TUNA(8) System Administration Utilities TUNA(8)

tuna - program for tuning running processes

tuna [OPTIONS]

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

Print a list of options. tuna will exit after this action, ignoring the remainder of the command-line.
Show version
Log application details to file for given LOG-LEVEL
Print DEBUG level logging details to console
Warn when thread/IRQ patterns match nothing

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

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)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

usage: tuna-cmd.py show_configs [-h]

List preloaded profiles

optional arguments:
-h, --help show this help message and exit

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

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

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

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

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:

Move everything off the CPUs in socket 2, then spread the IRQs for the Ethernet devices across those same CPUs.

Create an isolated cpuset for real-time workloads:

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

Launch a real-time application in the rt_workload cpuset with FIFO scheduler and priority 80.

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).

Move all kworker threads to the rt_workload cpuset.

Show only processes running in the rt_workload cpuset.

Add CPUs 6-7 to the rt_workload cpuset without disrupting running processes.

Display system-wide overview of all cpusets with statistics.

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.

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.

July 2026 tuna