Debugging Kernel Problems by GregLehey Edition for AsiaBSDCon 2004 Taipei, 13 March 2004 Debugging Kernel Problems by GregLehey(
[email protected]) Copyright © 1995-2004 GregLehey 3Debugging Kernel Problems Preface Debugging kernel problems is a black art. Not manypeople do it, and documentation is rare, in- accurate and incomplete. This document is no exception: faced with the choice of accuracyand completeness, I chose to attempt the latter.Asusual, time was the limiting factor,and this draft is still in beta status. This is a typical situation for the whole topic of kernel debugging: building debug tools and documentation is expensive,and the people who write them are also the people who use them, so there'satendencytobuild as much of the tool as necessary to do the job at hand. If the tool is well-written, it will be reusable by the next person who looks at a particular area; if not, it might fall into disuse. Consider this book a starting point for your own develop- ment of debugging tools, and remember: more than anywhere else, this is an area with ``some as- sembly required''. Debugging Kernel Problems 4 1 Introduction Operating systems fail. All operating systems contain bugs, and theywill sometimes cause the system to behave incorrectly.The BSD kernels are no exception. Compared to most other oper- ating systems, both free and commercial, the BSD kernels offer a large number of debugging tools. This tutorial examines the options available both to the experienced end user and also to the developer. In this tutorial, we’ll look at the following topics: • Howand whykernels fail.