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authorLinus Torvalds <torvalds@ppc970.osdl.org>2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700
committerLinus Torvalds <torvalds@ppc970.osdl.org>2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700
commit1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 (patch)
tree0bba044c4ce775e45a88a51686b5d9f90697ea9d /Documentation/s390/s390dbf.txt
Linux-2.6.12-rc2
Initial git repository build. I'm not bothering with the full history, even though we have it. We can create a separate "historical" git archive of that later if we want to, and in the meantime it's about 3.2GB when imported into git - space that would just make the early git days unnecessarily complicated, when we don't have a lot of good infrastructure for it. Let it rip!
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+S390 Debug Feature
+==================
+
+files: arch/s390/kernel/debug.c
+ include/asm-s390/debug.h
+
+Description:
+------------
+The goal of this feature is to provide a kernel debug logging API
+where log records can be stored efficiently in memory, where each component
+(e.g. device drivers) can have one separate debug log.
+One purpose of this is to inspect the debug logs after a production system crash
+in order to analyze the reason for the crash.
+If the system still runs but only a subcomponent which uses dbf failes,
+it is possible to look at the debug logs on a live system via the Linux proc
+filesystem.
+The debug feature may also very useful for kernel and driver development.
+
+Design:
+-------
+Kernel components (e.g. device drivers) can register themselves at the debug
+feature with the function call debug_register(). This function initializes a
+debug log for the caller. For each debug log exists a number of debug areas
+where exactly one is active at one time. Each debug area consists of contiguous
+pages in memory. In the debug areas there are stored debug entries (log records)
+which are written by event- and exception-calls.
+
+An event-call writes the specified debug entry to the active debug
+area and updates the log pointer for the active area. If the end
+of the active debug area is reached, a wrap around is done (ring buffer)
+and the next debug entry will be written at the beginning of the active
+debug area.
+
+An exception-call writes the specified debug entry to the log and
+switches to the next debug area. This is done in order to be sure
+that the records which describe the origin of the exception are not
+overwritten when a wrap around for the current area occurs.
+
+The debug areas itselve are also ordered in form of a ring buffer.
+When an exception is thrown in the last debug area, the following debug
+entries are then written again in the very first area.
+
+There are three versions for the event- and exception-calls: One for
+logging raw data, one for text and one for numbers.
+
+Each debug entry contains the following data:
+
+- Timestamp
+- Cpu-Number of calling task
+- Level of debug entry (0...6)
+- Return Address to caller
+- Flag, if entry is an exception or not
+
+The debug logs can be inspected in a live system through entries in
+the proc-filesystem. Under the path /proc/s390dbf there is
+a directory for each registered component, which is named like the
+corresponding component.
+
+The content of the directories are files which represent different views
+to the debug log. Each component can decide which views should be
+used through registering them with the function debug_register_view().
+Predefined views for hex/ascii, sprintf and raw binary data are provided.
+It is also possible to define other views. The content of
+a view can be inspected simply by reading the corresponding proc file.
+
+All debug logs have an an actual debug level (range from 0 to 6).
+The default level is 3. Event and Exception functions have a 'level'
+parameter. Only debug entries with a level that is lower or equal
+than the actual level are written to the log. This means, when
+writing events, high priority log entries should have a low level
+value whereas low priority entries should have a high one.
+The actual debug level can be changed with the help of the proc-filesystem
+through writing a number string "x" to the 'level' proc file which is
+provided for every debug log. Debugging can be switched off completely
+by using "-" on the 'level' proc file.
+
+Example:
+
+> echo "-" > /proc/s390dbf/dasd/level
+
+It is also possible to deactivate the debug feature globally for every
+debug log. You can change the behavior using 2 sysctl parameters in
+/proc/sys/s390dbf:
+There are currently 2 possible triggers, which stop the debug feature
+globally. The first possbility is to use the "debug_active" sysctl. If
+set to 1 the debug feature is running. If "debug_active" is set to 0 the
+debug feature is turned off.
+The second trigger which stops the debug feature is an kernel oops.
+That prevents the debug feature from overwriting debug information that
+happened before the oops. After an oops you can reactivate the debug feature
+by piping 1 to /proc/sys/s390dbf/debug_active. Nevertheless, its not
+suggested to use an oopsed kernel in an production environment.
+If you want to disallow the deactivation of the debug feature, you can use
+the "debug_stoppable" sysctl. If you set "debug_stoppable" to 0 the debug
+feature cannot be stopped. If the debug feature is already stopped, it
+will stay deactivated.
+
+Kernel Interfaces:
+------------------
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+debug_info_t *debug_register(char *name, int pages_index, int nr_areas,
+ int buf_size);
+
+Parameter: name: Name of debug log (e.g. used for proc entry)
+ pages_index: 2^pages_index pages will be allocated per area
+ nr_areas: number of debug areas
+ buf_size: size of data area in each debug entry
+
+Return Value: Handle for generated debug area
+ NULL if register failed
+
+Description: Allocates memory for a debug log
+ Must not be called within an interrupt handler
+
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+void debug_unregister (debug_info_t * id);
+
+Parameter: id: handle for debug log
+
+Return Value: none
+
+Description: frees memory for a debug log
+ Must not be called within an interrupt handler
+
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+void debug_set_level (debug_info_t * id, int new_level);
+
+Parameter: id: handle for debug log
+ new_level: new debug level
+
+Return Value: none
+
+Description: Sets new actual debug level if new_level is valid.
+
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
++void debug_stop_all(void);
+
+Parameter: none
+
+Return Value: none
+
+Description: stops the debug feature if stopping is allowed. Currently
+ used in case of a kernel oops.
+
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+debug_entry_t* debug_event (debug_info_t* id, int level, void* data,
+ int length);
+
+Parameter: id: handle for debug log
+ level: debug level
+ data: pointer to data for debug entry
+ length: length of data in bytes
+
+Return Value: Address of written debug entry
+
+Description: writes debug entry to active debug area (if level <= actual
+ debug level)
+
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+debug_entry_t* debug_int_event (debug_info_t * id, int level,
+ unsigned int data);
+debug_entry_t* debug_long_event(debug_info_t * id, int level,
+ unsigned long data);
+
+Parameter: id: handle for debug log
+ level: debug level
+ data: integer value for debug entry
+
+Return Value: Address of written debug entry
+
+Description: writes debug entry to active debug area (if level <= actual
+ debug level)
+
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+debug_entry_t* debug_text_event (debug_info_t * id, int level,
+ const char* data);
+
+Parameter: id: handle for debug log
+ level: debug level
+ data: string for debug entry
+
+Return Value: Address of written debug entry
+
+Description: writes debug entry in ascii format to active debug area
+ (if level <= actual debug level)
+
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+debug_entry_t* debug_sprintf_event (debug_info_t * id, int level,
+ char* string,...);
+
+Parameter: id: handle for debug log
+ level: debug level
+ string: format string for debug entry
+ ...: varargs used as in sprintf()
+
+Return Value: Address of written debug entry
+
+Description: writes debug entry with format string and varargs (longs) to
+ active debug area (if level $<=$ actual debug level).
+ floats and long long datatypes cannot be used as varargs.
+
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+debug_entry_t* debug_exception (debug_info_t* id, int level, void* data,
+ int length);
+
+Parameter: id: handle for debug log
+ level: debug level
+ data: pointer to data for debug entry
+ length: length of data in bytes
+
+Return Value: Address of written debug entry
+
+Description: writes debug entry to active debug area (if level <= actual
+ debug level) and switches to next debug area
+
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+debug_entry_t* debug_int_exception (debug_info_t * id, int level,
+ unsigned int data);
+debug_entry_t* debug_long_exception(debug_info_t * id, int level,
+ unsigned long data);
+
+Parameter: id: handle for debug log
+ level: debug level
+ data: integer value for debug entry
+
+Return Value: Address of written debug entry
+
+Description: writes debug entry to active debug area (if level <= actual
+ debug level) and switches to next debug area
+
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+debug_entry_t* debug_text_exception (debug_info_t * id, int level,
+ const char* data);
+
+Parameter: id: handle for debug log
+ level: debug level
+ data: string for debug entry
+
+Return Value: Address of written debug entry
+
+Description: writes debug entry in ascii format to active debug area
+ (if level <= actual debug level) and switches to next debug
+ area
+
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+debug_entry_t* debug_sprintf_exception (debug_info_t * id, int level,
+ char* string,...);
+
+Parameter: id: handle for debug log
+ level: debug level
+ string: format string for debug entry
+ ...: varargs used as in sprintf()
+
+Return Value: Address of written debug entry
+
+Description: writes debug entry with format string and varargs (longs) to
+ active debug area (if level $<=$ actual debug level) and
+ switches to next debug area.
+ floats and long long datatypes cannot be used as varargs.
+
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+int debug_register_view (debug_info_t * id, struct debug_view *view);
+
+Parameter: id: handle for debug log
+ view: pointer to debug view struct
+
+Return Value: 0 : ok
+ < 0: Error
+
+Description: registers new debug view and creates proc dir entry
+
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+int debug_unregister_view (debug_info_t * id, struct debug_view *view);
+
+Parameter: id: handle for debug log
+ view: pointer to debug view struct
+
+Return Value: 0 : ok
+ < 0: Error
+
+Description: unregisters debug view and removes proc dir entry
+
+
+
+Predefined views:
+-----------------
+
+extern struct debug_view debug_hex_ascii_view;
+extern struct debug_view debug_raw_view;
+extern struct debug_view debug_sprintf_view;
+
+Examples
+--------
+
+/*
+ * hex_ascii- + raw-view Example
+ */
+
+#include <linux/init.h>
+#include <asm/debug.h>
+
+static debug_info_t* debug_info;
+
+static int init(void)
+{
+ /* register 4 debug areas with one page each and 4 byte data field */
+
+ debug_info = debug_register ("test", 0, 4, 4 );
+ debug_register_view(debug_info,&debug_hex_ascii_view);
+ debug_register_view(debug_info,&debug_raw_view);
+
+ debug_text_event(debug_info, 4 , "one ");
+ debug_int_exception(debug_info, 4, 4711);
+ debug_event(debug_info, 3, &debug_info, 4);
+
+ return 0;
+}
+
+static void cleanup(void)
+{
+ debug_unregister (debug_info);
+}
+
+module_init(init);
+module_exit(cleanup);
+
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+/*
+ * sprintf-view Example
+ */
+
+#include <linux/init.h>
+#include <asm/debug.h>
+
+static debug_info_t* debug_info;
+
+static int init(void)
+{
+ /* register 4 debug areas with one page each and data field for */
+ /* format string pointer + 2 varargs (= 3 * sizeof(long)) */
+
+ debug_info = debug_register ("test", 0, 4, sizeof(long) * 3);
+ debug_register_view(debug_info,&debug_sprintf_view);
+
+ debug_sprintf_event(debug_info, 2 , "first event in %s:%i\n",__FILE__,__LINE__);
+ debug_sprintf_exception(debug_info, 1, "pointer to debug info: %p\n",&debug_info);
+
+ return 0;
+}
+
+static void cleanup(void)
+{
+ debug_unregister (debug_info);
+}
+
+module_init(init);
+module_exit(cleanup);
+
+
+
+ProcFS Interface
+----------------
+Views to the debug logs can be investigated through reading the corresponding
+proc-files:
+
+Example:
+
+> ls /proc/s390dbf/dasd
+flush hex_ascii level raw
+> cat /proc/s390dbf/dasd/hex_ascii | sort +1
+00 00974733272:680099 2 - 02 0006ad7e 07 ea 4a 90 | ....
+00 00974733272:682210 2 - 02 0006ade6 46 52 45 45 | FREE
+00 00974733272:682213 2 - 02 0006adf6 07 ea 4a 90 | ....
+00 00974733272:682281 1 * 02 0006ab08 41 4c 4c 43 | EXCP
+01 00974733272:682284 2 - 02 0006ab16 45 43 4b 44 | ECKD
+01 00974733272:682287 2 - 02 0006ab28 00 00 00 04 | ....
+01 00974733272:682289 2 - 02 0006ab3e 00 00 00 20 | ...
+01 00974733272:682297 2 - 02 0006ad7e 07 ea 4a 90 | ....
+01 00974733272:684384 2 - 00 0006ade6 46 52 45 45 | FREE
+01 00974733272:684388 2 - 00 0006adf6 07 ea 4a 90 | ....
+
+See section about predefined views for explanation of the above output!
+
+Changing the debug level
+------------------------
+
+Example:
+
+
+> cat /proc/s390dbf/dasd/level
+3
+> echo "5" > /proc/s390dbf/dasd/level
+> cat /proc/s390dbf/dasd/level
+5
+
+Flushing debug areas
+--------------------
+Debug areas can be flushed with piping the number of the desired
+area (0...n) to the proc file "flush". When using "-" all debug areas
+are flushed.
+
+Examples:
+
+1. Flush debug area 0:
+> echo "0" > /proc/s390dbf/dasd/flush
+
+2. Flush all debug areas:
+> echo "-" > /proc/s390dbf/dasd/flush
+
+Stooping the debug feature
+--------------------------
+Example:
+
+1. Check if stopping is allowed
+> cat /proc/sys/s390dbf/debug_stoppable
+2. Stop debug feature
+> echo 0 > /proc/sys/s390dbf/debug_active
+
+lcrash Interface
+----------------
+It is planned that the dump analysis tool lcrash gets an additional command
+'s390dbf' to display all the debug logs. With this tool it will be possible
+to investigate the debug logs on a live system and with a memory dump after
+a system crash.
+
+Investigating raw memory
+------------------------
+One last possibility to investigate the debug logs at a live
+system and after a system crash is to look at the raw memory
+under VM or at the Service Element.
+It is possible to find the anker of the debug-logs through
+the 'debug_area_first' symbol in the System map. Then one has
+to follow the correct pointers of the data-structures defined
+in debug.h and find the debug-areas in memory.
+Normally modules which use the debug feature will also have
+a global variable with the pointer to the debug-logs. Following
+this pointer it will also be possible to find the debug logs in
+memory.
+
+For this method it is recommended to use '16 * x + 4' byte (x = 0..n)
+for the length of the data field in debug_register() in
+order to see the debug entries well formatted.
+
+
+Predefined Views
+----------------
+
+There are three predefined views: hex_ascii, raw and sprintf.
+The hex_ascii view shows the data field in hex and ascii representation
+(e.g. '45 43 4b 44 | ECKD').
+The raw view returns a bytestream as the debug areas are stored in memory.
+
+The sprintf view formats the debug entries in the same way as the sprintf
+function would do. The sprintf event/expection fuctions write to the
+debug entry a pointer to the format string (size = sizeof(long))
+and for each vararg a long value. So e.g. for a debug entry with a format
+string plus two varargs one would need to allocate a (3 * sizeof(long))
+byte data area in the debug_register() function.
+
+
+NOTE: If using the sprintf view do NOT use other event/exception functions
+than the sprintf-event and -exception functions.
+
+The format of the hex_ascii and sprintf view is as follows:
+- Number of area
+- Timestamp (formatted as seconds and microseconds since 00:00:00 Coordinated
+ Universal Time (UTC), January 1, 1970)
+- level of debug entry
+- Exception flag (* = Exception)
+- Cpu-Number of calling task
+- Return Address to caller
+- data field
+
+The format of the raw view is:
+- Header as described in debug.h
+- datafield
+
+A typical line of the hex_ascii view will look like the following (first line
+is only for explanation and will not be displayed when 'cating' the view):
+
+area time level exception cpu caller data (hex + ascii)
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------
+00 00964419409:440690 1 - 00 88023fe
+
+
+Defining views
+--------------
+
+Views are specified with the 'debug_view' structure. There are defined
+callback functions which are used for reading and writing the proc files:
+
+struct debug_view {
+ char name[DEBUG_MAX_PROCF_LEN];
+ debug_prolog_proc_t* prolog_proc;
+ debug_header_proc_t* header_proc;
+ debug_format_proc_t* format_proc;
+ debug_input_proc_t* input_proc;
+ void* private_data;
+};
+
+where
+
+typedef int (debug_header_proc_t) (debug_info_t* id,
+ struct debug_view* view,
+ int area,
+ debug_entry_t* entry,
+ char* out_buf);
+
+typedef int (debug_format_proc_t) (debug_info_t* id,
+ struct debug_view* view, char* out_buf,
+ const char* in_buf);
+typedef int (debug_prolog_proc_t) (debug_info_t* id,
+ struct debug_view* view,
+ char* out_buf);
+typedef int (debug_input_proc_t) (debug_info_t* id,
+ struct debug_view* view,
+ struct file* file, const char* user_buf,
+ size_t in_buf_size, loff_t* offset);
+
+
+The "private_data" member can be used as pointer to view specific data.
+It is not used by the debug feature itself.
+
+The output when reading a debug-proc file is structured like this:
+
+"prolog_proc output"
+
+"header_proc output 1" "format_proc output 1"
+"header_proc output 2" "format_proc output 2"
+"header_proc output 3" "format_proc output 3"
+...
+
+When a view is read from the proc fs, the Debug Feature calls the
+'prolog_proc' once for writing the prolog.
+Then 'header_proc' and 'format_proc' are called for each
+existing debug entry.
+
+The input_proc can be used to implement functionality when it is written to
+the view (e.g. like with 'echo "0" > /proc/s390dbf/dasd/level).
+
+For header_proc there can be used the default function
+debug_dflt_header_fn() which is defined in in debug.h.
+and which produces the same header output as the predefined views.
+E.g:
+00 00964419409:440761 2 - 00 88023ec
+
+In order to see how to use the callback functions check the implementation
+of the default views!
+
+Example
+
+#include <asm/debug.h>
+
+#define UNKNOWNSTR "data: %08x"
+
+const char* messages[] =
+{"This error...........\n",
+ "That error...........\n",
+ "Problem..............\n",
+ "Something went wrong.\n",
+ "Everything ok........\n",
+ NULL
+};
+
+static int debug_test_format_fn(
+ debug_info_t * id, struct debug_view *view,
+ char *out_buf, const char *in_buf
+)
+{
+ int i, rc = 0;
+
+ if(id->buf_size >= 4) {
+ int msg_nr = *((int*)in_buf);
+ if(msg_nr < sizeof(messages)/sizeof(char*) - 1)
+ rc += sprintf(out_buf, "%s", messages[msg_nr]);
+ else
+ rc += sprintf(out_buf, UNKNOWNSTR, msg_nr);
+ }
+ out:
+ return rc;
+}
+
+struct debug_view debug_test_view = {
+ "myview", /* name of view */
+ NULL, /* no prolog */
+ &debug_dflt_header_fn, /* default header for each entry */
+ &debug_test_format_fn, /* our own format function */
+ NULL, /* no input function */
+ NULL /* no private data */
+};
+
+=====
+test:
+=====
+debug_info_t *debug_info;
+...
+debug_info = debug_register ("test", 0, 4, 4 ));
+debug_register_view(debug_info, &debug_test_view);
+for(i = 0; i < 10; i ++) debug_int_event(debug_info, 1, i);
+
+> cat /proc/s390dbf/test/myview
+00 00964419734:611402 1 - 00 88042ca This error...........
+00 00964419734:611405 1 - 00 88042ca That error...........
+00 00964419734:611408 1 - 00 88042ca Problem..............
+00 00964419734:611411 1 - 00 88042ca Something went wrong.
+00 00964419734:611414 1 - 00 88042ca Everything ok........
+00 00964419734:611417 1 - 00 88042ca data: 00000005
+00 00964419734:611419 1 - 00 88042ca data: 00000006
+00 00964419734:611422 1 - 00 88042ca data: 00000007
+00 00964419734:611425 1 - 00 88042ca data: 00000008
+00 00964419734:611428 1 - 00 88042ca data: 00000009