Intel® VTune™ Performance Analyzer 9.1 Update 7 for Windows*

Release Notes

Contents

Overview
What's New
System Requirements
Installation
Usage
Known Limitations
Technical Support and Feedback
Documentation
Additional Information
Disclaimer and Legal Information

Important Notes

  • Previous versions of the VTune™ Performance Analyzer MUST BE UNINSTALLED prior to installing this version. See the Installation section below for more information.
  • Go to the Intel® Software Development Products website to get the latest version of the release notes for this product.

Overview

The VTune™ Performance Analyzer provides an integrated performance analysis and tuning environment that enables you to analyze your code's performance on Intel® architecture processors of the IA-32, Intel® 64 and Itanium® processor families.

To receive technical support and product updates, you need to register your purchase with Intel. The registration process is described in the Technical Support and Feedback section of these Release Notes.

Additional information on Intel's software performance products is available at http://www.intel.com/software/products/.

What's New

These are some of the key enhancements and new features introduced in this version:

System Requirements

The VTune™ Performance Analyzer is intended to execute on systems that meet the requirements outlined in this section. Supported Development Environments are also detailed in an additional subsection below.

NOTE:
The VTune analyzer supports two usage models, local and remote. The local model requires a single system, which is both the system under analysis and the system performing the analysis. In the remote model, a data collector is installed on one system (the remote system to analyze). The VTune analyzer is installed on the controlling system. After collecting data on the remote system, the output of the data collection is sent to the controlling system, where it can be viewed.

The following sections list the requirements list the requirements for the systems of both usage models.

Hardware Requirements

The hardware requirements below are for the single system for local analysis and also for the controlling system when using an optional second system for remote analysis. In both cases, this system is the system upon which the VTune analyzer is installed.

Processors Supported:

Note: Systems with the following processors can be a host for collecting data remotely on a system with a supported processor or viewing data previously collected on a support processor:

System Memory Requirements:

At least 128 Megabytes of RAM

Disk Space Requirements:

NOTE:
This additional hard disk space is needed for updating and installing the DLLs and OCXs that the VTune analyzer requires to be in the system directory. If you install the VTune analyzer on a hard disk other than the drive containing the system directory, make sure that you have at least 20 Megabytes free on the drive containing the system directory.

Software Requirements

The software requirements below are for the single system for local analysis and also for the controlling system when using an optional second system for remote analysis. In both cases, this system is the system on which the VTune analyzer is installed.

Free (non-checked) versions of these operating systems:

NOTE:
In all cases below, use the Microsoft* Windows* recommended virtual memory paging file size to prevent unexpected failures of the VTune analyzer.

32-bit operating systems supporting IA-32 processors:

64-bit operating systems supporting Intel® processors with Intel® EM64T:

64-bit operating systems supporting Intel® Itanium® architecture processors:

Remote Agent System Requirements for the Remote Usage Model

This subsection describes the requirements for an optional second system capable of performing remote sampling and/or remote call graph profiling.

System Memory and Disk Space Requirements on Remote Machines:

Hardware Requirements for the Remote Agent System

A system that meets the same hardware requirements as any supported controlling system. See the Hardware Requirements section above.

Operating System Requirements for the Remote Agent System

This section explains the operating system requirements for the Linux* Remote Data Collector.

NOTE:
If you are not using a default kernel on the supported Red Hat* and SuSE* distributions listed below, use the VTune™ Performance Analyzer Driver Kit to compile drivers for your kernel. The VTune analyzer Driver Kit software is included with this VTune analyzer product, and can also be obtained via Intel® Premier Support. See Technical Support and Feedback section below for more information on the Intel® Premier Support.

Linux* Distributions Supported

The Remote Collector for Linux supports the following Linux distributions.  The kernel versions are supported for Linux systems with supported processors for both uniprocessor systems (UP) and multiprocessor systems (SMP), unless otherwise noted:

Operating System Kernel Version IA-32 Intel® 64 architecture Itanium®-based systems
Red Hat* Enterprise Linux* 3 Update 9 2.4.21-50.EL + + +
Red Hat* Enterprise Linux* 4 Update 7 2.6.9-78.EL + + +
Red Hat* Fedora* 9 and 10 2.6.27.5-117.fc10 + +  
Red Hat* Enterprise Linux* 5 Update 3 2.6.18-128.el5 + + +
SuSE* Linux* Enterprise Server (SLES) 9.0 (through Service Pack 4) 2.6.5-7.308 + + +
SuSE* Linux* Enterprise Server (SLES) 10.0 (through Service Pack 2) 2.6.16.60-0.21 + + +
SuSE* Linux* Enterprise Server (SLES) 11.0 2.6.27.19-5 + + -
SuSE* Linux* 10 2.6.13-15 + + +
SGI Pro Pack* 4.0 (through Service Pack 3) 2.6.5-7.244-sn2     +
SGI Pro Pack* 5.0 2.6.16.21-08     +
Debian* 4 2.6.18-4 + + +
Ubuntu* 8.10 and 8.04 2.6.27-7-generic + +  
Asianux 3.0 2.6.18-9.10AX + + +
Turbo Linux* 11 2.6.18-8.2 + + +
MontaVista* Linux  Carrier Grade Edition 4* 2.6.10 +    

Call graph support on different platforms

 

Local collection

Linux* Remote Data Collector

32-bit OS supporting IA-32 processors Yes Yes
64-bit OS on systems with Intel® processors supporting Intel® EM64T
64-bit apps Yes Yes
32-bit apps Yes Yes
64-bit OS supporting Intel® Itanium® architecture processors
64-bit apps Yes Yes
32-bit apps

Yes

 

Compilers and Development Environments Supported

The VTune analyzer supports applications generated with the following compilers and development environments (refer to the VTune analyzer online help for detailed instructions):

NOTE:
The Source Level Tuning Assistant is disabled as a default. To enable the Tuning Assistant to provide source-based tuning advice: select Configure > Options from the main menu, then select Intel® Tuning Assistant > Source Information from the Options tree. Uncheck the option Disable source-based tuning advice.

Compiler Environment IA-32 Development Environment Itanium® 2 Processor Family Development Environment IA-32 Processor with Intel® EM64T Development Environment Source Level Tuning Assistant Specifics
Microsoft* Visual C++* 6.0 / .NET 2003 / 2005 / 2008

+

+ + for IA-32 only
Microsoft* .NET Framework* 1.1/ 2.0/3.0

+

+ + -
Microsoft* Platform SDK October 2003

-

+ + for Itanium processor family and IA-32 processors with Intel EM64T only
Microsoft* Visual C#* .NET 2003 / 2005 / 2008

+

- - -
Microsoft* Visual  J#*

+

- - -
Intel® C++ Compiler

+

+ + for Itanium processor family and IA-32 processors with Intel EM64T only
Intel® C++ Compiler for Linux*

+

+ for source view only -
GNU* Project C/C++ Compiler for Linux*

+

- - -
Microsoft* Visual Basic* 6.0 / .NET 2003 / 2005 / 2008

+

- - -
Borland* C++ Builder* 5.0

+

- - for IA-32 only
Borland* C++ Builder* 6.0

for source view only

- - -
Delphi* 5.0 / 6.0

+

- - -
IBM* JDK* 1.4.2 / 1.5.0 (both Windows* and Linux*)

+

- - -
Sun* JDK* 1.4.2 / 1.5.0 / 1.6.0

+

Linux* only Sun* JDK* 1.5.0 / 1.6.0 -
BEA* WebLogic JRockit* 1.4.2 / 1.5.0 / 1.6.0 (both Linux* and Windows*)

+

BEA* JRockit* 1.5.0 BEA* JRockit* 1.5.0 / 1.6.0 -
Intel® Fortran Compiler

+

+ - for IA-32 and Itanium processor family only
Intel® Fortran Compiler for Linux*

+

+ - -

Installation

Important Notes

All previous versions of the VTune™ Performance Analyzer MUST BE UNINSTALLED prior to installing this version. This includes data collector installed on a Linux-based system for remote data collection from any previous release of the VTune™ Performance Analyzer. See the Uninstalling VTune analyzer section below for details.

General Installation

Handling Firewall Issues

The Windows* Firewall (initially introduced in Windows* XP Service Pack 2) may have the following implications on how the VTune analyzer accesses the network:

If the VTune analyzer executables are not added to the firewall exceptions list, you may be prompted with a security dialog asking whether to block certain programs. When this happens, select Unblock this program to allow the remote data collection to proceed. Following are the programs that may be blocked:

Following are situations in which exceptions were not added to the firewall, but no security dialogs appear:

To resolve operational failures or stop security prompts caused by programs missing from the firewall exception list, you can add exceptions manually as follows:

From the Control Panel, click Windows Security Center>Windows Firewall, select Exceptions tab and add the programs listed below as exceptions where:

When your VTune analyzer license is located on a license server, add the following programs as exceptions on the system running your license server:

When collecting remote data, add the following programs as exceptions on the Windows system running the VTune analyzer:

When collecting remote data from a Linux system, add the following programs as exceptions on the Windows system running the VTune analyzer:

When collecting remote data using the VTune analyzer integrated within Microsoft* Visual Studio*, also add the following programs as exceptions on the Windows system running Microsoft Visual Studio in addition to the exceptions mentioned above:

Make sure these programs have a check mark next to them after being added to the exceptions list.

Uninstalling the VTune Analyzer

There are 2 methods for uninstalling the VTune analyzer.

Method 1:

  1. Go to:  Start menu > Programs > Intel® Software Development Tools > Intel® VTune™ Performance Analyzer > Add or Remove Components.
  2. Follow the steps in the Modify/Repair/Remove wizard.

Method 2:

  1. Open the Control Panel (Start > Settings > Control Panel).
  2. Select the Add or Remove Programs applet.
  3. Select Intel® VTune™ Performance Analyzer then select the Remove button.
  4. Click Yes when prompted. Only the files installed by the VTune analyzer are deleted. Files that were created after installation, such as the database files (*.ldb and *.mdb), sampling output files, and call graph instrumentation files, are not deleted.

NOTES:
During the installation process, certain VTune analyzer files (DLLs, EXEs, and OCXs) are registered. Registration causes various entries to be added to the Windows* Registry. During uninstall, those files, which will no longer be used, are unregistered. Nevertheless, it is possible that after uninstall, some unnecessary registry entries may remain. While these leftover Registry entries are not harmful to the system, the only way to remove them after uninstall is to do so manually. Be advised however that Microsoft* warns that incorrect use of the Registry Editor can cause serious problems and to use it at your own risk. See the Microsoft* Knowledge Base article 256986 for more information.

Usage

General

Minimum user rights requirements to work with VTune analyzer

Setting the rights manually

  1. Click Start, click Run, type secpol.msc, and then click OK.
  2. Expand Local Policies, and then click User Rights Assignment.
  3. In the right pane, choose the user right you would like to add and double-click it.
  4. Make sure that the user name or user group you want to have this user right is listed.
  5. Click OK.

Using the Linux* Remote Data Collector

This version of the VTune analyzer is fully compatible with the Remote Data Collector of the VTune™ Performance Analyzer for Linux version 9.0 (and later). To configure a remote Activity, use the Remote Target Configuration dialog box and specify a remote target system (host, user, password, port). For more details, refer to the Remote Target Configuration Dialog Box topic in the online help.

In the Remote Target Configuration dialog box, you may specify only the IP address for the remote target system. In this case, make sure you set the user name for the remote system in the VTUNE_RDC_DEFUSER environment variable. To identify the user name for the remote Linux system, the VTune analyzer checks the VTUNE_RDC_DEFUSER environment variable, and then, if it is not set up, uses the local (Windows) account name.

Marvell PXA* family of processors Information

As of November 8, 2006, the Intel® Cellular and Handheld Group was acquired by Marvell.  Support for the Marvell PXA family of processors based on Intel XScale® technology is now provided by Marvell. The VTune™ Analyzer can still be used to analyze the performance of Marvell PXA processors, but two things have changed.

First, the Marvell PXA collector and documentation package must be downloaded separately.  Eventually the collectors will be moving to a Marvell hosted web-site, but for now they are available in the Intel® Registration Center download area with the VTune™ analyzer 9.0 for Windows* product under the Remote Agent link for the 9.0 release. (These collectors are only required if you are using the VTune™ analyzer to tune Marvell PXA processors.  Users tuning only non-PXA processors should not download the PXA collectors.)

Second, support for the analysis of PXA processors is now being provided by Marvell.  To receive a support account, send email to: account_req@support.marvell.com .   Once log-in details have been received, log onto the Marvell support website at:  https://support.marvell.com/.

Java Support

Microsoft* Visual Studio Support

Microsoft* Symbol Server Support

You can now specify paths to Microsoft* symbol server in a standard convention.  For example, "SRV*c:\websymbols*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols", in Configure > Options > Directories preference page for Symbol Files, or in _NT_SYMBOL_PATH environment variable. Use this feature if you need debug symbols for system modules.

See more information about Microsoft Symbol Server, see http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtools/debugging/debugstart.mspx

JIT Profiling API Support

Known Limitations

This section details known limitations in the following categories, General, Sampling, Linux* Remote Sampling, Call Graph on Windows*, Linux* Remote Call Graph, Online help, Command-line Interface, Counter Monitor, Static Analysis, and Tuning Assistant.

General

On Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008:

On Systems Using Itanium® 2 Processors:

On Systems Using Pentium® 4 Processors:

When monitoring the event "Streaming SIMD Extensions Input Assists (TI)," note that not all requests for assists are actually taken. This event is known to overcount. It counts requests for assists from instructions on the non-retired path that do not incur a performance penalty.

Sampling

Windows* Sampling:

Linux* Remote Sampling:

Call Graph

Call Graph on Windows*:

To profile out-of-process COM servers or executables launched by Visual Test or a similar testing suite with call graph, select No application to launch or some other launch application (remove the launch application from the modules of interest) and select Yes in the Force Instrumentation column for the profiled executable in the Configure Call Graph dialog box.

Linux* Remote Call Graph:

Online Help

Command Line Interfacee

Counter Monitor

Static Analysis

Tuning Assistant

Technical Support and Feedback

Register for Intel® Premier Support

To receive technical support for the tools provided in this product and technical information including FAQs and product updates, register for an Intel® Premier Support account via the Intel® Registration Center when registering your serial number. Click Intel® Premier Support on that site to start the registration.

NOTE: Registering for support varies for release product or pre-release products (alpha, beta, etc.) and only released products have support web pages on http://support.intel.com/.

If you have forgotten your password and cannot reset it via the service provided at the Intel® Registration Center, please submit a request to: Startup Support. Do not email technical issues using this mechanism because it is not secure.

Self-Help and User Forums

Intel provides a rich repository of online self-help product information, such as tutorials, getting started tips, known product issues, product errata, compatibility information and answers to frequently asked questions.

Accessing Intel® Software Development Products Technical Support:

The Intel® Software Development Products: Technical Support Web site is a wealth of information.

http://www.intel.com/software/products/support/

It's a great place to find answers quickly and to gain additional insight into using our products effectively.

Accessing VTune™ Performance Analyzer Product Support:

The VTune analyzer product support web site provides access to technical issues, frequently asked questions, product documentation and product errata.

http://support.intel.com/support/performancetools/vtune/

Accessing the VTune™ Performance Analyzer Development Forum:

Users of the VTune analyzer software are invited to participate in open forum discussions regarding this and other VTune analyzer software, ranging from non-technical to highly technical in nature, at the Intel® Developer Services Forums.

http://softwareforums.intel.com/ids

The forums are moderated, but all discussions regarding VTune analyzer experiences are invited, including functionality, usability, bug workarounds and general usage.

Submitting Issues

Your feedback is important to us. To submit an issue via the Intel® Premier Support web site:
  1. Go to http://www.intel.com/software/products/registrationcenter/index.htm and login.  Java* and JavaScript* must be enabled in your web browser to submit an issue.
  2. Click on the Intel® Premier Support link in the lower right, after logging in.
  3. Read the Confidentiality Statement and click the I Accept button.
  4. Click on the Submit Issue link in the left navigation bar.
  5. Choose Initiatives, technologies & tools from the Product Type drop-down list.
  6. Choose VTune™ Performance Analyzer from the Product Name drop-down list and select your version in the appropriate field.
  7. Enter your question and complete the fields in the windows that follow to successfully submit the issue.
    1. Describe the problem or enter your suggestion. For problem reports, be as specific as possible, so that we may reproduce the problem. For compiler problem reports, include the compiler options and a small test case, if possible.
    2. Describe your system's configuration information. Be sure to include information applicable to your setup: the operating system name, version and build number, the name and version number of installed applications, and anything other information that will help us to address your concern(s).  You can execute the vtqfagent.cmd script file, normally in C:\Program Files\Intel\VTune.  This will create a vtqfagent_log directory in your My Documents directory.  You can zip up/compress that directory and attach it to your issue, using the Attach File link.  All information in the vtqfagent_log directory is text and can be reviewed for confidentiality, prior to uploading.

A technical support engineer will respond within one (1) Intel business day.

Documentation

The documentation for the VTune analyzer for Windows* includes the following components:

Online Help

Complete information on using the VTune analyzer is contained in the VTune analyzer online help. This help is in HTML Help 1 format and can be viewed in an HTML Help viewer. When the VTune analyzer is integrated in the Microsoft* Visual Studio* .NET environment, a small Help 2 module titled VTune™ Performance Tools is available from the Microsoft* Visual Studio* .NET Help collection. This module covers key VTune analyzer concepts and has links to topics in the main online help in the HTML Help 1 format.

Access the online help from the Help menu, or access the context-sensitive help in one of the following ways:

Additional Information

Related Products and Services

Information on Intel® software development products is available at http://www.intel.com/software/products. Visit the following product-related sites for additional information:

Disclaimer and Legal Information

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The products described in this document may contain design defects or errors known as errata which may cause the product to deviate from published specifications. Current characterized errata are available on request.
Contact your local Intel sales office or your distributor to obtain the latest specifications and before placing your product order.
Copies of documents which have an order number and are referenced in this document, or other Intel literature, may be obtained by calling 1-800-548-4725, or by visiting Intel's Web Site.

Intel processor numbers are not a measure of performance. Processor numbers differentiate features within each processor family, not across different processor families. See http://www.intel.com/products/processor_number for details.

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