# Tips for debugging on Linux This page is for Chromium-specific debugging tips; learning how to run gdb is out of scope. [TOC] ## Symbolized stack trace The sandbox can interfere with the internal symbolizer. Use `--no-sandbox` (but keep this temporary) or an external symbolizer (see `tools/valgrind/asan/asan_symbolize.py`). Generally, do not use `--no-sandbox` on waterfall bots, sandbox testing is needed. Talk to security@chromium.org. ## GDB *** promo GDB-7.7 is required in order to debug Chrome on Linux. *** Any prior version will fail to resolve symbols or segfault. ### Basic browser process debugging gdb -tui -ex=r --args out/Debug/chrome --disable-seccomp-sandbox \ http://google.com ### Allowing attaching to foreign processes On distributions that use the [Yama LSM](https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/security/Yama.txt) (that includes Ubuntu and Chrome OS), process A can attach to process B only if A is an ancestor of B. You will probably want to disable this feature by using echo 0 | sudo tee /proc/sys/kernel/yama/ptrace_scope If you don't you'll get an error message such as "Could not attach to process". Note that you'll also probably want to use `--no-sandbox`, as explained below. ### Multiprocess Tricks #### Getting renderer subprocesses into gdb Since Chromium itself spawns the renderers, it can be tricky to grab a particular with gdb. This command does the trick: ``` chrome --no-sandbox --renderer-cmd-prefix='xterm -title renderer -e gdb --args' ``` The `--no-sandbox` flag is needed because otherwise the seccomp sandbox will kill the renderer process on startup, or the setuid sandbox will prevent xterm's execution. The "xterm" is necessary or gdb will run in the current terminal, which can get particularly confusing since it's running in the background, and if you're also running the main process in gdb, won't work at all (the two instances will fight over the terminal). To auto-start the renderers in the debugger, send the "run" command to the debugger: chrome --no-sandbox --renderer-cmd-prefix='xterm -title renderer -e gdb \ -ex run --args' If you're using Emacs and `M-x gdb`, you can do chrome "--renderer-cmd-prefix=gdb --args" *** note Note: using the `--renderer-cmd-prefix` option bypasses the zygote launcher, so the renderers won't be sandboxed. It is generally not an issue, except when you are trying to debug interactions with the sandbox. If that's what you are doing, you will need to attach your debugger to a running renderer process (see below). *** You may also want to pass `--disable-hang-monitor` to suppress the hang monitor, which is rather annoying. You can also use `--renderer-startup-dialog` and attach to the process in order to debug the renderer code. Go to https://www.chromium.org/blink/getting-started-with-blink-debugging for more information on how this can be done. For utilities you can use `--utility-startup-dialog` to have all utilities prompt, or `--utility-startup-dialog=data_decoder.mojom.DataDecoderService` to debug only a particular service type. #### Choosing which renderers to debug If you are starting multiple renderers then the above means that multiple gdb's start and fight over the console. Instead, you can set the prefix to point to this shell script: ```sh #!/bin/sh echo "**** Child $$ starting: y to debug" read input if [ "$input" = "y" ] ; then gdb --args $* else $* fi ``` #### Selective breakpoints When debugging both the browser and renderer process, you might want to have separate set of breakpoints to hit. You can use gdb's command files to accomplish this by putting breakpoints in separate files and instructing gdb to load them. ``` gdb -x ~/debug/browser --args chrome --no-sandbox --disable-hang-monitor \ --renderer-cmd-prefix='xterm -title renderer -e gdb -x ~/debug/renderer \ --args ' ``` Also, instead of running gdb, you can use the script above, which let's you select which renderer process to debug. Note: you might need to use the full path to the script and avoid `$HOME` or `~/.` #### Connecting to a running renderer Usually `ps aux | grep chrome` will not give very helpful output. Try `pstree -p | grep chrome` to get something like ``` | |-bash(21969)---chrome(672)-+-chrome(694) | | |-chrome(695)---chrome(696)-+-{chrome}(697) | | | \-{chrome}(709) | | |-{chrome}(675) | | |-{chrome}(678) | | |-{chrome}(679) | | |-{chrome}(680) | | |-{chrome}(681) | | |-{chrome}(682) | | |-{chrome}(684) | | |-{chrome}(685) | | |-{chrome}(705) | | \-{chrome}(717) ``` Most of those are threads. In this case the browser process would be 672 and the (sole) renderer process is 696. You can use `gdb -p 696` to attach. Alternatively, you might find out the process ID from Chrome's built-in Task Manager (under the Tools menu). Right-click on the Task Manager, and enable "Process ID" in the list of columns. Note: by default, sandboxed processes can't be attached by a debugger. To be able to do so, you will need to pass the `--allow-sandbox-debugging` option. If the problem only occurs with the seccomp sandbox enabled (and the previous tricks don't help), you could try enabling core-dumps (see the **Core files** section). That would allow you to get a backtrace and see some local variables, though you won't be able to step through the running program. Note: If you're interested in debugging LinuxSandboxIPC process, you can attach to 694 in the above diagram. The LinuxSandboxIPC process has the same command line flag as the browser process so that it's easy to identify it if you run `pstree -pa`. #### Getting GPU subprocesses into gdb Use `--gpu-launcher` flag instead of `--renderer-cmd-prefix` in the instructions for renderer above. #### Getting `browser_tests` launched browsers into gdb Use environment variable `BROWSER_WRAPPER` instead of `--renderer-cmd-prefix` switch in the instructions above. Example: ```shell BROWSER_WRAPPER='xterm -title renderer -e gdb --eval-command=run \ --eval-command=quit --args' out/Debug/browser_tests --gtest_filter=Print ``` #### Plugin Processes Same strategies as renderers above, but the flag is called `--plugin-launcher`: chrome --plugin-launcher='xterm -e gdb --args' *** note Note: For now, this does not currently apply to PPAPI plugins because they currently run in the renderer process. *** #### Single-Process mode Depending on whether it's relevant to the problem, it's often easier to just run in "single process" mode where the renderer threads are in-process. Then you can just run gdb on the main process. gdb --args chrome --single-process Currently, the `--disable-gpu` flag is also required, as there are known crashes that occur under TextureImageTransportSurface without it. The crash described in https://crbug.com/361689 can also sometimes occur, but that crash can be continued from without harm. Note that for technical reasons plugins cannot be in-process, so `--single-process` only puts the renderers in the browser process. The flag is still useful for debugging plugins (since it's only two processes instead of three) but you'll still need to use `--plugin-launcher` or another approach. ### Printing Chromium types gdb 7 lets us use Python to write pretty-printers for Chromium types. See [gdbinit](https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/+/main/docs/gdbinit.md) to enable pretty-printing of Chromium types. This will import Blink pretty-printers as well. Pretty printers for std types shouldn't be necessary in gdb 7, but they're provided here in case you're using an older gdb. Put the following into `~/.gdbinit`: ``` # Print a C++ string. define ps print $arg0.c_str() end # Print a C++ wstring or wchar_t*. define pws printf "\"" set $c = (wchar_t*)$arg0 while ( *$c ) if ( *$c > 0x7f ) printf "[%x]", *$c else printf "%c", *$c end set $c++ end printf "\"\n" end ``` [More STL GDB macros](http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/src/dbinit_stl_views-1.01.txt) ### JsDbg -- visualize data structures in the browser JsDbg is a debugger plugin to display various Chrome data structures in a browser window, such as the accessibility tree, layout object tree, DOM tree, and others. [Installation instructions are here](https://github.com/MicrosoftEdge/JsDbg), and see [here](https://github.com/MicrosoftEdge/JsDbg/blob/master/docs/FEATURES.md) for screenshots and an introduction. For Googlers, please see [go/jsdbg](https://goto.google.com/jsdbg) for installation instructions. ### Time travel debugging with rr You can use [rr](https://rr-project.org) for time travel debugging, so you can also step or execute backwards. This works by first recording a trace and then debugging based on that. You need an up-to-date version of rr, since rr is frequently updated to support new parts of the Linux system call API surface that Chromium uses. If you have any issues with the latest release version, try compiling rr [from source](https://github.com/rr-debugger/rr/wiki/Building-And-Installing). Once installed, you can use it like this: ``` rr record out/Debug/content_shell --single-process rr replay (rr) c (rr) break blink::NGBlockNode::Layout (rr) rc # reverse-continue to the last Layout call (rr) jsdbg # run JsDbg as described above to find the interesting object (rr) watch -l box_->frame_rect_.size_.width_.value_ (rr) rc # reverse-continue to the last time the width was changed (rr) rn # reverse-next to the previous line (rr) reverse-fin # run to where this function was called from ``` You can debug multi-process chrome using `rr -f [PID]` for processes `fork()`ed from a [zygote process](zygote.md) without exec, which includes renderer processes, or `rr -p [PID]` for other processes. To find the process id you can either run `rr ps` after recording, or for renderer processes use `--vmodule=render_frame_impl=1` which will log a message on navigations. Example: ``` $ rr record out/Debug/content_shell --disable-hang-monitor --vmodule=render_frame_impl=1 https://www.google.com/ rr: Saving execution to trace directory `...'. ... [128515:128515:0320/164124.768687:VERBOSE1:render_frame_impl.cc(4244)] Committed provisional load: https://www.google.com/ ``` From the log message we can see that the site was loaded into process 128515 and can set a breakpoint for when that process is forked. ``` rr replay -f 128515 ``` If you want to call debugging functions from gdb that use `LOG()`, then those functions need to disable the printing of timestamps using [`SetLogItems`](https://source.chromium.org/search?q=SetLogItems&sq=&ss=chromium%2Fchromium%2Fsrc). See `LayoutObject::ShowLayoutObject()` for an example of this, and [issue 2829](https://github.com/rr-debugger/rr/issues/2829) for why it is needed. If rr doesn't work correctly, the rr developers are generally quite responsive to [bug reports](https://github.com/rr-debugger/rr/issues), especially ones that have enough information so that they don't have to build Chromium. See Also: * [The Chromium Chronicle #13: Time-Travel Debugging with RR](https://developer.chrome.com/blog/chromium-chronicle-13/) * [@davidbaron demo using rr](https://twitter.com/davidbaron/status/1473761042278887433) * [@davidbaron demo using pernosco](https://twitter.com/davidbaron/status/1475836824409022469) (Googlers: see [go/pernosco](https://goto.google.com/pernosco)) ### Graphical Debugging Aid for Chromium Views The following link describes a tool that can be used on Linux, Windows and Mac under GDB. [graphical_debugging_aid_chromium_views](../graphical_debugging_aid_chromium_views.md) ### Faster startup Use the `gdb-add-index` script (e.g. `build/gdb-add-index out/Debug/browser_tests`) Only makes sense if you run the binary multiple times or maybe if you use the component build since most `.so` files won't require reindexing on a rebuild. See https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/forum/#!searchin/chromium-dev/gdb-add-index/chromium-dev/ELRuj1BDCL4/5Ki4LGx41CcJ for more info. You can improve GDB load time significantly at the cost of link time by not splitting symbols from the object files. In GN, set `use_debug_fission=false` in your "gn args". ### Source level debug with -fdebug-compilation-dir When `strip_absolute_paths_from_debug_symbols` is enabled (which is the default), gdb may not be able to find debug files, making source-level debugging impossible. See [gdbinit](https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/+/main/docs/gdbinit.md) to configure gdb to be able to find debug files. ## Core files `ulimit -c unlimited` should cause all Chrome processes (run from that shell) to dump cores, with the possible exception of some sandboxed processes. Some sandboxed subprocesses might not dump cores unless you pass the `--allow-sandbox-debugging` flag. If the problem is a freeze rather than a crash, you may be able to trigger a core-dump by sending SIGABRT to the relevant process: kill -6 [process id] ## Breakpad minidump files See [minidump_to_core.md](minidump_to_core.md) ## Running Tests Many of our tests bring up windows on screen. This can be annoying (they steal your focus) and hard to debug (they receive extra events as you mouse over them). Instead, use `Xvfb` or `Xephyr` to run a nested X session to debug them, as outlined on [testing/web_tests_linux.md](../testing/web_tests_linux.md). ### Browser tests By default the `browser_tests` forks a new browser for each test. To debug the browser side of a single test, use a command like ``` gdb --args out/Debug/browser_tests --single-process-tests --gtest_filter=MyTestName ``` **note the use of `single-process-tests`** -- this makes the test harness and browser process share the outermost process. To debug a renderer process in this case, use the tips above about renderers. ### Web tests See [testing/web_tests_linux.md](../testing/web_tests_linux.md) for some tips. In particular, note that it's possible to debug a web test via `ssh`ing to a Linux box; you don't need anything on screen if you use `Xvfb`. ### UI tests UI tests are run in forked browsers. Unlike browser tests, you cannot do any single process tricks here to debug the browser. See below about `BROWSER_WRAPPER`. To pass flags to the browser, use a command line like `--extra-chrome-flags="--foo --bar"`. ### Timeouts UI tests have a confusing array of timeouts in place. (Pawel is working on reducing the number of timeouts.) To disable them while you debug, set the timeout flags to a large value: * `--test-timeout=100000000` * `--ui-test-action-timeout=100000000` * `--ui-test-terminate-timeout=100000000` ### To replicate Window Manager setup on the bots Chromium try bots and main waterfall's bots run tests under Xvfb&openbox combination. Xvfb is an X11 server that redirects the graphical output to the memory, and openbox is a simple window manager that is running on top of Xvfb. The behavior of openbox is markedly different when it comes to focus management and other window tasks, so test that runs fine locally may fail or be flaky on try bots. To run the tests on a local machine as on a bot, follow these steps: Make sure you have openbox: apt-get install openbox Start Xvfb and openbox on a particular display: Xvfb :6.0 -screen 0 1280x1024x24 & DISPLAY=:6.0 openbox & Run your tests with graphics output redirected to that display: DISPLAY=:6.0 out/Debug/browser_tests --gtest_filter="MyBrowserTest.MyActivateWindowTest" You can look at a snapshot of the output by: xwd -display :6.0 -root | xwud Alternatively, you can use testing/xvfb.py to set up your environment for you: testing/xvfb.py out/Debug/browser_tests \ --gtest_filter="MyBrowserTest.MyActivateWindowTest" ### BROWSER_WRAPPER You can also get the browser under a debugger by setting the `BROWSER_WRAPPER` environment variable. (You can use this for `browser_tests` too, but see above for discussion of a simpler way.) BROWSER_WRAPPER='xterm -e gdb --args' out/Debug/browser_tests ### Replicating try bot Slowness Try bots are pretty stressed, and can sometimes expose timing issues you can't normally reproduce locally. You can simulate this by shutting down all but one of the CPUs (http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/debian-rhel-centos-redhat-suse-hotplug-cpu/) and running a CPU loading tool (e.g., http://www.devin.com/lookbusy/). Now run your test. It will run slowly, but any flakiness found by the try bot should replicate locally now - and often nearly 100% of the time. ## Logging ### Seeing all LOG(foo) messages Default log level hides `LOG(INFO)`. Run with `--log-level=0` and `--enable-logging=stderr` flags. Newer versions of Chromium with VLOG may need --v=1 too. For more VLOG tips, see [the chromium-dev thread](https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/group/chromium-dev/browse_thread/thread/dcd0cd7752b35de6?pli=1). ### Seeing IPC debug messages Run with `CHROME_IPC_LOGGING=1` eg. CHROME_IPC_LOGGING=1 out/Debug/chrome or within gdb: set environment CHROME_IPC_LOGGING 1 If some messages show as unknown, check if the list of IPC message headers in [chrome/common/logging_chrome.cc](/chrome/common/logging_chrome.cc) is up to date. In case this file reference goes out of date, try looking for usage of macros like `IPC_MESSAGE_LOG_ENABLED` or `IPC_MESSAGE_MACROS_LOG_ENABLED`. ## Profiling See https://sites.google.com/a/chromium.org/dev/developers/profiling-chromium-and-webkit and [Linux Profiling](profiling.md). ## i18n We obey your system locale. Try something like: LANG=ja_JP.UTF-8 out/Debug/chrome If this doesn't work, make sure that the `LANGUAGE`, `LC_ALL` and `LC_MESSAGE` environment variables aren't set -- they have higher priority than LANG in the order listed. Alternatively, just do this: LANGUAGE=fr out/Debug/chrome Note that because we use GTK, some locale data comes from the system -- for example, file save boxes and whether the current language is considered RTL. Without all the language data available, Chrome will use a mixture of your system language and the language you run Chrome in. Here's how to install the Arabic (ar) and Hebrew (he) language packs: sudo apt-get install language-pack-ar language-pack-he \ language-pack-gnome-ar language-pack-gnome-he Note that the `--lang` flag does **not** work properly for this. On non-Debian systems, you need the `gtk30.mo` files. (Please update these docs with the appropriate instructions if you know what they are.) ## Breakpad See the last section of [Linux Crash Dumping](crash_dumping.md). ## Drag and Drop If you break in a debugger during a drag, Chrome will have grabbed your mouse and keyboard so you won't be able to interact with the debugger! To work around this, run via `Xephyr`. Instructions for how to use `Xephyr` are on the [Running web tests on Linux](../testing/web_tests_linux.md) page. ## Tracking Down Bugs ### Isolating Regressions Old builds are archived here: https://build.chromium.org/buildbot/snapshots/chromium-rel-linux/ (TODO: does not exist). `tools/bisect-builds.py` in the tree automates bisecting through the archived builds. Despite a computer science education, I am still amazed how quickly binary search will find its target. ### Screen recording for bug reports sudo apt-get install gtk-recordmydesktop ## Version-specific issues ### Google Chrome Google Chrome binaries don't include symbols. Googlers can read where to get symbols from [the Google-internal wiki](http://wiki/Main/ChromeOfficialBuildLinux#The_Build_Archive). ### Ubuntu Chromium Since we don't build the Ubuntu packages (Ubuntu does) we can't get useful backtraces from them. Direct users to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Chromium/Debugging ### Fedora's Chromium Like Ubuntu, but direct users to https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/TomCallaway/Chromium_Debug ### Xlib If you're trying to track down X errors like: ``` The program 'chrome' received an X Window System error. This probably reflects a bug in the program. The error was 'BadDrawable (invalid Pixmap or Window parameter)'. ``` Some strategies are: * pass `--sync` on the command line to make all X calls synchronous * run chrome via [xtrace](http://xtrace.alioth.debian.org/) * turn on IPC debugging (see above section) ### Window Managers To test on various window managers, you can use a nested X server like `Xephyr`. Instructions for how to use `Xephyr` are on the [Running web tests on Linux](../testing/web_tests_linux.md) page. If you need to test something with hardware accelerated compositing (e.g., compiz), you can use `Xgl` (`sudo apt-get install xserver-xgl`). E.g.: Xgl :1 -ac -accel glx:pbuffer -accel xv:pbuffer -screen 1024x768 ## Mozilla Tips https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Debugging_Mozilla_on_Linux_FAQ ## Google Chrome Symbol Files Symbols for Google Chrome's official builds are available from `https://edgedl.me.gvt1.com/chrome/linux/symbols/google-chrome-debug-info-linux64-${VERSION}.zip` where ${VERSION} is any version of Google Chrome that has recently been served to Stable, Beta, or Unstable (Dev) channels on Linux.