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1S390 Debug Feature
2==================
3
4files: arch/s390/kernel/debug.c
5       arch/s390/include/asm/debug.h
6
7Description:
8------------
9The goal of this feature is to provide a kernel debug logging API
10where log records can be stored efficiently in memory, where each component
11(e.g. device drivers) can have one separate debug log.
12One purpose of this is to inspect the debug logs after a production system crash
13in order to analyze the reason for the crash.
14If the system still runs but only a subcomponent which uses dbf fails,
15it is possible to look at the debug logs on a live system via the Linux
16debugfs filesystem.
17The debug feature may also very useful for kernel and driver development.
18
19Design:
20-------
21Kernel components (e.g. device drivers) can register themselves at the debug
22feature with the function call debug_register(). This function initializes a
23debug log for the caller. For each debug log exists a number of debug areas
24where exactly one is active at one time.  Each debug area consists of contiguous
25pages in memory. In the debug areas there are stored debug entries (log records)
26which are written by event- and exception-calls.
27
28An event-call writes the specified debug entry to the active debug
29area and updates the log pointer for the active area. If the end
30of the active debug area is reached, a wrap around is done (ring buffer)
31and the next debug entry will be written at the beginning of the active
32debug area.
33
34An exception-call writes the specified debug entry to the log and
35switches to the next debug area. This is done in order to be sure
36that the records which describe the origin of the exception are not
37overwritten when a wrap around for the current area occurs.
38
39The debug areas themselves are also ordered in form of a ring buffer.
40When an exception is thrown in the last debug area, the following debug
41entries are then written again in the very first area.
42
43There are three versions for the event- and exception-calls: One for
44logging raw data, one for text and one for numbers.
45
46Each debug entry contains the following data:
47
48- Timestamp
49- Cpu-Number of calling task
50- Level of debug entry (0...6)
51- Return Address to caller
52- Flag, if entry is an exception or not
53
54The debug logs can be inspected in a live system through entries in
55the debugfs-filesystem. Under the toplevel directory "s390dbf" there is
56a directory for each registered component, which is named like the
57corresponding component. The debugfs normally should be mounted to
58/sys/kernel/debug therefore the debug feature can be accessed under
59/sys/kernel/debug/s390dbf.
60
61The content of the directories are files which represent different views
62to the debug log. Each component can decide which views should be
63used through registering them with the function debug_register_view().
64Predefined views for hex/ascii, sprintf and raw binary data are provided.
65It is also possible to define other views. The content of
66a view can be inspected simply by reading the corresponding debugfs file.
67
68All debug logs have an actual debug level (range from 0 to 6).
69The default level is 3. Event and Exception functions have a 'level'
70parameter. Only debug entries with a level that is lower or equal
71than the actual level are written to the log. This means, when
72writing events, high priority log entries should have a low level
73value whereas low priority entries should have a high one.
74The actual debug level can be changed with the help of the debugfs-filesystem
75through writing a number string "x" to the 'level' debugfs file which is
76provided for every debug log. Debugging can be switched off completely
77by using "-" on the 'level' debugfs file.
78
79Example:
80
81> echo "-" > /sys/kernel/debug/s390dbf/dasd/level
82
83It is also possible to deactivate the debug feature globally for every
84debug log. You can change the behavior using  2 sysctl parameters in
85/proc/sys/s390dbf:
86There are currently 2 possible triggers, which stop the debug feature
87globally. The first possibility is to use the "debug_active" sysctl. If
88set to 1 the debug feature is running. If "debug_active" is set to 0 the
89debug feature is turned off.
90The second trigger which stops the debug feature is a kernel oops.
91That prevents the debug feature from overwriting debug information that
92happened before the oops. After an oops you can reactivate the debug feature
93by piping 1 to /proc/sys/s390dbf/debug_active. Nevertheless, its not
94suggested to use an oopsed kernel in a production environment.
95If you want to disallow the deactivation of the debug feature, you can use
96the "debug_stoppable" sysctl. If you set "debug_stoppable" to 0 the debug
97feature cannot be stopped. If the debug feature is already stopped, it
98will stay deactivated.
99
100Kernel Interfaces:
101------------------
102
103----------------------------------------------------------------------------
104debug_info_t *debug_register(char *name, int pages, int nr_areas,
105                             int buf_size);
106
107Parameter:    name:        Name of debug log (e.g. used for debugfs entry)
108              pages:       number of pages, which will be allocated per area
109              nr_areas:    number of debug areas
110              buf_size:    size of data area in each debug entry
111
112Return Value: Handle for generated debug area
113              NULL if register failed
114
115Description:  Allocates memory for a debug log
116              Must not be called within an interrupt handler
117
118----------------------------------------------------------------------------
119debug_info_t *debug_register_mode(char *name, int pages, int nr_areas,
120				  int buf_size, mode_t mode, uid_t uid,
121				  gid_t gid);
122
123Parameter:    name:	   Name of debug log (e.g. used for debugfs entry)
124	      pages:	   Number of pages, which will be allocated per area
125	      nr_areas:    Number of debug areas
126	      buf_size:    Size of data area in each debug entry
127	      mode:	   File mode for debugfs files. E.g. S_IRWXUGO
128	      uid:	   User ID for debugfs files. Currently only 0 is
129			   supported.
130	      gid:	   Group ID for debugfs files. Currently only 0 is
131			   supported.
132
133Return Value: Handle for generated debug area
134	      NULL if register failed
135
136Description:  Allocates memory for a debug log
137	      Must not be called within an interrupt handler
138
139---------------------------------------------------------------------------
140void debug_unregister (debug_info_t * id);
141
142Parameter:     id:   handle for debug log
143
144Return Value:  none
145
146Description:   frees memory for a debug log and removes all registered debug
147	       views.
148               Must not be called within an interrupt handler
149
150---------------------------------------------------------------------------
151void debug_set_level (debug_info_t * id, int new_level);
152
153Parameter:     id:        handle for debug log
154               new_level: new debug level
155
156Return Value:  none
157
158Description:   Sets new actual debug level if new_level is valid.
159
160---------------------------------------------------------------------------
161bool debug_level_enabled (debug_info_t * id, int level);
162
163Parameter:    id:	  handle for debug log
164	      level:	  debug level
165
166Return Value: True if level is less or equal to the current debug level.
167
168Description:  Returns true if debug events for the specified level would be
169	      logged. Otherwise returns false.
170---------------------------------------------------------------------------
171void debug_stop_all(void);
172
173Parameter:     none
174
175Return Value:  none
176
177Description:   stops the debug feature if stopping is allowed. Currently
178               used in case of a kernel oops.
179
180---------------------------------------------------------------------------
181debug_entry_t* debug_event (debug_info_t* id, int level, void* data,
182                            int length);
183
184Parameter:     id:     handle for debug log
185               level:  debug level
186               data:   pointer to data for debug entry
187               length: length of data in bytes
188
189Return Value:  Address of written debug entry
190
191Description:   writes debug entry to active debug area (if level <= actual
192               debug level)
193
194---------------------------------------------------------------------------
195debug_entry_t* debug_int_event (debug_info_t * id, int level,
196                                unsigned int data);
197debug_entry_t* debug_long_event(debug_info_t * id, int level,
198                                unsigned long data);
199
200Parameter:     id:     handle for debug log
201               level:  debug level
202               data:   integer value for debug entry
203
204Return Value:  Address of written debug entry
205
206Description:   writes debug entry to active debug area (if level <= actual
207               debug level)
208
209---------------------------------------------------------------------------
210debug_entry_t* debug_text_event (debug_info_t * id, int level,
211                                 const char* data);
212
213Parameter:     id:     handle for debug log
214               level:  debug level
215               data:   string for debug entry
216
217Return Value:  Address of written debug entry
218
219Description:   writes debug entry in ascii format to active debug area
220               (if level <= actual debug level)
221
222---------------------------------------------------------------------------
223debug_entry_t* debug_sprintf_event (debug_info_t * id, int level,
224                                    char* string,...);
225
226Parameter:     id:    handle for debug log
227               level: debug level
228               string: format string for debug entry
229               ...: varargs used as in sprintf()
230
231Return Value:  Address of written debug entry
232
233Description:   writes debug entry with format string and varargs (longs) to
234               active debug area (if level $<=$ actual debug level).
235               floats and long long datatypes cannot be used as varargs.
236
237---------------------------------------------------------------------------
238
239debug_entry_t* debug_exception (debug_info_t* id, int level, void* data,
240                                int length);
241
242Parameter:     id:     handle for debug log
243               level:  debug level
244               data:   pointer to data for debug entry
245               length: length of data in bytes
246
247Return Value:  Address of written debug entry
248
249Description:   writes debug entry to active debug area (if level <= actual
250               debug level) and switches to next debug area
251
252---------------------------------------------------------------------------
253debug_entry_t* debug_int_exception (debug_info_t * id, int level,
254                                    unsigned int data);
255debug_entry_t* debug_long_exception(debug_info_t * id, int level,
256                                    unsigned long data);
257
258Parameter:     id:     handle for debug log
259               level:  debug level
260               data:   integer value for debug entry
261
262Return Value:  Address of written debug entry
263
264Description:   writes debug entry to active debug area (if level <= actual
265               debug level) and switches to next debug area
266
267---------------------------------------------------------------------------
268debug_entry_t* debug_text_exception (debug_info_t * id, int level,
269                                     const char* data);
270
271Parameter:     id:     handle for debug log
272               level:  debug level
273               data:   string for debug entry
274
275Return Value:  Address of written debug entry
276
277Description:   writes debug entry in ascii format to active debug area
278               (if level <= actual debug level) and switches to next debug
279               area
280
281---------------------------------------------------------------------------
282debug_entry_t* debug_sprintf_exception (debug_info_t * id, int level,
283                                        char* string,...);
284
285Parameter:     id:    handle for debug log
286               level: debug level
287               string: format string for debug entry
288               ...: varargs used as in sprintf()
289
290Return Value:  Address of written debug entry
291
292Description:   writes debug entry with format string and varargs (longs) to
293               active debug area (if level $<=$ actual debug level) and
294               switches to next debug area.
295               floats and long long datatypes cannot be used as varargs.
296
297---------------------------------------------------------------------------
298
299int debug_register_view (debug_info_t * id, struct debug_view *view);
300
301Parameter:     id:    handle for debug log
302               view:  pointer to debug view struct
303
304Return Value:  0  : ok
305               < 0: Error
306
307Description:   registers new debug view and creates debugfs dir entry
308
309---------------------------------------------------------------------------
310int debug_unregister_view (debug_info_t * id, struct debug_view *view);
311
312Parameter:     id:    handle for debug log
313               view:  pointer to debug view struct
314
315Return Value:  0  : ok
316               < 0: Error
317
318Description:   unregisters debug view and removes debugfs dir entry
319
320
321
322Predefined views:
323-----------------
324
325extern struct debug_view debug_hex_ascii_view;
326extern struct debug_view debug_raw_view;
327extern struct debug_view debug_sprintf_view;
328
329Examples
330--------
331
332/*
333 * hex_ascii- + raw-view Example
334 */
335
336#include <linux/init.h>
337#include <asm/debug.h>
338
339static debug_info_t* debug_info;
340
341static int init(void)
342{
343    /* register 4 debug areas with one page each and 4 byte data field */
344
345    debug_info = debug_register ("test", 1, 4, 4 );
346    debug_register_view(debug_info,&debug_hex_ascii_view);
347    debug_register_view(debug_info,&debug_raw_view);
348
349    debug_text_event(debug_info, 4 , "one ");
350    debug_int_exception(debug_info, 4, 4711);
351    debug_event(debug_info, 3, &debug_info, 4);
352
353    return 0;
354}
355
356static void cleanup(void)
357{
358    debug_unregister (debug_info);
359}
360
361module_init(init);
362module_exit(cleanup);
363
364---------------------------------------------------------------------------
365
366/*
367 * sprintf-view Example
368 */
369
370#include <linux/init.h>
371#include <asm/debug.h>
372
373static debug_info_t* debug_info;
374
375static int init(void)
376{
377    /* register 4 debug areas with one page each and data field for */
378    /* format string pointer + 2 varargs (= 3 * sizeof(long))       */
379
380    debug_info = debug_register ("test", 1, 4, sizeof(long) * 3);
381    debug_register_view(debug_info,&debug_sprintf_view);
382
383    debug_sprintf_event(debug_info, 2 , "first event in %s:%i\n",__FILE__,__LINE__);
384    debug_sprintf_exception(debug_info, 1, "pointer to debug info: %p\n",&debug_info);
385
386    return 0;
387}
388
389static void cleanup(void)
390{
391    debug_unregister (debug_info);
392}
393
394module_init(init);
395module_exit(cleanup);
396
397
398
399Debugfs Interface
400----------------
401Views to the debug logs can be investigated through reading the corresponding
402debugfs-files:
403
404Example:
405
406> ls /sys/kernel/debug/s390dbf/dasd
407flush  hex_ascii  level pages raw
408> cat /sys/kernel/debug/s390dbf/dasd/hex_ascii | sort +1
40900 00974733272:680099 2 - 02 0006ad7e  07 ea 4a 90 | ....
41000 00974733272:682210 2 - 02 0006ade6  46 52 45 45 | FREE
41100 00974733272:682213 2 - 02 0006adf6  07 ea 4a 90 | ....
41200 00974733272:682281 1 * 02 0006ab08  41 4c 4c 43 | EXCP
41301 00974733272:682284 2 - 02 0006ab16  45 43 4b 44 | ECKD
41401 00974733272:682287 2 - 02 0006ab28  00 00 00 04 | ....
41501 00974733272:682289 2 - 02 0006ab3e  00 00 00 20 | ...
41601 00974733272:682297 2 - 02 0006ad7e  07 ea 4a 90 | ....
41701 00974733272:684384 2 - 00 0006ade6  46 52 45 45 | FREE
41801 00974733272:684388 2 - 00 0006adf6  07 ea 4a 90 | ....
419
420See section about predefined views for explanation of the above output!
421
422Changing the debug level
423------------------------
424
425Example:
426
427
428> cat /sys/kernel/debug/s390dbf/dasd/level
4293
430> echo "5" > /sys/kernel/debug/s390dbf/dasd/level
431> cat /sys/kernel/debug/s390dbf/dasd/level
4325
433
434Flushing debug areas
435--------------------
436Debug areas can be flushed with piping the number of the desired
437area (0...n) to the debugfs file "flush". When using "-" all debug areas
438are flushed.
439
440Examples:
441
4421. Flush debug area 0:
443> echo "0" > /sys/kernel/debug/s390dbf/dasd/flush
444
4452. Flush all debug areas:
446> echo "-" > /sys/kernel/debug/s390dbf/dasd/flush
447
448Changing the size of debug areas
449------------------------------------
450It is possible the change the size of debug areas through piping
451the number of pages to the debugfs file "pages". The resize request will
452also flush the debug areas.
453
454Example:
455
456Define 4 pages for the debug areas of debug feature "dasd":
457> echo "4" > /sys/kernel/debug/s390dbf/dasd/pages
458
459Stooping the debug feature
460--------------------------
461Example:
462
4631. Check if stopping is allowed
464> cat /proc/sys/s390dbf/debug_stoppable
4652. Stop debug feature
466> echo 0 > /proc/sys/s390dbf/debug_active
467
468lcrash Interface
469----------------
470It is planned that the dump analysis tool lcrash gets an additional command
471's390dbf' to display all the debug logs. With this tool it will be possible
472to investigate the debug logs on a live system and with a memory dump after
473a system crash.
474
475Investigating raw memory
476------------------------
477One last possibility to investigate the debug logs at a live
478system and after a system crash is to look at the raw memory
479under VM or at the Service Element.
480It is possible to find the anker of the debug-logs through
481the 'debug_area_first' symbol in the System map. Then one has
482to follow the correct pointers of the data-structures defined
483in debug.h and find the debug-areas in memory.
484Normally modules which use the debug feature will also have
485a global variable with the pointer to the debug-logs. Following
486this pointer it will also be possible to find the debug logs in
487memory.
488
489For this method it is recommended to use '16 * x + 4' byte (x = 0..n)
490for the length of the data field in debug_register() in
491order to see the debug entries well formatted.
492
493
494Predefined Views
495----------------
496
497There are three predefined views: hex_ascii, raw and sprintf.
498The hex_ascii view shows the data field in hex and ascii representation
499(e.g. '45 43 4b 44 | ECKD').
500The raw view returns a bytestream as the debug areas are stored in memory.
501
502The sprintf view formats the debug entries in the same way as the sprintf
503function would do. The sprintf event/exception functions write to the
504debug entry a pointer to the format string (size = sizeof(long))
505and for each vararg a long value. So e.g. for a debug entry with a format
506string plus two varargs one would need to allocate a (3 * sizeof(long))
507byte data area in the debug_register() function.
508
509IMPORTANT: Using "%s" in sprintf event functions is dangerous. You can only
510use "%s" in the sprintf event functions, if the memory for the passed string is
511available as long as the debug feature exists. The reason behind this is that
512due to performance considerations only a pointer to the string is stored in
513the debug feature. If you log a string that is freed afterwards, you will get
514an OOPS when inspecting the debug feature, because then the debug feature will
515access the already freed memory.
516
517NOTE: If using the sprintf view do NOT use other event/exception functions
518than the sprintf-event and -exception functions.
519
520The format of the hex_ascii and sprintf view is as follows:
521- Number of area
522- Timestamp (formatted as seconds and microseconds since 00:00:00 Coordinated
523  Universal Time (UTC), January 1, 1970)
524- level of debug entry
525- Exception flag (* = Exception)
526- Cpu-Number of calling task
527- Return Address to caller
528- data field
529
530The format of the raw view is:
531- Header as described in debug.h
532- datafield
533
534A typical line of the hex_ascii view will look like the following (first line
535is only for explanation and will not be displayed when 'cating' the view):
536
537area  time           level exception cpu caller    data (hex + ascii)
538--------------------------------------------------------------------------
53900    00964419409:440690 1 -         00  88023fe
540
541
542Defining views
543--------------
544
545Views are specified with the 'debug_view' structure. There are defined
546callback functions which are used for reading and writing the debugfs files:
547
548struct debug_view {
549        char name[DEBUG_MAX_PROCF_LEN];
550        debug_prolog_proc_t* prolog_proc;
551        debug_header_proc_t* header_proc;
552        debug_format_proc_t* format_proc;
553        debug_input_proc_t*  input_proc;
554	void*                private_data;
555};
556
557where
558
559typedef int (debug_header_proc_t) (debug_info_t* id,
560                                   struct debug_view* view,
561                                   int area,
562                                   debug_entry_t* entry,
563                                   char* out_buf);
564
565typedef int (debug_format_proc_t) (debug_info_t* id,
566                                   struct debug_view* view, char* out_buf,
567                                   const char* in_buf);
568typedef int (debug_prolog_proc_t) (debug_info_t* id,
569                                   struct debug_view* view,
570                                   char* out_buf);
571typedef int (debug_input_proc_t) (debug_info_t* id,
572                                  struct debug_view* view,
573                                  struct file* file, const char* user_buf,
574                                  size_t in_buf_size, loff_t* offset);
575
576
577The "private_data" member can be used as pointer to view specific data.
578It is not used by the debug feature itself.
579
580The output when reading a debugfs file is structured like this:
581
582"prolog_proc output"
583
584"header_proc output 1"  "format_proc output 1"
585"header_proc output 2"  "format_proc output 2"
586"header_proc output 3"  "format_proc output 3"
587...
588
589When a view is read from the debugfs, the Debug Feature calls the
590'prolog_proc' once for writing the prolog.
591Then 'header_proc' and 'format_proc' are called for each
592existing debug entry.
593
594The input_proc can be used to implement functionality when it is written to
595the view (e.g. like with 'echo "0" > /sys/kernel/debug/s390dbf/dasd/level).
596
597For header_proc there can be used the default function
598debug_dflt_header_fn() which is defined in debug.h.
599and which produces the same header output as the predefined views.
600E.g:
60100 00964419409:440761 2 - 00 88023ec
602
603In order to see how to use the callback functions check the implementation
604of the default views!
605
606Example
607
608#include <asm/debug.h>
609
610#define UNKNOWNSTR "data: %08x"
611
612const char* messages[] =
613{"This error...........\n",
614 "That error...........\n",
615 "Problem..............\n",
616 "Something went wrong.\n",
617 "Everything ok........\n",
618 NULL
619};
620
621static int debug_test_format_fn(
622   debug_info_t * id, struct debug_view *view,
623   char *out_buf, const char *in_buf
624)
625{
626  int i, rc = 0;
627
628  if(id->buf_size >= 4) {
629     int msg_nr = *((int*)in_buf);
630     if(msg_nr < sizeof(messages)/sizeof(char*) - 1)
631        rc += sprintf(out_buf, "%s", messages[msg_nr]);
632     else
633        rc += sprintf(out_buf, UNKNOWNSTR, msg_nr);
634  }
635 out:
636   return rc;
637}
638
639struct debug_view debug_test_view = {
640  "myview",                 /* name of view */
641  NULL,                     /* no prolog */
642  &debug_dflt_header_fn,    /* default header for each entry */
643  &debug_test_format_fn,    /* our own format function */
644  NULL,                     /* no input function */
645  NULL                      /* no private data */
646};
647
648=====
649test:
650=====
651debug_info_t *debug_info;
652...
653debug_info = debug_register ("test", 0, 4, 4 ));
654debug_register_view(debug_info, &debug_test_view);
655for(i = 0; i < 10; i ++) debug_int_event(debug_info, 1, i);
656
657> cat /sys/kernel/debug/s390dbf/test/myview
65800 00964419734:611402 1 - 00 88042ca   This error...........
65900 00964419734:611405 1 - 00 88042ca   That error...........
66000 00964419734:611408 1 - 00 88042ca   Problem..............
66100 00964419734:611411 1 - 00 88042ca   Something went wrong.
66200 00964419734:611414 1 - 00 88042ca   Everything ok........
66300 00964419734:611417 1 - 00 88042ca   data: 00000005
66400 00964419734:611419 1 - 00 88042ca   data: 00000006
66500 00964419734:611422 1 - 00 88042ca   data: 00000007
66600 00964419734:611425 1 - 00 88042ca   data: 00000008
66700 00964419734:611428 1 - 00 88042ca   data: 00000009
668