TUNA(8)

NAME
tuna - program for tuning running processes

SYNOPSIS
tuna [OPTIONS]

DESCRIPTION
This manual page explains the tuna program. The program can be used to change the attributes of application and kernel threads. tuna can operate on IRQs by name or number, and tasks or threads by process ID or command-line. CPUs and sets of CPUs can be specified by CPU or socket number. IRQ names and process command-lines can include wildcards.

tuna can change scheduling policy, scheduler priority and processor affinity for processes and process threads. tuna can also change the processor affinity for interrupts. tuna supports cgroup v2 cpusets for CPU and memory node isolation, providing fine-grained control over which processes can run on which CPUs. When tuna is invoked without any options it starts up in its graphical interface mode. This manual page explains only the command-line options for tuna

GLOBAL OPTIONS

-h, --help
    Print a list of options. tuna will exit after this action, ignoring the remainder of the command-line.

-v, --version
    Show version

-L, --logging=LOG-LEVEL
    Log application details to file for given LOG-LEVEL

-D, --debug
    Print DEBUG level logging details to console

-w, --warn
    Warn when thread/IRQ patterns match nothing

COMMANDS

tuna cpu_power
    usage: tuna-cmd.py cpu_power [-h] (-c CPU-LIST) Set or query the idle (power) states of all or a selection of cpus in the CPU-LIST. Modifiers -c may be used to pass the CPU-LIST of cpus to perform the command on. optional arguments:
      -h, --help show this help message and exit
      -i, --idle-info Print general idle information for the selected CPUs, including
                            index values for IDLE-STATE.
      -s, --status IDLE-STATE
                            Print whether IDLE-STATE is enabled on the selected CPUs.
      -d, --disable IDLE-STATE
                            Disable IDLE-STATE on the selected CPUs.
      -e, --enable IDLE-STATE
                            Enable IDLE-STATE on the selected CPUs.
      -c CPU-LIST, --cpus CPU-LIST
                            CPU-LIST affected by commands

tuna isolate
    usage: tuna-cmd.py isolate [-h] (-c CPU-LIST | -S CPU-SOCKET-LIST | -N)
                            [--cpuset [NAME]] [--cpuset-housekeeping ...] Move all allowed threads and IRQs away from CPU-LIST. Requires -c, -S, or -N. optional arguments:
      -h, --help show this help message and exit
      -c CPU-LIST, --cpus CPU-LIST
                            CPU-LIST affected by commands
      -S CPU-SOCKET-LIST, --sockets CPU-SOCKET-LIST
                            CPU-SOCKET-LIST affected by commands
      -N, --nohz_full CPUs in nohz_full kernel command line will be affected
                            by operations
      --cpuset [NAME] Use cpusets for isolation with optional name (default: tuna_isolated,
                            partition=isolated)
      --cpuset-housekeeping [NAME] CPU-LIST
                            Create housekeeping cpuset: [NAME] CPU-LIST (default name:
                            tuna_housekeeping, partition=member)

tuna include
    usage: tuna-cmd.py include [-h] (-c CPU-LIST | -S CPU-SOCKET-LIST | -N) Allow all allowed threads and IRQs to run on CPU-LIST. Requires -c, -S, or -N. optional arguments:
      -h, --help show this help message and exit
      -c CPU-LIST, --cpus CPU-LIST
                            CPU-LIST affected by commands
      -S CPU-SOCKET-LIST, --sockets CPU-SOCKET-LIST
                            CPU-SOCKET-LIST affected by commands
      -N, --nohz_full CPUs in nohz_full kernel command line will be affected
                            by operations

tuna move
    usage: tuna-cmd.py move [-h] (-c CPU-LIST | -S CPU-SOCKET-LIST | -N | --cpuset CPUSET-NAME)
                            [-t THREAD-LIST] [-q IRQ-LIST] [-U] [-K] Move selected entities to CPU-LIST or cpuset. Requires -c, -S, -N, or --cpuset and -t or -q. optional arguments:
      -h, --help show this help message and exit
      -c CPU-LIST, --cpus CPU-LIST
                            CPU-LIST affected by commands
      -S CPU-SOCKET-LIST, --sockets CPU-SOCKET-LIST
                            CPU-SOCKET-LIST affected by commands
      -N, --nohz_full CPUs in nohz_full kernel command line will be affected
                            by operations
      --cpuset CPUSET-NAME Move threads/IRQs into cpuset (cgroup v2) instead of
                            setting CPU affinity
      -t THREAD-LIST, --threads THREAD-LIST
                            THREAD-LIST affected by commands
      -q IRQ-LIST, --irqs IRQ-LIST
                            IRQ-LIST affect by commands
      -U, --no_uthreads Operations will not affect user threads
      -K, --no_kthreads Operations will not affect kernel threads

tuna spread
    usage: tuna-cmd.py spread [-h] (-c CPU-LIST | -S CPU-SOCKET-LIST | -N)
                            [-t THREAD-LIST] [-q IRQ-LIST] [-U] [-K] Spread selected entities over CPU-LIST. The specified threads and IRQs are each assigned to one cpu in CPU-LIST. Requires -c, -S, or -N and -t or -q. optional arguments:
      -h, --help show this help message and exit
      -c CPU-LIST, --cpus CPU-LIST
                            CPU-LIST affected by commands
      -S CPU-SOCKET-LIST, --sockets CPU-SOCKET-LIST
                            CPU-SOCKET-LIST affected by commands
      -N, --nohz_full CPUs in nohz_full kernel command line will be affected
                            by operations
      -t THREAD-LIST, --threads THREAD-LIST
                            THREAD-LIST affected by commands
      -q IRQ-LIST, --irqs IRQ-LIST
                            IRQ-LIST affect by commands
      -U, --no_uthreads Operations will not affect user threads
      -K, --no_kthreads Operations will not affect kernel threads

tuna priority
    usage: tuna-cmd.py priority [-h] -t THREAD-LIST [-C] POLICY:RTPRIO Set thread scheduler tunables: POLICY and RTPRIO. POLICY is one of OTHER, FIFO, RR, or BATCH. Provide POLICY, RTPRIO, or POLICY:RTPRIO separated by ":". If only POLICY is set, the RT priority will default to 1 if the policy is RT, and 0 otherwise. If only RTPRIO is specified, policy will not be changed. positional arguments:
      POLICY:RTPRIO Set thread scheduler tunables: POLICY and RTPRIO optional arguments:
      -h, --help show this help message and exit
      -t THREAD-LIST, --threads THREAD-LIST
                            THREAD-LIST affected by commands
      -C, --affect_children
                            Operation will affect children threads

tuna run
    usage: tuna-cmd.py run [-h] [-c CPU-LIST | -S CPU-SOCKET-LIST | -N | --cpuset CPUSET-NAME]
                           [-p PRIORITY] [-b]
                           COMMAND Run the COMMAND. The entire command line must be provided inside "quotes". Modifiers -c, -S, --cpuset and -p can be used to set the affinity and scheduler tunables of the given COMMAND. positional arguments:
      COMMAND fork a new process and run the "COMMAND" optional arguments:
      -h, --help show this help message and exit
      -c CPU-LIST, --cpus CPU-LIST
                            CPU-LIST affected by commands
      -S CPU-SOCKET-LIST, --sockets CPU-SOCKET-LIST
                            CPU-SOCKET-LIST affected by commands
      -N, --nohz_full CPUs in nohz_full kernel command line will be affected
                            by operations
      --cpuset CPUSET-NAME Run process in specified cpuset (cgroup v2) instead of
                            setting CPU affinity
      -p PRIORITY, --priority PRIORITY
                            Set thread scheduler tunables: POLICY and RTPRIO
      -b, --background Run command as background task

tuna save
    usage: tuna-cmd.py save [-h] [-c CPU-LIST | -S CPU-SOCKET-LIST | -N]
                            [-t THREAD-LIST]
                            FILENAME Save kthreads sched tunables to FILENAME positional arguments:
      FILENAME Save kthreads sched tunables to this file optional arguments:
      -h, --help show this help message and exit
      -c CPU-LIST, --cpus CPU-LIST
                            CPU-LIST affected by commands
      -S CPU-SOCKET-LIST, --sockets CPU-SOCKET-LIST
                            CPU-SOCKET-LIST affected by commands
      -N, --nohz_full CPUs in nohz_full kernel command line will be affected
                            by operations
      -t THREAD-LIST, --threads THREAD-LIST
                            THREAD-LIST affected by commands

tuna show_threads
    usage: tuna-cmd.py show_threads [-h] [-c CPU-LIST | -N | -S CPU-SOCKET-LIST]
                            [-t THREAD-LIST | -q IRQ-LIST] [-U] [-K] [-C]
                            [-n] [-G] [--cpuset CPUSET-NAME] [-z] Show thread list optional arguments:
      -h, --help show this help message and exit
      -c CPU-LIST, --cpus CPU-LIST
                            CPU-LIST affected by commands
      -N, --nohz_full CPUs in nohz_full kernel command line will be affected
                            by operations
      -S CPU-SOCKET-LIST, --sockets CPU-SOCKET-LIST
                            CPU-SOCKET-LIST affected by commands
      -t THREAD-LIST, --threads THREAD-LIST
                            THREAD-LIST affected by commands
      -q IRQ-LIST, --irqs IRQ-LIST
                            IRQ-LIST affect by commands
      -U, --no_uthreads Operations will not affect user threads
      -K, --no_kthreads Operations will not affect kernel threads
      -C, --affect_children
                            Operation will affect children threads
      -n, --show_sockets Show network sockets in use by threads (requires inet_diag module)
      -G, --cgroups Display the processes with the type of cgroups they
                            are in
      --cpuset CPUSET-NAME Show only threads in the specified cpuset
      -z, --spaced Display spaced view for cgroups

tuna show_irqs
    usage: tuna-cmd.py show_irqs [-h] [-c CPU-LIST | -N | -S CPU-SOCKET-LIST]
                            [-q IRQ-LIST] Show IRQ list optional arguments:
      -h, --help show this help message and exit
      -c CPU-LIST, --cpus CPU-LIST
                            CPU-LIST affected by commands
      -N, --nohz_full CPUs in nohz_full kernel command line will be affected
                            by operations
      -S CPU-SOCKET-LIST, --sockets CPU-SOCKET-LIST
                            CPU-SOCKET-LIST affected by commands
      -q IRQ-LIST, --irqs IRQ-LIST
                            IRQ-LIST affect by commands

tuna show_configs
    usage: tuna-cmd.py show_configs [-h] List preloaded profiles optional arguments:
      -h, --help show this help message and exit

tuna what_is
    usage: tuna-cmd.py what_is [-h] THREAD-LIST Provides help about selected entities positional arguments:
      THREAD-LIST THREAD-LIST affected by commands optional arguments:
      -h, --help show this help message and exit

tuna gui
    usage: tuna-cmd.py gui [-h] [-d] [-R MSEC]
                           [-c CPU-LIST | -N | -S CPU-SOCKET-LIST] [-U] [-K] Start the GUI optional arguments:
      -h, --help show this help message and exit
      -d, --disable_perf Explicitly disable usage of perf in GUI for process
                            view
      -R MSEC, --refresh MSEC
                            Refresh the GUI every MSEC milliseconds
      -c CPU-LIST, --cpus CPU-LIST
                            CPU-LIST affected by commands
      -N, --nohz_full CPUs in nohz_full kernel command line will be affected
                            by operations
      -S CPU-SOCKET-LIST, --sockets CPU-SOCKET-LIST
                            CPU-SOCKET-LIST affected by commands
      -U, --no_uthreads Operations will not affect user threads
      -K, --no_kthreads Operations will not affect kernel threads

tuna cpuset
    usage: tuna-cmd.py cpuset [-h] {create,list,destroy,move,show,status,modify,save,apply} Manage CPU sets (cgroup v2). Cpusets provide fine-grained control over which CPUs processes can run on, with NUMA-aware memory node assignment and kernel-enforced isolation. subcommands:
      {create,list,destroy,move,show,status,modify,save,apply} tuna cpuset create usage: tuna-cmd.py cpuset create [-h] -c CPU-LIST [-n NAME] [-i]
                            [-m MEM-NODES] Create a new cpuset with specified CPUs. Memory nodes are auto-detected from CPU topology unless specified manually. required arguments:
      -c CPU-LIST, --cpus CPU-LIST
                            CPU-LIST to assign to the cpuset optional arguments:
      -h, --help show this help message and exit
      -n NAME, --name NAME Cpuset name (default: auto-generate tunaN)
      -i, --isolated Set CPU partition to isolated (kernel-enforced exclusivity)
      -m MEM-NODES, --memory-nodes MEM-NODES
                            Memory nodes (default: auto-detect from CPUs, e.g., "0" or "0-1") tuna cpuset list usage: tuna-cmd.py cpuset list [-h] [-p PATTERN] [-v] [--show-empty]
                            [--no-recursive] List cpusets. By default, empty cpusets (no CPUs assigned) are skipped. optional arguments:
      -h, --help show this help message and exit
      -p PATTERN, --pattern PATTERN
                            Filter by glob pattern (e.g., tuna*)
      -v, --verbose Show detailed information (CPUs, tasks, partition type)
      --show-empty Include cpusets with no CPUs assigned (default: skip empty)
      --no-recursive Only search top-level cpusets tuna cpuset destroy usage: tuna-cmd.py cpuset destroy [-h] [-p PATTERN] [-f]
                            [--include-empty] [--no-recursive]
                            [NAME ...] Destroy cpuset(s) positional arguments:
      NAME Cpuset name(s) to destroy (one or more, OR use --pattern) optional arguments:
      -h, --help show this help message and exit
      -p PATTERN, --pattern PATTERN
                            Glob pattern to destroy multiple cpusets (e.g., tuna*)
      -f, --force Migrate tasks to root cgroup before destroying
      --include-empty When using --pattern, include cpusets with no CPUs assigned
      --no-recursive Only destroy top-level cpusets when using --pattern tuna cpuset move usage: tuna-cmd.py cpuset move [-h] [-t THREAD-LIST] [-p PID-LIST] NAME Move processes to a cpuset positional arguments:
      NAME Cpuset name to move processes to optional arguments:
      -h, --help show this help message and exit
      -t THREAD-LIST, --threads THREAD-LIST
                            THREAD-LIST affected by commands (supports patterns)
      -p PID-LIST, --pids PID-LIST
                            Comma-separated list of PIDs to move tuna cpuset show usage: tuna-cmd.py cpuset show [-h] [--show-tasks] NAME Show detailed information about a cpuset positional arguments:
      NAME Cpuset name to show optional arguments:
      -h, --help show this help message and exit
      --show-tasks Show detailed list of tasks/processes tuna cpuset status usage: tuna-cmd.py cpuset status [-h] [-p PATTERN] [--show-empty]
                            [--no-recursive] Show system-wide cpuset overview with statistics optional arguments:
      -h, --help show this help message and exit
      -p PATTERN, --pattern PATTERN
                            Filter by glob pattern (e.g., tuna*)
      --show-empty Include cpusets with no CPUs assigned (default: skip empty)
      --no-recursive Only show top-level cpusets tuna cpuset modify usage: tuna-cmd.py cpuset modify [-h] [--add-cpus CPU-LIST]
                            [--remove-cpus CPU-LIST] [-m MEM-NODES]
                            [--isolated | --no-isolated]
                            NAME Modify an existing cpuset without destroying it positional arguments:
      NAME Cpuset name to modify optional arguments:
      -h, --help show this help message and exit
      --add-cpus CPU-LIST CPUs to add to the cpuset (e.g., 4-7 or 4,5,6,7)
      --remove-cpus CPU-LIST
                            CPUs to remove from the cpuset (e.g., 0-1 or 0,1)
      -m MEM-NODES, --memory-nodes MEM-NODES
                            Set memory nodes (e.g., "0" or "0-1")
      --isolated Set CPU partition to isolated
      --no-isolated Set CPU partition to member (not isolated) tuna cpuset save usage: tuna-cmd.py cpuset save [-h] [filename] Save cpuset configuration to YAML profile positional arguments:
      filename Output YAML file. Default path depends on execution context:
                  ./cpuset-profile.yaml when running from development (tuna-cmd.py)
                  /etc/tuna/cpuset-profile.yaml when running from production (tuna) optional arguments:
      -h, --help show this help message and exit tuna cpuset apply usage: tuna-cmd.py cpuset apply [-h] [-v] [filename] Apply cpuset configuration from YAML profile positional arguments:
      filename Input YAML file. Default path depends on execution context:
                     ./cpuset-profile.yaml when running from development (tuna-cmd.py)
                     /etc/tuna/cpuset-profile.yaml when running from production (tuna) optional arguments:
      -h, --help show this help message and exit
      -v, --verbose Print detailed progress messages

Modifiers

-c, --cpus=CPU-LIST
    CPU-LIST affected by commands. Requires a CPU number, a range, or a comma-separated list of CPU numbers.

-S, --sockets=CPU-SOCKET-LIST
    CPU-SOCKET-LIST affected by commands. Requires a socket number or a comma-separated list of socket numbers.

-t, --threads=THREAD-LIST
    THREAD-LIST affected by commands. Requires a thread number or thread name, or a comma-separated list of thread numbers and/or names. Thread names may contain wildcards. Be sure to quote or escape any wildcard specifications.

-q, --irqs=IRQ-LIST
    IRQ-LIST affected by commands. Requires an IRQ number or IRQ user name, or a comma-separated list of IRQ numbers and/or user names. IRQ user names may contain wildcards. Be sure to quote or escape any wildcard specifications.

USAGE EXAMPLES

  CPU Affinity Examples
If for instance the Ethernet NICs have multiple queues for both receive and transmit, each with its own IRQ, the Ethernet IRQs can be associated with a CPU socket:

tuna isolate -S 2

tuna spread -q 'eth*' -S 2
    Move everything off the CPUs in socket 2, then spread the IRQs for the Ethernet devices across those same CPUs.

  Cpuset Examples
Create an isolated cpuset for real-time workloads:

tuna cpuset create -c 2-5 -n rt_workload -i
    Create a cpuset named 'rt_workload' with CPUs 2-5, set to isolated partition. Memory nodes are auto-detected from CPU topology.

tuna run --cpuset rt_workload -p FIFO:80 'my_rt_app'
    Launch a real-time application in the rt_workload cpuset with FIFO scheduler and priority 80.

Isolate CPUs using cpusets (more powerful than traditional affinity):

tuna isolate -c 4-7 --cpuset my_isolated --cpuset-housekeeping my_hk 0-3
    Isolate CPUs 4-7 by creating 'my_isolated' cpuset with kernel-enforced exclusivity (partition=isolated), and move all existing processes to 'my_hk' cpuset on CPUs 0-3 (partition=member).

tuna move --cpuset rt_workload -t 'kworker/*'
    Move all kworker threads to the rt_workload cpuset.

tuna show_threads --cpuset rt_workload
    Show only processes running in the rt_workload cpuset.

tuna cpuset modify rt_workload --add-cpus 6-7
    Add CPUs 6-7 to the rt_workload cpuset without disrupting running processes.

tuna cpuset status
    Display system-wide overview of all cpusets with statistics.

tuna cpuset save /etc/tuna/my-rt-config.yaml
    Save current cpuset configuration to a YAML profile. When running the installed version (tuna), the default path is /etc/tuna/cpuset-profile.yaml. When running from development (tuna-cmd.py), it defaults to ./cpuset-profile.yaml in the current directory.

tuna cpuset apply /etc/tuna/my-rt-config.yaml
    Apply a previously saved cpuset configuration from a YAML profile. This recreates all cpusets defined in the profile with their CPU assignments, memory nodes, and partition settings.