profiling with perf](#performance-profiling-with-perf)
     - [Locking/mutex usage notes](#lockingmutex-usage-notes)
     - [Threads](#threads)
     - [Ignoring IDE/editor files](#ignoring-ideeditor-files)
@@ -265,6 +266,51 @@ make cov
 # A coverage report will now be accessible at `./test_bitcoin.coverage/index.html`.
 ```
 
+### Performance profiling with perf
+
+Profiling is a good way to get a precise idea of where time is being spent in
+code. One tool for doing profiling on Linux platforms is called
+[`perf`](http://www.brendangregg.com/perf.html), and has been integrated into
+the functional test framework. Perf can observe a running process and sample
+(at some frequency) where its execution is.
+
+Perf installation is contingent on which kernel version you're running; see
+[this StackExchange
+thread](https://askubuntu.com/questions/50145/how-to-install-perf-monitoring-tool)
+for specific instructions.
+
+Certain kernel parameters may need to be set for perf to be able to inspect the
+running process' stack.
+
+```sh
+$ sudo sysctl -w kernel.perf_event_paranoid=-1
+$ sudo sysctl -w kernel.kptr_restrict=0
+```
+
+Make sure you [understand the security
+trade-offs](https://lwn.net/Articles/420403/) of setting these kernel
+parameters.
+
+To profile a running bitcoind process for 60 seconds, you could use an
+invocation of `perf record` like this:
+
+```sh
+$ perf record \
+    -g --call-graph dwarf --per-thread -F 140 \
+    -p `pgrep bitcoind` -- sleep 60
+```
+
+You could then analyze the results by running
+
+```sh
+perf report --stdio | c++filt | less
+```
+
+or using a graphical tool like [Hotspot](https://github.com/KDAB/hotspot).
+
+See the functional test documentation for how to invoke perf within tests.
+
+
 **Sanitizers**
 
 Bitcoin Core can be compiled with various "sanitizers" enabled, which add