

                         CORE ANALYSIS SUITE

  The core analysis suite is a self-contained tool that can be used to
  investigate either live systems, kernel core dumps created from dump
  creation facilities such as kdump, kvmdump, xendump, the netdump and
  diskdump packages offered by Red Hat, the LKCD kernel patch, the mcore
  kernel patch created by Mission Critical Linux, as well as other formats
  created by manufacturer-specific firmware.

  o  The tool is loosely based on the SVR4 crash command, but has been
     completely integrated with gdb in order to be able to display 
     formatted kernel data structures, disassemble source code, etc.
     
  o  The current set of available commands consist of common kernel core
     analysis tools such as a context-specific stack traces, source code
     disassembly, kernel variable displays, memory display, dumps of 
     linked-lists, etc.  In addition, any gdb command may be entered,
     which in turn will be passed onto the gdb module for execution.  

  o  There are several commands that delve deeper into specific kernel
     subsystems, which also serve as templates for kernel developers
     to create new commands for analysis of a specific area of interest.
     Adding a new command is a simple affair, and a quick recompile
     adds it to the command menu.

  o  The intent is to make the tool independent of Linux version dependencies,
     building in recognition of major kernel code changes so as to adapt to 
     new kernel versions, while maintaining backwards compatibility.

  A whitepaper with complete documentation concerning the use of this utility
  can be found here:
 
         https://crash-utility.github.io/crash_whitepaper.html
 
  These are the current prerequisites: 

  o  At this point, x86, ia64, x86_64, ppc64, ppc, arm, arm64, alpha, mips,
     mips64, loongarch64, riscv64, s390 and s390x-based kernels are supported.
     Other architectures may be addressed in the future.

  o  One size fits all -- the utility can be run on any Linux kernel version
     version dating back to 2.2.5-15.  A primary design goal is to always
     maintain backwards-compatibility.

  o  In order to contain debugging data, the top-level kernel Makefile's CFLAGS
     definition must contain the -g flag.  Typically distributions will contain
     a package containing a vmlinux file with full debuginfo data.  If not, the
     kernel must be rebuilt:

     For 2.2 kernels that are not built with -g, change the following line:

        CFLAGS = -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -O2 -fomit-frame-pointer

     to:

        CFLAGS = -g -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -O2 -fomit-frame-pointer

     For 2.4 kernels that are not built with -g, change the following line:

        CFLAGS := $(CPPFLAGS) -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -O2 -fomit-frame-pointer -fno-strict-aliasing

     to:

        CFLAGS := -g $(CPPFLAGS) -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -O2 -fomit-frame-pointer -fno-strict-aliasing

     For 2.6 and later kernels that are not built with -g, the kernel should
     be configured with CONFIG_DEBUG_INFO enabled, which in turn will add
     the -g flag to the CFLAGS setting in the kernel Makefile.
 
     After the kernel is re-compiled, the uncompressed "vmlinux" kernel
     that is created in the top-level kernel build directory must be saved.

  o  Requirements for building:
      Fedora: make gcc gcc-c++ ncurses-devel zlib-devel lzo-devel snappy-devel bison wget patch texinfo libzstd-devel gmp-devel mpfr-devel
      Ubuntu/Debian: make gcc g++ libncurses-dev zlib1g-dev liblzo2-dev libsnappy-dev bison wget patch texinfo libzstd-dev
      Arch Linux: make gcc ncurses zlib lzo snappy bison wget patch texinfo zstd
      openSUSE: make gcc gcc-c++ ncurses-devel zlib-devel lzo-devel snappy-devel bison wget patch texinfo libzstd-devel

  To build the crash utility: 

    $ tar -xf crash-9.0.1.tar.gz
    $ cd crash-9.0.1
    $ make

  To cross compile the crash utility for aarch64 on x86_64:
    $ make CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu- -j`nproc`

  Supported arches for cross compilation: x86_64, x86, aarch64, s390x, powerpc64, alpha, sparc64, mips, riscv64

  The initial build will take several minutes  because the embedded gdb module
  must be configured and built.  Alternatively, the crash source RPM file
  may be installed and built, and the resultant crash binary RPM file installed.

  The crash binary can only be used on systems of the same architecture as
  the host build system.  There are a few optional manners of building the
  crash binary:

  o  On an x86_64 host, a 32-bit x86 binary that can be used to analyze
     32-bit x86 dumpfiles may be built by typing "make target=X86".
  o  On an x86 or x86_64 host, a 32-bit x86 binary that can be used to analyze
     32-bit arm dumpfiles may be built by typing "make target=ARM".
  o  On an x86 or x86_64 host, a 32-bit x86 binary that can be used to analyze
     32-bit mips dumpfiles may be built by typing "make target=MIPS".
  o  On an ppc64 host, a 32-bit ppc binary that can be used to analyze
     32-bit ppc dumpfiles may be built by typing "make target=PPC".
  o  On an x86_64 host, an x86_64 binary that can be used to analyze
     arm64 dumpfiles may be built by typing "make target=ARM64".
  o  On an x86_64 host, an x86_64 binary that can be used to analyze
     ppc64le dumpfiles may be built by typing "make target=PPC64".
  o  On an x86_64 host, an x86_64 binary that can be used to analyze
     riscv64 dumpfiles may be built by typing "make target=RISCV64".
  o  On an x86_64 host, an x86_64 binary that can be used to analyze
     loongarch64 dumpfiles may be built by typing "make target=LOONGARCH64".

  Traditionally when vmcores are compressed via the makedumpfile(8) facility
  the libz compression library is used, and by default the crash utility
  only supports libz.  Recently makedumpfile has been enhanced to optionally
  use the LZO, snappy or zstd compression libraries.  To build crash with any
  or all of those libraries, type "make lzo", "make snappy" or "make zstd".

  crash supports valgrind Memcheck tool on the crash's custom memory allocator.
  To build crash with this feature enabled, type "make valgrind" and then run
  crash with valgrind as "valgrind crash vmlinux vmcore".

  All of the alternate build commands above are "sticky" in that the
  special "make" targets only have to be entered one time; all subsequent
  builds will follow suit.

  If the tool is run against a kernel dumpfile, two arguments are required, the
  uncompressed kernel name and the kernel dumpfile name.  

  If run on a live system, only the kernel name is required, because /dev/mem 
  will be used as the "dumpfile".  On Red Hat or Fedora kernels where the
  /dev/mem device is restricted, the /dev/crash memory driver will be used.
  If neither /dev/mem or /dev/crash are available, then /proc/kcore will be
  be used as the live memory source.  If /proc/kcore is also restricted, then
  the Red Hat /dev/crash driver may be compiled and installed; its source
  is included in the crash-9.0.1/memory_driver subdirectory.

  If the kernel file is stored in /boot, /, /boot/efi, or in any /usr/src
  or /usr/lib/debug/lib/modules subdirectory, then no command line arguments
  are required -- the first kernel found that matches /proc/version will be
  used as the namelist.
  
  For example, invoking crash on a live system would look like this:

    $ crash
    
    crash 9.0.1
    Copyright (C) 2002-2025  Red Hat, Inc.
    Copyright (C) 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010  IBM Corporation
    Copyright (C) 1999-2006  Hewlett-Packard Co
    Copyright (C) 2005, 2006, 2011, 2012  Fujitsu Limited
    Copyright (C) 2006, 2007  VA Linux Systems Japan K.K.
    Copyright (C) 2005, 2011, 2020-2022  NEC Corporation
    Copyright (C) 1999, 2002, 2007  Silicon Graphics, Inc.
    Copyright (C) 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002  Mission Critical Linux, Inc.
    Copyright (C) 2015, 2021  VMware, Inc.
    This program is free software, covered by the GNU General Public License,
    and you are welcome to change it and/or distribute copies of it under
    certain conditions.  Enter "help copying" to see the conditions.
    This program has absolutely no warranty.  Enter "help warranty" for details.
     
    GNU gdb 16.2
    Copyright 2013 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
    License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>
    This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
    There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.  Type "show copying"
    and "show warranty" for details.
    This GDB was configured as "i686-pc-linux-gnu"...
     
          KERNEL: /boot/vmlinux
        DUMPFILE: /dev/mem
            CPUS: 1
            DATE: Tue Jun 10 18:03:09 CST 2025
          UPTIME: 10 days, 22:55:18
    LOAD AVERAGE: 0.08, 0.03, 0.01
           TASKS: 42
        NODENAME: ha2.mclinux.com
         RELEASE: 2.4.0-test10
         VERSION: #11 SMP Thu Nov 4 15:09:25 EST 2000
         MACHINE: i686  (447 MHz)
	  MEMORY: 128 MB
             PID: 3621                                  
         COMMAND: "crash"
            TASK: c463c000  
             CPU: 0
           STATE: TASK_RUNNING (ACTIVE)

    crash> help

    *              files          mod            sbitmapq       union          
    alias          foreach        mount          search         vm             
    ascii          fuser          net            set            vtop           
    bpf            gdb            p              sig            waitq          
    bt             help           ps             struct         whatis         
    btop           ipcs           pte            swap           wr             
    dev            irq            ptob           sym            q              
    dis            kmem           ptov           sys            
    eval           list           rd             task           
    exit           log            repeat         timer          
    extend         mach           runq           tree           
    
    crash version: 9.0.0    gdb version: 16.2
    For help on any command above, enter "help <command>".
    For help on input options, enter "help input".
    For help on output options, enter "help output".

    crash> 
 
  When run on a dumpfile, both the kernel namelist and dumpfile must be 
  entered on the command line.  For example, when run on a core dump created
  by the Red Hat netdump or diskdump facilities:

    $ crash vmlinux vmcore
 
    crash 9.0.0
    Copyright (C) 2002-2025  Red Hat, Inc.
    Copyright (C) 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010  IBM Corporation
    Copyright (C) 1999-2006  Hewlett-Packard Co
    Copyright (C) 2005, 2006, 2011, 2012  Fujitsu Limited
    Copyright (C) 2006, 2007  VA Linux Systems Japan K.K.
    Copyright (C) 2005, 2011, 2020-2022  NEC Corporation
    Copyright (C) 1999, 2002, 2007  Silicon Graphics, Inc.
    Copyright (C) 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002  Mission Critical Linux, Inc.
    Copyright (C) 2015, 2021  VMware, Inc.
    This program is free software, covered by the GNU General Public License,
    and you are welcome to change it and/or distribute copies of it under
    certain conditions.  Enter "help copying" to see the conditions.
    This program has absolutely no warranty.  Enter "help warranty" for details.
     
    GNU gdb 16.2
    Copyright 2013 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
    License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>
    This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
    There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.  Type "show copying"
    and "show warranty" for details.
    This GDB was configured as "i686-pc-linux-gnu"...
    
          KERNEL: vmlinux
        DUMPFILE: vmcore
            CPUS: 4
            DATE: Tue Jun 10 18:03:09 CST 2025
          UPTIME: 00:02:40
    LOAD AVERAGE: 2.24, 0.96, 0.37
           TASKS: 70
        NODENAME: pro1.lab.boston.redhat.com
         RELEASE: 2.6.3-2.1.214.11smp
         VERSION: #1 SMP Tue Mar 2 10:58:27 EST 2004
         MACHINE: i686  (2785 Mhz)
          MEMORY: 512 MB
           PANIC: "Oops: 0002 [#1]" (check log for details)
             PID: 0
         COMMAND: "swapper"
            TASK: 22fa200  (1 of 4)  [THREAD_INFO: 2356000]
             CPU: 0
           STATE: TASK_RUNNING (PANIC)
    
    crash> 

  The tool's environment is context-specific.  On a live system, the default
  context is the command itself; on a dump the default context will be the
  task that panicked.  The most commonly-used commands are:

    set     - set a new task context by pid, task address, or cpu.
    bt      - backtrace of the current context, or as specified with arguments.
    p       - print the contents of a kernel variable.
    rd      - read memory, which may be either kernel virtual, user virtual, or
              physical.
    ps      - simple process listing.
    log     - dump the kernel log_buf.
    struct  - print the contents of a structure at a specified address.
    foreach - execute a command on all tasks, or those specified, in the system.
 
  Detailed help concerning the use of each of the commands in the menu above 
  may be displayed by entering "help command", where "command" is one of those 
  listed above.  Rather than getting bogged down in details here, simply
  run the help command on each of the commands above.  Note that many commands
  have multiple options so as to avoid the proliferation of command names.

  Command output may be piped to external commands or redirected to files.
  Enter "help output" for details.

  The command line history mechanism allows for command-line recall and 
  command-line editing.  Input files containing a set of crash commands may 
  be substituted for command-line input.  Enter "help input" for details.

  Note that a .crashrc file (or .<your-command-name>rc if the name has been 
  changed), may contain any number of "set" or "alias" commands -- see the
  help pages on those two commands for details.
 
  Lastly, if a command is entered that is not recognized, it is checked
  against the kernel's list of variables, structure, union or typedef names, 
  and if found, the command is passed to "p", "struct", "union" or "whatis".
  That being the case, as long as a kernel variable/structure/union name is 
  different than any of the current commands.

  (1) A kernel variable can be dumped by simply entering its name:
 
      crash> init_mm
      init_mm = $2 = {
        mmap = 0xc022d540, 
        mmap_avl = 0x0, 
        mmap_cache = 0x0, 
        pgd = 0xc0101000, 
        count = {
          counter = 0x6
        }, 
        map_count = 0x1, 
        mmap_sem = {
          count = {
            counter = 0x1
          }, 
          waking = 0x0, 
          wait = 0x0
        }, 
        context = 0x0, 
        start_code = 0xc0000000, 
        end_code = 0xc022b4c8,
        end_data = c0250388,
        ...
      
  (2) A structure or can be dumped simply by entering its name and address:  

      crash> vm_area_struct c5ba3910
      struct vm_area_struct {
        vm_mm = 0xc3ae3210, 
        vm_start = 0x821b000, 
        vm_end = 0x8692000, 
        vm_next = 0xc5ba3890, 
        vm_page_prot = {
          pgprot = 0x25
        }, 
        vm_flags = 0x77, 
        vm_avl_height = 0x4, 
        vm_avl_left = 0xc0499540, 
        vm_avl_right = 0xc0499f40, 
        vm_next_share = 0xc04993c0, 
        vm_pprev_share = 0xc0499060, 
        vm_ops = 0x0, 
        vm_offset = 0x0, 
        vm_file = 0x0, 
        vm_pte = 0x0
      }


  The crash utility has been designed to facilitate the task of adding new 
  commands.  New commands may be permanently compiled into the crash executable,
  or dynamically added during runtime using shared object files.
 
  To permanently add a new command to the crash executable's menu:

    1. For a command named "xxx", put a reference to cmd_xxx() in defs.h.
   
    2. Add cmd_xxx into the base_command_table[] array in global_data.c. 

    3. Write cmd_xxx(), putting it in one of the appropriate files.  Look at 
       the other commands for guidance on getting symbolic data, reading
       memory, displaying data, etc...

    4. Recompile and run.

  Note that while the initial compile of crash, which configures and compiles
  the gdb module, takes several minutes, subsequent re-compiles to do such
  things as add new commands or fix bugs just takes a few seconds.

  Alternatively, you can create shared object library files consisting of
  crash command extensions, that can be dynamically linked into the crash
  executable during runtime or during initialization.  This will allow
  the same shared object to be used with subsequent crash releases without
  having to re-merge the command's code into each new set of crash sources.
  The dynamically linked-in commands will automatically show up in the crash
  help menu.  For details, enter "help extend" during runtime, or enter
  "crash -h extend" from the shell command line.
 




