1 ================================
2 How to submit an LLVM bug report
3 ================================
5 Introduction - Got bugs?
6 ========================
9 If you're working with LLVM and run into a bug, we definitely want to know
10 about it. This document describes what you can do to increase the odds of
11 getting it fixed quickly.
13 🔒 If you believe that the bug is security related, please follow :ref:`report-security-issue`. 🔒
15 Basically you have to do two things at a minimum. First, decide whether the
16 bug `crashes the compiler`_ or if the compiler is `miscompiling`_ the program
17 (i.e., the compiler successfully produces an executable, but it doesn't run
18 right). Based on what type of bug it is, follow the instructions in the
19 linked section to narrow down the bug so that the person who fixes it will be
20 able to find the problem more easily.
22 Once you have a reduced test-case, go to `the LLVM Bug Tracking System
23 <https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/issues>`_ and fill out the form with the
24 necessary details (note that you don't need to pick a label, just use if you're
25 not sure). The bug description should contain the following information:
27 * All information necessary to reproduce the problem.
28 * The reduced test-case that triggers the bug.
29 * The location where you obtained LLVM (if not from our Git
32 Thanks for helping us make LLVM better!
34 .. _crashes the compiler:
39 More often than not, bugs in the compiler cause it to crash---often due to
40 an assertion failure of some sort. The most important piece of the puzzle
41 is to figure out if it is crashing in the Clang front-end or if it is one of
42 the LLVM libraries (e.g. the optimizer or code generator) that has
45 To figure out which component is crashing (the front-end, middle-end
46 optimizer, or backend code generator), run the ``clang`` command line as you
47 were when the crash occurred, but with the following extra command line
50 * ``-emit-llvm -Xclang -disable-llvm-passes``: If ``clang`` still crashes when
51 passed these options (which disable the optimizer and code generator), then
52 the crash is in the front-end. Jump ahead to :ref:`front-end bugs
55 * ``-emit-llvm``: If ``clang`` crashes with this option (which disables
56 the code generator), you found a middle-end optimizer bug. Jump ahead to
57 :ref:`middle-end bugs <middleend-crash>`.
59 * Otherwise, you have a backend code generator crash. Jump ahead to :ref:`code
60 generator bugs <backend-crash>`.
67 On a ``clang`` crash, the compiler will dump a preprocessed file and a script
68 to replay the ``clang`` command. For example, you should see something like
72 PLEASE ATTACH THE FOLLOWING FILES TO THE BUG REPORT:
73 Preprocessed source(s) and associated run script(s) are located at:
74 clang: note: diagnostic msg: /tmp/foo-xxxxxx.c
75 clang: note: diagnostic msg: /tmp/foo-xxxxxx.sh
77 The `creduce <https://github.com/csmith-project/creduce>`_ tool helps to
78 reduce the preprocessed file down to the smallest amount of code that still
79 replicates the problem. You're encouraged to use creduce to reduce the code
80 to make the developers' lives easier. The
81 ``clang/utils/creduce-clang-crash.py`` script can be used on the files
82 that clang dumps to help with automating creating a test to check for the
85 `cvise <https://github.com/marxin/cvise>`_ is an alternative to ``creduce``.
89 Middle-end optimization bugs
90 ----------------------------
92 If you find that a bug crashes in the optimizer, compile your test-case to a
93 ``.bc`` file by passing "``-emit-llvm -O1 -Xclang -disable-llvm-passes -c -o
94 foo.bc``". The ``-O1`` is important because ``-O0`` adds the ``optnone``
95 function attribute to all functions and many passes don't run on ``optnone``
100 opt -O3 foo.bc -disable-output
102 If this doesn't crash, please follow the instructions for a :ref:`front-end
103 bug <frontend-crash>`.
105 If this does crash, then you should be able to debug this with the following
106 :doc:`bugpoint <Bugpoint>` command:
112 Run this, then file a bug with the instructions and reduced .bc
113 files that bugpoint emits.
115 If bugpoint doesn't reproduce the crash, ``llvm-reduce`` is an alternative
116 way to reduce LLVM IR. Create a script that repros the crash and run:
120 llvm-reduce --test=path/to/script foo.bc
122 which should produce reduced IR that reproduces the crash. Be warned the
123 ``llvm-reduce`` is still fairly immature and may crash.
125 If none of the above work, you can get the IR before a crash by running the
126 ``opt`` command with the ``--print-before-all --print-module-scope`` flags to
127 dump the IR before every pass. Be warned that this is very verbose.
131 Backend code generator bugs
132 ---------------------------
134 If you find a bug that crashes clang in the code generator, compile your
135 source file to a .bc file by passing "``-emit-llvm -c -o foo.bc``" to
136 clang (in addition to the options you already pass). Once your have
137 foo.bc, one of the following commands should fail:
140 #. ``llc foo.bc -relocation-model=pic``
141 #. ``llc foo.bc -relocation-model=static``
143 If none of these crash, please follow the instructions for a :ref:`front-end
144 bug<frontend-crash>`. If one of these do crash, you should be able to reduce
145 this with one of the following :doc:`bugpoint <Bugpoint>` command lines (use
146 the one corresponding to the command above that failed):
148 #. ``bugpoint -run-llc foo.bc``
149 #. ``bugpoint -run-llc foo.bc --tool-args -relocation-model=pic``
150 #. ``bugpoint -run-llc foo.bc --tool-args -relocation-model=static``
152 Please run this, then file a bug with the instructions and reduced .bc file
153 that bugpoint emits. If something goes wrong with bugpoint, please submit
154 the "foo.bc" file and the option that llc crashes with.
157 ---------------------------
159 If you encounter a bug that leads to crashes in the LLVM LTO phase when using
160 the ``-flto`` option, follow these steps to diagnose and report the issue:
162 Compile your source file to a ``.bc`` (Bitcode) file with the following options,
163 in addition to your existing compilation options:
167 export CFLAGS="-flto -fuse-ld=lld" CXXFLAGS="-flto -fuse-ld=lld" LDFLAGS="-Wl,-plugin-opt=save-temps"
169 These options enable LTO and save temporary files generated during compilation
172 On Windows, you should be using lld-link as the linker. Adjust your compilation
174 * Add ``/lldsavetemps`` to the linker flags.
175 * When linking from the compiler driver, add ``/link /lldsavetemps`` in order to forward that flag to the linker.
177 Using the specified flags will generate four intermediate bytecode files:
179 #. a.out.0.0.preopt.bc (Before any link-time optimizations (LTO) are applied)
180 #. a.out.0.2.internalize.bc (After initial optimizations are applied)
181 #. a.out.0.4.opt.bc (After an extensive set of optimizations)
182 #. a.out.0.5.precodegen.bc (After LTO but before translating into machine code)
184 Execute one of the following commands to identify the source of the problem:
186 #. ``opt "-passes=lto<O3>" a.out.0.2.internalize.bc``
187 #. ``llc a.out.0.5.precodegen.bc``
189 If one of these do crash, you should be able to reduce
190 this with :program:`llvm-reduce`
191 command line (use the bc file corresponding to the command above that failed):
195 llvm-reduce --test reduce.sh a.out.0.2.internalize.bc
197 Example of reduce.sh script
204 path/to/not --crash path/to/opt "-passes=lto<O3>" $1 -o temp.bc 2> err.log
205 grep -q "It->second == &Insn" err.log
207 Here we have grepped the failed assert message.
209 Please run this, then file a bug with the instructions and reduced .bc file
210 that llvm-reduce emits.
217 If clang successfully produces an executable, but that executable doesn't run
218 right, this is either a bug in the code or a bug in the compiler. The first
219 thing to check is to make sure it is not using undefined behavior (e.g.
220 reading a variable before it is defined). In particular, check to see if the
221 program is clean under various `sanitizers
222 <https://github.com/google/sanitizers>`_ (e.g. ``clang
223 -fsanitize=undefined,address``) and `valgrind <http://valgrind.org/>`_. Many
224 "LLVM bugs" that we have chased down ended up being bugs in the program being
227 Once you determine that the program itself is not buggy, you should choose
228 which code generator you wish to compile the program with (e.g. LLC or the JIT)
229 and optionally a series of LLVM passes to run. For example:
233 bugpoint -run-llc [... optzn passes ...] file-to-test.bc --args -- [program arguments]
235 bugpoint will try to narrow down your list of passes to the one pass that
236 causes an error, and simplify the bitcode file as much as it can to assist
237 you. It will print a message letting you know how to reproduce the
240 The :doc:`OptBisect <OptBisect>` page shows an alternative method for finding
241 incorrect optimization passes.
243 Incorrect code generation
244 =========================
246 Similarly to debugging incorrect compilation by mis-behaving passes, you
247 can debug incorrect code generation by either LLC or the JIT, using
248 ``bugpoint``. The process ``bugpoint`` follows in this case is to try to
249 narrow the code down to a function that is miscompiled by one or the other
250 method, but since for correctness, the entire program must be run,
251 ``bugpoint`` will compile the code it deems to not be affected with the C
252 Backend, and then link in the shared object it generates.
258 bugpoint -run-jit -output=[correct output file] [bitcode file] \
259 --tool-args -- [arguments to pass to lli] \
260 --args -- [program arguments]
262 Similarly, to debug the LLC, one would run:
266 bugpoint -run-llc -output=[correct output file] [bitcode file] \
267 --tool-args -- [arguments to pass to llc] \
268 --args -- [program arguments]
270 **Special note:** if you are debugging MultiSource or SPEC tests that
271 already exist in the ``llvm/test`` hierarchy, there is an easier way to
272 debug the JIT, LLC, and CBE, using the pre-written Makefile targets, which
273 will pass the program options specified in the Makefiles:
277 cd llvm/test/../../program
280 At the end of a successful ``bugpoint`` run, you will be presented
281 with two bitcode files: a *safe* file which can be compiled with the C
282 backend and the *test* file which either LLC or the JIT
283 mis-codegenerates, and thus causes the error.
285 To reproduce the error that ``bugpoint`` found, it is sufficient to do
288 #. Regenerate the shared object from the safe bitcode file:
292 llc -march=c safe.bc -o safe.c
293 gcc -shared safe.c -o safe.so
295 #. If debugging LLC, compile test bitcode native and link with the shared
300 llc test.bc -o test.s
301 gcc test.s safe.so -o test.llc
302 ./test.llc [program options]
304 #. If debugging the JIT, load the shared object and supply the test
309 lli -load=safe.so test.bc [program options]