Debug core dump file using gdb

This function contains a variable named counter that is defined on line 6, and so on. Debugging information is stored in several places, including local and remote file systems.

Depending on what you are debugging, GDB and other tools search the following locations for the desired debugging information. When the file is loaded into tools that use debuginfo, the tools will read the various ELF sections related to debugging information. For programs and libraries distributed by vendors such as Red Hat, all debugging information is stripped from programs and libraries and saved into separate packages. For example, the program cp is in the coreutils package, and its debugging information is in the coreutils-debuginfo package.

To install the debuginfo for any distribution-supplied package such as coreutils , use dnf debuginfo-install coreutils. Tools such as GDB know to look in this directory when searching for any missing debugging information.

A build ID is essentially a hash that uniquely identifies any given version of a program or library. Later in the article, you will learn how to query an object file for its build ID. Many tools, including GDB, support the use of a debuginfod server, which allows users to download debugging information on demand from centralized servers. The upstream federated server maintained by the elfutils project can be used to automatically access debugging information for any maintained distribution:.

GDB 12 also contains new commands to control the debuginfod client library each command also has a corresponding show equivalent :. You can also set up your own debuginfod server. GDB loads debugging information lazily unless the --readnow option is passed on the command line. Whenever a new object file is encountered that is, when a program is loaded into GDB or a shared library is loaded at runtime , GDB will quickly scan its debuginfo to collect important information.

GDB will typically not read full symbols for any object file until it is requested by the user. There are a number of useful command-line tools for inspecting debugging information. These tools are typically a part of the binutils and elfutils packages on Red Hat-based systems.

The last line that gdb will print before the " gdb " prompt will be something like: 0 0xefe54 in main at line in main. You can find out which function called the current function by using the "up" command which will print out a similar line. The "down" command does the opposite of the "up" command. Finally, to view the entire stack frame, use the "backtrace" command or it's abbreviation "bt".

Learn more. Core dump file analysis [duplicate] Ask Question. Asked 10 years, 10 months ago. Active 2 years, 1 month ago. Viewed k times. Improve this question. Peter Mortensen Dew Dew 2, 5 5 gold badges 15 15 silver badges 7 7 bronze badges. Can you describe what your problem is. What command is giving trouble? Maybe reference the chapter from the doc: sourceware. Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. Improve this answer. I tried the bt command, but it says no stack.

The core file is large ulimit -c unlimited. What could I be missing? EOL, you might missed the binary as the first argument, and only provided coredump file. What if I have no glue what binary produced a core dump?

Can I investigate with the strings command which binary I need to debug it?