[petsc-users] Issue with tau_exec and PETSc: "perfstubs could not be initialized" on macOS M-series

[Zongze Yang]

Dear PETSc team,

I’m encountering an issue when running a PETSc-based application with TAU instrumentation on macOS with Apple Silicon (M-series chip). The command I used is:

```
tau_exec ./ex56 -log_perfstubs
​​```

However, it results in the following error:

​```

❯ tau_exec ./ex56 -log_perfstubs

[0]PETSC ERROR: --------------------- Error Message --------------------------------------------------------------

[0]PETSC ERROR: Error in external library

[0]PETSC ERROR: perfstubs could not be initialized

[0]PETSC ERROR: See https://urldefense.us/v3/__https://petsc.org/release/faq/__;!!G_uCfscf7eWS!Y921vmhOfEgEAvsThMr8bYV0Dl7pvKJs2Jjextm_IgBm1MrgwUsBGAxFZ9uPb9Ev5ZSFB2VzhgsJcDkhw3ZDGTII$  for trouble shooting.

[0]PETSC ERROR: PETSc Release Version 3.23.0, unknown

[0]PETSC ERROR: ./ex56 with 1 MPI process(es) and PETSC_ARCH arch-firedrake-default on yzzs-mac.local by zzyang Thu Jun  5 09:19:42 2025

[0]PETSC ERROR: Configure options: --COPTFLAGS="-O3 -march=native -mtune=native" --CXXOPTFLAGS="-O3 -march=native -mtune=native" --FOPTFLAGS="-O3 -mtune=native" --download-bison --download-cmake --download-ctetgen --download-eigen --download-fftw --download-hpddm --download-hypre --download-libpng --download-metis --download-mmg --download-mumps --download-mumps-avoid-mpi-in-place --download-netcdf --download-p4est --download-parmmg --download-pnetcdf --download-pragmatic --download-ptscotch --download-scalapack --download-slepc --download-suitesparse --download-superlu_dist --download-tetgen --download-triangle --with-c2html=0 --with-debugging=0 --with-fortran-bindings=0 --with-hdf5-dir=/opt/homebrew --with-hwloc-dir=/opt/homebrew --with-shared-libraries=1 --with-strict-petscerrorcode --with-zlib PETSC_ARCH=arch-firedrake-default --with-tau-perfstubs

[0]PETSC ERROR: #1 PetscLogHandlerCreate_Perfstubs() at /Users/zzyang/opt/firedrake/firedrake-pip/petsc/src/sys/logging/handler/impls/perfstubs/logperfstubs.c:184

[0]PETSC ERROR: #2 PetscLogHandlerSetType() at /Users/zzyang/opt/firedrake/firedrake-pip/petsc/src/sys/logging/handler/interface/lhreg.c:104

[0]PETSC ERROR: #3 PetscLogTypeBegin() at /Users/zzyang/opt/firedrake/firedrake-pip/petsc/src/sys/logging/plog.c:423

[0]PETSC ERROR: #4 PetscLogPerfstubsBegin() at /Users/zzyang/opt/firedrake/firedrake-pip/petsc/src/sys/logging/plog.c:658

[0]PETSC ERROR: #5 PetscOptionsCheckInitial_Private() at /Users/zzyang/opt/firedrake/firedrake-pip/petsc/src/sys/objects/init.c:528

[0]PETSC ERROR: #6 PetscInitialize_Common() at /Users/zzyang/opt/firedrake/firedrake-pip/petsc/src/sys/objects/pinit.c:1046

[0]PETSC ERROR: #7 PetscInitialize() at /Users/zzyang/opt/firedrake/firedrake-pip/petsc/src/sys/objects/pinit.c:1369

[0]PETSC ERROR: #8 main() at ex56.c:208

[0]PETSC ERROR: PETSc Option Table entries:

[0]PETSC ERROR: -log_perfstubs (source: command line)

[0]PETSC ERROR: ----------------End of Error Message -------send entire error message to petsc-maint at mcs.anl.gov----------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

MPI_ABORT was invoked on rank 0 in communicator MPI_COMM_SELF

  Proc: [[8742,0],0]

  Errorcode: 76


NOTE: invoking MPI_ABORT causes Open MPI to kill all MPI processes.

You may or may not see output from other processes, depending on

exactly when Open MPI kills them.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

```

I would appreciate any guidance on how to resolve or further debug this issue:

  1.
Are there known issues with PerfStubs support on Apple Silicon?
  2.
Are there recommended configuration steps or flags needed when building TAU and PETSc for this platform?

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