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Intel Processor Trace (PT) can be used on modern Intel CPUs to trace execution. This page contains references for learning about and using Intel PT.

Basic information:

• Intel Software Developer’s Manual Vol 3 low level reference information on Processor Trace trace format and registers (Chapter 36)
• Intel Processor Trace on Linux gives an overview of processor trace on Linux
• A tutorial web site for PT that contains many references 
• Intel® Developer Forum 2015: Zoom-in on Your Code with Intel® Processor Trace and Supporting Tools (find SPCS012)
• Intel® Developer Forum 2014: Debug and Fine-grain Profiling with Intel® Processor Trace
• Efficient and large scale program flow tracing in Linux

Implementations

• Adding processor trace to Linux describes the Linux perf Processor trace implementation.
• Reference documentation for PT on Linux perf
• simple-pt is an alternative reference PT implementation. It is implemented on Linux, but can be also used as a starting point to implement PT on other OS.
• The GNU debugger gdb support PT on Linux for backward debugging
• Intel VTune amplifier supports PT for performance analysis
• A Windows windbg processor trace plugin for debugging on Windows with PT.
• A reference Processor Trace decode library.
• A plugin for Linux crash to dump PT buffers (look for ptdump)

JTAG support

• The Lauterbach JTAG debugger supports PT
• Intel system studio supports JTAG debugging with PT
• The SourcePoint for Intel debugger support PT

Other presentations

• Hardware tracing with Intel processor Trace

Usages

• The hongfuzz fuzzer supports feedback fuzzing using PT
• Harnessing Intel Processor Trace on Windows for vulnerability discovery

Research papers using PT (subset):

• Failure Sketching: A technique for automated root cause analysis of in production failures
• Griffin: Guarding control flows using Intel Processor Trace
• Hardware-assisted instruction profiling and latency detection
• Inspector: Data Provenance using Intel Processor Trace
• Transparent and efficient CFI enforcement with Intel Processor Trace