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+Dynamic debug
++++++++++++++
+
+
+Introduction
+============
+
+This document describes how to use the dynamic debug (dyndbg) feature.
+
+Dynamic debug is designed to allow you to dynamically enable/disable
+kernel code to obtain additional kernel information. Currently, if
+``CONFIG_DYNAMIC_DEBUG`` is set, then all ``pr_debug()``/``dev_dbg()`` and
+``print_hex_dump_debug()``/``print_hex_dump_bytes()`` calls can be dynamically
+enabled per-callsite.
+
+If ``CONFIG_DYNAMIC_DEBUG`` is not set, ``print_hex_dump_debug()`` is just
+shortcut for ``print_hex_dump(KERN_DEBUG)``.
+
+For ``print_hex_dump_debug()``/``print_hex_dump_bytes()``, format string is
+its ``prefix_str`` argument, if it is constant string; or ``hexdump``
+in case ``prefix_str`` is build dynamically.
+
+Dynamic debug has even more useful features:
+
+ * Simple query language allows turning on and off debugging
+ statements by matching any combination of 0 or 1 of:
+
+ - source filename
+ - function name
+ - line number (including ranges of line numbers)
+ - module name
+ - format string
+
+ * Provides a debugfs control file: ``<debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control``
+ which can be read to display the complete list of known debug
+ statements, to help guide you
+
+Controlling dynamic debug Behaviour
+===================================
+
+The behaviour of ``pr_debug()``/``dev_dbg()`` are controlled via writing to a
+control file in the 'debugfs' filesystem. Thus, you must first mount
+the debugfs filesystem, in order to make use of this feature.
+Subsequently, we refer to the control file as:
+``<debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control``. For example, if you want to enable
+printing from source file ``svcsock.c``, line 1603 you simply do::
+
+ nullarbor:~ # echo 'file svcsock.c line 1603 +p' >
+ <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
+
+If you make a mistake with the syntax, the write will fail thus::
+
+ nullarbor:~ # echo 'file svcsock.c wtf 1 +p' >
+ <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
+ -bash: echo: write error: Invalid argument
+
+Viewing Dynamic Debug Behaviour
+===============================
+
+You can view the currently configured behaviour of all the debug
+statements via::
+
+ nullarbor:~ # cat <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
+ # filename:lineno [module]function flags format
+ /usr/src/packages/BUILD/sgi-enhancednfs-1.4/default/net/sunrpc/svc_rdma.c:323 [svcxprt_rdma]svc_rdma_cleanup =_ "SVCRDMA Module Removed, deregister RPC RDMA transport\012"
+ /usr/src/packages/BUILD/sgi-enhancednfs-1.4/default/net/sunrpc/svc_rdma.c:341 [svcxprt_rdma]svc_rdma_init =_ "\011max_inline : %d\012"
+ /usr/src/packages/BUILD/sgi-enhancednfs-1.4/default/net/sunrpc/svc_rdma.c:340 [svcxprt_rdma]svc_rdma_init =_ "\011sq_depth : %d\012"
+ /usr/src/packages/BUILD/sgi-enhancednfs-1.4/default/net/sunrpc/svc_rdma.c:338 [svcxprt_rdma]svc_rdma_init =_ "\011max_requests : %d\012"
+ ...
+
+
+You can also apply standard Unix text manipulation filters to this
+data, e.g.::
+
+ nullarbor:~ # grep -i rdma <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control | wc -l
+ 62
+
+ nullarbor:~ # grep -i tcp <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control | wc -l
+ 42
+
+The third column shows the currently enabled flags for each debug
+statement callsite (see below for definitions of the flags). The
+default value, with no flags enabled, is ``=_``. So you can view all
+the debug statement callsites with any non-default flags::
+
+ nullarbor:~ # awk '$3 != "=_"' <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
+ # filename:lineno [module]function flags format
+ /usr/src/packages/BUILD/sgi-enhancednfs-1.4/default/net/sunrpc/svcsock.c:1603 [sunrpc]svc_send p "svc_process: st_sendto returned %d\012"
+
+Command Language Reference
+==========================
+
+At the lexical level, a command comprises a sequence of words separated
+by spaces or tabs. So these are all equivalent::
+
+ nullarbor:~ # echo -n 'file svcsock.c line 1603 +p' >
+ <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
+ nullarbor:~ # echo -n ' file svcsock.c line 1603 +p ' >
+ <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
+ nullarbor:~ # echo -n 'file svcsock.c line 1603 +p' >
+ <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
+
+Command submissions are bounded by a write() system call.
+Multiple commands can be written together, separated by ``;`` or ``\n``::
+
+ ~# echo "func pnpacpi_get_resources +p; func pnp_assign_mem +p" \
+ > <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
+
+If your query set is big, you can batch them too::
+
+ ~# cat query-batch-file > <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
+
+A another way is to use wildcard. The match rule support ``*`` (matches
+zero or more characters) and ``?`` (matches exactly one character).For
+example, you can match all usb drivers::
+
+ ~# echo "file drivers/usb/* +p" > <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
+
+At the syntactical level, a command comprises a sequence of match
+specifications, followed by a flags change specification::
+
+ command ::= match-spec* flags-spec
+
+The match-spec's are used to choose a subset of the known pr_debug()
+callsites to which to apply the flags-spec. Think of them as a query
+with implicit ANDs between each pair. Note that an empty list of
+match-specs will select all debug statement callsites.
+
+A match specification comprises a keyword, which controls the
+attribute of the callsite to be compared, and a value to compare
+against. Possible keywords are:::
+
+ match-spec ::= 'func' string |
+ 'file' string |
+ 'module' string |
+ 'format' string |
+ 'line' line-range
+
+ line-range ::= lineno |
+ '-'lineno |
+ lineno'-' |
+ lineno'-'lineno
+
+ lineno ::= unsigned-int
+
+.. note::
+
+ ``line-range`` cannot contain space, e.g.
+ "1-30" is valid range but "1 - 30" is not.
+
+
+The meanings of each keyword are:
+
+func
+ The given string is compared against the function name
+ of each callsite. Example::
+
+ func svc_tcp_accept
+
+file
+ The given string is compared against either the full pathname, the
+ src-root relative pathname, or the basename of the source file of
+ each callsite. Examples::
+
+ file svcsock.c
+ file kernel/freezer.c
+ file /usr/src/packages/BUILD/sgi-enhancednfs-1.4/default/net/sunrpc/svcsock.c
+
+module
+ The given string is compared against the module name
+ of each callsite. The module name is the string as
+ seen in ``lsmod``, i.e. without the directory or the ``.ko``
+ suffix and with ``-`` changed to ``_``. Examples::
+
+ module sunrpc
+ module nfsd
+
+format
+ The given string is searched for in the dynamic debug format
+ string. Note that the string does not need to match the
+ entire format, only some part. Whitespace and other
+ special characters can be escaped using C octal character
+ escape ``\ooo`` notation, e.g. the space character is ``\040``.
+ Alternatively, the string can be enclosed in double quote
+ characters (``"``) or single quote characters (``'``).
+ Examples::
+
+ format svcrdma: // many of the NFS/RDMA server pr_debugs
+ format readahead // some pr_debugs in the readahead cache
+ format nfsd:\040SETATTR // one way to match a format with whitespace
+ format "nfsd: SETATTR" // a neater way to match a format with whitespace
+ format 'nfsd: SETATTR' // yet another way to match a format with whitespace
+
+line
+ The given line number or range of line numbers is compared
+ against the line number of each ``pr_debug()`` callsite. A single
+ line number matches the callsite line number exactly. A
+ range of line numbers matches any callsite between the first
+ and last line number inclusive. An empty first number means
+ the first line in the file, an empty line number means the
+ last number in the file. Examples::
+
+ line 1603 // exactly line 1603
+ line 1600-1605 // the six lines from line 1600 to line 1605
+ line -1605 // the 1605 lines from line 1 to line 1605
+ line 1600- // all lines from line 1600 to the end of the file
+
+The flags specification comprises a change operation followed
+by one or more flag characters. The change operation is one
+of the characters::
+
+ - remove the given flags
+ + add the given flags
+ = set the flags to the given flags
+
+The flags are::
+
+ p enables the pr_debug() callsite.
+ f Include the function name in the printed message
+ l Include line number in the printed message
+ m Include module name in the printed message
+ t Include thread ID in messages not generated from interrupt context
+ _ No flags are set. (Or'd with others on input)
+
+For ``print_hex_dump_debug()`` and ``print_hex_dump_bytes()``, only ``p`` flag
+have meaning, other flags ignored.
+
+For display, the flags are preceded by ``=``
+(mnemonic: what the flags are currently equal to).
+
+Note the regexp ``^[-+=][flmpt_]+$`` matches a flags specification.
+To clear all flags at once, use ``=_`` or ``-flmpt``.
+
+
+Debug messages during Boot Process
+==================================
+
+To activate debug messages for core code and built-in modules during
+the boot process, even before userspace and debugfs exists, use
+``dyndbg="QUERY"``, ``module.dyndbg="QUERY"``, or ``ddebug_query="QUERY"``
+(``ddebug_query`` is obsoleted by ``dyndbg``, and deprecated). QUERY follows
+the syntax described above, but must not exceed 1023 characters. Your
+bootloader may impose lower limits.
+
+These ``dyndbg`` params are processed just after the ddebug tables are
+processed, as part of the arch_initcall. Thus you can enable debug
+messages in all code run after this arch_initcall via this boot
+parameter.
+
+On an x86 system for example ACPI enablement is a subsys_initcall and::
+
+ dyndbg="file ec.c +p"
+
+will show early Embedded Controller transactions during ACPI setup if
+your machine (typically a laptop) has an Embedded Controller.
+PCI (or other devices) initialization also is a hot candidate for using
+this boot parameter for debugging purposes.
+
+If ``foo`` module is not built-in, ``foo.dyndbg`` will still be processed at
+boot time, without effect, but will be reprocessed when module is
+loaded later. ``dyndbg_query=`` and bare ``dyndbg=`` are only processed at
+boot.
+
+
+Debug Messages at Module Initialization Time
+============================================
+
+When ``modprobe foo`` is called, modprobe scans ``/proc/cmdline`` for
+``foo.params``, strips ``foo.``, and passes them to the kernel along with
+params given in modprobe args or ``/etc/modprob.d/*.conf`` files,
+in the following order:
+
+1. parameters given via ``/etc/modprobe.d/*.conf``::
+
+ options foo dyndbg=+pt
+ options foo dyndbg # defaults to +p
+
+2. ``foo.dyndbg`` as given in boot args, ``foo.`` is stripped and passed::
+
+ foo.dyndbg=" func bar +p; func buz +mp"
+
+3. args to modprobe::
+
+ modprobe foo dyndbg==pmf # override previous settings
+
+These ``dyndbg`` queries are applied in order, with last having final say.
+This allows boot args to override or modify those from ``/etc/modprobe.d``
+(sensible, since 1 is system wide, 2 is kernel or boot specific), and
+modprobe args to override both.
+
+In the ``foo.dyndbg="QUERY"`` form, the query must exclude ``module foo``.
+``foo`` is extracted from the param-name, and applied to each query in
+``QUERY``, and only 1 match-spec of each type is allowed.
+
+The ``dyndbg`` option is a "fake" module parameter, which means:
+
+- modules do not need to define it explicitly
+- every module gets it tacitly, whether they use pr_debug or not
+- it doesn't appear in ``/sys/module/$module/parameters/``
+ To see it, grep the control file, or inspect ``/proc/cmdline.``
+
+For ``CONFIG_DYNAMIC_DEBUG`` kernels, any settings given at boot-time (or
+enabled by ``-DDEBUG`` flag during compilation) can be disabled later via
+the sysfs interface if the debug messages are no longer needed::
+
+ echo "module module_name -p" > <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
+
+Examples
+========
+
+::
+
+ // enable the message at line 1603 of file svcsock.c
+ nullarbor:~ # echo -n 'file svcsock.c line 1603 +p' >
+ <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
+
+ // enable all the messages in file svcsock.c
+ nullarbor:~ # echo -n 'file svcsock.c +p' >
+ <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
+
+ // enable all the messages in the NFS server module
+ nullarbor:~ # echo -n 'module nfsd +p' >
+ <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
+
+ // enable all 12 messages in the function svc_process()
+ nullarbor:~ # echo -n 'func svc_process +p' >
+ <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
+
+ // disable all 12 messages in the function svc_process()
+ nullarbor:~ # echo -n 'func svc_process -p' >
+ <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
+
+ // enable messages for NFS calls READ, READLINK, READDIR and READDIR+.
+ nullarbor:~ # echo -n 'format "nfsd: READ" +p' >
+ <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
+
+ // enable messages in files of which the paths include string "usb"
+ nullarbor:~ # echo -n '*usb* +p' > <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
+
+ // enable all messages
+ nullarbor:~ # echo -n '+p' > <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
+
+ // add module, function to all enabled messages
+ nullarbor:~ # echo -n '+mf' > <debugfs>/dynamic_debug/control
+
+ // boot-args example, with newlines and comments for readability
+ Kernel command line: ...
+ // see whats going on in dyndbg=value processing
+ dynamic_debug.verbose=1
+ // enable pr_debugs in 2 builtins, #cmt is stripped
+ dyndbg="module params +p #cmt ; module sys +p"
+ // enable pr_debugs in 2 functions in a module loaded later
+ pc87360.dyndbg="func pc87360_init_device +p; func pc87360_find +p"