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authorAndré Fabian Silva Delgado <emulatorman@parabola.nu>2015-08-05 17:04:01 -0300
committerAndré Fabian Silva Delgado <emulatorman@parabola.nu>2015-08-05 17:04:01 -0300
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+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<!DOCTYPE book PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.1.2//EN"
+ "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.1.2/docbookx.dtd" []>
+
+<book id="kgdbOnLinux">
+ <bookinfo>
+ <title>Using kgdb, kdb and the kernel debugger internals</title>
+
+ <authorgroup>
+ <author>
+ <firstname>Jason</firstname>
+ <surname>Wessel</surname>
+ <affiliation>
+ <address>
+ <email>jason.wessel@windriver.com</email>
+ </address>
+ </affiliation>
+ </author>
+ </authorgroup>
+ <copyright>
+ <year>2008,2010</year>
+ <holder>Wind River Systems, Inc.</holder>
+ </copyright>
+ <copyright>
+ <year>2004-2005</year>
+ <holder>MontaVista Software, Inc.</holder>
+ </copyright>
+ <copyright>
+ <year>2004</year>
+ <holder>Amit S. Kale</holder>
+ </copyright>
+
+ <legalnotice>
+ <para>
+ This file is licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License
+ version 2. This program is licensed "as is" without any warranty of any
+ kind, whether express or implied.
+ </para>
+
+ </legalnotice>
+ </bookinfo>
+
+<toc></toc>
+ <chapter id="Introduction">
+ <title>Introduction</title>
+ <para>
+ The kernel has two different debugger front ends (kdb and kgdb)
+ which interface to the debug core. It is possible to use either
+ of the debugger front ends and dynamically transition between them
+ if you configure the kernel properly at compile and runtime.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Kdb is simplistic shell-style interface which you can use on a
+ system console with a keyboard or serial console. You can use it
+ to inspect memory, registers, process lists, dmesg, and even set
+ breakpoints to stop in a certain location. Kdb is not a source
+ level debugger, although you can set breakpoints and execute some
+ basic kernel run control. Kdb is mainly aimed at doing some
+ analysis to aid in development or diagnosing kernel problems. You
+ can access some symbols by name in kernel built-ins or in kernel
+ modules if the code was built
+ with <symbol>CONFIG_KALLSYMS</symbol>.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Kgdb is intended to be used as a source level debugger for the
+ Linux kernel. It is used along with gdb to debug a Linux kernel.
+ The expectation is that gdb can be used to "break in" to the
+ kernel to inspect memory, variables and look through call stack
+ information similar to the way an application developer would use
+ gdb to debug an application. It is possible to place breakpoints
+ in kernel code and perform some limited execution stepping.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Two machines are required for using kgdb. One of these machines is
+ a development machine and the other is the target machine. The
+ kernel to be debugged runs on the target machine. The development
+ machine runs an instance of gdb against the vmlinux file which
+ contains the symbols (not a boot image such as bzImage, zImage,
+ uImage...). In gdb the developer specifies the connection
+ parameters and connects to kgdb. The type of connection a
+ developer makes with gdb depends on the availability of kgdb I/O
+ modules compiled as built-ins or loadable kernel modules in the test
+ machine's kernel.
+ </para>
+ </chapter>
+ <chapter id="CompilingAKernel">
+ <title>Compiling a kernel</title>
+ <para>
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem><para>In order to enable compilation of kdb, you must first enable kgdb.</para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>The kgdb test compile options are described in the kgdb test suite chapter.</para></listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </para>
+ <sect1 id="CompileKGDB">
+ <title>Kernel config options for kgdb</title>
+ <para>
+ To enable <symbol>CONFIG_KGDB</symbol> you should look under
+ "Kernel hacking" / "Kernel debugging" and select "KGDB: kernel debugger".
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ While it is not a hard requirement that you have symbols in your
+ vmlinux file, gdb tends not to be very useful without the symbolic
+ data, so you will want to turn
+ on <symbol>CONFIG_DEBUG_INFO</symbol> which is called "Compile the
+ kernel with debug info" in the config menu.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ It is advised, but not required, that you turn on the
+ <symbol>CONFIG_FRAME_POINTER</symbol> kernel option which is called "Compile the
+ kernel with frame pointers" in the config menu. This option
+ inserts code to into the compiled executable which saves the frame
+ information in registers or on the stack at different points which
+ allows a debugger such as gdb to more accurately construct
+ stack back traces while debugging the kernel.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ If the architecture that you are using supports the kernel option
+ CONFIG_DEBUG_RODATA, you should consider turning it off. This
+ option will prevent the use of software breakpoints because it
+ marks certain regions of the kernel's memory space as read-only.
+ If kgdb supports it for the architecture you are using, you can
+ use hardware breakpoints if you desire to run with the
+ CONFIG_DEBUG_RODATA option turned on, else you need to turn off
+ this option.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Next you should choose one of more I/O drivers to interconnect
+ debugging host and debugged target. Early boot debugging requires
+ a KGDB I/O driver that supports early debugging and the driver
+ must be built into the kernel directly. Kgdb I/O driver
+ configuration takes place via kernel or module parameters which
+ you can learn more about in the in the section that describes the
+ parameter "kgdboc".
+ </para>
+ <para>Here is an example set of .config symbols to enable or
+ disable for kgdb:
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem><para># CONFIG_DEBUG_RODATA is not set</para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>CONFIG_FRAME_POINTER=y</para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>CONFIG_KGDB=y</para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>CONFIG_KGDB_SERIAL_CONSOLE=y</para></listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </para>
+ </sect1>
+ <sect1 id="CompileKDB">
+ <title>Kernel config options for kdb</title>
+ <para>Kdb is quite a bit more complex than the simple gdbstub
+ sitting on top of the kernel's debug core. Kdb must implement a
+ shell, and also adds some helper functions in other parts of the
+ kernel, responsible for printing out interesting data such as what
+ you would see if you ran "lsmod", or "ps". In order to build kdb
+ into the kernel you follow the same steps as you would for kgdb.
+ </para>
+ <para>The main config option for kdb
+ is <symbol>CONFIG_KGDB_KDB</symbol> which is called "KGDB_KDB:
+ include kdb frontend for kgdb" in the config menu. In theory you
+ would have already also selected an I/O driver such as the
+ CONFIG_KGDB_SERIAL_CONSOLE interface if you plan on using kdb on a
+ serial port, when you were configuring kgdb.
+ </para>
+ <para>If you want to use a PS/2-style keyboard with kdb, you would
+ select CONFIG_KDB_KEYBOARD which is called "KGDB_KDB: keyboard as
+ input device" in the config menu. The CONFIG_KDB_KEYBOARD option
+ is not used for anything in the gdb interface to kgdb. The
+ CONFIG_KDB_KEYBOARD option only works with kdb.
+ </para>
+ <para>Here is an example set of .config symbols to enable/disable kdb:
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem><para># CONFIG_DEBUG_RODATA is not set</para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>CONFIG_FRAME_POINTER=y</para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>CONFIG_KGDB=y</para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>CONFIG_KGDB_SERIAL_CONSOLE=y</para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>CONFIG_KGDB_KDB=y</para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>CONFIG_KDB_KEYBOARD=y</para></listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </para>
+ </sect1>
+ </chapter>
+ <chapter id="kgdbKernelArgs">
+ <title>Kernel Debugger Boot Arguments</title>
+ <para>This section describes the various runtime kernel
+ parameters that affect the configuration of the kernel debugger.
+ The following chapter covers using kdb and kgdb as well as
+ providing some examples of the configuration parameters.</para>
+ <sect1 id="kgdboc">
+ <title>Kernel parameter: kgdboc</title>
+ <para>The kgdboc driver was originally an abbreviation meant to
+ stand for "kgdb over console". Today it is the primary mechanism
+ to configure how to communicate from gdb to kgdb as well as the
+ devices you want to use to interact with the kdb shell.
+ </para>
+ <para>For kgdb/gdb, kgdboc is designed to work with a single serial
+ port. It is intended to cover the circumstance where you want to
+ use a serial console as your primary console as well as using it to
+ perform kernel debugging. It is also possible to use kgdb on a
+ serial port which is not designated as a system console. Kgdboc
+ may be configured as a kernel built-in or a kernel loadable module.
+ You can only make use of <constant>kgdbwait</constant> and early
+ debugging if you build kgdboc into the kernel as a built-in.
+ </para>
+ <para>Optionally you can elect to activate kms (Kernel Mode
+ Setting) integration. When you use kms with kgdboc and you have a
+ video driver that has atomic mode setting hooks, it is possible to
+ enter the debugger on the graphics console. When the kernel
+ execution is resumed, the previous graphics mode will be restored.
+ This integration can serve as a useful tool to aid in diagnosing
+ crashes or doing analysis of memory with kdb while allowing the
+ full graphics console applications to run.
+ </para>
+ <sect2 id="kgdbocArgs">
+ <title>kgdboc arguments</title>
+ <para>Usage: <constant>kgdboc=[kms][[,]kbd][[,]serial_device][,baud]</constant></para>
+ <para>The order listed above must be observed if you use any of the
+ optional configurations together.
+ </para>
+ <para>Abbreviations:
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem><para>kms = Kernel Mode Setting</para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>kbd = Keyboard</para></listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </para>
+ <para>You can configure kgdboc to use the keyboard, and/or a serial
+ device depending on if you are using kdb and/or kgdb, in one of the
+ following scenarios. The order listed above must be observed if
+ you use any of the optional configurations together. Using kms +
+ only gdb is generally not a useful combination.</para>
+ <sect3 id="kgdbocArgs1">
+ <title>Using loadable module or built-in</title>
+ <para>
+ <orderedlist>
+ <listitem><para>As a kernel built-in:</para>
+ <para>Use the kernel boot argument: <constant>kgdboc=&lt;tty-device&gt;,[baud]</constant></para></listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>As a kernel loadable module:</para>
+ <para>Use the command: <constant>modprobe kgdboc kgdboc=&lt;tty-device&gt;,[baud]</constant></para>
+ <para>Here are two examples of how you might format the kgdboc
+ string. The first is for an x86 target using the first serial port.
+ The second example is for the ARM Versatile AB using the second
+ serial port.
+ <orderedlist>
+ <listitem><para><constant>kgdboc=ttyS0,115200</constant></para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para><constant>kgdboc=ttyAMA1,115200</constant></para></listitem>
+ </orderedlist>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </orderedlist></para>
+ </sect3>
+ <sect3 id="kgdbocArgs2">
+ <title>Configure kgdboc at runtime with sysfs</title>
+ <para>At run time you can enable or disable kgdboc by echoing a
+ parameters into the sysfs. Here are two examples:</para>
+ <orderedlist>
+ <listitem><para>Enable kgdboc on ttyS0</para>
+ <para><constant>echo ttyS0 &gt; /sys/module/kgdboc/parameters/kgdboc</constant></para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>Disable kgdboc</para>
+ <para><constant>echo "" &gt; /sys/module/kgdboc/parameters/kgdboc</constant></para></listitem>
+ </orderedlist>
+ <para>NOTE: You do not need to specify the baud if you are
+ configuring the console on tty which is already configured or
+ open.</para>
+ </sect3>
+ <sect3 id="kgdbocArgs3">
+ <title>More examples</title>
+ <para>You can configure kgdboc to use the keyboard, and/or a serial device
+ depending on if you are using kdb and/or kgdb, in one of the
+ following scenarios.
+ <orderedlist>
+ <listitem><para>kdb and kgdb over only a serial port</para>
+ <para><constant>kgdboc=&lt;serial_device&gt;[,baud]</constant></para>
+ <para>Example: <constant>kgdboc=ttyS0,115200</constant></para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem><para>kdb and kgdb with keyboard and a serial port</para>
+ <para><constant>kgdboc=kbd,&lt;serial_device&gt;[,baud]</constant></para>
+ <para>Example: <constant>kgdboc=kbd,ttyS0,115200</constant></para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem><para>kdb with a keyboard</para>
+ <para><constant>kgdboc=kbd</constant></para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem><para>kdb with kernel mode setting</para>
+ <para><constant>kgdboc=kms,kbd</constant></para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem><para>kdb with kernel mode setting and kgdb over a serial port</para>
+ <para><constant>kgdboc=kms,kbd,ttyS0,115200</constant></para>
+ </listitem>
+ </orderedlist>
+ </para>
+ <para>NOTE: Kgdboc does not support interrupting the target via the
+ gdb remote protocol. You must manually send a sysrq-g unless you
+ have a proxy that splits console output to a terminal program.
+ A console proxy has a separate TCP port for the debugger and a separate
+ TCP port for the "human" console. The proxy can take care of sending
+ the sysrq-g for you.
+ </para>
+ <para>When using kgdboc with no debugger proxy, you can end up
+ connecting the debugger at one of two entry points. If an
+ exception occurs after you have loaded kgdboc, a message should
+ print on the console stating it is waiting for the debugger. In
+ this case you disconnect your terminal program and then connect the
+ debugger in its place. If you want to interrupt the target system
+ and forcibly enter a debug session you have to issue a Sysrq
+ sequence and then type the letter <constant>g</constant>. Then
+ you disconnect the terminal session and connect gdb. Your options
+ if you don't like this are to hack gdb to send the sysrq-g for you
+ as well as on the initial connect, or to use a debugger proxy that
+ allows an unmodified gdb to do the debugging.
+ </para>
+ </sect3>
+ </sect2>
+ </sect1>
+ <sect1 id="kgdbwait">
+ <title>Kernel parameter: kgdbwait</title>
+ <para>
+ The Kernel command line option <constant>kgdbwait</constant> makes
+ kgdb wait for a debugger connection during booting of a kernel. You
+ can only use this option if you compiled a kgdb I/O driver into the
+ kernel and you specified the I/O driver configuration as a kernel
+ command line option. The kgdbwait parameter should always follow the
+ configuration parameter for the kgdb I/O driver in the kernel
+ command line else the I/O driver will not be configured prior to
+ asking the kernel to use it to wait.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ The kernel will stop and wait as early as the I/O driver and
+ architecture allows when you use this option. If you build the
+ kgdb I/O driver as a loadable kernel module kgdbwait will not do
+ anything.
+ </para>
+ </sect1>
+ <sect1 id="kgdbcon">
+ <title>Kernel parameter: kgdbcon</title>
+ <para> The kgdbcon feature allows you to see printk() messages
+ inside gdb while gdb is connected to the kernel. Kdb does not make
+ use of the kgdbcon feature.
+ </para>
+ <para>Kgdb supports using the gdb serial protocol to send console
+ messages to the debugger when the debugger is connected and running.
+ There are two ways to activate this feature.
+ <orderedlist>
+ <listitem><para>Activate with the kernel command line option:</para>
+ <para><constant>kgdbcon</constant></para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem><para>Use sysfs before configuring an I/O driver</para>
+ <para>
+ <constant>echo 1 &gt; /sys/module/kgdb/parameters/kgdb_use_con</constant>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ NOTE: If you do this after you configure the kgdb I/O driver, the
+ setting will not take effect until the next point the I/O is
+ reconfigured.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </orderedlist>
+ </para>
+ <para>IMPORTANT NOTE: You cannot use kgdboc + kgdbcon on a tty that is an
+ active system console. An example of incorrect usage is <constant>console=ttyS0,115200 kgdboc=ttyS0 kgdbcon</constant>
+ </para>
+ <para>It is possible to use this option with kgdboc on a tty that is not a system console.
+ </para>
+ </sect1>
+ <sect1 id="kgdbreboot">
+ <title>Run time parameter: kgdbreboot</title>
+ <para> The kgdbreboot feature allows you to change how the debugger
+ deals with the reboot notification. You have 3 choices for the
+ behavior. The default behavior is always set to 0.</para>
+ <orderedlist>
+ <listitem><para>echo -1 > /sys/module/debug_core/parameters/kgdbreboot</para>
+ <para>Ignore the reboot notification entirely.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem><para>echo 0 > /sys/module/debug_core/parameters/kgdbreboot</para>
+ <para>Send the detach message to any attached debugger client.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem><para>echo 1 > /sys/module/debug_core/parameters/kgdbreboot</para>
+ <para>Enter the debugger on reboot notify.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </orderedlist>
+ </sect1>
+ </chapter>
+ <chapter id="usingKDB">
+ <title>Using kdb</title>
+ <para>
+ </para>
+ <sect1 id="quickKDBserial">
+ <title>Quick start for kdb on a serial port</title>
+ <para>This is a quick example of how to use kdb.</para>
+ <para><orderedlist>
+ <listitem><para>Configure kgdboc at boot using kernel parameters:
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem><para><constant>console=ttyS0,115200 kgdboc=ttyS0,115200</constant></para></listitem>
+ </itemizedlist></para>
+ <para>OR</para>
+ <para>Configure kgdboc after the kernel has booted; assuming you are using a serial port console:
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem><para><constant>echo ttyS0 &gt; /sys/module/kgdboc/parameters/kgdboc</constant></para></listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem><para>Enter the kernel debugger manually or by waiting for an oops or fault. There are several ways you can enter the kernel debugger manually; all involve using the sysrq-g, which means you must have enabled CONFIG_MAGIC_SYSRQ=y in your kernel config.</para>
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem><para>When logged in as root or with a super user session you can run:</para>
+ <para><constant>echo g &gt; /proc/sysrq-trigger</constant></para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>Example using minicom 2.2</para>
+ <para>Press: <constant>Control-a</constant></para>
+ <para>Press: <constant>f</constant></para>
+ <para>Press: <constant>g</constant></para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem><para>When you have telneted to a terminal server that supports sending a remote break</para>
+ <para>Press: <constant>Control-]</constant></para>
+ <para>Type in:<constant>send break</constant></para>
+ <para>Press: <constant>Enter</constant></para>
+ <para>Press: <constant>g</constant></para>
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem><para>From the kdb prompt you can run the "help" command to see a complete list of the commands that are available.</para>
+ <para>Some useful commands in kdb include:
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem><para>lsmod -- Shows where kernel modules are loaded</para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>ps -- Displays only the active processes</para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>ps A -- Shows all the processes</para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>summary -- Shows kernel version info and memory usage</para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>bt -- Get a backtrace of the current process using dump_stack()</para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>dmesg -- View the kernel syslog buffer</para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>go -- Continue the system</para></listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>When you are done using kdb you need to consider rebooting the
+ system or using the "go" command to resuming normal kernel
+ execution. If you have paused the kernel for a lengthy period of
+ time, applications that rely on timely networking or anything to do
+ with real wall clock time could be adversely affected, so you
+ should take this into consideration when using the kernel
+ debugger.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </orderedlist></para>
+ </sect1>
+ <sect1 id="quickKDBkeyboard">
+ <title>Quick start for kdb using a keyboard connected console</title>
+ <para>This is a quick example of how to use kdb with a keyboard.</para>
+ <para><orderedlist>
+ <listitem><para>Configure kgdboc at boot using kernel parameters:
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem><para><constant>kgdboc=kbd</constant></para></listitem>
+ </itemizedlist></para>
+ <para>OR</para>
+ <para>Configure kgdboc after the kernel has booted:
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem><para><constant>echo kbd &gt; /sys/module/kgdboc/parameters/kgdboc</constant></para></listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem><para>Enter the kernel debugger manually or by waiting for an oops or fault. There are several ways you can enter the kernel debugger manually; all involve using the sysrq-g, which means you must have enabled CONFIG_MAGIC_SYSRQ=y in your kernel config.</para>
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem><para>When logged in as root or with a super user session you can run:</para>
+ <para><constant>echo g &gt; /proc/sysrq-trigger</constant></para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>Example using a laptop keyboard</para>
+ <para>Press and hold down: <constant>Alt</constant></para>
+ <para>Press and hold down: <constant>Fn</constant></para>
+ <para>Press and release the key with the label: <constant>SysRq</constant></para>
+ <para>Release: <constant>Fn</constant></para>
+ <para>Press and release: <constant>g</constant></para>
+ <para>Release: <constant>Alt</constant></para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem><para>Example using a PS/2 101-key keyboard</para>
+ <para>Press and hold down: <constant>Alt</constant></para>
+ <para>Press and release the key with the label: <constant>SysRq</constant></para>
+ <para>Press and release: <constant>g</constant></para>
+ <para>Release: <constant>Alt</constant></para>
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Now type in a kdb command such as "help", "dmesg", "bt" or "go" to continue kernel execution.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </orderedlist></para>
+ </sect1>
+ </chapter>
+ <chapter id="EnableKGDB">
+ <title>Using kgdb / gdb</title>
+ <para>In order to use kgdb you must activate it by passing
+ configuration information to one of the kgdb I/O drivers. If you
+ do not pass any configuration information kgdb will not do anything
+ at all. Kgdb will only actively hook up to the kernel trap hooks
+ if a kgdb I/O driver is loaded and configured. If you unconfigure
+ a kgdb I/O driver, kgdb will unregister all the kernel hook points.
+ </para>
+ <para> All kgdb I/O drivers can be reconfigured at run time, if
+ <symbol>CONFIG_SYSFS</symbol> and <symbol>CONFIG_MODULES</symbol>
+ are enabled, by echo'ing a new config string to
+ <constant>/sys/module/&lt;driver&gt;/parameter/&lt;option&gt;</constant>.
+ The driver can be unconfigured by passing an empty string. You cannot
+ change the configuration while the debugger is attached. Make sure
+ to detach the debugger with the <constant>detach</constant> command
+ prior to trying to unconfigure a kgdb I/O driver.
+ </para>
+ <sect1 id="ConnectingGDB">
+ <title>Connecting with gdb to a serial port</title>
+ <orderedlist>
+ <listitem><para>Configure kgdboc</para>
+ <para>Configure kgdboc at boot using kernel parameters:
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem><para><constant>kgdboc=ttyS0,115200</constant></para></listitem>
+ </itemizedlist></para>
+ <para>OR</para>
+ <para>Configure kgdboc after the kernel has booted:
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem><para><constant>echo ttyS0 &gt; /sys/module/kgdboc/parameters/kgdboc</constant></para></listitem>
+ </itemizedlist></para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Stop kernel execution (break into the debugger)</para>
+ <para>In order to connect to gdb via kgdboc, the kernel must
+ first be stopped. There are several ways to stop the kernel which
+ include using kgdbwait as a boot argument, via a sysrq-g, or running
+ the kernel until it takes an exception where it waits for the
+ debugger to attach.
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem><para>When logged in as root or with a super user session you can run:</para>
+ <para><constant>echo g &gt; /proc/sysrq-trigger</constant></para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>Example using minicom 2.2</para>
+ <para>Press: <constant>Control-a</constant></para>
+ <para>Press: <constant>f</constant></para>
+ <para>Press: <constant>g</constant></para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem><para>When you have telneted to a terminal server that supports sending a remote break</para>
+ <para>Press: <constant>Control-]</constant></para>
+ <para>Type in:<constant>send break</constant></para>
+ <para>Press: <constant>Enter</constant></para>
+ <para>Press: <constant>g</constant></para>
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Connect from gdb</para>
+ <para>
+ Example (using a directly connected port):
+ </para>
+ <programlisting>
+ % gdb ./vmlinux
+ (gdb) set remotebaud 115200
+ (gdb) target remote /dev/ttyS0
+ </programlisting>
+ <para>
+ Example (kgdb to a terminal server on TCP port 2012):
+ </para>
+ <programlisting>
+ % gdb ./vmlinux
+ (gdb) target remote 192.168.2.2:2012
+ </programlisting>
+ <para>
+ Once connected, you can debug a kernel the way you would debug an
+ application program.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ If you are having problems connecting or something is going
+ seriously wrong while debugging, it will most often be the case
+ that you want to enable gdb to be verbose about its target
+ communications. You do this prior to issuing the <constant>target
+ remote</constant> command by typing in: <constant>set debug remote 1</constant>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </orderedlist>
+ <para>Remember if you continue in gdb, and need to "break in" again,
+ you need to issue an other sysrq-g. It is easy to create a simple
+ entry point by putting a breakpoint at <constant>sys_sync</constant>
+ and then you can run "sync" from a shell or script to break into the
+ debugger.</para>
+ </sect1>
+ </chapter>
+ <chapter id="switchKdbKgdb">
+ <title>kgdb and kdb interoperability</title>
+ <para>It is possible to transition between kdb and kgdb dynamically.
+ The debug core will remember which you used the last time and
+ automatically start in the same mode.</para>
+ <sect1>
+ <title>Switching between kdb and kgdb</title>
+ <sect2>
+ <title>Switching from kgdb to kdb</title>
+ <para>
+ There are two ways to switch from kgdb to kdb: you can use gdb to
+ issue a maintenance packet, or you can blindly type the command $3#33.
+ Whenever the kernel debugger stops in kgdb mode it will print the
+ message <constant>KGDB or $3#33 for KDB</constant>. It is important
+ to note that you have to type the sequence correctly in one pass.
+ You cannot type a backspace or delete because kgdb will interpret
+ that as part of the debug stream.
+ <orderedlist>
+ <listitem><para>Change from kgdb to kdb by blindly typing:</para>
+ <para><constant>$3#33</constant></para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>Change from kgdb to kdb with gdb</para>
+ <para><constant>maintenance packet 3</constant></para>
+ <para>NOTE: Now you must kill gdb. Typically you press control-z and
+ issue the command: kill -9 %</para></listitem>
+ </orderedlist>
+ </para>
+ </sect2>
+ <sect2>
+ <title>Change from kdb to kgdb</title>
+ <para>There are two ways you can change from kdb to kgdb. You can
+ manually enter kgdb mode by issuing the kgdb command from the kdb
+ shell prompt, or you can connect gdb while the kdb shell prompt is
+ active. The kdb shell looks for the typical first commands that gdb
+ would issue with the gdb remote protocol and if it sees one of those
+ commands it automatically changes into kgdb mode.</para>
+ <orderedlist>
+ <listitem><para>From kdb issue the command:</para>
+ <para><constant>kgdb</constant></para>
+ <para>Now disconnect your terminal program and connect gdb in its place</para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>At the kdb prompt, disconnect the terminal program and connect gdb in its place.</para></listitem>
+ </orderedlist>
+ </sect2>
+ </sect1>
+ <sect1>
+ <title>Running kdb commands from gdb</title>
+ <para>It is possible to run a limited set of kdb commands from gdb,
+ using the gdb monitor command. You don't want to execute any of the
+ run control or breakpoint operations, because it can disrupt the
+ state of the kernel debugger. You should be using gdb for
+ breakpoints and run control operations if you have gdb connected.
+ The more useful commands to run are things like lsmod, dmesg, ps or
+ possibly some of the memory information commands. To see all the kdb
+ commands you can run <constant>monitor help</constant>.</para>
+ <para>Example:
+ <informalexample><programlisting>
+(gdb) monitor ps
+1 idle process (state I) and
+27 sleeping system daemon (state M) processes suppressed,
+use 'ps A' to see all.
+Task Addr Pid Parent [*] cpu State Thread Command
+
+0xc78291d0 1 0 0 0 S 0xc7829404 init
+0xc7954150 942 1 0 0 S 0xc7954384 dropbear
+0xc78789c0 944 1 0 0 S 0xc7878bf4 sh
+(gdb)
+ </programlisting></informalexample>
+ </para>
+ </sect1>
+ </chapter>
+ <chapter id="KGDBTestSuite">
+ <title>kgdb Test Suite</title>
+ <para>
+ When kgdb is enabled in the kernel config you can also elect to
+ enable the config parameter KGDB_TESTS. Turning this on will
+ enable a special kgdb I/O module which is designed to test the
+ kgdb internal functions.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ The kgdb tests are mainly intended for developers to test the kgdb
+ internals as well as a tool for developing a new kgdb architecture
+ specific implementation. These tests are not really for end users
+ of the Linux kernel. The primary source of documentation would be
+ to look in the drivers/misc/kgdbts.c file.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ The kgdb test suite can also be configured at compile time to run
+ the core set of tests by setting the kernel config parameter
+ KGDB_TESTS_ON_BOOT. This particular option is aimed at automated
+ regression testing and does not require modifying the kernel boot
+ config arguments. If this is turned on, the kgdb test suite can
+ be disabled by specifying "kgdbts=" as a kernel boot argument.
+ </para>
+ </chapter>
+ <chapter id="CommonBackEndReq">
+ <title>Kernel Debugger Internals</title>
+ <sect1 id="kgdbArchitecture">
+ <title>Architecture Specifics</title>
+ <para>
+ The kernel debugger is organized into a number of components:
+ <orderedlist>
+ <listitem><para>The debug core</para>
+ <para>
+ The debug core is found in kernel/debugger/debug_core.c. It contains:
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem><para>A generic OS exception handler which includes
+ sync'ing the processors into a stopped state on an multi-CPU
+ system.</para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>The API to talk to the kgdb I/O drivers</para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>The API to make calls to the arch-specific kgdb implementation</para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>The logic to perform safe memory reads and writes to memory while using the debugger</para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>A full implementation for software breakpoints unless overridden by the arch</para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>The API to invoke either the kdb or kgdb frontend to the debug core.</para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>The structures and callback API for atomic kernel mode setting.</para>
+ <para>NOTE: kgdboc is where the kms callbacks are invoked.</para></listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem><para>kgdb arch-specific implementation</para>
+ <para>
+ This implementation is generally found in arch/*/kernel/kgdb.c.
+ As an example, arch/x86/kernel/kgdb.c contains the specifics to
+ implement HW breakpoint as well as the initialization to
+ dynamically register and unregister for the trap handlers on
+ this architecture. The arch-specific portion implements:
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem><para>contains an arch-specific trap catcher which
+ invokes kgdb_handle_exception() to start kgdb about doing its
+ work</para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>translation to and from gdb specific packet format to pt_regs</para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>Registration and unregistration of architecture specific trap hooks</para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>Any special exception handling and cleanup</para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>NMI exception handling and cleanup</para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>(optional) HW breakpoints</para></listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem><para>gdbstub frontend (aka kgdb)</para>
+ <para>The gdbstub is located in kernel/debug/gdbstub.c. It contains:</para>
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem><para>All the logic to implement the gdb serial protocol</para></listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem><para>kdb frontend</para>
+ <para>The kdb debugger shell is broken down into a number of
+ components. The kdb core is located in kernel/debug/kdb. There
+ are a number of helper functions in some of the other kernel
+ components to make it possible for kdb to examine and report
+ information about the kernel without taking locks that could
+ cause a kernel deadlock. The kdb core contains implements the following functionality.</para>
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem><para>A simple shell</para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>The kdb core command set</para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>A registration API to register additional kdb shell commands.</para>
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem><para>A good example of a self-contained kdb module
+ is the "ftdump" command for dumping the ftrace buffer. See:
+ kernel/trace/trace_kdb.c</para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>For an example of how to dynamically register
+ a new kdb command you can build the kdb_hello.ko kernel module
+ from samples/kdb/kdb_hello.c. To build this example you can
+ set CONFIG_SAMPLES=y and CONFIG_SAMPLE_KDB=m in your kernel
+ config. Later run "modprobe kdb_hello" and the next time you
+ enter the kdb shell, you can run the "hello"
+ command.</para></listitem>
+ </itemizedlist></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>The implementation for kdb_printf() which
+ emits messages directly to I/O drivers, bypassing the kernel
+ log.</para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>SW / HW breakpoint management for the kdb shell</para></listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem><para>kgdb I/O driver</para>
+ <para>
+ Each kgdb I/O driver has to provide an implementation for the following:
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem><para>configuration via built-in or module</para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>dynamic configuration and kgdb hook registration calls</para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>read and write character interface</para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>A cleanup handler for unconfiguring from the kgdb core</para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>(optional) Early debug methodology</para></listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ Any given kgdb I/O driver has to operate very closely with the
+ hardware and must do it in such a way that does not enable
+ interrupts or change other parts of the system context without
+ completely restoring them. The kgdb core will repeatedly "poll"
+ a kgdb I/O driver for characters when it needs input. The I/O
+ driver is expected to return immediately if there is no data
+ available. Doing so allows for the future possibility to touch
+ watchdog hardware in such a way as to have a target system not
+ reset when these are enabled.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </orderedlist>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ If you are intent on adding kgdb architecture specific support
+ for a new architecture, the architecture should define
+ <constant>HAVE_ARCH_KGDB</constant> in the architecture specific
+ Kconfig file. This will enable kgdb for the architecture, and
+ at that point you must create an architecture specific kgdb
+ implementation.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ There are a few flags which must be set on every architecture in
+ their &lt;asm/kgdb.h&gt; file. These are:
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ NUMREGBYTES: The size in bytes of all of the registers, so
+ that we can ensure they will all fit into a packet.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ BUFMAX: The size in bytes of the buffer GDB will read into.
+ This must be larger than NUMREGBYTES.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ CACHE_FLUSH_IS_SAFE: Set to 1 if it is always safe to call
+ flush_cache_range or flush_icache_range. On some architectures,
+ these functions may not be safe to call on SMP since we keep other
+ CPUs in a holding pattern.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ There are also the following functions for the common backend,
+ found in kernel/kgdb.c, that must be supplied by the
+ architecture-specific backend unless marked as (optional), in
+ which case a default function maybe used if the architecture
+ does not need to provide a specific implementation.
+ </para>
+!Iinclude/linux/kgdb.h
+ </sect1>
+ <sect1 id="kgdbocDesign">
+ <title>kgdboc internals</title>
+ <sect2>
+ <title>kgdboc and uarts</title>
+ <para>
+ The kgdboc driver is actually a very thin driver that relies on the
+ underlying low level to the hardware driver having "polling hooks"
+ to which the tty driver is attached. In the initial
+ implementation of kgdboc the serial_core was changed to expose a
+ low level UART hook for doing polled mode reading and writing of a
+ single character while in an atomic context. When kgdb makes an I/O
+ request to the debugger, kgdboc invokes a callback in the serial
+ core which in turn uses the callback in the UART driver.</para>
+ <para>
+ When using kgdboc with a UART, the UART driver must implement two callbacks in the <constant>struct uart_ops</constant>. Example from drivers/8250.c:<programlisting>
+#ifdef CONFIG_CONSOLE_POLL
+ .poll_get_char = serial8250_get_poll_char,
+ .poll_put_char = serial8250_put_poll_char,
+#endif
+ </programlisting>
+ Any implementation specifics around creating a polling driver use the
+ <constant>#ifdef CONFIG_CONSOLE_POLL</constant>, as shown above.
+ Keep in mind that polling hooks have to be implemented in such a way
+ that they can be called from an atomic context and have to restore
+ the state of the UART chip on return such that the system can return
+ to normal when the debugger detaches. You need to be very careful
+ with any kind of lock you consider, because failing here is most likely
+ going to mean pressing the reset button.
+ </para>
+ </sect2>
+ <sect2 id="kgdbocKbd">
+ <title>kgdboc and keyboards</title>
+ <para>The kgdboc driver contains logic to configure communications
+ with an attached keyboard. The keyboard infrastructure is only
+ compiled into the kernel when CONFIG_KDB_KEYBOARD=y is set in the
+ kernel configuration.</para>
+ <para>The core polled keyboard driver driver for PS/2 type keyboards
+ is in drivers/char/kdb_keyboard.c. This driver is hooked into the
+ debug core when kgdboc populates the callback in the array
+ called <constant>kdb_poll_funcs[]</constant>. The
+ kdb_get_kbd_char() is the top-level function which polls hardware
+ for single character input.
+ </para>
+ </sect2>
+ <sect2 id="kgdbocKms">
+ <title>kgdboc and kms</title>
+ <para>The kgdboc driver contains logic to request the graphics
+ display to switch to a text context when you are using
+ "kgdboc=kms,kbd", provided that you have a video driver which has a
+ frame buffer console and atomic kernel mode setting support.</para>
+ <para>
+ Every time the kernel
+ debugger is entered it calls kgdboc_pre_exp_handler() which in turn
+ calls con_debug_enter() in the virtual console layer. On resuming kernel
+ execution, the kernel debugger calls kgdboc_post_exp_handler() which
+ in turn calls con_debug_leave().</para>
+ <para>Any video driver that wants to be compatible with the kernel
+ debugger and the atomic kms callbacks must implement the
+ mode_set_base_atomic, fb_debug_enter and fb_debug_leave operations.
+ For the fb_debug_enter and fb_debug_leave the option exists to use
+ the generic drm fb helper functions or implement something custom for
+ the hardware. The following example shows the initialization of the
+ .mode_set_base_atomic operation in
+ drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_display.c:
+ <informalexample>
+ <programlisting>
+static const struct drm_crtc_helper_funcs intel_helper_funcs = {
+[...]
+ .mode_set_base_atomic = intel_pipe_set_base_atomic,
+[...]
+};
+ </programlisting>
+ </informalexample>
+ </para>
+ <para>Here is an example of how the i915 driver initializes the fb_debug_enter and fb_debug_leave functions to use the generic drm helpers in
+ drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_fb.c:
+ <informalexample>
+ <programlisting>
+static struct fb_ops intelfb_ops = {
+[...]
+ .fb_debug_enter = drm_fb_helper_debug_enter,
+ .fb_debug_leave = drm_fb_helper_debug_leave,
+[...]
+};
+ </programlisting>
+ </informalexample>
+ </para>
+ </sect2>
+ </sect1>
+ </chapter>
+ <chapter id="credits">
+ <title>Credits</title>
+ <para>
+ The following people have contributed to this document:
+ <orderedlist>
+ <listitem><para>Amit Kale<email>amitkale@linsyssoft.com</email></para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>Tom Rini<email>trini@kernel.crashing.org</email></para></listitem>
+ </orderedlist>
+ In March 2008 this document was completely rewritten by:
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem><para>Jason Wessel<email>jason.wessel@windriver.com</email></para></listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ In Jan 2010 this document was updated to include kdb.
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem><para>Jason Wessel<email>jason.wessel@windriver.com</email></para></listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </para>
+ </chapter>
+</book>
+