--- title: Enabling the Native Profiler for Compiled Languages description: Datadog, the leading service for cloud-scale monitoring. breadcrumbs: >- Docs > Continuous Profiler > Enabling the Profiler > Enabling the Native Profiler for Compiled Languages --- # Enabling the Native Profiler for Compiled Languages {% alert level="danger" %} `ddprof` is in Preview. Datadog recommends evaluating the profiler in a non-sensitive environment before deploying in production. {% /alert %} The native profiler for compiled languages (`ddprof`) uses OS level APIs to collect profiling data. It is ideally suited for applications written in compiled languages, such as C, C++, or Rust. Profiles sent from `ddprof` show up under the *native* runtime in the Datadog web app. ## Requirements{% #requirements %} For a summary of the minimum and recommended runtime and tracer versions across all languages, read [Supported Language and Tracer Versions](https://docs.datadoghq.com/profiler/enabling/supported_versions/). {% dl %} {% dt %} Supported operating systems {% /dt %} {% dd %} Linux (glibc or musl) {% /dd %} {% dt %} Supported architecture {% /dt %} {% dd %} `amd64` or `arm64` processors {% /dd %} {% dt %} Serverless {% /dt %} {% dd %} `ddprof` is not supported on serverless platforms, such as AWS Lambda. {% /dd %} {% dt %} OS Settings {% /dt %} {% dd %} `perf_event_paranoid` kernel setting is 2 or less (see [Troubleshooting](https://docs.datadoghq.com/profiler/profiler_troubleshooting)) {% /dd %} {% dt %} Debugging information {% /dt %} {% dd %} Symbols should be available. The profiler cannot provide human-readable function names if the symbol table is stripped. {% /dd %} {% /dl %} ## Installation{% #installation %} The profiler can be used either as a standalone executable or as a library. Skip to library installation instructions if you want to use it as a library. ### Standalone{% #standalone %} 1. Download the latest [`ddprof` release](https://github.com/DataDog/ddprof/releases). For example, here is one way to pull the latest release for an `amd64` (also known as `x86_64`) platform: ```bash curl -Lo ddprof-linux.tar.xz https://github.com/DataDog/ddprof/releases/latest/download/ddprof-amd64-linux.tar.xz tar xvf ddprof-linux.tar.xz mv ddprof/bin/ddprof INSTALLATION_TARGET ``` Where `INSTALLATION_TARGET` specifies the location you'd like to store the `ddprof` binary. The examples that follow assume `INSTALLATION_TARGET` is set to `./ddprof`. Use `arm64` instead of `amd64` for `aarch64` platform. 1. Modify your service invocation to include the profiler. Your usual command is passed as the last arguments to the `ddprof` executable. {% tab title="Environment variables" %} ```bash export DD_ENV=prod export DD_SERVICE=my-web-app export DD_VERSION=1.0.3 ./ddprof myapp --arg1 --arg2 ``` **Note**: If you usually launch your application using a shell builtin, for example: ```bash exec myapp --arg1 --arg2 ``` Then you must invoke `ddprof` with that builtin instead: ```bash export DD_ENV=prod export DD_SERVICE=my-web-app export DD_VERSION=1.0.3 exec ./ddprof myapp --arg1 --arg2 ``` {% /tab %} {% tab title="Parameters" %} ```bash ./ddprof --environment prod --service my-web-app --service_version 1.0.3 myapp --arg1 --arg2 ``` **Note**: If you usually launch your application using a shell builtin, for example: ```bash exec myapp --arg1 ``` Then you must invoke `ddprof` with that builtin instead: ```bash exec ./ddprof --environment prod --service my-web-app --service_version 1.0.3 myapp --arg1 --arg2 ``` {% /tab %} 1. A couple of minutes after you start your application, your profiles appear on the [Datadog APM > Profiler page](https://app.datadoghq.com/profiling). If they do not, refer to the [Troubleshooting](https://docs.datadoghq.com/profiler/profiler_troubleshooting/ddprof/) guide. ### Library{% #library %} The library exposes a C API. 1. Download a release of [ddprof](https://github.com/DataDog/ddprof/releases) with library support (v0.8.0 or later) and extract the tarball. For example: ```bash curl -Lo ddprof-linux.tar.xz https://github.com/DataDog/ddprof/releases/latest/download/ddprof-amd64-linux.tar.xz tar xvf ddprof-linux.tar.xz --directory /tmp ``` 1. In your code, start the profiler using the `ddprof_start_profiling()` interface, defined in the `_dd_profiling.h_` header provided by the release. The profiler stops automatically when your program closes. To stop the profiler manually, use `ddprof_stop_profiling(ms)` with the `ms` parameter indicating the maximum block time of the function in milliseconds. Here is a standalone example (`profiler_demo.c`) in C: ```cpp #include #include "dd_profiling.h" int foo(void) { int n = 0; for (int i = 0; i < 1000; i++) { n += 1; } return n; } int main(void) { // Initialize and start the Datadog profiler. Uses agent defaults if not // specified setenv("DD_ENV", "prod", 1); setenv("DD_SERVICE", "c_testservice", 1); setenv("DD_VERSION", "1.0.3", 1); ddprof_start_profiling(); // Do some work for (int i = 0; i < 1e6; i++) { foo(); } return 0; } ``` 1. Pass the `include` and `lib` subdirectories of the extracted directory to your build system and link against `libdd_profiling`. For the above example: ```bash gcc -I/tmp/ddprof/include -L/tmp/ddprof/lib profiler_demo.c -o profiler_demo -ldd_profiling ``` ### Deploying the shared library{% #deploying-the-shared-library %} The shared library must be present in the system's library search path. Otherwise, the application will fail to start. Using the example from before: ```bash ./profiler_demo ./profiler_demo: error while loading shared libraries: libdd_profiling.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory ``` Avoid this by linking against the static library. #### Installing the library{% #installing-the-library %} Add the library to the search path by copying it to any existing search directory. To find out what your search directories are, on Linux systems, run: ```bash ld --verbose | grep SEARCH_DIR | tr -s ' ;' \\n ``` #### Appending a search directory{% #appending-a-search-directory %} Use the `LD_LIBRARY_PATH` environment variable to add additional search paths to the runtime linker. For example, using the directory layout from before: ```bash export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:/tmp/ddprof/lib ``` ## Configuration{% #configuration %} The `environment`, `service`, and `service_version` settings are recommended, as they are used by the Profiling UI. See the [full list of parameters](https://github.com/DataDog/ddprof/blob/main/docs/Commands.md) or use the command line. ```bash ddprof --help ``` ### Logging{% #logging %} You can configure logging to one of several endpoints: - `stdout` prints the logs to standard output stream (the default). - `stderr` prints the logs to the standard error stream. - `syslog` publishes the logs to syslog, attempting to adhere to the specification in RFC 3164. - `disable` disables the logs entirely. - Any other value is treated as a file path, with a leading `/` designating an absolute path. ### Global{% #global %} If you want to instrument all running process, you can try out the `--global` option. Global mode is intended for debug purposes. This requires elevated permissions. Depending on your setup, this can mean running as root, granting `CAP_PERFMON`, `CAP_SYSADMIN`, or setting `perf_event_paranoid` to `-1`. ```bash ./ddprof --environment staging --global --service_version full-host-profile ``` For most configurations, this consists of all processes visible within the profiler's PID namespace. ## Not sure what to do next?{% #not-sure-what-to-do-next %} The [Getting Started with Profiler](https://docs.datadoghq.com/getting_started/profiler/) guide takes a sample service with a performance problem and shows you how to use Continuous Profiler to understand and fix the problem. ## Further Reading{% #further-reading %} - [Getting Started with Profiler](https://docs.datadoghq.com/getting_started/profiler) - [Fix problems you encounter while using the profiler](https://docs.datadoghq.com/profiler/profiler_troubleshooting/ddprof)