Assess the OS kernel and driver for Arm SPE support

Check whether the OS kernel is built with SPE

You need to verify both the kernel and driver layers. Start by checking the kernel version:

    

        
        
uname -r

    

The output is similar to:

    

        
        6.17.0-1010-aws

        
    

The example Amazon EC2 instance is running the standard Ubuntu 24.04 LTS Amazon Machine Image (AMI) provided through AWS Quick Start. The command output shows a Linux 6.17 kernel. The 1010-aws suffix indicates an AWS-specific build customized for the AWS environment.

Now, check whether the kernel was built with SPE support enabled:

    

        
        
grep CONFIG_ARM_SPE_PMU /boot/config-$(uname -r) 2>/dev/null || true

    

The possible outputs for a kernel are y, m, or n. The output determines your next step.

• If the output is y, the kernel has built-in SPE support. Next, verify SPE is active with Sysreport .
• If the output is m, SPE is available as a loadable kernel module. This is the typical output for cloud instances. Next, confirm that the kernel module is available .
• If the output is n, the kernel was not built with SPE support. Next, use another operating system or kernel .

If the command produces no output, the kernel config file might not be present on your system. In this case, use another operating system or kernel .

Confirm that the kernel module is available

If your OS kernel includes SPE support as a loadable module, you need to confirm that the module file is present on the filesystem before attempting to load it.

Run the following command to check whether the loadable kernel module (driver) is available on the target:

    

        
        
modinfo arm_spe_pmu 2>/dev/null || echo "arm_spe_pmu not present for this kernel"

    

If you see arm_spe_pmu not present for this kernel, the module was not included in your kernel package. Next, install Linux kernel extra modules .

If you see output similar to the following, the module file exists and is ready to load. Follow the steps in the next section to load the kernel module.

    

        
        filename:       /lib/modules/6.17.0-1010-aws/kernel/drivers/perf/arm_spe_pmu.ko.zst
license:        GPL v2
author:         Will Deacon <will.deacon@arm.com>
description:    Perf driver for the ARMv8.2 Statistical Profiling Extension
srcversion:     3B6FCB5AD9B37B8BB9FF4A9
...

        
    

Load the kernel module

If a loadable module is available, load the module and confirm it is active:

    

        
        
sudo modprobe arm_spe_pmu
lsmod | grep arm_spe_pmu

    

modprobe loads the module into the running kernel. lsmod lists currently loaded modules; a matching line confirms the driver is active. If it loads correctly, the output is similar to:

    

        
        arm_spe_pmu            24576  0

        
    

The module is now loaded. Next, verify SPE is active with Sysreport .

What you’ve accomplished and what’s next

You’ve now checked whether your kernel supports Arm SPE, verified whether the arm_spe_pmu module file is available, and loaded the module when applicable.

Next, if the module is available and loaded, verify SPE is active with Sysreport . If your kernel or modules package does not provide SPE support, use another operating system or kernel .