#+OPTIONS: toc:nil date:nil
#+CREATOR: Emacs 26.1 (Org mode 9.1.9)
#+TITLE: GDB Intro
#+AUTHOR: Sergio Durigan Junior @@latex:\\@@ sergiodj@{sergiodj.net,redhat.com,debian.org}
#+LANGUAGE: en

* License

- License: *Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY-4.0)*

- https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

* Introduction

- =GDB=: =GNU= project's Debugger @@latex:\pause@@ (it is *not* a
  /database/...).  Supports several programming languages.

- Started around 1986 by Richard Stallman (after *GNU Emacs*, but
  likely before *GCC*).

* Compiling your program for GDB

- Your program needs to contain *debug information* (also called
  =DWARF=) for GDB to consume.

#+BEAMER: \pause

- The GCC flag to include debug information is =-g=.  We also use
  =-g3=, which includes information about macros (=#define=).

#+BEAMER: \pause

- It's common to *disable optimizations* when building the binary, by
  using the flag =-O0= (it's /dash-oh-zero/).

  #+BEAMER: \pause

  - =# gcc -O0 -g program.c -o program=, /or/

  - ~# CFLAGS='-O0 -g' ./configure && make~

* Running your program using GDB

- In GDB's parlance, the program being debugged is called the
  *inferior*.

#+BEAMER: \pause

- Some ways to start the debugger:

  #+BEAMER: \pause

  - =# gdb ./program=

  #+BEAMER: \pause

  - =# gdb --args ./program arg1 arg2=

  #+BEAMER: \pause

  - =# gdb= @@latex: \\@@
    =(gdb) file ./program= @@latex: \\@@
    =(gdb) run arg1 arg2=

* {Break,Catch,Watch}points

- A *breakpoint* is related to /source code/ (location, function).  A
  *watchpoint* is related to /data/ (read/write of a variable).  A
  *catchpoint* is related to an /event/ (enter/exit a syscall, fork,
  receive a signal).

#+BEAMER: \pause

- Breakpoints (/code/)

  - =break=

  - =tbreak= (temporary)

#+BEAMER: \pause

- Watchpoints (/data/)

  - =watch= (write), =rwatch= (read), =awatch= (access)

  - Conditional watchpoints are supported.

#+BEAMER: \pause

- Catchpoints (/events/)

  - =catch fork=

  - =catch syscall=

* Resuming the execution

- After GDB has stopped the inferior (because a =*point= has been hit,
  for example), you will probably want to resume its execution.

#+BEAMER: \pause

- You may just want to continue the program:

  - =continue=

#+BEAMER: \pause

- Or maybe go to the next statement/instruction:

  - =next= (/statement/), or =nexti= (/instruction/)

#+BEAMER: \pause

- Or step into a function:

  - =step= (/statement/), or =stepi= (/instruction/)

#+BEAMER: \pause

- Or finish executing the current function, but stop at the end:

  - =finish=



* Examining data

- The inferior has stopped...  Now what?

#+BEAMER: \pause

- You may want to print the value of some variable:

  - =print VAR=

#+BEAMER: \pause

- Or examine a memory location:

  - =x ADDRESS=

#+BEAMER: \pause

- The type of a variable?  Easy:

  - =whatis VARIABLE=

#+BEAMER: \pause

- Hint: you may want to enable pretty-printing:

  - =set print pretty on=

* Examining the code

- Yes, we have =ncurses=!  The @@latex:\textbf{T}@@ext
  @@latex:\textbf{U}@@user @@latex:\textbf{I}@@nterface!

  - =C-x a= (that's =CTRL x a=).

#+BEAMER: \pause

- If you want to list the current region, or if you don't want/can't
  to use TUI:

  - =list=

#+BEAMER: \pause

- You can also disassemble code:

  - =disassemble=

#+BEAMER: \pause

- If GDB can't find the source code, you can specify its location
  using the =dir= command.

* Examining the call stack

- If you want to see the call stack (A.K.A. stack trace) that lead to
  the current function:

  - =bt=

#+BEAMER: \pause

- And you can move through it:

  - =up= and =down=

  - You can also go to a specific frame: =frame NUMBER=

* Corefiles

- *Corefiles* are frozen images of the inferior.  You can inspect
  everything that was happening when the process was running (but you
  can't resurrect it).

#+BEAMER: \pause

- You can generate them /outside/ GDB, when a program crashes.  Make
  sure you:

  - =ulimit -c unlimited=

  - Check if =systemd= is handling them
    (=/proc/sys/kernel/core_pattern=).

#+BEAMER: \pause

- You can also generate them /inside/ GDB, at any moment:

  - =generate-core-file=

#+BEAMER: \pause

- You can open a corefile using GDB:

  - =# gdb program -c corefile.PID=

* Other interesting information

- =info breakpoints=

- =info locals=

- =info registers=

- Many others!

* Who you gonna call?

- Our online documentation (=info=) is very good!

- Every command has a =help=.

- You can also use =apropos= when searching for a term.

- =TAB=-completion is also useful.

* Other advanced features

- Python support.

- Reverse debugging.

- Support for /SystemTap SDT probes/.

* Thank you

- Thanks to Red Hat for the support.

- Thanks to Paul Nijjar and Bob Jonkman for the invitation.

- Thanks to you for watching!