LM-PROFILER(8)

📦 version 1.74, in debian bookworm, debian trixie, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💅 LM-PROFILER(8) — like, the laptop mode profiler bestie

okay so real talk, this is the manual for LM-PROFILER(8) from the System Manager's Manual section (yes that's section 8, the big-girl sysadmin section ✨). It's giving "your laptop is doing weird disk stuff and we're gonna find out why." Let's go 🫶

✨ NAME ✨

/usr/sbin/lm-profiler — the laptop mode profiler, periodt.

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

/usr/sbin/lm-profiler

That's it. No flags, no args, no drama. You just run it 💅

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

So this page is a lil quick rundown of the /usr/sbin/lm-profiler command. lm-profiler is a tool for profiling disk operations, and it's part of laptop mode tools — like, it literally only makes sense in relation to the rest of laptop mode tools, it's not out here solo. What it does is help you sniff out the programs and services that are eating up your system resources and causing disk activity, and then it lets you disable them while laptop mode is active. iconic behaviour honestly 👑

When you start lm-profiler, it's gonna do a "profiling run", which — ngl — can take a while. Bestie, start it when you're working on batteries, preferably, because that way it gets to analyze the actual situation it's supposed to be optimizing. During the profiling run you can just use your system normally, no biggie — however, any disk activity caused by your own actions will end up in the profiler's results. So like, your vibes are being recorded. Be mindful 😭

When the profiling run is finished, you get presented with a list of programs that deserve your attention, either because:

  • they listen on a network (which is not usually useful when you're working offline), or
  • they caused disk activity in a disk-spindown-unfriendly pattern.

When lm-profiler can guess an init script that belongs to a program, it presents you with the opportunity to disable that program when you're working on battery. How? By placing a link to the init script in /etc/laptop-mode/batt-stop. That's the move 💫

Any programs that lm-profiler cannot find an init script for? Those just get simply reported, so you can stop the program manually if you want to. No auto-magic for those ones, you're on your own, but respectfully 🫶

⚠️ WARNING ABOUT DISABLING PROGRAMS: It may not be safe to disable some programs. They may be needed for the proper operation of your system. Disable services only if you know what they do and why you don't need them. This is the "don't touch that, you don't know what it does" moment, bestie, pls respect it 🛑

🎀 FILES 🎀

  • /etc/lm-profiler.conf — lm-profiler retrieves its profiling rules from this file. All the rules live here, this is where the lore is kept 📜

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

iykyk, go read those too 💜

👑 AUTHOR 👑

This manual page was written by Bart Samwel (bart@samwel.tk) and Jan Polacek (jerome@ucw.cz) for the Debian system (but it may be used by others, sharing is caring 🫶). Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU General Public License, Version 2 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation.

On Debian systems, the complete text of the GNU General Public License can be found in /usr/share/common-licenses/GPL.

k that's the whole thing, no cap 💖 this was the LM-PROFILER(8) page from the System Manager's Manual, written for the Debian system, and you've officially made it to the end. slay, go profile some disks, bestie 🌟

📦 where this page comes from