8 This document describes how to use the dynamic debug (dyndbg) feature.
10 Dynamic debug is designed to allow you to dynamically enable/disable
11 kernel code to obtain additional kernel information. Currently, if
12 ``CONFIG_DYNAMIC_DEBUG`` is set, then all ``pr_debug()``/``dev_dbg()`` and
13 ``print_hex_dump_debug()``/``print_hex_dump_bytes()`` calls can be dynamically
16 If ``CONFIG_DYNAMIC_DEBUG`` is not set, ``print_hex_dump_debug()`` is just
17 shortcut for ``print_hex_dump(KERN_DEBUG)``.
19 For ``print_hex_dump_debug()``/``print_hex_dump_bytes()``, format string is
20 its ``prefix_str`` argument, if it is constant string; or ``hexdump``
21 in case ``prefix_str`` is build dynamically.
23 Dynamic debug has even more useful features:
25 * Simple query language allows turning on and off debugging
26 statements by matching any combination of 0 or 1 of:
30 - line number (including ranges of line numbers)
34 * Provides a debugfs control file: ``<debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control``
35 which can be read to display the complete list of known debug
36 statements, to help guide you
38 Controlling dynamic debug Behaviour
39 ===================================
41 The behaviour of ``pr_debug()``/``dev_dbg()`` are controlled via writing to a
42 control file in the 'debugfs' filesystem. Thus, you must first mount
43 the debugfs filesystem, in order to make use of this feature.
44 Subsequently, we refer to the control file as:
45 ``<debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control``. For example, if you want to enable
46 printing from source file ``svcsock.c``, line 1603 you simply do::
48 nullarbor:~ # echo 'file svcsock.c line 1603 +p' >
49 <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
51 If you make a mistake with the syntax, the write will fail thus::
53 nullarbor:~ # echo 'file svcsock.c wtf 1 +p' >
54 <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
55 -bash: echo: write error: Invalid argument
57 Viewing Dynamic Debug Behaviour
58 ===============================
60 You can view the currently configured behaviour of all the debug
63 nullarbor:~ # cat <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
64 # filename:lineno [module]function flags format
65 /usr/src/packages/BUILD/sgi-enhancednfs-1.4/default/net/sunrpc/svc_rdma.c:323 [svcxprt_rdma]svc_rdma_cleanup =_ "SVCRDMA Module Removed, deregister RPC RDMA transport\012"
66 /usr/src/packages/BUILD/sgi-enhancednfs-1.4/default/net/sunrpc/svc_rdma.c:341 [svcxprt_rdma]svc_rdma_init =_ "\011max_inline : %d\012"
67 /usr/src/packages/BUILD/sgi-enhancednfs-1.4/default/net/sunrpc/svc_rdma.c:340 [svcxprt_rdma]svc_rdma_init =_ "\011sq_depth : %d\012"
68 /usr/src/packages/BUILD/sgi-enhancednfs-1.4/default/net/sunrpc/svc_rdma.c:338 [svcxprt_rdma]svc_rdma_init =_ "\011max_requests : %d\012"
72 You can also apply standard Unix text manipulation filters to this
75 nullarbor:~ # grep -i rdma <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control | wc -l
78 nullarbor:~ # grep -i tcp <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control | wc -l
81 The third column shows the currently enabled flags for each debug
82 statement callsite (see below for definitions of the flags). The
83 default value, with no flags enabled, is ``=_``. So you can view all
84 the debug statement callsites with any non-default flags::
86 nullarbor:~ # awk '$3 != "=_"' <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
87 # filename:lineno [module]function flags format
88 /usr/src/packages/BUILD/sgi-enhancednfs-1.4/default/net/sunrpc/svcsock.c:1603 [sunrpc]svc_send p "svc_process: st_sendto returned %d\012"
90 Command Language Reference
91 ==========================
93 At the lexical level, a command comprises a sequence of words separated
94 by spaces or tabs. So these are all equivalent::
96 nullarbor:~ # echo -c 'file svcsock.c line 1603 +p' >
97 <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
98 nullarbor:~ # echo -c ' file svcsock.c line 1603 +p ' >
99 <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
100 nullarbor:~ # echo -n 'file svcsock.c line 1603 +p' >
101 <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
103 Command submissions are bounded by a write() system call.
104 Multiple commands can be written together, separated by ``;`` or ``\n``::
106 ~# echo "func pnpacpi_get_resources +p; func pnp_assign_mem +p" \
107 > <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
109 If your query set is big, you can batch them too::
111 ~# cat query-batch-file > <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
113 A another way is to use wildcard. The match rule support ``*`` (matches
114 zero or more characters) and ``?`` (matches exactly one character).For
115 example, you can match all usb drivers::
117 ~# echo "file drivers/usb/* +p" > <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
119 At the syntactical level, a command comprises a sequence of match
120 specifications, followed by a flags change specification::
122 command ::= match-spec* flags-spec
124 The match-spec's are used to choose a subset of the known pr_debug()
125 callsites to which to apply the flags-spec. Think of them as a query
126 with implicit ANDs between each pair. Note that an empty list of
127 match-specs will select all debug statement callsites.
129 A match specification comprises a keyword, which controls the
130 attribute of the callsite to be compared, and a value to compare
131 against. Possible keywords are:::
133 match-spec ::= 'func' string |
139 line-range ::= lineno |
144 lineno ::= unsigned-int
148 ``line-range`` cannot contain space, e.g.
149 "1-30" is valid range but "1 - 30" is not.
152 The meanings of each keyword are:
155 The given string is compared against the function name
156 of each callsite. Example::
161 The given string is compared against either the full pathname, the
162 src-root relative pathname, or the basename of the source file of
163 each callsite. Examples::
166 file kernel/freezer.c
167 file /usr/src/packages/BUILD/sgi-enhancednfs-1.4/default/net/sunrpc/svcsock.c
170 The given string is compared against the module name
171 of each callsite. The module name is the string as
172 seen in ``lsmod``, i.e. without the directory or the ``.ko``
173 suffix and with ``-`` changed to ``_``. Examples::
179 The given string is searched for in the dynamic debug format
180 string. Note that the string does not need to match the
181 entire format, only some part. Whitespace and other
182 special characters can be escaped using C octal character
183 escape ``\ooo`` notation, e.g. the space character is ``\040``.
184 Alternatively, the string can be enclosed in double quote
185 characters (``"``) or single quote characters (``'``).
188 format svcrdma: // many of the NFS/RDMA server pr_debugs
189 format readahead // some pr_debugs in the readahead cache
190 format nfsd:\040SETATTR // one way to match a format with whitespace
191 format "nfsd: SETATTR" // a neater way to match a format with whitespace
192 format 'nfsd: SETATTR' // yet another way to match a format with whitespace
195 The given line number or range of line numbers is compared
196 against the line number of each ``pr_debug()`` callsite. A single
197 line number matches the callsite line number exactly. A
198 range of line numbers matches any callsite between the first
199 and last line number inclusive. An empty first number means
200 the first line in the file, an empty line number means the
201 last number in the file. Examples::
203 line 1603 // exactly line 1603
204 line 1600-1605 // the six lines from line 1600 to line 1605
205 line -1605 // the 1605 lines from line 1 to line 1605
206 line 1600- // all lines from line 1600 to the end of the file
208 The flags specification comprises a change operation followed
209 by one or more flag characters. The change operation is one
212 - remove the given flags
213 + add the given flags
214 = set the flags to the given flags
218 p enables the pr_debug() callsite.
219 f Include the function name in the printed message
220 l Include line number in the printed message
221 m Include module name in the printed message
222 t Include thread ID in messages not generated from interrupt context
223 _ No flags are set. (Or'd with others on input)
225 For ``print_hex_dump_debug()`` and ``print_hex_dump_bytes()``, only ``p`` flag
226 have meaning, other flags ignored.
228 For display, the flags are preceded by ``=``
229 (mnemonic: what the flags are currently equal to).
231 Note the regexp ``^[-+=][flmpt_]+$`` matches a flags specification.
232 To clear all flags at once, use ``=_`` or ``-flmpt``.
235 Debug messages during Boot Process
236 ==================================
238 To activate debug messages for core code and built-in modules during
239 the boot process, even before userspace and debugfs exists, use
240 ``dyndbg="QUERY"``, ``module.dyndbg="QUERY"``, or ``ddebug_query="QUERY"``
241 (``ddebug_query`` is obsoleted by ``dyndbg``, and deprecated). QUERY follows
242 the syntax described above, but must not exceed 1023 characters. Your
243 bootloader may impose lower limits.
245 These ``dyndbg`` params are processed just after the ddebug tables are
246 processed, as part of the arch_initcall. Thus you can enable debug
247 messages in all code run after this arch_initcall via this boot
250 On an x86 system for example ACPI enablement is a subsys_initcall and::
252 dyndbg="file ec.c +p"
254 will show early Embedded Controller transactions during ACPI setup if
255 your machine (typically a laptop) has an Embedded Controller.
256 PCI (or other devices) initialization also is a hot candidate for using
257 this boot parameter for debugging purposes.
259 If ``foo`` module is not built-in, ``foo.dyndbg`` will still be processed at
260 boot time, without effect, but will be reprocessed when module is
261 loaded later. ``dyndbg_query=`` and bare ``dyndbg=`` are only processed at
265 Debug Messages at Module Initialization Time
266 ============================================
268 When ``modprobe foo`` is called, modprobe scans ``/proc/cmdline`` for
269 ``foo.params``, strips ``foo.``, and passes them to the kernel along with
270 params given in modprobe args or ``/etc/modprob.d/*.conf`` files,
271 in the following order:
273 1. parameters given via ``/etc/modprobe.d/*.conf``::
275 options foo dyndbg=+pt
276 options foo dyndbg # defaults to +p
278 2. ``foo.dyndbg`` as given in boot args, ``foo.`` is stripped and passed::
280 foo.dyndbg=" func bar +p; func buz +mp"
282 3. args to modprobe::
284 modprobe foo dyndbg==pmf # override previous settings
286 These ``dyndbg`` queries are applied in order, with last having final say.
287 This allows boot args to override or modify those from ``/etc/modprobe.d``
288 (sensible, since 1 is system wide, 2 is kernel or boot specific), and
289 modprobe args to override both.
291 In the ``foo.dyndbg="QUERY"`` form, the query must exclude ``module foo``.
292 ``foo`` is extracted from the param-name, and applied to each query in
293 ``QUERY``, and only 1 match-spec of each type is allowed.
295 The ``dyndbg`` option is a "fake" module parameter, which means:
297 - modules do not need to define it explicitly
298 - every module gets it tacitly, whether they use pr_debug or not
299 - it doesn't appear in ``/sys/module/$module/parameters/``
300 To see it, grep the control file, or inspect ``/proc/cmdline.``
302 For ``CONFIG_DYNAMIC_DEBUG`` kernels, any settings given at boot-time (or
303 enabled by ``-DDEBUG`` flag during compilation) can be disabled later via
304 the sysfs interface if the debug messages are no longer needed::
306 echo "module module_name -p" > <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
313 // enable the message at line 1603 of file svcsock.c
314 nullarbor:~ # echo -n 'file svcsock.c line 1603 +p' >
315 <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
317 // enable all the messages in file svcsock.c
318 nullarbor:~ # echo -n 'file svcsock.c +p' >
319 <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
321 // enable all the messages in the NFS server module
322 nullarbor:~ # echo -n 'module nfsd +p' >
323 <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
325 // enable all 12 messages in the function svc_process()
326 nullarbor:~ # echo -n 'func svc_process +p' >
327 <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
329 // disable all 12 messages in the function svc_process()
330 nullarbor:~ # echo -n 'func svc_process -p' >
331 <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
333 // enable messages for NFS calls READ, READLINK, READDIR and READDIR+.
334 nullarbor:~ # echo -n 'format "nfsd: READ" +p' >
335 <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
337 // enable messages in files of which the paths include string "usb"
338 nullarbor:~ # echo -n '*usb* +p' > <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
340 // enable all messages
341 nullarbor:~ # echo -n '+p' > <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
343 // add module, function to all enabled messages
344 nullarbor:~ # echo -n '+mf' > <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
346 // boot-args example, with newlines and comments for readability
347 Kernel command line: ...
348 // see whats going on in dyndbg=value processing
349 dynamic_debug.verbose=1
350 // enable pr_debugs in 2 builtins, #cmt is stripped
351 dyndbg="module params +p #cmt ; module sys +p"
352 // enable pr_debugs in 2 functions in a module loaded later
353 pc87360.dyndbg="func pc87360_init_device +p; func pc87360_find +p"