PPC64_CPU(8)

🌸 PPC64_CPU 💅

okay bestie, welcome to ppc64_cpu(8) — the PowerPC CPU whisperer from the Linux on Power Service Tools squad. she's an 8th-section admin command, she lives in /usr/sbin, and she's about to tell you everything about your cores. no cap. ✨

🎀 SYNOPSIS

/usr/sbin/ppc64_cpu [ command ] [ options ]

literally that's it. throw a command at her and maybe some options. she handles the rest. 💅

🦋 DESCRIPTION

The ppc64_cpu command is the whole entire moment for displaying and setting cpu characteristics on PowerPC platforms. that's her job. that's her main character energy. 👑

✨ OPTIONS ✨

bestie there are a LOT of these, so buckle up, we're going through all of them, no skipping 💖

• --smt [-n] — shows you the current smt setting for the system. the output is a whole vibe check and can say a few different things: smt is off (meaning there's only one thread per core online), smt is on (meaning all threads of every core are online), smt is in a mixed state (meaning the number of threads online varies per core, chaotic i know 😭), or SMT=X indicating a specific smt state.
  • -n — dumps a numeric output instead of the verbose one. for the girlies who like their data raw. 🍓
• --smt={on|off} — sets the current smt state for the system. on will online every thread in every core on the system (full slay, all threads invited to the party). off will leave each core on the system with only one thread online (introvert mode, one thread per core, periodt).
• --smt=value — sets the smt state for each core to the specified value. so you're picking the number yourself, icon behavior. ✨
• --cores-present — displays the number of cores present. like, how many exist. the full roster. 🫶
• --cores-on — displays the number of cores currently online. the ones who actually showed up. 💅
• --cores-on=value — puts exactly value number of cores online. heads up bestie: this will either online or offline cores to hit that number, so she's out here making moves, not just counting. ⚠️
• --dscr — displays the current Data Stream Control Register (DSCR) setting for the system. yes that's the whole name, yes it's a mouthful, no we're not abbreviating it, iykyk. 🌈
• --dscr=value — sets the DSCR setting for the system to value.
• --dscr [pid] — displays the DSCR setting for the process pid. per-process tea ☕
• --dscr=value [pid] — sets the DSCR to the specified value for the process pid. same tea, but now you're pouring it 🫖
• --run-mode — displays the current diagnostics run mode. lowkey mysterious, highkey useful. 🔥
• --run-mode=value — sets the current diagnostics run mode to value.
• --frequency [-t time] — determines the cpu frequency. the default sampling period is one second unless you specify a different one with the -t time option. she's out here taking measurements 📏✨
  • -t time — the sampling period. aka how long she watches before she reports back.
• --subcores-per-core — displays the number of subcores per core. subcores!! they're like cores but smol. 🧚
• --subcores-per-core=value — sets the number of subcores per core to value.
• --threads-per-core — displays the number of threads per core. how many besties each core is hosting 💜
• --info — displays system state information. the output prints a line for each core and possible sub-core, along with the thread numbers for each thread in the core — and there's an asterisk next to each thread if it's online. so you can literally see who's home and who ghosted 👀💀
• --version — prints the version number. say hi to her, she deserves it 🎀

quick vibe check bestie: --smt, --dscr, and --cores-on each show up more than once in this list with different shapes — no args means "show me", =value means "set it", and the [pid] versions are the per-process ones. don't mix them up, that's the whole assignment. 🫶

👑 AUTHOR

Written by Anton Blanchard and Nathan Fontenot. absolute legends, we stan. 🌟

and that's the page, bestie!! this iconic little manual comes to you from Linux, dated January 2015, filed under PPC64_CPU(8) — go forth and interrogate your cores, ily, bye 💖🦋✨