1 =========================================
2 How to get printk format specifiers right
3 =========================================
7 :Author: Randy Dunlap <rdunlap@infradead.org>
8 :Author: Andrew Murray <amurray@mpc-data.co.uk>
16 If variable is of Type, use printk format specifier:
17 ------------------------------------------------------------
19 unsigned char %u or %x
21 unsigned short int %u or %x
25 unsigned long %lu or %lx
26 long long %lld or %llx
27 unsigned long long %llu or %llx
40 If <type> is dependent on a config option for its size (e.g., sector_t,
41 blkcnt_t) or is architecture-dependent for its size (e.g., tcflag_t), use a
42 format specifier of its largest possible type and explicitly cast to it.
46 printk("test: sector number/total blocks: %llu/%llu\n",
47 (unsigned long long)sector, (unsigned long long)blockcount);
49 Reminder: sizeof() returns type size_t.
51 The kernel's printf does not support %n. Floating point formats (%e, %f,
52 %g, %a) are also not recognized, for obvious reasons. Use of any
53 unsupported specifier or length qualifier results in a WARN and early
54 return from vsnprintf().
59 A raw pointer value may be printed with %p which will hash the address
60 before printing. The kernel also supports extended specifiers for printing
61 pointers of different types.
63 Some of the extended specifiers print the data on the given address instead
64 of printing the address itself. In this case, the following error messages
65 might be printed instead of the unreachable information::
67 (null) data on plain NULL address
68 (efault) data on invalid address
69 (einval) invalid data on a valid address
76 %p abcdef12 or 00000000abcdef12
78 Pointers printed without a specifier extension (i.e unadorned %p) are
79 hashed to prevent leaking information about the kernel memory layout. This
80 has the added benefit of providing a unique identifier. On 64-bit machines
81 the first 32 bits are zeroed. The kernel will print ``(ptrval)`` until it
82 gathers enough entropy. If you *really* want the address see %px below.
91 For printing error pointers (i.e. a pointer for which IS_ERR() is true)
92 as a symbolic error name. Error values for which no symbolic name is
93 known are printed in decimal, while a non-ERR_PTR passed as the
94 argument to %pe gets treated as ordinary %p.
96 Symbols/Function Pointers
97 -------------------------
101 %pS versatile_init+0x0/0x110
103 %pSR versatile_init+0x9/0x110
104 (with __builtin_extract_return_addr() translation)
105 %pB prev_fn_of_versatile_init+0x88/0x88
108 The ``S`` and ``s`` specifiers are used for printing a pointer in symbolic
109 format. They result in the symbol name with (S) or without (s)
110 offsets. If KALLSYMS are disabled then the symbol address is printed instead.
112 The ``B`` specifier results in the symbol name with offsets and should be
113 used when printing stack backtraces. The specifier takes into
114 consideration the effect of compiler optimisations which may occur
115 when tail-calls are used and marked with the noreturn GCC attribute.
117 Probed Pointers from BPF / tracing
118 ----------------------------------
125 The ``k`` and ``u`` specifiers are used for printing prior probed memory from
126 either kernel memory (k) or user memory (u). The subsequent ``s`` specifier
127 results in printing a string. For direct use in regular vsnprintf() the (k)
128 and (u) annotation is ignored, however, when used out of BPF's bpf_trace_printk(),
129 for example, it reads the memory it is pointing to without faulting.
136 %pK 01234567 or 0123456789abcdef
138 For printing kernel pointers which should be hidden from unprivileged
139 users. The behaviour of %pK depends on the kptr_restrict sysctl - see
140 Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/kernel.rst for more details.
147 %px 01234567 or 0123456789abcdef
149 For printing pointers when you *really* want to print the address. Please
150 consider whether or not you are leaking sensitive information about the
151 kernel memory layout before printing pointers with %px. %px is functionally
152 equivalent to %lx (or %lu). %px is preferred because it is more uniquely
153 grep'able. If in the future we need to modify the way the kernel handles
154 printing pointers we will be better equipped to find the call sites.
164 For printing the pointer differences, use the %t modifier for ptrdiff_t.
168 printk("test: difference between pointers: %td\n", ptr2 - ptr1);
175 %pr [mem 0x60000000-0x6fffffff flags 0x2200] or
176 [mem 0x0000000060000000-0x000000006fffffff flags 0x2200]
177 %pR [mem 0x60000000-0x6fffffff pref] or
178 [mem 0x0000000060000000-0x000000006fffffff pref]
180 For printing struct resources. The ``R`` and ``r`` specifiers result in a
181 printed resource with (R) or without (r) a decoded flags member.
185 Physical address types phys_addr_t
186 ----------------------------------
190 %pa[p] 0x01234567 or 0x0123456789abcdef
192 For printing a phys_addr_t type (and its derivatives, such as
193 resource_size_t) which can vary based on build options, regardless of the
194 width of the CPU data path.
198 DMA address types dma_addr_t
199 ----------------------------
203 %pad 0x01234567 or 0x0123456789abcdef
205 For printing a dma_addr_t type which can vary based on build options,
206 regardless of the width of the CPU data path.
210 Raw buffer as an escaped string
211 -------------------------------
217 For printing raw buffer as an escaped string. For the following buffer::
219 1b 62 20 5c 43 07 22 90 0d 5d
221 A few examples show how the conversion would be done (excluding surrounding
224 %*pE "\eb \C\a"\220\r]"
225 %*pEhp "\x1bb \C\x07"\x90\x0d]"
226 %*pEa "\e\142\040\\\103\a\042\220\r\135"
228 The conversion rules are applied according to an optional combination
229 of flags (see :c:func:`string_escape_mem` kernel documentation for the
240 By default ESCAPE_ANY_NP is used.
242 ESCAPE_ANY_NP is the sane choice for many cases, in particularly for
245 If field width is omitted then 1 byte only will be escaped.
247 Raw buffer as a hex string
248 --------------------------
253 %*phC 00:01:02: ... :3f
254 %*phD 00-01-02- ... -3f
257 For printing small buffers (up to 64 bytes long) as a hex string with a
258 certain separator. For larger buffers consider using
259 :c:func:`print_hex_dump`.
266 %pM 00:01:02:03:04:05
267 %pMR 05:04:03:02:01:00
268 %pMF 00-01-02-03-04-05
272 For printing 6-byte MAC/FDDI addresses in hex notation. The ``M`` and ``m``
273 specifiers result in a printed address with (M) or without (m) byte
274 separators. The default byte separator is the colon (:).
276 Where FDDI addresses are concerned the ``F`` specifier can be used after
277 the ``M`` specifier to use dash (-) separators instead of the default
280 For Bluetooth addresses the ``R`` specifier shall be used after the ``M``
281 specifier to use reversed byte order suitable for visual interpretation
282 of Bluetooth addresses which are in the little endian order.
295 For printing IPv4 dot-separated decimal addresses. The ``I4`` and ``i4``
296 specifiers result in a printed address with (i4) or without (I4) leading
299 The additional ``h``, ``n``, ``b``, and ``l`` specifiers are used to specify
300 host, network, big or little endian order addresses respectively. Where
301 no specifier is provided the default network/big endian order is used.
310 %pI6 0001:0002:0003:0004:0005:0006:0007:0008
311 %pi6 00010002000300040005000600070008
312 %pI6c 1:2:3:4:5:6:7:8
314 For printing IPv6 network-order 16-bit hex addresses. The ``I6`` and ``i6``
315 specifiers result in a printed address with (I6) or without (i6)
316 colon-separators. Leading zeros are always used.
318 The additional ``c`` specifier can be used with the ``I`` specifier to
319 print a compressed IPv6 address as described by
320 https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5952
324 IPv4/IPv6 addresses (generic, with port, flowinfo, scope)
325 ---------------------------------------------------------
329 %pIS 1.2.3.4 or 0001:0002:0003:0004:0005:0006:0007:0008
330 %piS 001.002.003.004 or 00010002000300040005000600070008
331 %pISc 1.2.3.4 or 1:2:3:4:5:6:7:8
332 %pISpc 1.2.3.4:12345 or [1:2:3:4:5:6:7:8]:12345
335 For printing an IP address without the need to distinguish whether it's of
336 type AF_INET or AF_INET6. A pointer to a valid struct sockaddr,
337 specified through ``IS`` or ``iS``, can be passed to this format specifier.
339 The additional ``p``, ``f``, and ``s`` specifiers are used to specify port
340 (IPv4, IPv6), flowinfo (IPv6) and scope (IPv6). Ports have a ``:`` prefix,
341 flowinfo a ``/`` and scope a ``%``, each followed by the actual value.
343 In case of an IPv6 address the compressed IPv6 address as described by
344 https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5952 is being used if the additional
345 specifier ``c`` is given. The IPv6 address is surrounded by ``[``, ``]`` in
346 case of additional specifiers ``p``, ``f`` or ``s`` as suggested by
347 https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-6man-text-addr-representation-07
349 In case of IPv4 addresses, the additional ``h``, ``n``, ``b``, and ``l``
350 specifiers can be used as well and are ignored in case of an IPv6
357 %pISfc 1.2.3.4 or [1:2:3:4:5:6:7:8]/123456789
358 %pISsc 1.2.3.4 or [1:2:3:4:5:6:7:8]%1234567890
359 %pISpfc 1.2.3.4:12345 or [1:2:3:4:5:6:7:8]:12345/123456789
366 %pUb 00010203-0405-0607-0809-0a0b0c0d0e0f
367 %pUB 00010203-0405-0607-0809-0A0B0C0D0E0F
368 %pUl 03020100-0504-0706-0809-0a0b0c0e0e0f
369 %pUL 03020100-0504-0706-0809-0A0B0C0E0E0F
371 For printing 16-byte UUID/GUIDs addresses. The additional ``l``, ``L``,
372 ``b`` and ``B`` specifiers are used to specify a little endian order in
373 lower (l) or upper case (L) hex notation - and big endian order in lower (b)
374 or upper case (B) hex notation.
376 Where no additional specifiers are used the default big endian
377 order with lower case hex notation will be printed.
389 For printing dentry name; if we race with :c:func:`d_move`, the name might
390 be a mix of old and new ones, but it won't oops. %pd dentry is a safer
391 equivalent of %s dentry->d_name.name we used to use, %pd<n> prints ``n``
392 last components. %pD does the same thing for struct file.
401 %pg sda, sda1 or loop0p1
403 For printing name of block_device pointers.
412 For printing struct va_format structures. These contain a format string
413 and va_list as follows::
420 Implements a "recursive vsnprintf".
422 Do not use this feature without some mechanism to verify the
423 correctness of the format string and va_list arguments.
435 For printing device tree node structures. Default behaviour is
438 - f - device node full_name
439 - n - device node name
440 - p - device node phandle
441 - P - device node path spec (name + @unit)
442 - F - device node flags
443 - c - major compatible string
444 - C - full compatible string
446 The separator when using multiple arguments is ':'
450 %pOF /foo/bar@0 - Node full name
451 %pOFf /foo/bar@0 - Same as above
452 %pOFfp /foo/bar@0:10 - Node full name + phandle
453 %pOFfcF /foo/bar@0:foo,device:--P- - Node full name +
454 major compatible string +
470 For printing information on fwnode handles. The default is to print the full
471 node name, including the path. The modifiers are functionally equivalent to
474 - f - full name of the node, including the path
475 - P - the name of the node including an address (if there is one)
479 %pfwf \_SB.PCI0.CIO2.port@1.endpoint@0 - Full node name
480 %pfwP endpoint@0 - Node name
484 %pfwf /ocp@68000000/i2c@48072000/camera@10/port/endpoint - Full name
485 %pfwP endpoint - Node name
492 %pt[RT] YYYY-mm-ddTHH:MM:SS
497 For printing date and time as represented by::
499 R struct rtc_time structure
502 in human readable format.
504 By default year will be incremented by 1900 and month by 1.
505 Use %pt[RT]r (raw) to suppress this behaviour.
517 For printing struct clk structures. %pC and %pCn print the name of the clock
518 (Common Clock Framework) or a unique 32-bit ID (legacy clock framework).
522 bitmap and its derivatives such as cpumask and nodemask
523 -------------------------------------------------------
530 For printing bitmap and its derivatives such as cpumask and nodemask,
531 %*pb outputs the bitmap with field width as the number of bits and %*pbl
532 output the bitmap as range list with field width as the number of bits.
534 The field width is passed by value, the bitmap is passed by reference.
535 Helper macros cpumask_pr_args() and nodemask_pr_args() are available to ease
536 printing cpumask and nodemask.
538 Flags bitfields such as page flags, gfp_flags
539 ---------------------------------------------
543 %pGp referenced|uptodate|lru|active|private
544 %pGg GFP_USER|GFP_DMA32|GFP_NOWARN
545 %pGv read|exec|mayread|maywrite|mayexec|denywrite
547 For printing flags bitfields as a collection of symbolic constants that
548 would construct the value. The type of flags is given by the third
549 character. Currently supported are [p]age flags, [v]ma_flags (both
550 expect ``unsigned long *``) and [g]fp_flags (expects ``gfp_t *``). The flag
551 names and print order depends on the particular type.
553 Note that this format should not be used directly in the
554 :c:func:`TP_printk()` part of a tracepoint. Instead, use the show_*_flags()
555 functions from <trace/events/mmflags.h>.
559 Network device features
560 -----------------------
564 %pNF 0x000000000000c000
566 For printing netdev_features_t.
573 If you add other %p extensions, please extend <lib/test_printf.c> with
574 one or more test cases, if at all feasible.
576 Thank you for your cooperation and attention.