Re: [PATCH v1] perf script flamegraph: Avoid d3-flame-graph package dependency

[Ian Rogers]

On Wed, Jan 11, 2023 at 5:18 AM Andreas Gerstmayr <agerstmayr@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> On 10.01.23 20:51, Ian Rogers wrote:
> > On Tue, Jan 10, 2023 at 10:02 AM Andreas Gerstmayr
> > <agerstmayr@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >>
> >> On 05.01.23 10:24, Ian Rogers wrote:
> >>> On Wed, Jan 4, 2023 at 7:04 PM Ian Rogers <irogers@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>> Currently flame graph generation requires a d3-flame-graph template to
> >>>> be installed. Unfortunately this is hard to come by for things like
> >>>> Debian [1]. If the template isn't installed warn and download it from
> >>>> jsdelivr CDN. If downloading fails generate a minimal flame graph
> >>>> again with the javascript coming from jsdelivr CDN.
> >>>>
> >>>> [1] https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=996839
> >>>>
> >>>> Signed-off-by: Ian Rogers <irogers@xxxxxxxxxx>
> >>
> >> I'm not entirely convinced that this perf script should make a network
> >> request. In my opinion
> >>
> >> * best would be if this template gets packaged in Debian
> >> * alternatively print instructions how to install the template:
> >>
> >>       sudo mkdir /usr/share/d3-flame-graph
> >>       sudo wget -O /usr/share/d3-flame-graph/d3-flamegraph-base.html
> >> https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/d3-flame-graph@4/dist/templates/d3-flamegraph-base.html
> >>
> >> * or eventually just embed the entire template (66 KB) in the Python
> >> file (not sure if this is permissible though, it's basically a minified
> >> HTML/JS blob)?
> >> * if the above options don't work, I'd recommend asking the user before
> >> making the network request, and eventually persist the template
> >> somewhere so it doesn't need to be downloaded every time
> >>
> >> What do you think?
> >
> > So the script following this patch is going to try 3 things:
> > 1) look for a local template HTML,
> > 2) if a local template isn't found warn and switch to downloading the
> > CDN version,
> > 3) if the CDN version fails to download then use a minimal (embedded
> > in the script) HTML file with JS dependencies coming from the CDN.
> >
> > For (1) there are references in the generated HTML to www.w3.org,
> > meaning the HTML isn't fully hermetic - although these references may
> > not matter.
>
> The references to w3.org are XML namespace names. As far as I'm aware
> they do not matter, as they are merely identifiers and are never
> accessed [1,2]. Therefore the generated HTML file in its current form is
> hermetic.
>
> This was a design decision from the start - the flame graph generation
> and the resulting HTML file should not use any external resources loaded
> over the network (the external host could be inaccessible or compromised
> at any time). I understand that this requirement may not apply to every
> user or company.
>
> > For (2) there will be a download from the CDN of the template during
> > the execution of flamegraph. The template is better than (3) as it
> > features additional buttons letting you zoom out, etc. The HTML will
> > contain CDN references.
> > For (3) the generated HTML isn't hermetic and will use the CDN.
> >
> > For (2) we could give a prompt before trying to download the template,
> > or we could change it so that we give the wget command. I wouldn't
> > have the wget command require root privileges, I'd say that the
> > template could be downloaded and then the path of the download given
> > as an option to the flamegraph program. Downloading the file and then
> > adding an option to flamegraph seems inconvenient to the user,
> > something that the use of urllib in the patch avoids - it is
> > essentially just doing this for the user without storing the file on
> > disk. I think I prefer to be less inconvenient, and so the state of
> > the code at the moment looks best to me. Given that no choice results
> > in a fully hermetic HTML file, they seem similar in this regard. Is it
> > okay to try a download with urllib? Should there be a prompt? I think
> > the warning is enough and allows scripts, etc. using flamegraph to
> > more easily function across differing distributions.
>
> I fully agree, your changes make the flame graph generation more
> convenient in case the template is not installed. Also, downloading the
> template to a local directory and having to specify the path to the
> template every time is an inconvenience.
>
> I think it is a tradeoff between convenience and security/privacy.
> jsdelivr can get compromised, serving malicious JS (well, in that case,
> printing instructions to jsdelivr is also flawed :|).
> In the end it's up to the maintainers to decide.

Agreed. It is something of an issue with the perf tool, I think noted
by Arnaldo and Linus, that it has too many dependencies. We also have
a problem that a number of dependencies aren't license compatible for
distribution with perf's GPLv2. flamegraph.py is always installed but
it carries a dependency that can't be satisfied on Debian and
everything deriving from it. The prompting to install a package
solution, as is generally used in the build, is one approach. Using
http rather than files is the approach this change introduces, and is
an approach advocated by the d3 flamegraph README.md. Perhaps package
maintainers like Michael and Ben have opinions here.

> > An aside, Namhyung pointed out to me that there is a "perf report -g
> > folded" option, that was added in part to simplify creating
> > flamegraphs:
> > http://lkml.kernel.org/r/1447047946-1691-2-git-send-email-namhyung@xxxxxxxxxx
> > Building off of perf report may improve/simplify the flamegraph code,
> > or avoid the requirement that libpython be linked against perf.
>
> Yep, in this case another tool is required to generate the flame graph
> visualization, for example [3].

Thanks, perhaps [3] needs updating to use it as current processing
appears to be done using perf script:
https://github.com/brendangregg/FlameGraph/blob/master/stackcollapse-perf.pl

I think users end up trying out flamegraph as they want something
easier to read than perf report and the command ships with the tool.
flamegraph is unique in being like this and it is a pity that the
Debian half of the world has difficulty making it work. Fwiw, I'd like
to start adding documentation to the wiki about how to do easier
visualizations with other tools, such as the firefox profiler. Perhaps
some help from the tool also makes sense.

Thanks,
Ian



>
> [1] https://www.w3.org/TR/xml-names11/
> [2] https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/SVG/Namespaces_Crash_Course
> [3] https://github.com/brendangregg/FlameGraph
>
>
> Cheers,
> Andreas
>
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Ian
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >>
> >> Cheers,
> >> Andreas
> >>
> >>>> ---
> >>>>    tools/perf/scripts/python/flamegraph.py | 63 ++++++++++++++++++-------
> >>>>    1 file changed, 45 insertions(+), 18 deletions(-)
> >>>>
> >>>> diff --git a/tools/perf/scripts/python/flamegraph.py b/tools/perf/scripts/python/flamegraph.py
> >>>> index b6af1dd5f816..808b0e1c9be5 100755
> >>>> --- a/tools/perf/scripts/python/flamegraph.py
> >>>> +++ b/tools/perf/scripts/python/flamegraph.py
> >>>> @@ -25,6 +25,27 @@ import io
> >>>>    import argparse
> >>>>    import json
> >>>>    import subprocess
> >>>> +import urllib.request
> >>>> +
> >>>> +minimal_html = """<head>
> >>>> +  <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/d3-flame-graph@4.1.3/dist/d3-flamegraph.css";>
> >>>
> >>> (hopefully fixed Martin Spier's e-mail address)
> >>>
> >>> The @4.1.3 comes from the README.md:
> >>> https://github.com/spiermar/d3-flame-graph/blob/master/README.md
> >>> Does it make sense just to drop it or use @latest ? It'd be nice not
> >>> to patch this file for every d3-flame-graph update.
> >>>
> >>> Thanks,
> >>> Ian
> >>>
> >>>> +</head>
> >>>> +<body>
> >>>> +  <div id="chart"></div>
> >>>> +  <script type="text/javascript" src="https://d3js.org/d3.v7.js";></script>
> >>>> +  <script type="text/javascript" src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/d3-flame-graph@4.1.3/dist/d3-flamegraph.min.js";></script>
> >>>> +  <script type="text/javascript">
> >>>> +  const stacks = [/** @flamegraph_json **/];
> >>>> +  // Note, options is unused.
> >>>> +  const options = [/** @options_json **/];
> >>>> +
> >>>> +  var chart = flamegraph();
> >>>> +  d3.select("#chart")
> >>>> +        .datum(stacks[0])
> >>>> +        .call(chart);
> >>>> +  </script>
> >>>> +</body>
> >>>> +"""
> >>>>
> >>>>    # pylint: disable=too-few-public-methods
> >>>>    class Node:
> >>>> @@ -50,15 +71,18 @@ class FlameGraphCLI:
> >>>>            self.args = args
> >>>>            self.stack = Node("all", "root")
> >>>>
> >>>> -        if self.args.format == "html" and \
> >>>> -                not os.path.isfile(self.args.template):
> >>>> -            print("Flame Graph template {} does not exist. Please install "
> >>>> -                  "the js-d3-flame-graph (RPM) or libjs-d3-flame-graph (deb) "
> >>>> -                  "package, specify an existing flame graph template "
> >>>> -                  "(--template PATH) or another output format "
> >>>> -                  "(--format FORMAT).".format(self.args.template),
> >>>> -                  file=sys.stderr)
> >>>> -            sys.exit(1)
> >>>> +        if self.args.format == "html":
> >>>> +            if os.path.isfile(self.args.template):
> >>>> +                self.template = f"file://{self.args.template}"
> >>>> +            else:
> >>>> +                print(f"""
> >>>> +Warning: Flame Graph template '{self.args.template}'
> >>>> +does not exist, a template will be downloaded via http. To avoid this
> >>>> +please install a package such as the js-d3-flame-graph or
> >>>> +libjs-d3-flame-graph, specify an existing flame graph template
> >>>> +(--template PATH) or another output format (--format FORMAT).
> >>>> +""", file=sys.stderr)
> >>>> +            self.template = "https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/d3-flame-graph@4.1.3/dist/templates/d3-flamegraph-base.html";
> >>>>
> >>>>        @staticmethod
> >>>>        def get_libtype_from_dso(dso):
> >>>> @@ -129,15 +153,18 @@ class FlameGraphCLI:
> >>>>                options_json = json.dumps(options)
> >>>>
> >>>>                try:
> >>>> -                with io.open(self.args.template, encoding="utf-8") as template:
> >>>> -                    output_str = (
> >>>> -                        template.read()
> >>>> -                        .replace("/** @options_json **/", options_json)
> >>>> -                        .replace("/** @flamegraph_json **/", stacks_json)
> >>>> -                    )
> >>>> -            except IOError as err:
> >>>> -                print("Error reading template file: {}".format(err), file=sys.stderr)
> >>>> -                sys.exit(1)
> >>>> +                with urllib.request.urlopen(self.template) as template:
> >>>> +                    output_str = '\n'.join([
> >>>> +                        l.decode('utf-8') for l in template.readlines()
> >>>> +                    ])
> >>>> +            except Exception as err:
> >>>> +                print(f"Error reading template {self.template}: {err}\n"
> >>>> +                      "a minimal flame graph will be generated", file=sys.stderr)
> >>>> +                output_str = minimal_html
> >>>> +
> >>>> +            output_str = output_str.replace("/** @options_json **/", options_json)
> >>>> +            output_str = output_str.replace("/** @flamegraph_json **/", stacks_json)
> >>>> +
> >>>>                output_fn = self.args.output or "flamegraph.html"
> >>>>            else:
> >>>>                output_str = stacks_json
> >>>> --
> >>>> 2.39.0.314.g84b9a713c41-goog
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>
> >> --
> >> Red Hat Austria GmbH, Registered seat: A-1200 Vienna, Millennium Tower,
> >> 26.floor, Handelskai 94-96, Austria
> >> Commercial register: Commercial Court Vienna, FN 479668w
> >>
> >
>
> --
> Red Hat Austria GmbH, Registered seat: A-1200 Vienna, Millennium Tower,
> 26.floor, Handelskai 94-96, Austria
> Commercial register: Commercial Court Vienna, FN 479668w
>