gdb

GDB

Purpose

Walk agents through GDB sessions from first launch to advanced workflows: crash diagnosis, reverse debugging, remote debugging, and multi-thread inspection.

Triggers

• "My program segfaults / crashes — how do I debug it?"
• "How do I set a breakpoint on condition X?"
• "How do I inspect memory / variables in GDB?"
• "How do I debug a remote embedded target?"
• "GDB shows ?? frames / no source"
• "How do I replay a bug deterministically?" (record/replay)

Workflow

1. Prerequisite: compile with debug info

Always compile with -g (GCC/Clang). Use -Og or -O0 for most debuggable code.

gcc -g -Og -o prog main.c

For release builds: use -g -O2 and keep the binary with symbols (strip separately with objcopy).

2. Start GDB

gdb ./prog                          # load binary
gdb ./prog core                     # load with core dump
gdb -p 12345                        # attach to running process
gdb --args ./prog arg1 arg2         # pass arguments
gdb -batch -ex 'run' -ex 'bt' ./prog  # non-interactive (CI)

3. Essential commands

Command	Shortcut	Effect
run [args]	r	Start the program
continue	c	Resume after break
next	n	Step over (source line)
step	s	Step into
nexti	ni	Step over (instruction)
stepi	si	Step into (instruction)
finish		Run to end of current function
until N		Run to line N
return [val]		Force return from function
quit	q	Exit GDB

4. Breakpoints and watchpoints

break main                          # break at function
break file.c:42                     # break at line
break *0x400abc                     # break at address
break foo if x > 10                 # conditional break
tbreak foo                          # temporary breakpoint (fires once)
rbreak ^mylib_.*                    # regex breakpoint on all matching functions

watch x                             # watchpoint: break when x changes
watch *(int*)0x601060               # watch memory address
rwatch x                            # break when x is read
awatch x                            # break on read or write

info breakpoints                    # list all breakpoints
delete 3                            # delete breakpoint 3
disable 3                           # disable without deleting
enable 3

5. Inspect state

print x                             # print variable
print/x x                           # print in hex
print *ptr                          # dereference pointer
print arr[0]@10                     # print 10 elements of array
display x                           # auto-print x on every stop
undisplay 1

info locals                         # all local variables
info args                           # function arguments
info registers                      # all CPU registers
info registers rip rsp rbp          # specific registers
x/10wx 0x7fff0000                   # examine 10 words at address
x/s 0x400abc                        # examine as string
x/i $rip                            # examine current instruction

backtrace                           # call stack (bt)
bt full                             # bt + local vars
frame 2                             # switch to frame 2
up / down                           # move up/down the stack

6. Multi-thread debugging

info threads                        # list threads
thread 3                            # switch to thread 3
thread apply all bt                 # backtrace all threads
thread apply all bt full            # full bt all threads
set scheduler-locking on            # pause other threads while stepping

7. Reverse debugging (record/replay)

Record requires target record-full or target record-btrace (Intel PT):

# Software record (slow but universal)
record                              # start recording
run
# ... trigger the bug ...
reverse-continue                    # go back to last break
reverse-next                        # step backwards
reverse-step
reverse-finish

# Intel Processor Trace (fast, hardware)
target record-btrace pt
run
# view instruction history
record instruction-history

8. Remote debugging with gdbserver

On target:

gdbserver :1234 ./prog
# Or attach:
gdbserver :1234 --attach 5678

On host:

gdb ./prog
(gdb) target remote 192.168.1.10:1234
(gdb) break main
(gdb) continue

For cross-compilation: use aarch64-linux-gnu-gdb on the host.

9. Common problems

Symptom	Cause	Fix
No symbol table	Binary not compiled with -g	Recompile with -g
?? frames in backtrace	Missing debug info or stack corruption	Install debuginfo package; check for stack smash
Cannot access memory at address	Null dereference / freed memory	Check pointer before deref; use ASan
SIGABRT in backtrace	abort() or assertion failure	Go up frames to find the assertion
GDB hangs on run	Binary waiting for input	Redirect stdin: run < /dev/null
Breakpoint in wrong place	Optimiser moved code	Compile with -Og; or use nexti

10. GDB init file (~/.gdbinit)

set history save on
set history size 1000
set print pretty on
set print array on
set print array-indexes on
set pagination off
set confirm off

For a command cheatsheet, see references/cheatsheet.md. For pretty-printers and Python scripting, see references/scripting.md.

Related skills

• Use skills/debuggers/core-dumps for loading core files
• Use skills/debuggers/lldb for LLDB-based workflows
• Use skills/runtimes/sanitizers to catch bugs before needing the debugger
• Use skills/compilers/gcc for -g flag details