1gdbserver(1) GNU Development Tools gdbserver(1)
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6 gdbserver - Remote Server for the GNU Debugger
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9 gdbserver
10 tty prog [args...]
11 gdbserver tty --attach PID
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15 GDBSERVER is a program that allows you to run GDB on a different
16 machine than the one which is running the program being debugged.
17 Usage (server (target) side):
19 First, you need to have a copy of the program you want to debug put
21 onto the target system. The program can be stripped to save space if
22 needed, as GDBserver doesn't care about symbols. All symbol handling
23 is taken care of by the GDB running on the host system.
24 To use the server, you log on to the target system, and run the `gdb‐
26 server' program. You must tell it (a) how to communicate with GDB, (b)
27 the name of your program, and (c) its arguments. The general syntax
28 is:
29 target> gdbserver COMM PROGRAM [ARGS ...]
31 For example, using a serial port, you might say:
33 target> gdbserver /dev/com1 emacs foo.txt
35 This tells gdbserver to debug emacs with an argument of foo.txt, and to
37 communicate with GDB via /dev/com1. Gdbserver now waits patiently for
38 the host GDB to communicate with it.
39 To use a TCP connection, you could say:
41 target> gdbserver host:2345 emacs foo.txt
43 This says pretty much the same thing as the last example, except that
45 we are going to communicate with the host GDB via TCP. The `host:2345'
46 argument means that we are expecting to see a TCP connection from
47 `host' to local TCP port 2345. (Currently, the `host' part is
48 ignored.) You can choose any number you want for the port number as
49 long as it does not conflict with any existing TCP ports on the target
50 system. This same port number must be used in the host GDBs `target
51 remote' command, which will be described shortly. Note that if you
52 chose a port number that conflicts with another service, gdbserver will
53 print an error message and exit.
54 On some targets, gdbserver can also attach to running programs. This
56 is accomplished via the --attach argument. The syntax is:
57 target> gdbserver COMM --attach PID
59 PID is the process ID of a currently running process. It isn't neces‐
61 sary to point gdbserver at a binary for the running process.
62 Usage (host side):
64 You need an unstripped copy of the target program on your host system,
66 since GDB needs to examine it's symbol tables and such. Start up GDB
67 as you normally would, with the target program as the first argument.
68 (You may need to use the --baud option if the serial line is running at
69 anything except 9600 baud.) Ie: `gdb TARGET-PROG', or `gdb --baud BAUD
70 TARGET-PROG'. After that, the only new command you need to know about
71 is `target remote'. It's argument is either a device name (usually a
72 serial device, like `/dev/ttyb'), or a HOST:PORT descriptor. For exam‐
73 ple:
74 (gdb) target remote /dev/ttyb
76 communicates with the server via serial line /dev/ttyb, and:
78 (gdb) target remote the-target:2345
80 communicates via a TCP connection to port 2345 on host `the-target',
82 where you previously started up gdbserver with the same port number.
83 Note that for TCP connections, you must start up gdbserver prior to
84 using the `target remote' command, otherwise you may get an error that
85 looks something like `Connection refused'.
86
88 You have to supply the name of the program to debug and the tty to com‐
89 municate on; the remote GDB will do everything else. Any remaining
90 arguments will be passed to the program verbatim.
91
93 `gdb' entry in info; Using GDB: A Guide to the GNU Source-Level Debug‐
94 ger, Richard M. Stallman and Roland H. Pesch, July 1991.
95
97 Copyright (c) 1993 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
98 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this
100 manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are
101 preserved on all copies.
102 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
104 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
105 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a per‐
106 mission notice identical to this one.
107 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this man‐
109 ual into another language, under the above conditions for modified ver‐
110 sions, except that this permission notice may be included in transla‐
111 tions approved by the Free Software Foundation instead of in the origi‐
112 nal English.
113Cygnus Support 2 November 1993 gdbserver(1)