@cindex @file{.debug} subdirectories
@cindex debugging information directory, global
@cindex global debugging information directory
+@cindex build ID, and separate debugging files
+@cindex @file{.build-id} directory
@value{GDBN} allows you to put a program's debugging information in a
file separate from the executable itself, in a way that allows
@value{GDBN} to find and load the debugging information automatically.
-Since debugging information can be very large --- sometimes larger
-than the executable code itself --- some systems distribute debugging
+Since debugging information can be very large---sometimes larger
+than the executable code itself---some systems distribute debugging
information for their executables in separate files, which users can
install only when they need to debug a problem.
-If an executable's debugging information has been extracted to a
-separate file, the executable should contain a @dfn{debug link} giving
-the name of the debugging information file (with no directory
-components), and a checksum of its contents. (The exact form of a
-debug link is described below.) If the full name of the directory
-containing the executable is @var{execdir}, and the executable has a
-debug link that specifies the name @var{debugfile}, then @value{GDBN}
-will automatically search for the debugging information file in three
-places:
+@value{GDBN} supports two ways of specifying the separate debug info
+file:
@itemize @bullet
@item
-the directory containing the executable file (that is, it will look
-for a file named @file{@var{execdir}/@var{debugfile}},
+The executable contains a @dfn{debug link} that specifies the name of
+the separate debug info file. The separate debug file's name is
+usually @file{@var{executable}.debug}, where @var{executable} is the
+name of the corresponding executable file without leading directories
+(e.g., @file{ls.debug} for @file{/usr/bin/ls}). In addition, the
+debug link specifies a CRC32 checksum for the debug file, which
+@value{GDBN} uses to validate that the executable and the debug file
+came from the same build.
+
+@item
+The executable contains a @dfn{build ID}, a unique signature that is
+also present in the corresponding debug info file. (This is supported
+only on some operating systems, notably on @sc{gnu}/Linux. For more
+details about this feature, see
+@uref{http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/FeatureBuildId, the
+Fedora Project's description of the buid ID feature}.) The debug info
+file's name is not specified explicitly by the debug ID, but can be
+computed from the build ID, see below.
+@end itemize
+
+Depending on the way the debug info file is specified, @value{GDBN}
+uses two different methods of looking for the debug file:
+
+@itemize @bullet
@item
-a subdirectory of that directory named @file{.debug} (that is, the
-file @file{@var{execdir}/.debug/@var{debugfile}}, and
+For the ``debug link'' method, @value{GDBN} looks up the named file in
+the directory of the executable file, then in a subdirectory of that
+directory named @file{.debug}, and finally under the global debug
+directory, in a subdirectory whose name is identical to the leading
+directories of the executable's absolute file name.
+
@item
-a subdirectory of the global debug file directory that includes the
-executable's full path, and the name from the link (that is, the file
-@file{@var{globaldebugdir}/@var{execdir}/@var{debugfile}}, where
-@var{globaldebugdir} is the global debug file directory, and
-@var{execdir} has been turned into a relative path).
+For the ``debug ID'' method, @value{GDBN} looks in the
+@file{.build-id} subdirectory of the global debug directory for a file
+named @file{@var{nn}/@var{nnnnnnnn}.debug}, where @var{nn} are the
+first 2 hex characters of the debug ID signature, and @var{nnnnnnnn}
+are the rest of the signature. (Real signatures are 32 or more
+characters, not 10.)
@end itemize
-@noindent
-@value{GDBN} checks under each of these names for a debugging
-information file whose checksum matches that given in the link, and
-reads the debugging information from the first one it finds.
-
-So, for example, if you ask @value{GDBN} to debug @file{/usr/bin/ls},
-which has a link containing the name @file{ls.debug}, and the global
-debug directory is @file{/usr/lib/debug}, then @value{GDBN} will look
-for debug information in @file{/usr/bin/ls.debug},
-@file{/usr/bin/.debug/ls.debug}, and
+
+So, for example, suppose you ask @value{GDBN} to debug
+@file{/usr/bin/ls}, which has a @dfn{debug link} that specifies the
+file @file{ls.debug}, and a @dfn{build id} whose value in hex is
+@code{abcdef1234}. If the global debug directory is
+@file{/usr/lib/debug}, then @value{GDBN} will look for the following
+debug information files, in the indicated order:
+
+@itemize @minus
+@item
+@file{/usr/lib/debug/.build-id/ab/cdef1234.debug}
+@item
+@file{/usr/bin/ls.debug}
+@item
+@file{/usr/bin/.debug/ls.debug}
+@item
@file{/usr/lib/debug/usr/bin/ls.debug}.
+@end itemize
You can set the global debugging info directory's name, and view the
name @value{GDBN} is currently using.
@end table
@cindex @code{.gnu_debuglink} sections
-@cindex debug links
+@cindex debug link sections
A debug link is a special section of the executable file named
@code{.gnu_debuglink}. The section must contain:
contain a section named @code{.gnu_debuglink} with the contents
described above.
+@cindex @code{.note.gnu.build-id} sections
+@cindex build ID sections
+A build ID is a special section of the executable file named
+@code{.note.gnu.build-id}. This section contains unique
+identification for the built files---it remains the same across
+multiple builds of the same build tree. The default algorithm SHA1
+produces 160 bits (40 hexadecimal characters) of the content. The
+same section with an identical value is present in the original built
+binary with symbols, in its stripped variant, and in the separate
+debugging information file.
+
The debugging information file itself should be an ordinary
executable, containing a full set of linker symbols, sections, and
debugging information. The sections of the debugging information file
-should have the same names, addresses and sizes as the original file,
-but they need not contain any data --- much like a @code{.bss} section
+should have the same names, addresses, and sizes as the original file,
+but they need not contain any data---much like a @code{.bss} section
in an ordinary executable.
-As of December 2002, there is no standard GNU utility to produce
-separated executable / debugging information file pairs. Ulrich
-Drepper's @file{elfutils} package, starting with version 0.53,
-contains a version of the @code{strip} command such that the command
-@kbd{strip foo -f foo.debug} removes the debugging information from
-the executable file @file{foo}, places it in the file
-@file{foo.debug}, and leaves behind a debug link in @file{foo}.
+@sc{gnu} binary utilities (Binutils) package includes the
+@samp{objcopy} utility that can produce
+the separated executable / debugging information file pairs using the
+following commands:
-Since there are many different ways to compute CRC's (different
-polynomials, reversals, byte ordering, etc.), the simplest way to
-describe the CRC used in @code{.gnu_debuglink} sections is to give the
-complete code for a function that computes it:
+@smallexample
+@kbd{objcopy --only-keep-debug foo foo.debug}
+@kbd{strip -g foo}
+@kbd{objcopy --add-gnu-debuglink="foo.debug" "foo"}
+@end smallexample
+
+@noindent
+These commands remove the debugging
+information from the executable file @file{foo}, place it in the file
+@file{foo.debug}, and leave behind a debug link in @file{foo}. Ulrich
+Drepper's @file{elfutils} package, starting with version 0.53, contains
+a version of the @code{strip} command such that the command @kbd{strip foo -f
+foo.debug} has the same functionality as the three commands above.
+
+Since there are many different ways to compute CRC's for the debug
+link (different polynomials, reversals, byte ordering, etc.), the
+simplest way to describe the CRC used in @code{.gnu_debuglink}
+sections is to give the complete code for a function that computes it:
@kindex gnu_debuglink_crc32
@smallexample
@}
@end smallexample
+@noindent
+This computation does not apply to the ``build ID'' method.
+
@node Symbol Errors
@section Errors Reading Symbol Files
projects / deliverable / binutils-gdb.git / blobdiff