Synchronizing triggering of multiple hardware trace facilities using an existing system bus

A method, apparatus, and computer program product are disclosed in a data processing system for synchronizing the triggering of multiple hardware trace facilities using an existing bus. The multiple hardware trace facilities include a first hardware trace facility and a second hardware trace facility. The data processing system includes a first processor that includes the first hardware trace facility and first processing units that are coupled together utilizing the system bus, and a second processor that includes the second hardware trace facility and second processing units that are coupled together utilizing the system bus. Information is transmitted among the first and second processing units utilizing the system bus when the processors are in a normal, non-tracing mode, where the information is formatted according to a standard system bus protocol. Trigger events are transmitted to the hardware trace facilities utilizing the same standard system bus, where the trigger events are also formatted according to the standard system bus protocol.