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| author | Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> | 2026-08-23 13:28:57 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> | 2026-08-23 13:28:57 -0700 |
| commit | 4352b8aee98005853aa63f57d6377282de17a33f (patch) | |
| tree | 27614d7a9ef05c32d089004e104364ce42324837 /Documentation/process/debugging/gdb-kernel-debugging.rst | |
| download | linux-stable-4352b8aee98005853aa63f57d6377282de17a33f.tar.gz linux-stable-4352b8aee98005853aa63f57d6377282de17a33f.zip | |
Merge tag 'i3c/for-7.3' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/i3c/linuxgrafted
Pull I3C updates from Alexandre Belloni:
"A new driver this cycle, for the AMD AXI I3C controller.
There are also new features such as IBI wakeup support, SETAASA device
discovery and ACPI support for the the DAA methods, meaning we can now
communicate with the SPD devices on DDR5 modules.
New driver:
- AMD AXI I3C master controller
Subsystem:
- I3C Common Command Code (CCC) handling improvements, especially
around GET CCCs
- SETAASA device discovery support
- ACPI support for all existing DAA methods like SETDASA, SETNEWDA as
well as I2C devices on I3C bus
- IBI-based wakeup support
Drivers:
- dw: SETAASA support
- mipi-i3c-hci: advertise IBI wakeup capability, AMD_PT I3C
controller support, PIO queue management support for HCI v1.2
- renesas: improve suspend to RAM support, add runtime PM support"
* tag 'i3c/for-7.3' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/i3c/linux: (70 commits)
i3c: dw: reduce do_daa time if there's no client
i3c: mipi-i3c-hci: Add support for AMD_PT I3C controller
i3c: mipi-i3c-hci: Add PIO queue management support for HCI v1.2
i3c: mipi-i3c-hci: Fix missing STAT_IBI_STATUS_THLD in PIO mode
i3c: dw: rename "pclk" to "apb" to match dt-binding
i3c: dw: make struct dw_i3c_cmd smaller
i3c: dw: use COMMAND_PORT_TRANSFER_ARG instead of hardcoding
i3c: renesas: Don't register devices when ENTDAA times out
i3c: master: dw-i3c-master: fix OD timing for first broadcast
i3c: mipi-i3c-hci: Advertise IBI wakeup capability
i3c: mipi-i3c-hci: Factor out i3c_hci_sysdev()
i3c: mipi-i3c-hci-pci: Propagate I3C wakeup requirements to PCI
i3c: master: Reject IBI requests from non-IBI-capable devices
i3c: master: Add helper to query bus wakeup requirements
i3c: master: Report wakeup events for IBIs
i3c: master: Support IBI-based wakeup capability
i3c: master: Fix potential UAF in i3c_device_match()
i3c: master: Fix potential UAF in i3c_device_uevent()
i3c: Make dev->desc locking assumptions explicit
i3c: master: Fix use-after-free of master->this
...
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/process/debugging/gdb-kernel-debugging.rst')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/process/debugging/gdb-kernel-debugging.rst | 184 |
1 files changed, 184 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/process/debugging/gdb-kernel-debugging.rst b/Documentation/process/debugging/gdb-kernel-debugging.rst new file mode 100644 index 000000000..53e225760 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/process/debugging/gdb-kernel-debugging.rst @@ -0,0 +1,184 @@ +.. highlight:: none + +Debugging kernel and modules via gdb +==================================== + +The kernel debugger kgdb, hypervisors like QEMU or JTAG-based hardware +interfaces allow to debug the Linux kernel and its modules during runtime +using gdb. Gdb comes with a powerful scripting interface for python. The +kernel provides a collection of helper scripts that can simplify typical +kernel debugging steps. This is a short tutorial about how to enable and use +them. It focuses on QEMU/KVM virtual machines as target, but the examples can +be transferred to the other gdb stubs as well. + + +Requirements +------------ + +- gdb 7.2+ (recommended: 7.4+) with python support enabled (typically true + for distributions) + + +Setup +----- + +- Create a virtual Linux machine for QEMU/KVM (see www.linux-kvm.org and + www.qemu.org for more details). For cross-development, + https://landley.net/aboriginal/bin keeps a pool of machine images and + toolchains that can be helpful to start from. + +- Build the kernel with CONFIG_GDB_SCRIPTS enabled, but leave + CONFIG_DEBUG_INFO_REDUCED off. If your architecture supports + CONFIG_FRAME_POINTER, keep it enabled. + +- Install that kernel on the guest, turn off KASLR if necessary by adding + "nokaslr" to the kernel command line. + Alternatively, QEMU allows to boot the kernel directly using -kernel, + -append, -initrd command line switches. This is generally only useful if + you do not depend on modules. See QEMU documentation for more details on + this mode. In this case, you should build the kernel with + CONFIG_RANDOMIZE_BASE disabled if the architecture supports KASLR. + +- Build the gdb scripts (required on kernels v5.1 and above):: + + make scripts_gdb + +- Enable the gdb stub of QEMU/KVM, either + + - at VM startup time by appending "-s" to the QEMU command line + + or + + - during runtime by issuing "gdbserver" from the QEMU monitor + console + +- cd /path/to/linux-build + +- Start gdb: gdb vmlinux + + Note: Some distros may restrict auto-loading of gdb scripts to known safe + directories. In case gdb reports to refuse loading vmlinux-gdb.py, add:: + + add-auto-load-safe-path /path/to/linux-build + + to ~/.gdbinit. See gdb help for more details. + +- Attach to the booted guest:: + + (gdb) target remote :1234 + + +Examples of using the Linux-provided gdb helpers +------------------------------------------------ + +- Load module (and main kernel) symbols:: + + (gdb) lx-symbols + loading vmlinux + scanning for modules in /home/user/linux/build + loading @0xffffffffa0020000: /home/user/linux/build/net/netfilter/xt_tcpudp.ko + loading @0xffffffffa0016000: /home/user/linux/build/net/netfilter/xt_pkttype.ko + loading @0xffffffffa0002000: /home/user/linux/build/net/netfilter/xt_limit.ko + loading @0xffffffffa00ca000: /home/user/linux/build/net/packet/af_packet.ko + loading @0xffffffffa003c000: /home/user/linux/build/fs/fuse/fuse.ko + ... + loading @0xffffffffa0000000: /home/user/linux/build/drivers/ata/ata_generic.ko + +- Set a breakpoint on some not yet loaded module function, e.g.:: + + (gdb) b btrfs_init_sysfs + Function "btrfs_init_sysfs" not defined. + Make breakpoint pending on future shared library load? (y or [n]) y + Breakpoint 1 (btrfs_init_sysfs) pending. + +- Continue the target:: + + (gdb) c + +- Load the module on the target and watch the symbols being loaded as well as + the breakpoint hit:: + + loading @0xffffffffa0034000: /home/user/linux/build/lib/libcrc32c.ko + loading @0xffffffffa0050000: /home/user/linux/build/lib/lzo/lzo_compress.ko + loading @0xffffffffa006e000: /home/user/linux/build/lib/zlib_deflate/zlib_deflate.ko + loading @0xffffffffa01b1000: /home/user/linux/build/fs/btrfs/btrfs.ko + + Breakpoint 1, btrfs_init_sysfs () at /home/user/linux/fs/btrfs/sysfs.c:36 + 36 btrfs_kset = kset_create_and_add("btrfs", NULL, fs_kobj); + +- Dump the log buffer of the target kernel:: + + (gdb) lx-dmesg + [ 0.000000] Initializing cgroup subsys cpuset + [ 0.000000] Initializing cgroup subsys cpu + [ 0.000000] Linux version 3.8.0-rc4-dbg+ (... + [ 0.000000] Command line: root=/dev/sda2 resume=/dev/sda1 vga=0x314 + [ 0.000000] e820: BIOS-provided physical RAM map: + [ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x0000000000000000-0x000000000009fbff] usable + [ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x000000000009fc00-0x000000000009ffff] reserved + .... + +- Examine fields of the current task struct(supported by x86 and arm64 only):: + + (gdb) p $lx_current().pid + $1 = 4998 + (gdb) p $lx_current().comm + $2 = "modprobe\000\000\000\000\000\000\000" + +- Make use of the per-cpu function for the current or a specified CPU:: + + (gdb) p $lx_per_cpu(runqueues).nr_running + $3 = 1 + (gdb) p $lx_per_cpu(runqueues, 2).nr_running + $4 = 0 + +- Dig into hrtimers using the container_of helper:: + + (gdb) set $leftmost = $lx_per_cpu(hrtimer_bases).clock_base[0].active.rb_root.rb_leftmost + (gdb) p *$container_of($leftmost, "struct hrtimer", "node") + $5 = { + node = { + node = { + __rb_parent_color = 18446612686384860673, + rb_right = 0xffff888231da8b00, + rb_left = 0x0 + }, + expires = 1228461000000 + }, + _softexpires = 1228461000000, + function = 0xffffffff8137ab20 <tick_nohz_handler>, + base = 0xffff888231d9b4c0, + state = 1 '\001', + is_rel = 0 '\000', + is_soft = 0 '\000', + is_hard = 1 '\001' + } + + +List of commands and functions +------------------------------ + +The number of commands and convenience functions may evolve over the time, +this is just a snapshot of the initial version:: + + (gdb) apropos lx + function lx_current -- Return current task + function lx_module -- Find module by name and return the module variable + function lx_per_cpu -- Return per-cpu variable + function lx_task_by_pid -- Find Linux task by PID and return the task_struct variable + function lx_thread_info -- Calculate Linux thread_info from task variable + lx-dmesg -- Print Linux kernel log buffer + lx-lsmod -- List currently loaded modules + lx-symbols -- (Re-)load symbols of Linux kernel and currently loaded modules + +Detailed help can be obtained via "help <command-name>" for commands and "help +function <function-name>" for convenience functions. + +Debugging GDB scripts +--------------------- + +GDB does not enable a full Python backtrace which can make debugging GDB +scripts more difficult than necessary. The following will allow for printing a +full backtrace of the python environment:: + + (gdb) set python print-stack full |
