Kmemdump Proposed for the Linux Kernel to Help with Memory Dumping and Debugging
a year ago
- #Memory Dump
- #Debugging
- #Linux Kernel
- Eugen Hristev of Linaro proposed kmemdump for the Linux kernel to assist in debugging by dumping specific memory regions.
- Kmemdump allows kernel drivers to register memory chunks for easy dumping during system problems or debugging.
- The infrastructure avoids dumping entire RAM by focusing on flagged memory regions important for debugging.
- Kmemdump can save monitored regions even if the kernel crashes or freezes, provided appropriate hardware support.
- Memory regions can be assembled into a coredump ELF file for analysis with tools like GDB.
- Initial focus is on Qualcomm hardware, with Qualcomm Minidump as a backend for kmemdump.
- Kmemdump works independently of pstore, kdump, or kexec, making it viable for devices where these mechanisms fail.
- It creates a core image similar to /proc/vmcore, containing only registered regions for analysis.
- Kmemdump registers necessary kernel information at init time, requiring no additional user intervention.