drgn/docs/advanced_usage.rst
Omar Sandoval 9b563170f8 libdrgn: make load_debug_info() API saner
Rather than exposing the underlying open and load steps of DWARF index,
simplify it down to a single load step.
2019-05-13 15:04:27 -07:00

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Advanced Usage
==============
.. highlight:: pycon
The :doc:`user_guide` covers basic usage of drgn, but drgn also supports more
advanced use cases which are covered here.
Loading Debugging Symbols
-------------------------
drgn will automatically load debugging information based on the debugged
program (e.g., from loaded kernel modules or loaded shared libraries).
:meth:`drgn.Program.load_debug_info()` can be used to load additional debugging
information::
>>> prog.load_debug_info(['./libfoo.so', '/usr/lib/libbar.so'])
Library
-------
In addition to the CLI, drgn is also available as a library.
:func:`drgn.program_from_core_dump()`, :func:`drgn.program_from_kernel()`, and
:func:`drgn.program_from_pid()` correspond to the ``-c``, ``-k``, and ``-p``
command line options, respectively; they return a :class:`drgn.Program` that
can be used just like the one initialized by the CLI::
>>> import drgn
>>> prog = drgn.program_from_kernel()
C Library
---------
The core functionality of drgn is implemented in C and is available as a C
library, ``libdrgn``. See |drgn.h|_.
.. |drgn.h| replace:: ``drgn.h``
.. _drgn.h: https://github.com/osandov/drgn/blob/master/libdrgn/drgn.h
Full documentation can be generated by running ``doxygen`` in the ``libdrgn``
directory of the source code. Note that the API and ABI are not yet stable.
Custom Programs
---------------
The main components of a :class:`drgn.Program` are the program memory, types,
and symbols. The CLI and equivalent library interfaces automatically determine
these. However, it is also possible to create a "blank" ``Program`` and plug in
the main components.
:meth:`drgn.Program.add_memory_segment()` defines a range of memory and how to
read that memory. The following example uses a Btrfs filesystem image as the
program "memory":
.. code-block:: python3
import drgn
import os
def btrfs_debugger(dev):
file = open(dev, 'rb')
size = file.seek(0, 2)
def read_file(address, count, physical, offset):
file.seek(offset)
return file.read(count)
prog = drgn.Program(drgn.Architecture.IS_LITTLE_ENDIAN)
prog.add_memory_segment(0, None, size, read_file)
prog.load_debug_info([f'/lib/modules/{os.uname().release}/kernel/fs/btrfs/btrfs.ko'])
return prog
prog = btrfs_debugger('/dev/sda')
print(drgn.Object(prog, 'struct btrfs_super_block', address=65536))
:meth:`drgn.Program.add_type_finder()` and
:meth:`drgn.Program.add_symbol_finder()` are the equivalent methods for
plugging in types and symbols.