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linux-kernel-module-cheat/gdbserver.md
Ciro Santilli 六四事件 法轮功 包卓轩 027bca7927 Update gdbserver.md
2018-01-16 17:30:22 +00:00

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# gdbserver
Step debug userland processes to understand how they are talking to the kernel.
In guest:
/gdbserver.sh /myinsmod.out /hello.ko
In host:
./rungdbserver kernel_module-1.0/user/myinsmod.out
You can find the executable with:
find buildroot/output.x86_64~/build -name myinsmod.out
TODO: automate the path finding:
- using the executable from under `buildroot/output.x86_64~/target` would be easier as the path is the same as in guest, but unfortunately those executables are stripped to make the guest smaller. `BR2_STRIP_none=y` should disable stripping, but make the image way larger.
- `outputx86_64~/staging/` would be even better than `target/` as the docs say that this directory contains binaries before they were stripped. However, only a few binaries are pre-installed there by default, and it seems to be a manual per package thing.
E.g. `pciutils` has for `lspci`:
define PCIUTILS_INSTALL_STAGING_CMDS
$(TARGET_MAKE_ENV) $(MAKE1) -C $(@D) $(PCIUTILS_MAKE_OPTS) \
PREFIX=$(STAGING_DIR)/usr SBINDIR=$(STAGING_DIR)/usr/bin \
install install-lib install-pcilib
endef
and the docs describe the `*_INSTALL_STAGING` per package config, which is normally set for shared library packages.
Feature request: <https://bugs.busybox.net/show_bug.cgi?id=10386>
An implementation overview can be found at: <https://reverseengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/8829/cross-debugging-for-mips-elf-with-qemu-toolchain/16214#16214>
## gdbserver different archs
As usual, different archs work with:
./rungdbserver -a arm kernel_module-1.0/user/myinsmod.out
## gdbserver BusyBox
BusyBox executables are all symlinks, so if you do on guest:
/gdbserver.sh ls
on host you need:
./rungdbserver busybox-1.26.2/busybox
## gdbserver shared libraries
Our setup gives you the rare opportunity to step debug libc and other system libraries e.g. with:
b open
c
Or simply by stepping into calls:
s
This is made possible by the GDB command:
set sysroot ${buildroot_out_dir}/staging
which automatically finds unstripped shared libraries on the host for us.
See also: <https://stackoverflow.com/questions/8611194/debugging-shared-libraries-with-gdbserver/45252113#45252113>
## Debug userland process without gdbserver
QEMU `-gdb` GDB breakpoints are set on virtual addresses, so you can in theory debug userland processes as well.
- <https://stackoverflow.com/questions/26271901/is-it-possible-to-use-gdb-and-qemu-to-debug-linux-user-space-programs-and-kernel>
- <https://stackoverflow.com/questions/16273614/debug-init-on-qemu-using-gdb>
The only use case I can see for this is to debug the init process (and have fun), otherwise, why wouldn't you just use `gdbserver`? Known limitations of direct userland debugging:
- the kernel might switch context to another process, and you would enter "garbage"
- TODO step into shared libraries. If I attempt to load them explicitly:
(gdb) sharedlibrary ../../staging/lib/libc.so.0
No loaded shared libraries match the pattern `../../staging/lib/libc.so.0'.
since GDB does not know that libc is loaded.
Custom init process:
- Shell 1:
./run -d -e 'init=/sleep_forever.out' -n
- Shell 2:
./rungdb-user kernel_module-1.0/user/sleep_forever.out main
BusyBox custom init process:
- Shell 1:
./run -d -e 'init=/bin/ls' -n
- Shell 2:
./rungdb-user -h busybox-1.26.2/busybox ls_main
This follows BusyBox' convention of calling the main for each executable as `<exec>_main` since the `busybox` executable has many "mains".
BusyBox default init process:
- Shell 1:
./run -d -n
- Shell 2:
./rungdb-user -h busybox-1.26.2/busybox init_main
This cannot be debugged in another way without modifying the source, or `/sbin/init` exits early with:
"must be run as PID 1"
Non-init process:
- Shell 1
./run -d -n
- Shell 2
./rungdb-user kernel_module-1.0/user/sleep_forever.out
Ctrl + C
b main
continue
- Shell 1
/sleep_forever.out
This is of least reliable setup as there might be other processes that use the given virtual address.