The presentation deals with the set of tools and features that can be used by Linux kernel developers for kernel debugging. Also, static analysis of kernel patches was addressed during speech. Special attention was given to access tools, tracing tools, and interactive debugging tools, namely: DebugFS, ftrace, and GDB. This presentation by Aleksandr Bulyshchenko (Software Engineer, Consultant, GlobalLogic Kharkiv) was delivered at GlobalLogic Kharkiv Embedded TechTalk #1 on March 13, 2018.

1. 1
Linux Kernel Debugging
Aleksandr Bulyshchenko
Lead Software Engineer, Engineering
March 2018

2. 2
Agenda
1. DebugFS
2. SysRq
3. ftrace
4. GDB

3. 33
DebugFS

4. 4
DebugFS
Debugfs exists as a simple way for kernel developers to make information available to
user space.
Mounted to /sys/kernel/debug, requires DEBUG_FS config option.
See Documentation/filesystems/debugfs.txt
●include/linux/debugfs.h
○ struct dentry *debugfs_create_file(const char *name, umode_t mode, struct dentry *paren
○ struct dentry *debugfs_create_dir(const char *name, struct dentry *parent)
○ struct dentry *debugfs_create_symlink(const char *name, struct dentry *parent, const cha
●Cleanup:
○ void debugfs_remove(struct dentry *dentry)
○ void debugfs_remove_recursive(struct dentry *dentry)

5. 5
DebugFS functions
API for exposing variables:
●include/linux/debugfs.h
○ struct dentry *debugfs_create_u8(const char *name, umode_t mode, struct dentry *parent
○ struct dentry *debugfs_create_x16(const char *name, umode_t mode, struct dentry *paren
○ struct dentry *debugfs_create_bool(const char *name, umode_t mode, struct dentry *pare
○ struct dentry *debugfs_create_atomic_t(const char *name, umode_t mode, struct dentry *
○ struct dentry *debugfs_create_blob(const char *name, umode_t mode, struct dentry *pare
○ etc.

6. 66
SysRq

7. 7
SysRq
Magic system request key combo you can hit which the kernel will respond to
regardless of whatever else it is doing, unless it is completely locked up.
Requires MAGIC_SYSRQ config option.
See Documentation/admin-guide/sysrq.rst
Output is sent to kernel ringbuffer.
Invocation:
●/proc/sysrq-trigger
●on PC: Alt+SysRq+key
●on serial terminals: break signal (Meta-F on minicom) followed by the letter key.
Enable mask: /proc/sys/kernel/sysrq
‘h’ command - for help.

8. 8
SysRq SW API
Assigning of custom sysrq handlers:
●include/linux/sysrq.h
○ struct sysrq_key_op
○ int register_sysrq_key(int key, struct sysrq_key_op *op_p)
■ int unregister_sysrq_key(int key, struct sysrq_key_op *op_p)
○ void handle_sysrq(int key) - call particular handler

9. 99
ftrace

10. 10
ftrace (Linux Kernel Function Tracer)
With its various tracer plugins, ftrace can be targeted at different static
tracepoints, such as scheduling events, interrupts, memory-mapped I/O,
CPU power state transitions, and operations related to file systems and
virtualization.
Also, dynamic tracking of kernel function calls is available, optionally
restrictable to a subset of functions by using globs, and with the possibility
to generate call graphs and provide stack usage reports.
At the same time, ftrace can be used to measure various latencies within the
Linux kernel, such as for how long interrupts or preemption are disabled.
See Documentation/trace/ftrace.txt

11. 11
ftrace usage
Mounted to /sys/kernel/tracing or /sys/kernel/debug/tracing
Config options:
●FTRACE
○ FUNCTION_TRACER
○ FUNCTION_PROFILER
○ etc.
Setup tracing:
○ Check available tracers: cat available_tracers
○ Set function_grapf as active tracer: echo ${your_tracer} > current_tracer
○ Setup filtering and output format
○ Clean trace buffer: echo > trace
○ Start tracing: echo 1 > tracing_on
Read tracing result:
○ cat trace
○ cat trace_pipe

12. 12
trace filtering
● function - trace particular functions’ entering
○ echo function > current_tracer
○ echo ‘need_to_trace’ > set_ftrace_filter
- trace need_to_trace() function
○ echo ‘*:mod:${MODULE}’ >> set_ftrace_filter
- and all functions from the module
○ echo ‘*_traceme:mod:!*’ >> set_ftrace_filter
- and all traceme functions from the kernel itself
● function_graph - trace all call stack while within the function
○ echo function_graph > current_tracer
○ echo ‘example_*’ > set_graph_function
- trace all call stack while within example_*() functions
○ echo 'printk too_detailed_*' > set_graph_notrace
- but exclude all printk() and too_detailed_*()

13. 1313
GDB

14. 14
GDB
● It’s possible to use GNU debugger with kernel code.
● Kernel have to be built with DEBUG_INFO config option.
● Symbols could be loaded from uncompressed image (vmlinux).
● To access sections of running kernel, KASLR should be disabled (kernel
option nokaslr).
● For information regarding usage of GDB - refer to GDB User Manual

15. 15
GDB with qemu
qemu has own gdbserver:
● -gdb dev - to wait for gdb connection on particular device
● -s - to open a gdbserver on TCP port 1234 (same as -gdb tcp::1234)
To debug kernel in qemu:
● launch qemu with kernel to debug and gdbserver enabled
○ Note: qemu allows to load kernel stopped (option -S)
● load gdb with kernel symbols of running kernel
○ gdb ${BUILD_KERNEL}/vmlinux
● attach to remote gdbserver
○ (gdb) target remote :1234
● Note: on qemu by default this will stop execution

16. 16
Module debugging
To debug loadable module:
● load the module in target system
● get load addresses
○ they are presented in /sys/module/${MODULE_NAME}/sections/
● launch gdb with loaded symbols of running kernel and attach to target
● in gdb prompt load symbols information with add-symbol-file command:
○ add-symbol-file ${MODULE_KO} ${LOAD_ADDR} [-s $
{section_name} ${section_addr}]...
● You are ready

17. 17
Eclipse
Eclipse CDT may be used for graphical source-level debugging.
Useful plugins:
● C/C++ GDB Hardware debugging
● GNU ARM Eclipse Plug-in
GNU MCU Eclipse project (former GNU ARM Eclipse) maintains tools for
multi-platform embedded ARM development, based on GNU toolchains.
Please refer to install instructions for updated information.
To setup kernel project in eclipse follow the instruction:
HowTo use the CDT to navigate Linux kernel source

18. 18
Aleksandr Bulyshchenko
Lead Software Engineer, Engineering
a.bulyshchenko@globallogic.com
Enjoy!